The Central Park Biathlon is Run 2 miles, Bike 12, then Run another 2… seemingly easy right? It is more difficult (in my mind) than a straight up Triathlon.

Saturday before the race was a busy day. On my morning bike ride around Central Park a bee flew into my shirt and stung me on the chest as I was flying down the back hill. I haven’t been stung by a bee in like 20 years so I wasn’t sure if I was going to have an allergic reaction as I rode up the hill on the other side.

Benny had a roof party all day which was fantastic… Bocce Ball… Beers… Friends…
I left at 6 to get my race packet, clean up, and head to Amanda’s birthday party.

She chose to have her party at the Boat Basin on 79th and the River, always a good choice. It was a real fun time. I even found out that a few gals I know grew up on the same lake that my 2 cousins Gillian and Cat live on. Small world. I didn’t get to eat my standard ‘night before’ race food so I settled for a burger. I left around 11 or so and was in bed at midnight.

RACE DAY

I woke at the super freakin early time of 6AM. Had some Cafe Bustelo and made my way up to CP. (the race Transitions and Start/Finish were at the Boathouse)

As I may have mentioned before, everyone was cool as hell. People of all ages were chatting and there was a totally good vibe pumping through the air.

My transition spot was totally filled by the time I got there. I had to rack my gear on some random spot. Lesson 1: Get to a race early. My friend Cenk said, “Its good to get there early to get your spot set up” I knew this from our last race and totally showed up late, losing my Transition spot.

We all moved to the start line and I was up with the ‘fasties’. These guys looked very serious. We had a small 5 minute window then they sounded the gun!

Lesson 2. DO NOT run heavy duty sprint intervals 2 days prior to a race. This will turn your calves into baseballs. As we started running I totally felt tight and realized the mistake I had made. Must continue though…

The lead guy was a freakin animal and was easily running a 5:20 mile. I was in the lead 10 guys but this character was way ahead of the main pack. I got a look at him at the turn around and he was like 38-40 years old. props.

At T1 I was mildly quick getting on my bike and starting the 2 lap course in decent time. Lesson 3: get a new freakin bike! I was passed by at least 5 people on the bike course (2 of whom were riding the bike I am looking to buy, the Cervelo P2) hint, hint, right? It was a brutal ride as the Autumn winds were in full force. My legs were on fire too. I’m not used to running, then riding. Its normally the reverse.

Coming into T2 I was quicker to get my running shoes back on and head out onto the track for the final 2 mile run. I didn’t get my full speed until maybe a mile had gone by. It takes some time for the legs to adjust after a bike ride. As I got my act together I started picking people off. I might have only passed 3 guys before closing in on the finish line. About 50 yards to the end I saw a guy ahead of me that gave me a reason to rock out my new traditional ‘sprint like a maniac’ through the finish. I beat him by like 2 seconds or something. Marissa was there waiting for me. High fives to her for waking up at 7:30AM on a Saturday to come cheer me on! She is also responsible for all the awesome photos. We sat in the sunny grass and watched the rest of the racers come in, cheering them on.

I finished in 16th overall and got another plaque for third in my age group. Once my body calmed down I felt amazing. SIDENOTE: the guy I sprinted past at the end was in my age group. Had I not sprinted at the end I would not have gotten an award! crazy right?

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I don’t know why right now I feel the need to hit people up with thanks and high fives, but why not. I don’t have any real ‘coaches’ per se, but I consider anyone who has given me advice or trained with me a ‘coach.’ These are the people that push us to do better.

SHOUT OUTS GO TO…

SWIM COACHES: Todd ‘Swim Coach’ Doyle, and Carla Uzel

BIKERS: only one… Jae ‘the Hardy Boy’ Hardy for telling me to buy a track bike 9 years ago.

RUN TEAM: Robert, Sarah and Antonio… some of the speediest Ive ever run with. Kevin Masse. My ‘Dad Posse’ Mike, Ed and Jim!

TRI: Cenk Uzel, for showing me the ropes!

STRENGTH: Asher Hoffman for those early years of prep.

MOTIVATIONAL: Ila Doyle, Marissa Bennett