Musselman Recap and Season Review

I needed to provide a recap of Musselman. More for myself than anyone else simply because this has been my best season ever. My racing was/is top notch and I have managed to push myself harder than ever before. I have learned more about what I can do and my future potential.

At Musselman I hit the emotional rollercoaster of a difficult race and managed to keep it together and finish strong. Keeping my race under control and racing my own race allowed me to pass so many people during the second half of the run including 4 - 5 guys in my age group. After talking with Aimee and reading other race reports many people struggled at Musselman and learned alot from their experience.

I found Mary's race report on the web site of my former coach. It helped put the race in perspective.

Speaking of the race. Mussleman is a race that is a must do. It is very well organized and caters to the athletes. The RD, Jeff Henderson, knows what athletes need since he is a competitor himself.

I don't know if I will do this race in 2010. There are so many races to do I hate to repeat Mussleman, but don't be surprised if I do show up.....for the DoubleMussel again.


Season Recap:

After Musselman Aimee and I have pretty much shut things down. August is a very busy month for us, especially me at work.

My race season started very early at the Triple T so my cycle is pretty much over. The competitive spirit just isn't there right now. We have volunteered at a local race. Helped others with their triathlon training. Enjoyed the downtime and reduction in training.

So what have I done this season?

Catch a Leprechan 15K.... 3rd in age group

Hinkley Duathlon....3rd in age group

Triple T where I had a very solid Ironman-like performance. I think I'm going to train to be more competitive next year.

Nordonia Duathlon which was too close to Triple T and I tanked on the second run....fourth in AG

Park to Park Half Marathon which was a fun training run.

The Dam Tri.....a huge effort that resulted in an age group win.

Twin Sizzler 10k.....sub 40 minute effort and 3rd in age group

Double Mussel.....Sprint win in the age group and a 5 hour finish in the half IM.

Yeah......I'm very happy with these results. Time to recover and rebuild the competitive fire for later this year and 2010. I just may get into another race here or there. Will definitely be fun.

DoubleMussel Race Report - Half IM

At long last here is my race report for the Half IM race at Musselman. It's only three weeks post race. Enjoy the report.

Sunday July 19, 2009 – Half IM Tri
1.2 mile swim – 56 mile bike – 13.1 mile run

Race morning rolled around and I still felt tired from the hard effort during the sprint tri. At least the legs were tired. My body reminded me of how I felt on the last day of the Triple T. I got myself moving and fueled up for the day with two Boost and some peanut butter on bread. I also chewed on a PowerBar leading up to the start.

Aimee and I rode our bikes to the race site and got body marked. We racked our bikes and picked up our timing chip. While we prepared our transition areas we chatted with friends and competitors around us. I walked Aimee through the transition area then we made our way to the beach for the start.

Aimee’s start wave was going off right before mine. She was worried the 40-49 guys would swim right over the women ahead of us. I knew there would be plenty of room for all of us. When Aimee’s group was called to the start corral I gave her a kiss and wished her good luck. I knew she would be fine for the day.

A woman standing nearby made comment about how she saw Aimee’s chin quiver nervously as she turned away from me. The woman became choked up herself with our good luck kiss. I told her that Aimee gets emotional at the start of a race and I get emotional at the end. We chatted a little bit longer until I had to get in the corral myself.

When Aimee’s wave was sent on their way we were allowed to enter the water and position ourselves at the start line. We were standing in about 3 feet of water when the starting horn sounded. I started swimming immediately while some walked through the water. The wind was pushing some waves toward us from the left but I was into a good rhythm quickly and made my way to the first turn buoy.

We took a left turn around the buoy and were met with some small choppy waves. I was able to get into a rhythm with the small waves and didn’t have any problems making my way through the water. We started to catch up and pass through the women of the wave ahead of us. We were definitely spread out enough that I could make my way past people with no problems.

The way the swim course was laid out we made our way to the same waters we were in for the sprint tri. This would be the easiest part of the swim because this section is protected from the wind and the current actually pushes us into the channel. I did a better job sighting and moving around the other athletes.

Swimming up the boat ramp I didn’t stand up until I was in 12 inches of water. I stood up and headed to transition. As I started my jog to transition I saw Joella’s husband yelling to her. She was running right in front of me. She started 5 minutes ahead of me and we ran into transition together. As the timing mats beeped at us I asked Joella how the swim was.

Swim – 30:05 16th in AG

In transition I got my wetsuit off better than the day before. It slipped off my ankles easier. I put all my gear on and grabbed my bike. I told Joella to have a good bike and to be safe. I jogged out of transition warning people entering the aisle to be careful and I jogged by…I didn’t want a collision in transition.

On the roadway and past the mount line I jumped on my bike and started the 56 mile ride.

T1 – 1:37 9th in AG

Now I’m not going to bore you with a mile by mile account of the race. Overall it was a windy day. The winds were from the south/southwest. The winds were difficult to deal with and if not cautious I would burn too many matches during the early miles. If someone passed me I let them go. I was making sure to race my race. Here are some highlights:

Early on I was riding behind a woman slowly gaining ground on her. A guy passed me who was in my age group and I watched him reach over and pinch her ass. Since they were both wearing the same tri tops I figured they were married. I know I would have done that to Aimee if the chance arose.

As I passed her I asked, “Was that guy harassing you? I’ll have to teach him some manners.” “Is it sexual harassment when it’s your coach?” was her response. We both had a good laugh at that.

Fifteen miles into the bike and I had to pee already. The bladder was uncomfortable and I needed relief. I didn’t want to pee while riding into the wind since it would slow me down too much. I waited until we made a left turn and the wind would be more at our backs. After I emptied my bladder I washed off my leg with a water bottle and got back into rhythm.

When we finally turned north we were on top of the ridge between the two lakes. The wind was pushing us along nicely and my speed was 26+ MPH. I felt great during this stretch of road. The course turned east towards Cayuga Lake and a fast downhill to the road along the shore. I caught up to a fellow Cleveland Tri Club member and told her to stay strong.

The right hand turn at the bottom of the hill was sharp and I stayed behind the cyclist in front of me. There is no benefit of trying to pass him before or during the turn. However, he scared the crap out of me as he had to brake hard at the last minute and skidded slightly around the corner. He apologized to me as I passed him heading up the road.

For those of you that were wondering where Nemo has been I found him on the back of a woman’s aero helmet during the race. I announced my find to her as I passed and we shared a good chuckle from that. Her helmet looked like her little kids got to it since it was covered in various Disney stickers.

A little further down the road we made a right hand turn that would take us up the steepest climb of the day. I geared down to my small chain ring and spun up the hill. It wasn’t anything harder than in training but there was no point in killing myself getting to the top.

Once I made it to the top of the hill I started to feel like I was loosing power. My cadence was good but the speed and power just didn’t seem like it was there. I forged on and continued to take hits from my bottle of Perpetuem and chew on my Powerbar.

Paul, from the sprint tri, finally passed me and was looking good. I encouraged him to have a good ride and figured I wouldn’t see him again. Maybe I pushed it too hard during the sprint on Saturday. After he passed me I had to pee again. Going #1 for the second time on the bike is a little odd for a half IM but I needed to empty the bladder again.

A couple of more turns and I made it to the corner where my in-laws were working traffic control. I rode by my mom-in-law and gave her a wave as she cheered me on. It is nice having someone you know out on the course. After I passed her we had a long downhill back towards Seneca Lake.

I pushed a big gear to get the most from the downhill. But there was one thing I was fighting…..a headwind. I looked down at my computer and the 30MPH I was pushing wasn’t coming easy. I still had two more gears on my wheel to use but I wasn’t going to need them. During this downhill I passed Cleveland buddie Paul.

After the race Paul and I were talking about that downhill. Last year he bombed that hill at 40MPH. This year I was passing him at 30MPH. The headwind was that strong coming up the hill.

Rounding the right hand corner at the bottom of the hill I knew we only had about 16 miles to go heading north. The wind should have been at our backs but it definitely wasn’t helping.

For approximately 4.5 miles we ride through Sampson State Park. This section is the most painful, bumpy, chopped up road I have ever ridden skinny tires on. The road surface robbed you of speed and sent tremors all over your body. A couple of people passed me through here and then I was alone. I could see the small group in front of me but I couldn’t muster the power to get to them. I conceded to just make it out of the park to the better road surfaces.

Once we made it out of the park the road was much better. The smooth surface was a welcome sight. I got back into a good rhythm but I still didn’t have the power I wanted. All sorts of thoughts started going through my head.

I SUCK.

This is the worst bike I have ever had.

What was I thinking doing a double?

Why did I push so hard on the sprint?

Oh yeah. I was hitting a low. I have had these types of thoughts during a couple of training rides but never in a race. People talk about the emotional highs and lows associated with long course racing (Half and Full IM distances) but I have never really been there.

Guess what? I WAS THERE NOW!

I looked ahead of me and hated what I saw. People riding ahead and I couldn’t make a good effort to bring them closer. Everyone else seemed to be riding better than I. I sat up out of aero…then I would tuck in again. I played with my gears to make the spinning easy. I tried to hit the downhill sections hard and spin up the hills.

It was just so hard. I finally had another “oh well” moment. It was along the lines of “Oh well I’m screwed.” My race wasn’t over but I wasn’t sure how I was going to salvage the race either. My big question was, “How is the run going to unfold?” Am I going to implode? How slow will it be?

I had to simply wait. I needed to wait until I made it back to transition and see how the legs would feel on the run. I had 10 miles to get myself ready for the half marathon. Let’s see if I could pull something out of my ass.

Bike – 2:48:06 25th in AG 20 MPH

Heading into transition I dismounted as usual and ran in my socks to the bike rack. I hung up my bike and pulled off my helmet. The day was overcast so I decided for once to run without a hat. I slipped on my shoes and grabbed my race belt. I headed out of transition at a steady pace but also made sure to take it easy for the first couple of miles.

T2 – 1:20 7th in AG

I had studied the run course with the help of Paul and another friend. They provided valuable information about the course and how to run it. I looked at the profile and put a plan together weeks in advance.

The first two miles are flat along the lake. Then the course gains 250 feet over the next 5 miles. Some of it gradual, some of it steep. After mile 7 the course is pretty much all downhill except for some rollers.

My plan was to hold back and conserve my energy until mile 7. After that I would go for broke and let it rip. Get into the “Go Zone”, embrace the pain and push the body with the mind.

“Push the Mind and the Body Will Follow”

Leaving transition I settled into a steady pace with a small group of guys. I know they are there but I don’t care because I’m going to run my pace. Within the first mile we are getting passed by a young quick chick. The 25 on her leg tells me she is full of energy and excited to be racing. I watch her go by and hope she can keep it up for the entire 13.1 miles.

At the first aid station after mile 1 I notice the most of the guys I was running with were gone. I had slowly pulled away from them. That was fine with me perhaps I wasn’t as bad off as some of the others.

I started my nutrition plan of taking a PowerGel at each odd mile. I would wash it down with all the water I could grab and drink at the aid stations.

At 2.5 miles we encountered our first uphill. A gradual street leading to the grassy hill next to a house. We could either take the stairs or grass. I choose the grass and power walked the hill. This thing was steep. A couple more degrees of slope and we would have been climbing the hill with our hands. That’s a sick person who puts a section like that in a race. But then again, Devil’s Hill at the Spirit of Morgantown is just as bad.

Once I made it to the top of the climb the road was flat and I was running with people again. I was slowly catching and passing people. I still wasn’t moving very fast by my standards but felt comfortable. If the course was flat I pushed myself harder than on the hills. I would try to gain ground during the easy sections, especially the downhills.

The course turned off the road and we wound through a wooded area. I passed a guy who asked what my pace was. I told him I wasn’t wearing a watch and was “footloose and fancy free!” It was liberating to be without my watch. I wasn’t hung up on my splits or overall time. I was racing how my body felt and right now I was feeling pretty good. In fact, the end of my bike ride had seemed to disappear. My attitude was good and I was running with energy.

I was staying on track with my nutrition. At each odd mile marker I sucked down a PowerGel and waited until the next aid station for water and cold sponges. I continued to pass some people and get passed myself. That’s okay. I was running my race.

At mile 6.5 the course turns onto a gravel road that stretches for almost a mile. And the road is not flat. There are two significant rollers on this “road” but the road ends at the highest point of the course. I just wanted to make it to the end of the road and begin my push.

After turning onto the gravel road a couple of us guys were passed by another woman. DAMN. Where did she come from? And she was no young chick either. 37. That’s what was written on her calf. She was keeping a great steady pace and slowly pulled away from us. I thought good for her. I hope I don’t see her again.

A slow and steady pace up the hills and a cautious pace down the rocky hills eventually landed me on the pavement of the road. As I looked down the road I knew I was ready for what lay ahead. And with that final thought I pushed forward.

I increased my turnover and felt the speed increase. I moved from the road to the shoulder because of the slight cant to the road. The shoulder was flatter and provided some cushioning. Being closer to the grass and weeds I felt faster as they went by.

I started to gain ground on those in front of me. I hit the downhills with abandon using gravity to pass more runners. At the bottom of one hill I heard a voice behind me, “I like your tri top.” He was referring to my Snakebite Racing orange and blue. But then I couldn’t figure out who was catching up to me. Next thing I know this guy is running next to me. He made some comment how his friends had given him some grief about his training run a couple of hours ago when he started. Damn. He was a young guy so I decided to let him go ahead. He told me only a couple more rollers and it would be all downhill.

I continued to suck down the PowerGels and grab water out of the unsuspecting hands of the volunteers. I was moving pretty good now and they sometimes weren’t ready for my grab.

Between mile markers 9 and 10, I powered up the last roller and hit the street heading back into town. I was still pushing myself pretty good when I saw Paul ahead of me. Not Cleveland Paul but second place Paul from the sprint. I had made up the 5 minute head start he had coming out of T2. I commented that I hadn’t expected to see him again until after the finish.

After I left Paul I came upon another athlete I wasn’t expecting to see again. The young 25 year old woman who passed me during mile one of the run was locked in a battle with another 25 year old who was running just off her shoulder. I didn’t say anything as I passed them. I was simply amazed at how close they were heading into the final 3 miles of the run. It reminded me of how I ran next to Paul the day prior.

I continued to chase down and pass more triathletes as the miles ticked by. Right before the aid station at mile 11 I ran up on a guy in my age group. I was taking no prisoners. I wasn’t going to give him the chance to hang with me so I surged by him with confidence and power that couldn’t be matched, at least by my standards.

I took water at the aid station and kept on moving forward. My run was coming together perfectly. Approaching mile 12, I ran past the 37 year old woman who had passed me on the gravel road. I encourage her to keep up a good pace reminding her that we can do anything for the final mile to the finish.

At the final aid station I patted Cleveland triathlete Joe Bush on the back as I passed him to grab water. I shouted, “Keep up the good work Joe!” as I kept heading to the finish line.

I can do anything for one mile. Keep on pushing the body. Turn those legs over. You have worked too hard to falter now. Mind over matter.

I got closer to the main area of the park and saw more guys in front of me. I might be able to catch them. And hey….look at that…they are in my age group. In the last half mile I passed two more guys in my age group.

I pushed it all the way to the finish line and was glad to finally be done.

Run – 1:40:22 13th in AG 7:40/mile pace

Overall 5:01:30 – 12th in AG

DoubleMussel Race Report

I know, I know. It's about freakin' time. Another race report posted almost 10 days after the event. Settle in because it's a long one....and this is only the first race.

DoubleMussel Race Report

or the

“Oh Well” Weekend Report

This race report is going to be super long since it covers the entire four day weekend Aimee and I had getting to, spending time in and leaving Geneva, New York. While it was a fantastic weekend spent with Aimee, family and friends, it was quite an adventure.

Aimee and I took Friday and Monday as vacation days so that we could make a nice four day weekend of this race. I was racing the DoubleMussel which consisted of a sprint tri on Saturday then the Half IM on Sunday. Aimee was racing the Half IM as well. We loaded up the trusty Honda Pilot and left home around 10AM. It was a very nice day for a drive to the Finger Lakes Region of New York.

We were about 30 miles from our exit to Geneva when the Pilot started to make a high pitched squealing sound. Then the smoke started to appear with a pungent smell. I quickly pulled to the side of the road. Sitting on the side of the road I noticed a parking area, not a full rest area, less than a mile ahead. I drove to the parking area and shut down the car. I opened the hood and started to investigate the problem.

Aimee was calling her mom and dad who were coming out to watch the race. They were only 15 miles behind us and would join us at the parking area soon. Aimee started calling around to find the nearest Honda dealer. Once Tom and Liz arrived we looked at the belts again and had Aimee start the car. After about 30 seconds the smoke reappeared. Shutting off the A/C prevented the smoke. Looks like the A/C compressor was seized up and the moving belt was rubbing along the non-moving wheel of the compressor.

I decided that we could drive to the dealer 16 miles away and work things out from there. Aimee also found a car rental place right down the street from the dealer. Unfortunately the largest car they had was a Toyota Camry. Let’s see…..two tri bikes, spare set of wheels, water, food, clothes, bike tools and parts, etc. No way all of that stuff would fit into the Camry. This was our first “Oh Well” moment. We transferred some to the in-laws car and the rest into the rental. We would make do with what we had.

We drove the final 17 miles to Geneva and checked into our hotel around 5PM. After getting all of our stuff up to the room we had to pick up my race packet for the sprint tri. We all jumped in the rental since we were going to get dinner after I picked up my stuff. At the packet pickup I chatted with some other athletes. After I got my race number I stepped up to the volunteer standing behind the goodie table. He was a tall muscular guy with tattoos down both arms. I handed him my envelope and said, “I’m doin’ the Double.”

“That’s what I like to hear”, he responded. I smiled as he followed up with, “I want to see you on the podium for both races.” I kind of shook my head as he said it but he managed to plant a little seed in my head. This guy didn’t know me but his comment was said with such earnest that he made me believe it could be done. As he handed me the goodie bag….”for fifty bucks I’ll tackle someone in front of you to help with your race.” This guy was cracking me up. I thanked him and I made my way out the door….but a seed had already been planted.

We all had a nice dinner and got back to the hotel. I prepped my transition bag for the morning and lubed the drive train of my bike. It wasn’t going to be too early of a day because the sprint didn’t start until 9AM.

Saturday July 18, 2009 – Sprint Tri
750M swim – 16.1 mile bike – 3.1 mile run

We woke up Saturday morning with plenty of time to get ready. I took a shower to help wake up. Drank a protein Boost and ate some bread with peanut butter. I had two PowerGels, one before the swim and one near the end of the bike. I would also use a bottle of Gatorade on the bike. When I was happy with my status I kissed Aimee good-bye and rode my bike to transition. She was going to either walk or ride her bike to the race. The hotel we stayed at was 2 miles from the race.

I had a great warmup ride to the race. I got body marked and picked up my chip before heading to transition to lay out my stuff.

This was my rack space



I met some fellow DoubleMussel participants and we chatted while getting our gear ready. I met Kevin and Joella. Cleveland triathlete and friend Paul Lentini was there doing the Double. The tattoo guy from the night before walked by and I told him Paul would be my competition. Paul is a pretty “solid” guy and my new friend started to back off from the $50 I was offering him to tackle Paul. This type of exchange helped add to the relaxed atmosphere surrounding the race.

Here I am talking to Kevin.

My final preparation for the race would be a walk through of the entire transition. I want to be familiar with the path I would be taking. What is the ground like? What visual cues will I see in order to find my bike?

I walked over to the swim start then the swim exit. I pictured myself coming out of the water and did a walk through of what my transitions would be like. I walked through my swim-to-bike transition all the way to the bike mount line. Then I re-entered the transition area pretending to coming in from the bike course. Where is the dismount line? What is the area like? There were a couple of rough patches I would need to watch out for. Back to my transition spot and pretend to get my running gear on. Walk back out transition and follow the beginning of the run course.

It may take a while to get through transition several times but knowing where you are going is important. Making sure my gear is ready and in the order I expect it to be..crucial. I don’t have blazing transitions naturally; it takes practice and mental preparation.

I grabbed my swim gear and walked with Aimee over to the start area. I was in the fifth start wave behind two waves of women. We were able to watch the first wave from the bank of the canal. We watched as some people swam through floating seaweed…..mental note to stay right. Since my group was starting behind two waves of women I wasn’t sure what the extra traffic would mean in the water. Would I have to swim around a lot of bodies? As Aimee was putting it…a bunch of guys swimming over helpless women in the water. I’d try to be nice and avoid any contact with other swimmers unless they were wearing the same color cap as I. But the theme of the weekend surfaced again, “Oh Well”. We would just have to see what happens.

The 40 – 49 men entered the water for the open water start. We had to swim out to the start line between two buoys. We tread water until the final countdown. I positioned myself front row slightly to the right of center. Because of the floating stuff, I started right so I could avoid the gross stuff.

At the sound of the horn I was off like a bandit. I got into my race pace very quickly….I do best with open water starts. I was pushing hard from the start and finally settled in for the remainder of the swim. Actually my stroke and pace didn’t change much. I was pushing hard and getting as much air as possible with each breath.

I did start to catch some of the women but there was plenty of room to swim around them. After making a left hand turn I accidentally ran into a woman doing breast stroke. I popped my head up and she said “sorry”. I replied no problem and got back to business. I thought it was funny she said sorry to me since I ran into her because I wasn’t looking. But I know she felt sorry for being “in my way” or “slow”. In my mind there is no need to be sorry. I don’t mind sharing the water with my fellow triathletes…..no matter how fast or slow we are….because even I’m slow compared to others.

I swam the rest of the way to the boat ramp weaving around other swimmers. I swam all the way up the ramp before popping up and heading to transition. Someone in the crowd said “seventh” as I went by. Looking at the results I was indeed seventh in my swim wave of the 40 – 49 age groups. I knew I had a good swim and this was proof positive.

Swim – 12:08 3rd in AG

The swim to bike transition is always the toughest for me. I have been having problems this year with getting my wetsuit off quickly. The last part just won’t go over my calves or past my ankles. I’m still happy with the transition as I kept it moving forward. The scariest part was mounting the bike. I had already decided that I would run pretty far past the mount line before jumping on the bike. As I headed toward the mount line I watched a woman weave back and forth across the lane trying to clip in. I had to time where I ran with where she was swerving. That could have been a bad collision. Once I made it past her I jumped on the seat and headed out for a ride.

T1 – 1:34 9th in AG

How bad could a 16 mile bike ride? I do that in my sleep nowadays. After the first major uphill I settled into a good pace and kept within a reasonable distance to a good rider ahead. I figured to let him set the pace a little. About 5 or 6 miles into the course a guy passed me in my age group. I decided to keep him in my sights and increase my pace.

I kept a legal distance behind this new rider as we passed people from prior start waves. The guy in my age group slowly increased his lead but I wasn’t worried about it. I could still see him and I had to reserve some energy for the half IM on Sunday.

At the 10 mile mark I sucked down a PowerGel so that my legs would be ready for the run. The final mile back to transition is slightly downhill and I could maintain a fast pace continuing to pass more people.

During the final straight towards transition I pushed past several more riders so that I would have a clear shot at the dismount line. I slipped my feet out of the shoes and swung my right leg over the seat as I coasted to the mount line. I hopped off the bike and ran into transition.

Bike – 43:54 2nd in AG, 22.5 MPH Avg, the guy who passed me was 1st

As I approached my transition spot I noticed the guy who had passed me was still in transition. I racked my bike quickly and slipped on my running shoes. I grabbed my visor and race belt then headed towards the transition exit. The visor and belt would be put on while running.

Here we are both in transition after the bike....time to run.



T2 – 00:47 1st in AG, 5th overall

I wanted to get into a quick but easy pace. I needed to remember that there was a half IM waiting for me less than 24 hours away. As I reached the asphalt path that we would be running on, my competition came up behind me and started to pass. It was time to do or die. I latched onto his shoulder and kept pace with him.

We were running pretty fast and the pace was just on the edge of anaerobic. I was breathing heavy but tried to keep it under control so he wouldn’t hear me straining. I kept on him and he would glance over his shoulder to see me still right behind him. After about 1.5 miles we started chatting and eased up the pace just a little.

Paul was doing the DoubleMussel as well and wanted to conserve some energy for Sunday. Idle chit-chat for the next mile didn’t mean our pace dropped too much. We continued to pass other runners and push each other.

With approximately half a mile to go I pushed ahead of Paul. I wanted to achieve two things; gain what little time advantage I could over my DoubleMussel competition and beat Paul. We didn’t know our positions in the race but I didn’t want to cross the finish line behind him. In the past I have conceded position to competitors because I haven’t put much emphasis on being competitive. But this race was different. I was feeling great. I was racing smart and I deserved to cross the line first. I was willing to burn the extra matches despite the looming half IM Sunday morning.

Here I am finishing the run. Thanks for taking pictures Aimee.


Run – 21:09 4th in AG 6:37/mile pace

After crossing the finish line I waited for Paul and congratulated him on a great first race. We chatted and fueled up with fruit and drinks. The timing company was posting results occasionally and we had to wait a bit to get our finishing times. I wasn’t wearing a watch so I didn’t know my splits or final time. Once I saw the results I was very happy with my time and place. Paul and I finished 6 seconds apart taking the top two spots in our age group. I found Paul and told him our position. I apologized for having pushed ahead at the end and taking first. One of Paul’s friend replied, “someone has to win.” Damn straight and it was me.

The awards ceremony was cool because they had podium spots to stand on as we held our bottle of wine, Nuun electrolytes and Musselman socks. It was great to stand up there wearing my Snakebite jacket and congratulating the other two “old guys”.

On the podium....



Final time – 1:19:32 1st in AG, 20th Overall