Sal's

Running, Biking, Swimming, Triathlons, Snowshoeing: what's next? Sal's kicks butt.

Monday, June 30, 2014

Tupper Lake Tinman Triathlon

You call them hills, they are mountains to me, after all they call it Mt. Arab, not Hill Arab and there must be a reason for that! Maybe it has to do with the four inclines averaging 4-7% and up to a mile long before reaching the mountain road? It could be the mile climb on the road leading to Mt. Arab road? Or the turn onto the one lane road that climbs another 6-8% to the turnaround?
 The Tupper Lake 1/2 IM and sprint races were held on Saturday, June 28 on a beautiful, though ultimately hot, calm day. Three of us participated in the sprint, with MW being the ultimate victor. I won the swim (lessons paid off), Eileen crushed us on the bike, MW crushed me on the run. Results are here.
Truth is I did get scared coming down Mt. Arab, which is when Eileen passed me like an out of control 14 year old who was fearless. I was continually braking, scared of bumps, stones, cracks in the road or anything else that might make me fall. That is not a good strategy to have when trying to bike fast.
MW caught me just past mile 3 on the run when the temperature out on shade-free highway 3 seemed to rise uncontrollably. He was very encouraging though, saying "we still have a long way to go!". Exactly what one wants to hear when he is melting on the course. Bastard. How about, "hey Mike, don't worry, it's only three miles to go, no problem, you are looking good, keep it up?" Nah, bury a knife in my mental thinking and run on. Bastard.
The volunteers were great on the course, the water was calm, we had assigned spots by age group in transition, fluids at water stops were cold, we had a motel steps from the start/finish, the post-race beer and barbeque were tasty.

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