I'm back from the wilderness! It was a whirlwind week, and it's still not over since I travel to the LiveStrong Challenge tomorrow morning. Thank you to everyone who donated and offered their support towards this amazing cause! Words can't express how appreciative I am. xoxo
My vacation was awesome! My family and I traveled to Lake Placid which was beyond gorgeous. We lucked out with weather and thoroughly enjoyed the sites (and food!). We crammed a whole weeks worth of activities into two days.
Because my 45 mile bike race is on Sunday, I figured I should start building my endurance. My boyfriend and I decided to ride a 40-ish mile loop around Lake Saranac. No one told me the first 7 miles were uphill; and I don't mean happy, little, bunny slopes, no...I'm talking, big, scary, black diamond hills. At one point I thought we took a wrong turn and were climbing Whiteface Mountain. My aunt taught me a trick when peddling up monstrous hills: say Hail Marys until you reach the top. As cliche as it sounds, it worked and distracted me enough to power through each hill. I probably recited a whole rosary by the end of the ride and finished the ride a whole lot holier. For my LiveStrong race, I'm going to dedicate each hill to a different person. This will amp up my motivation and make each hill even more meaningful.
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| Before the ride, so chic |
After the first 10ish miles, the road started flattening out and my tunnel vision finally broadened so I was able to finally take in the beautiful scenery. God bless my boyfriend who endured my colorful language as I trekked up each peak, but he was great and kept me sane (for the most part) through the whole ride.
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| 20 miles in, half way there! |
As tough as it was at the time, I finished and I'm happy I stuck through it; I didn't give up or get off my bike (though tempting at times). I'm proud of myself. It was a good experience and definitely prepared me for the LiveStrong Challenge on Sunday. Bring it on.
My bike ride wasn't my only hill-y experience. 30 minutes after we returned to the hotel (still stinky and sore), we left to see Whiteface Mountain (the 5th highest Adirondack peak). Talk about whirlwind! We drove 5 miles uphill to the parking lot where we had 2 options on how to reach the summit: stairs or elevator (!). We were feeling adventurous and climbed the stairs that resembled something more like the Great Wall of China.
I almost climbed in flip flops before I made the quick decision to put on my hiking boots. Thank God I did because parts of the climb I was contemplating if I should break out my harness and climbing ropes; but I would have climbed that route numerous times to reach the view we were welcomed by. If I had to pair an image with what I thought Heaven looked like, it would be the view from Whiteface's peak. We had a beautiful, clear, 80 mile view from the summit.
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| The observatory tower which reminded me of something from Harry Potter |
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| My beautiful family, I already nominated this as our Christmas card picture |
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| My boyfriend and I scouring the land |
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| The official peak marker |
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| This just made me laugh |
Breath-taking. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Whiteface, do it. I promise you, you won't be dissapointed. The experience is like no other. You feel on top of the world while at the same time feeling so small compared to the grandeur of nature. My boyfriend and I want to climb it sometime (about a 10 hour hike) along with the other 45 peaks. Add it to the bucket list!
It was such an eventful week but I'm happy to be home (at least for the night). Plus, I got a bountiful surprise when I returned:
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| Tomatoes, anyone? |
Off to the race tomorrow! Wish me luck :)
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