Lake Placid - Friday

Today the weather turned and storms came in, but the day was still great. First, I ran some of the course. . . . we are on the corner of 73 and 86 Main Street and I ran down past the Olympic ski jumps and onto Riverside Drive before I turned around and came back. It is amazing what I noticed today vs. the race. The Olympic center seems to beckon on the hill as you run back . . . the ski jumps guide you to the turn. . . . more rolling hills than I remember. It was really great to be on the course again. . . .

Then the fun. I went to work the VIP tent and immediately ran into Ellie from the CEO Challenge . . . and Heather Fuhr. Heather put me to work and Judy from NA Sports and I handled the tent for a couple hours until Heather came back followed by my all time favorite Paula Newby-Fraser. I tried not to be too much of a stalker when I told her I met her in Hawaii. I left out the part about having her picture in my workout room . . . . I met Mike Reilly (Mickey's brother's brother-in-law . . . ?) and Greg Welch passed through as well. Paula said Greg is leading off the pros for the swim and someone commented on what happens if he has a heart attack and her response was, "well, everyone knows which way to go . . . ". Gotta love her!

OK, best sign in Lake Placid so far: Norm's Barbershop -- "Closed. Reopen at 1:00 . . . If I can . . . Norm"

Ran into Sam and Joe on their way to registration and they look so ready!! I can't wait to see how they shake it out on Sunday. May be warm day, but I'm sure the everyone is prepared.

Best story so far: next door condo -- Connie Carpenter -- I can't wait to watch her finish this year. Last year was her first attempt at Ironman and on the second lap of the bike, she crashed into 2 guys ahead of her who were fighting for position and wrecked. She came around the corner and crashed into their mess. They finished (one with a gash in his skull). She spent 8 days in the hospital with a punctured lung, broken scapula and other broken bones. She only remembers knowing she was going to crash and being in the ambulance. I asked if they comped her this race -- no deal.

I did get some Olympic passports from the VIP gig today. Included are tickets to the 1/2 mile bobsled ride. . . . oh boy, we'll see if we survive that tomorrow!!