The swim got started rather abruptly. There was a National Anthem then a guy with a megaphone said GO!!!! That was it. I was a few rows back as I was still making my way to the front but got out to a good start and before the turn there was 1 guy in front of me and a girl on my feet. I tried drafting off him but his kick was rediculously hard and I was drinking more water than the draft was worth so I went around him and took the lead. My sighting seemed to be good but I kept running into people for the first 400 yds. On the second 400 I was sighting the buoy at the lifeguard chair fine but didn't realize it was a 90 degree left turn after the lifeguard chair and kept swimming straight. That's when the 2 swimmers on my feet passed me, ugh!!

Look at the finish chute more carefully and be sure I know the course.

Not a bad transition but I was a bit slow with getting the wetsuit off and shoes on. I have a lot of work to do on transitions!

Practice transitions! I must practice transitions!!

The bike started off with a short climb out of transition to the park exit. After missing the last turn on the swim and having a slow transition I was a little PO'd at myself. I came out of T1 in second place with the leader only a couple hundred yds in front of me. Once I was out of the park I could see the gap closing. I just kept the throttle open and started to hydrate a bit. I had about 20 oz of water in the NeverReach and a small bottle of Gatorade that I had left over from last weeks batch. There were 2 turns ahead that the leader slowed for and I gained most of the ground pedaling through the turns and passed him as we got back in aero after the turns. Now it was me and the pace car. I looked at my HR a few times at the beginning of the ride and saw 170's. Hmmmm, haven't seen those numbers in a while on the bike. The pace car would go ahead to alert the volunteers then slow back down a bit. I didn't look at the course or drive the course before the race, another mistake. There was a long straight stretch next to some RR tracks that I loved. With my HR in the 170's, I looked down and saw 29+ MPH on the Garmin and thought "HOLY CRAP!!, LEGS DON'T FAIL ME NOW!!" When I looked up I saw a train coming towards me so I reached up and pumped my fist and he HONKED!! (Note to self: At 30 mph bike will get squirrely if you pump your fist at a train! Hearing the horn was worth it though!) Okay, time for some Gatorade. I reached down and took a swig of Gatorade and as soon as it hit my gut it came right back up! Gatorade spoils? Nothing like throwing up in the middle of a race at 20+ mph! YUK!! Looks like it's water for this race. People in transition were talking about the "one big hill" that is in the 2nd half of the bike. I came to it and when I saw 7 mph go to 6 mph I thought to myself "there goes that avg speed". What goes up, must come down. There was a nice downhill after the climb that had a fast turn at the bottom, I saw the volunteer with her flag and let out a big WHEEEEEEEE as I went by her. I was definitely having fun out there, except for the throwing up part. Okay, from what I heard it was all down after the "big climb" so I just started hammering again. Then I saw the pace car hit his brakes and turn UP A HILL!! Uh oh, wasn't expecting another hill. This one was the "BIG HILL". Legs were fried and this time I saw a 4 mph at one point on the hill. Ugh!! The hill went on for a bit longer than I would have liked but I kept saying that you'll recover before the run, you'll recover before the run. The pace car was so far ahead at this point that I had no idea where to turn. I was coming down a hill at close to 40 mph when I saw a volunteer at he bottom with a flag. She was walking from the left side of the road and I assumed I was going to the right and held my speed as the curve was not too sharp. Then she and the other volunteer who finally stood up were waving the flag to go left, a hairpin turn. OH SH*T!!! I slammed on the brakes and barely made the turn, checked my shorts to see if they needed to be changed and thanked the volunteers for helping with the race. Okay, back to business, bring me home legs!! I found the pace car again and he was pointing me into transition. YES!! As I approached transition I was thinking what I needed to do. Oh yea, feet out of shoes!! I should have done that a few hundred yds ago dummy!! I managed to get one foot out before dismount but wasn't quick enough with the other. So I hobbled into T2 on one shoe. I probably didn't look like I should be leading the race. :)

Lets see. Make Gatorade the day of the race, know the course ahead of time, get out of shoes earlier on the bike and work more hills.

T2 went well for me. I'll never complain about a :36 second transition. I started running the wrong way to the exit, that's the only thing that cost me a couple seconds.

Know the course!!

After finding the right exit out of T2 the run felt pretty good. It was a trail run that went around 2 lakes and was completely shaded. I felt I was well hydrated on the bike and water stations wouldn't be necessary except to splash some water on me. I had a pretty good lead off the bike and just wanted to run my race at my pace and not blow up, there are a lot of runners faster than me and if they catch me there's not a lot I can do about it. I didn't want to look down at my watch to see how much time had gone by but I remember thinking that "perhaps the course isn't marked, I must have run a mile by now." Right after I thought that I heard footsteps coming behind me. It was just before the hill that I got passed by Matt Migonis who went by me like I was standing still. He said "Nice swim-Bike" to me as he floated on by, I mentioned something about me really needing to learn how to run. :-) Back to running, it was about then that I saw the 1 mile mark. Oh man......it's only been a mile? I was a little suprised that I hadn't been passed again yet. Just before the 2 mile mark is when the second pass came. He passed me at a pretty good clip as well and I just kept trucking along at my pace. As I approached the bathhouse where the finish was I glanced behind me and saw that noone was there. The finish was a bit deceptive as we had to go completely around the bathhouse to get to the finish. If someone was behind me and I had to race for third place I would have been bummed but I just cruised in to the finish.

Nothing, 19:58 would have been the 1st time I was under 20:00 in a 5K had it not been for the corporate challenge on Thursday. I am very happy with the run! :-)

Walked around for about 15 minutes to keep moving and had some fruit and water. Cheered some people through the finish and chatted with some of the Syracuse Tri Clubbers. A lot of people were gearing up for IMLP.


Sighting on the swim, knowing the course and hill training.


This is a hard race to get into and a race that I am going to try to do every year from now on. Tons of volunteers and only an hour away make it a must do for me. The late start allows me to drive up and not get up at ungodly hours to get to the race. The swim is beautiful in crystal clear water, the bike is mostly secluded with very little traffis and the run is spectacular! What more can you ask for?