The East coast of the U.S. has been in the grip of a heatwave for the last few days, which made for potentially 'interesting' conditions on the course. The day before, the event organizers had talked about making the run an optional 'fun run' only, or scrapping the run portion completely, if it got too hot. Luckily, the event started early (7.00 am), and the short distances (400m swim in an inside Olympic sized swimming pool, 13 mile bike, 5km run in the park), meant that everyone should finish before it started getting dangerously hot (it reached 100 deg F in Central Park later in the day).
Despite the heat, I had a good race. I still get nervous waiting to go into the swimming pool - my girlfriend and handler extraordinaire Rachel noticed I was engaging in a strange listless rocking motion while I was waiting around the side of the pool. This was the third time I'd done this particular race, so I shouldn't have been nervous. I wish before events I could be as relaxed as Allan, a friend from Achilles. As it was like a sauna in the pool room (I swear I lost about 10 pounds just lining up for the start), Allan decided to wait just outside, horizontal, on the ground, with his eyes closed. He actually looked so relaxed that one competitor passing by was worried he'd passed out, and Rachel mentioned a couple of times she was worried he'd fall asleep and miss the entire event.
Inside though, I knew my swimming would be better this year, and once I got in the pool, I felt pretty comfortable. For this first time in this event, I managed to keep swimming without stopping for a breather. I felt good on the bike portion as well, even though I haven't done much biking this year so far, and while the run was hot, I wasn't too uncomfortable. The organizers did a good job of providing sprays along the course to keep everyone cool.
My final time was 1.36, including a 17 min swim, 46 min bike ride, and 29 min run. Next year I'll be back to do the swim in under 15!
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| The Achilles Kicking Crew |
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