My Run Drafting Technique !!

Trying to look like I can run fast

Lets See that again ......

Swim exit

Lake George Tri RR


Yesterday I raced the LG Olympic distance triathlon at Lake George New York.

What a stunning venue for a race. Everything from the weather to the race itself was excellent. I spectated this race last year as a few friends were doing it and I wanted to support them.

Going into the race I was dealing with feelings both internally and physically. It takes a while to get over a DNF from an Ironman. At least it does for me. Hence my wanting to do this race. There was this lingering need for me to end my season on some positive note.

Left the house at about 4:30 am, and all along the way, about an hour and half drive, I kept thinking that this early morning stuff was getting old. Not only that, it was pretty damn chilly outside, and with Lake George right at the gateway to the Adirondacks....I kept thinking about a cold swim and bike.

What can you do ? Just suck it up and give it your best shot.

Got there on time, picked up our race packets, racked up and had more than enough time
to socialize with a few pals that were also racing. Friends like Chris G, John Noonan and a few others were there, so right away I started feeling all warm and fuzzy inside about kicking it up a notch.

We had hear from the RD that the swim was going to be a smidge over a mile, this was to make up for last years insanely short 800 yd swim. Well, at least we're getting our moneys worth.

7:33 am my wave goes off ! O N T I M E ! Awesome.

After about 400 yds I picked up some decent feet. Pushed for about 20 mins, then had a hard time finding the next good pack as the buoys were a bit crooked after the first turn.

Once I saw the Red Bull shore buoys I took it easy to get ready to exit relaxed.

Swim time : 29 mins and change.

Got on the bike in less than 1:30 and off into a bunch of semi steep rollers. Glad I took the swim smart as this was not an easy first 8 miles on the bike.
By mile 9 we hit the bike path, which I felt was a bit dangerous as it was only 6-7 ft wide and had steel railings that would take a knee or head right out if one were to hit one. Oh yeah, there were telephone poles sticking out in a few spots, dead smack in the middle of the pathway.
Total Wiley Coyote action there.

By mile 10 I picked up the pace hitting 20-24 mph in the flats and rollers. This was great ! I felt like I was getting my bike mojo back., All the dudes that passed my during the first 4 miles of rollers were all getting reeled and dropped. Sweet!

By mile 22 it was looking like I would hit a 1:11 split which was a solid effort. , but as luck would have it, I hit one more steep climb and a few more rollers w/ traffic.

Came into T2 showing 1:14 on my computer, 19.8 mph avg. Shit ! Thats my avg for a 56 mile 1/2 IM bike.......... oh well. To my credit, this was one tough bike course. So I'll take it.

Off to the run.

Mile 1-2 were painful. One steep right off the bat. I took it as smooth as I could trying to remain relaxed. Took sips of my GU packet and just focused on getting my HR even, which was still a bit high.
By mile 4 I felt great.

Got in some Gatorade and avg'd 9:30's for the last 2.2 miles. Not great, but for tired legs its all I had.

The thing I was most pleased with was my effort. I gave this race all I had. Stayed focus, raced smart and pushed as hard as I could. Did not walk any portion of the run, except when I peed in the woods.

Total time was 2:49ish. 42nd in my AG and 137th out 330ish . This was from the unofficial printouts. There were still others racing by the time we left, so the final tally will be posted hopefully Tuesday on Score-this.com.

Also, check out the website of the Adirondack Tri club for some of the areas premier tri events.I decided to join the club . They have the coolest race jerseys going and seem to be a strong group of athletes. adktri.org

So to wrap it up, I feel good. Still love to race, but I might make the committment to mostly run in 2008. Maybe a tri or 2, but its going to be a great investment.

My friend Tomo who came in top 20 at the race made the point that if I took even just 8 mins off my run time, I'd be at the bottom of the 1st page results instead of a 4th page guy as I had a decent swim, tied the winner of overall Female in the bike split, and as usual I got reeled during the run. He said a year of focus ought to do the trick.

Dast it.

Mike