taconic road runners ("trrc") biathlon: race report

i had hoped to swim the second part of the trrc biathlon - it would have been my first swim event, so to speak. but with no time in the water this summer, and my swimming skills marginal (at best), when i woke up to the sounds of rain outside my window i immediately took emmy up on her offer to team up with me on this one! i would run the first 3 miles and emmy would swim the half mile lake portion.

as it turned out, the high humidity made it seem like my run was actually a swim, slogging thru the 3 miles in thick, wet conditions. before we arrived at the lake to register (actually, emmy was pre-registered as an individual and she switched it to team), emmy drove a portion of the race course. the first mile was practically a straight uphill climb! the good news, survive that climb and the enjoy a downhill finish!

i knew things would be tough when i ran the first mile in 7:00 flat. when reality and perceived effort don't match up during an event, it makes for strange outcomes. i thought i was running at a sub-7 pace, and it felt that hard. even more discouraging, midway during the second mile i noticed my taped on number (which would be pulled off for scoring purposes) had fallen off! i had no idea when or where that happened... and the momentary slow down in looking for, and worry about it, netted me a 7:08 for mile 2 - 14:08 split.

the split was discouraging, but i was even more concerned that i was running all out and hardly moving! since the bulk of the last mile was downhill, except for a short steep climb to the finish, i forgot about the tag and ran a 6:39 last mile. my watch time was a 20:47 - but my official time was 10 seconds slower (20:57). that may have resulted from my stop at the scorekeeper to explain the lost tag (instead of running straight to emmy for the tag).

emmy ran into the lake and took off on the half mile swim. i ran back to the scorekeeper to make sure we were actually on the scoreboard (yes, a blank space w/my number pencilled in). then i grabbed my camera and ran back to the lake to get a shot of emmy finishing the swim. it took her 12:59 to swim the course - and by then a light rain was falling. our combined time was 33:56 - 19th place overall and 7th in the team competition.

afterwards, it was time to socialize a bit. eliot and his family were there. ilana and her family were there. neil and julie were there. a great turnout of taconic road runners (tony, tom, karen, ted, lee, and ed, to name just a few) were there. the on and off light rain didn't dampen the post-race festivities (and the serious thunder and lightning held off until that afternoon).

a good time on a rain day... but a swim event is still on top of my list of new things to try!