Timberman Tri

Well, 'ol G Stewart and I headed up to New Hampshire this past weekend for our second race of the season in the 70.3 series (1st was Rhode Island 70.3). We drove up together and were "roomies" for the weekend as both of our families opted to sit this trip out. It was there loss as the weather was beautiful and our room had a great view overlooking Lake Winnepausaukee (spelling?). Sunday morning was absolutely spectacular with no clouds in the sky and a pleasant 62 degrees to start the day. My wave was the 5th to go off while Greg had to wait until the 12th wave a full half-hour later. Swim conditions were pretty good with just a light chop. In retrospect, my sighting was probably pretty poor but otherwise I felt good during the swim. A good portion of it was done blind as we took a right hand turn into a gorgeous (but blinding) rising sun. My swim split was just under 30 minutes, which was a bit more than I had hoped for (especially after learning that Greg once again bested me on the swim with a 29:07 split).
The bike course is a challenging one with a decent amount of climbing for the first 10 miles before making it out onto some sustained flatter portions. The 56 mile loop then ends with some climbing at the end. Winds were not terrible but definitely present for most of the ride. I felt good for the entire ride and maintained my target HR zone pretty well. As the day wore on, the temp.s began to climb and I definitely made a point of getting plenty of liquids. I managed to chop roughly five minutes off of last year's bike split (2:30:30); in no small part due to the new P2C from TT!
Once out on the run, the temp.s really began to take a toll and I was taking as much water, gatorade, and sponges as I could in order to avoid over-heating. I got a real thrill only a 1/2 mile in as famed pro Michael Lovato came running by me and I managed to keep him within eyesight for the next few miles (yea, he was on his 2nd lap!). This is a really fun run double loop run course which manages to keep things interesting as runners run through bubbles, mardi gras, and one guy dressed as a she-devil (I hope that was a guy!). While my run was some 5 minutes slower than last year's time (gotta get back on the EPO), I was pleased with my effort and running a strong second half of the race (1:31:28). All told, I was 27 seconds slower than last year, but am happy as I knew my run would be nowhere near last years. The effort (4:35:04)ws good for 6th in the AG (wrong AG to be in) and 17th amateur overall.
My compadre Mr. Stewart can provide his race details, but he definitely through down a fine race of his own! Imagine what this guy would do if he ACTUALLY TRAINED!

Lots of rest for now before a final push for IRONMAN ARIZONA!