OMG where to begin. We had an incredible time for the three days we were there…then the race got in the way LOL. Let me sum it up by saying my swim was slower than I wanted, I hit my bike time roughly right where I figured 3hr02m for the level I’m riding and my run BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
The drive up was fun and full of laughs with Joe Giannetti and Sarah Kelly. We met up with Russ at the Athlete Check-in along with Mary and Doug, After check-in we went down to Camp Terry. That was clutch having Camp Terry so close to transition. This made EVERYTHING so much easier and relaxed.
Before the race we had a great time hanging out from the ride up to the check-in, hanging out at Camp Terry and going out to dinner with everyone to Pastabilities. I think everyone enjoyed their meals except for of course the person who found the place being Sarah. I think she thought hers was just ok. Didn’t seem like the homemade pasta it was supposed to be. Mine was AWESOME!!! I love pesto!!!
After we left Pastabilities me, Joe and Russ headed to Wegman’s to meet Sarah and her parents. Needless to say after a few wrong turns and horseshoe turnarounds we ended up at the Ghetto Wegaman’s and that store was not easy to navigate. But we were able to get our food for the mornings breakfast. Plus we had a great time talking to Sarah’s Dad about Sugarin :-).
Heading back to Econo Lodge we stopped to take a pic at some totem poles that Joe was admiring. Went to our rooms, watched a bit of the Bruins and went to bed. I was very relaxed and excited. I couldn’t sleep. I wasn’t excited thinking I was going to put up a great time…just excited to be a part of this big event. The only thing I was worried about was my goggles fogging up or leaking.
***FLASHBACK*** I remember driving to the beach last year watching the live tracker on my phone and texting Maria wanting to know how Paul was doing. I thought that was the coolest thing. Seeing my name on the live tracker this year that Wayne Ball setup sent a chill up my spine. I was here…I was going to do it and I was with a great group of people. I remember following Paul M, Paulito, Sarah, Jim and Wayne then entire race last year.
The morning of the race I tried to have my traditional banana and oatmeal but forgot about a spoon. Needless to say the next day when I went to get a coffee at the Econo Lodge I saw a cup of spoons. Noted for next time. Thankfully Sarah had an extra bagel for me. Thanks again Sarah.
The weather at 4:30AM was already very humid…not good. We got to there, made our way to transition where I mistakenly brought my pump for all of us which was fine but then everyone else was asking to us it. I’m not going to say no even though it held me up for another 20 minutes…UGH!!! I almost told someone to keep it…I thought I’d never get out of there.
Finally we were able to make our way to Camp Terry and hang out for at least an hour before race time.
The Swim:
Well we all started making our way to the beach. I started putting on my wetsuit which was really tough being so muggy and I was already sweating. As I was pulling the suit over my right foot my heel went right though the bottom…RIP!!!! I showed Joe G and he started laughing. Said it looked like I had a stirrup and everyone started laughing…including myself. It was a pretty good rip. So the waves start going off with mine going off at 7:45AM. My plan was to line up at the left in case my goggles fogged up. If they didn’t I would work my way toward the buoys and deal with buoy traffic. We go and my goggles were perfect. So I start making my way toward the buoys ever so slightly…and we’re swimming…and we’re swimming…and we’re swimming…and I’m thinking where’s that damn turn buoy?!?!??! It took so long to get there I thought at one point maybe I turned with the group and didn’t realize it. Nope…I finally saw it. Took the turn right next to the buoy and held a tight buoy line the rest of the swim. The rest wasn’t so bad. I started catching the slower swimmers and getting passed by some fast swimmers. I pushed harder than I did at Pumpkinman. At Pumpkinman last year I went easy the entire swim just looking to survive it and even though I went easy my arms were tired right away and I had to calm myself down a bit…probably from nerves. Here I started harder and finished harder…didn’t ease up my stroke at all and I was 4 minutes slower lol. Oh well…it felt good to push. Honestly I was thinking I could do the swim in 38 minutes so I was disappointed about the 44 minute time. But seeing as I pushed myself the entire swim I was very happy from that aspect.
When I finally exited the water my legs were very wobbly. Because of this I decided to use the suit stripper. I laid down and this girl came at me like a lion and grabbed my suit. As she was pulling my heel got caught in my “stirrup” and she kept pulling. I had to reach down and help her get it off my heel…pretty comical…then she helped me up and off I went…with a slow run to my bike. Took my time a bit to let the blood get to my legs, ate some sport beans then ran the very long transition area with my bike.
The BIke:
The bike course was AWESOME!!! It was obviously much harder than Pumpkinman but being hilly meant it was not nearly as boring. I actually saw some bikers walking their bikes up the first hill. Yikes…that’s the beginning of a very long day. I didn’t go all out on the first 12 mile incline but pushed pretty good for my bike level. I loved the hills but my left knee didn’t. It was bothering me on the hills when I would pull up so for the last 25-30 miles any hills I went up I either pedaled mainly with my right leg or got out of the seat. This helped the left knee a lot.
I could really feel the heat on the bike. Even the wind was hot…VERY HOT!!! I grabbed liquid at 2 of the 3 aid stations just for something cold and ate two blocks during the bike. My stomach didn’t feel like it was going to hold down much so stuck mostly with liquids. Oh and the rollers for the last 40 miles…I felt they were more like hills than rollers…but that’s me.
Seeing a lot of bikers on the course was great. I was able to pass more bikers than Pumpkinman because of so many athletes in the race and my wave starting in the middle rather than the beginning. It seemed though whenever I got passed it was usually a group of three fast riders. I guess they always travel in threes. Getting back to transition I like to spin the legs out on a slow gear hoping I’ll be able to stand when I clip out. I got back to transition and clipped out and ran to my area, had some more sport beans and started my run.
The Run:
Once again BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Kind of sums it up J
Anyway…the run…hmmmm…well my plan was to try to run an 8:30. Made it to aid station #1 and I planned to run thru it while grabbing a water. I accomplished that. Same thing at #2…with the addition of sponges but walked it. After #3 the hill came into play. I made it up the first hill and took the turn and had to walk a bit. Got to a flat and started running again which is where I saw Doug, Mary and Sarah who all looked VERY STRONG!!! After they were gone I had to walk again up this dreaded hill and saw Bill Terry. Got to the turn and ran down the hill and walked again at Station #2 until Roz caught me walking lol so I had to pick it up again. Almost made it to #1, walked to the station and from then on in it was walk/run/walk/run. I was so nauseated from the heat there was no way I was trying a gu. I stuck with water, coke, ice and multiple sponges in my suit. I was even pouring cups of ice in my suit. After my walk/run/walk I finally finished at 6hr24min.
Even though I missed two months not being able to run after Hyannis in Feb. and 2.5 weeks of training in April with a stomach flu/bug…I really don’t think I would’ve done any better. If at all I may have been able to shave a few minutes on the run but that heat was AWFUL!!! As hard as that race was, as bad as I felt, tired, nauseated, completely drained, I couldn’t imagine a better time. The course being as hard as it was made it so exciting and I felt so alive being there. But being there with a great group of people was the best part of all.
Dino BBQ!!! AWESOME!!! Thanks Sarah!!! Highly recommended!!!
I wanted to get into some unrelated race stories from that weekend but what happens in Syracuse…stays in Syracuse J.
Next year we plan on renting RV’s for the camping area. I looked into renting RV’s in Syracuse saving us gas money renting them locally. It would workout to $130 per person for 3 nights ($43/night) if we had 4 to an RV that sleeps 7 comfortably with full kitchen, bath and shower. So who’s in???