Bronx Biathlon

I had heard about this race for a few years now. Its a no frills race. I was planning on doing it last year but it rained so I bagged it. No excuses this year. I was coming off a recovery week so the timing was perfect. Spring finally arrived last week....actually the weather skipped spring and went directly to HOT summer weather. The forecast was for hot sunny weather Saturday and Sunday. I went for a 3 hour hilly ride Saturday. I was a bit dehydrated from the ride since it was hot so I wasn't feeling fresh. Oddly I was kinda of looking forward to testing my fitness. I wasn't feeling very speedy. It was hot and humid already....not my favorite race conditions.

The first run is 2.8 miles, mostly flat. Start slow as I like to do and settle into my pace and get stronger as the run goes on. My target was the first place female and I slowly gained on her the whole run and finally passed her right before transition. I get on my bike fairly quickly and spin the legs at high cadence to once again settle into a good pace. Once again my target is that first place female again :) Oops, she transitioned quicker than me. Pass her again. My next target is Rodney, hairdresser to the stars. Pass him. We exchange a quick chat. The great thing about this race is that they close down a 4.5 mile stretch on the Hutchinson Pkwy.....very smooth road with a steel grated bridge we go over 4 times. I can't imagine riding over that section when its wet out. The rest of the ride was uneventful. There was myself and two other guys that exchanged places for the bulk of the ride. I ended up in the middle coming into T2.....feeling good. Got onto the run quickly. I started slowly to find my legs and it was much hotter now. The guy behind me came by at a pace that was too fast to keep up with. I caught the guy in front of me within the first half mile. I was passed by one other guy who once again was cooking. Its an out/back run so you could see all your competition ahead and behind you. I finished feeling strong. First run pace 6:22/mile and second run was 6:40/mile. Biked 23.3 mph at 273 watts. Finished 15th overall out of about 200 people. Sue was 2nd female and had the fastest female bike split. Unfortunately I was 6th in my age group...no podium for me :(

I bet I had at least 40 pounds of body weight on the 14 guys ahead of me. Now, if I could just lose 15 pounds, I would be running in the 5's.....that's what I want.

Big training week ahead. Swam 4,000 yds Monday and biked 1:50 on the computrainer today. Boys ironman training weekend in the hamptons this weekend. I will need a massage next week :) Not sure which race is next.......we'll see.