EnduraSport Half - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I had 3 false starts, standing to regroup each time. The cold water just took my breath away. Finally, the water was over my head so I had no choice but to go. I had to breathe every time my right arm came around. I couldn't get my breathing under control and lost contact w/ the field. I wasn't able to bilteral breathe until after the 1st buoy.

After the 2nd buoy, sighting became difficult.I couldn't spot the guide buoy and ended up, w/ others, in the middle of the triangle. Oops, been here before. I finally found the turn buoy and made a line for it.

Next, I decided to do something I never do, look at my watch at the 1/2 way point. 21 mins and change, WTF? I'm slow today but something wasn't right here.

I had my first Lake Placid thot - you can't control it (the course length), keep moving. Finally got settled in and swam. Better late than never!

Uneventful second loop but I did feel my left hamstring tighten (foreshadow) so I was forced to back off some more and I wasn't happy about it.

Get a full wetsuit, not loose 17 pounds of insulating blubber or sell my soul to mother nature for another 5 degrees!

The water was COLD and the course was long. Two things out of my control. There was nothing to do but deal and move forward. And so I did. Kinda...

UH OH! As soon as I stood up in the water my hamstrings tightened. I started running and my left spasmed. Walked, barely. I got to my bike, bent over and it happened; paralyzing left hammi spasm. I mean, wicked. I let out an agonizing scream. I thot maybe the old guy put some voodoo curse on me. My friend, Scott, was watching trying to encourage me. It wud subside then I'd move and it would return. This went for what seemd like eternity. It hurt, bad. Between the spasms I manged to get out of the wetsuit and get my bike stuff on. Finally, I made it out w/ Scott just telling me to spin easy and the cramps woud go away. Thankfully, he was right.

Not cramp. or better yet not swim in 54 degree water! Really, what was I thinking ;)

Things happen and you've got fight through sometimes, another lesson learned.

I was never so happy to be on my bike. Between the long swim and transition I knew my shot at 6 hours was gone. Maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. I could focus on pacing the bike. Still, I went a little too hard on the first loop and didn't lower my HR enough. That won't happen at LP!

Scott met me at the top of the first climb and rode w/ me a bit. He reminded me it was a training day and that I needed stay focused on that. That really helped. I settled in and enjoyed the rest of the ride.

With the disc and no rear wheel sensor mounted, all I had to go by was cadence (no speed or time) so I focused soley on that and HR.

I hit the lap button on my HRM BUT at differnt spots each time around, DUH! So that was useless data except that I knew each loop was under 54 minutes. The only downside to not having the clock right in front of me was that I didn't take nutrition on regular intervals. I must work on that.

I felt good about my pace.The compact crank and 12/25 are ideal for me at Harriman. I felt strong on the hills and was able to recover quickly. I intentionaly backed off a few times as I really wanted to run strong.

Overall, I was very happy with the bike. It wasn't unitl the next day that realized I put up a 3:27. I was figuring 3:30+. By staying w/in myself and focusing just on cadence and HR the speed took care of itself.

For once, Harriman and I are at peace!


Nutrition: 6 scoops of Perp - heaviset concentration to date and perfect! 6 gels and only water from the hand-ups. I felt great coming off the bike from a GI perspective. As expected my back was a bit tight.

Just focus on timimg my nutrition.

Uneventful. Thankfully!

Let it be known it was agreed the mile markers were off but I'll go with what my watch said as far as time.

Given my recent ailments (back and left thigh) I was looking to be steady and come out healthy. I started conservatively, first mile 9:08

My back loosened after the first mile and my left leg was feeling good so I picked it up for mile 2, 8:07. I was able to settle in, relax and became real comfortable. Grabbed water and a gel at every aid station w/o walking.

I was solid MOP with the fast guys (way) ahead and not many others in front of me. Occasionally someone from th OLY would pass me but that was about it. In a small race like this it's real easy to run your own pace. I think I passed two people on the way out and was passed by one. I high fived JK at the 4 mile mark (his mile 9). The tunaround was at the bottom of hill and the way back up was the only place I felt myself slow.

Stopped for a quick pee, some water and a gel at mile 7 and was just cruising waiting for the hill at mile 10. It's a 1/2 mile climb but I just ran it a week ago and it pales compared to The Hook. So I put my head down and chugged up it.

At the aid station at the top, the volunteers yelled "Gatorade". The whole race I avoided it bc I thot it was Accelrade (as posted on the website). Again, I passed, but soon after started to feel my hammi tighten again. It was the first and only time I wasn't comfortable on the run. I had been taking endurolites but not at regular intervals. I was a bit worried about another spasm so I backed off. At mile 11 there was one last aid staion. I downed 3 elctrolites and just hoped the cramps wouldn't come. At mile 12 I figured I was out of the woods and it was time to let it go. Caught a girl with a "It's my Birthday" sign on her back. I wished her a happy bday as I passed. One last guy ahead, looked like he was walking. I thot I could catch him if he continued to walk. I saw him start to run and at the risk of a spasm I picked up the pace and caught him right before the turn into the parking lot then cruised to the finish!

I finished feeling like I had plenty more to give and once I knew my 6 hour goal wasn't going to happen this became my focus.

Find out for sure what they are serving. I would have taken the GA which may kept the hammi's in check. Take Endurolites on regluar intervals. Everytime I finished a water I realized I forget to take them.

AHHHH, the warm down! Got to see JK get his 2nd place AG group award (clap, clap) then we got hang out, drink a couple of beers and meet some new people. The perfect ending to a great day!

Oh, and besides the scale in transition (and the dead beaver w/ rigamortis on the side of the road) the funniest thing I saw was self inflicted. I saw JK at the finish but it was a bit chilly so I ran to my car for some dry clothes. As I'm changing, I realize I never took my earplugs out! D'oh!! I thought the muffled sound on the bike was the earflaps on the aerohelmet (no explanation for the run). I guees T1 really was BAD!. I went back to JK laughing and he says "Yeah I noticed but didn't say anything." Speaks volumes for the kind of guy he is. JK, I wuda goofed on you!

What can I say, in addition to the cramp dance in T1 I'm always willing to give a laugh at my own expense. And hey, maybe the earlplugs actully improved my bike and run ;). Maybe I'll leave them in next year!


The loooooong, cold swim. It definately wasn't the earplugs!


Even with a tough swim this was a great race for me. It was An even better training day and real confidence builder for LP. I bettered last year's time by 44 minutes, 31:30 on the bike and 26:20 on the run offest obviously, by the 12 minutes lost on the swim. To me that was an anomaly.

Clearly, I'm way ahead of where I was and this makes me believe I'm positioned well to handle the training ahead and then enjoy Ironman USA!


As for this event, Harriman is about the challenge, especially this early in the season. It's low key and could prolly use some more volunteers but it's not about the frills. Given it's proximty it will be an annual race for me. Next year I can shoot for 6 hours. Tho if the water is sub 60 I'm doing the mini ;)