Sunday May 4th, 2008- Ithaca YMCA Triathlon

An early morning downpour had me thinking about returning to my bed just minutes away from the YMCA but i waited it out and, eventually, it cleared up to be a beautiful day all around. I saw many familiar faces at this local, low-key triathlon and enjoyed chatting it up while they sent us off in heats every 15 minutes. I was in lucky number heat 13 with a couple other ITC members: Val Cross who I knew would be close to me in overall time and I shared a lane w/ president Herman Seiverding who would also probably finish pretty close to me. I started the swim pretty conservatively but was content w/ my finishing time of 7:24 for the 400meter swim. Next, i ran to the transition area to get on my bike. I had a terrible transition here... by the time i got everything situated i realized that i wasted some precious time and even the little uphill out of the parking lot prevented me from effectively clipping into my pedals. Finally i was off for 15 mile bike... The first half i felt pretty good and took a gel as i pumped up and down the same roads i marathon train on. The second half of the bike was rather windy and definitely slowed me down considerably... I did take a moment to reflect as i pedaled through the same intersection i was involved in terrible accident a couple years ago. I looked down at the ground where i had been lying in blood and excruciating pain and thanked god for allowing me to be here and able to do the things i'm doing today. As i sailed down Triphammer rd. to the transition area i was delighted to see my fiancee Erica standing in the entrance of the Y rooting me on. I had a really good transition here. I threw off my helmet, longsleeve shirt, and switched my shoes and began the five mile final leg of the race. I couldn't believe how well i felt as far as my legs go. I mean they definitely felt heavy for the first mile but once i motored up Dart Dr. hill i settled into a nice groove probably putting together a couple 5:35 miles. I grabbed a water at Cherry and Warren and descended into the residential area toward the finish. At this point i passed a couple ITC members..Hal and finally Herman but was really looking for Val. I turned the corner onto Triphammer and still couldn't see her. As i finally made it to the last turn by Watercress i saw her and she saw me and i think we both realized at that point that she got me. What a fun race! I beat my goal of 1:30 and just had a genuinely good time w/ friends. We had a nice brunch afterwards at Watercress and enjoyed each others stories and company.
In my typical triathlon stats...midpack in swim...pretty good bike and stellar run!
Swim= 61st
Bike= 34th
Run= 1st! Overall= 12th place ... Next up Thom B. 26K trail run!!