It’s a beautiful day for ball game.  Let’s play two!” – Ernie Banks

Sunday was the Oh My Goddard triathlon.  There was both a Sprint and an Olympic on the same day.  I was participating in the Olympic.  The conditions were absolutely ideal.  Morning temperatures of 60 degrees with little to no wind, bright and sunny.  It was so beautiful that I was concerned there would be nothing to complain about if things didn’t go well.

The Swim:

The swim was in Greenwich Bay and it was a bit odd in its design.  It starts out diagonally to the right along the beach to the first buoy, less than 150 yards away and then a sharp 125 degree turn to swim along the beach, with the shore being on your left.  Looking at the size of the swim wave and how close the first buoy was, I expected quite a lot of pinch coming around the first turn.  I was in the first wave (which I like), rocking the pink swim cap along with all the 40 and older men, and when the gun went off it was a sprint to the first buoy.  As expected, being that I’m not an overly fast swimmer, I got there with the pack, and although there were arms and legs everywhere, we all seemed to get around the turn in a relatively civilized manner.  The rest of the swim was just great.  There were no waves and no current and the big yellow buoys were easy to spot with the bright yellow sun at our backs.  I’m not sure how many people were in front of me when I got out of the water, but I felt good and I was ready to catch as many as I could on the bike.

Swim time:  21:19

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/526108861

The Bike:

The bike course was flat and fast.  It was supposed to be 23 miles, but the race directors had to make some changes and the alterations shortened it to just over 20 miles.  In the first 6 miles I passed about 6 or 7 of the faster swimmers and from then on I biked by myself.  I was happy with all the advance warnings I received about the railroad tracks at mile 12, because even with warnings and extra care, I still almost lost control when I went over them.  The last few miles of the bike course was also the last few miles of the Sprint distance course and it was nice to actually see other racers for the final stretch. I hit all my numbers, averaging just over 250w for just under an hour and I was ready to run.

Bike time: 54:52

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/526108914

The Run:

Both the Sprint and Olympic run courses started off in the same direction for a half mile or so.  Out of T2, up the stone stairs and off into the woods.  A large portion of the course was on trails and I’m not an experienced trail runner.  I opted for quicker, shorter strides on the soft surface and found myself spending a lot of time looking down and strategizing my foot placement.  There was also a lot of horse manure to avoid.  After the Olympic course split off from the Sprint, I found myself alone again, running in the woods and hoping I was on course.  Everything was well marked, but still, I have been known to miss a turn or two at times. The last 1.5 miles merged back into the Sprint course.  It was nice to see people again.  With about 1 mile to go I caught up to Fred Silverblatt who was running past people less than half his age and looking great!

Run time: 43:25

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/526108959

Overall:

It was another fun day!  So many great people out racing and cheering.

I’d like to give a special shout out to fellow Fuel Belt Race Team member, John LaRiviere for pulling 3rd overall, making him ineligible for an age group award (where he would have been 1st M45-49) thus allowing me to slide on to the podium!  (-: