Olympic Triathlon Success!

This past weekend I accomplished one of my goals on my 30x30 list. Finish an Olympic Distance Triathlon! (.9 mile swim, 25 mile bike, 6.2 mile run)

I knew I wanted to do something later in the summer so I'd have time to train after the half marathon and to make sure the water would be a little warmer. I ended up at the Park City Team Mossman Tri in Connecticut.

Originally I picked this tri as it was closer and we could probably drive out there the morning of. However, after realizing that they were starting the race at 6:30am (!!!) Alex and I decided to get a hotel in the area the night before, which was actually pretty nice. This worked out especially well as our hotel had a full kitchen, so I could cook and not have to worry about what I was going to find at a restaurant the night before the race.

Race morning ended up being almost comically chaotic as I forgot my ID and had to go back for it, we got sort of lost on the way there as the road was closed, and then I arrived as they were singing the national anthem. Crap. So much for a relaxing start. The original plan was to have Alex drop me off and then he could go back and sleep and have breakfast. However, as we pulled in, they closed the roads and he was stuck for the duration of the race. Thus, as the plan was to go back and get the camera when he returned, the only photos we've got are awesome cell phone pictures. (Neither of us have nifty smart phones, so the quality is especially high. ;-) Oh well. )



Anyhow, the race itself went really well! The swim was my first race in salt water in the Long Island Sound, and though the waves were more then I was used to, it went really quick! The bike was 5 loops of a 5 mile course. It was really scenic along the beach and was, thankfully for me, completely flat! SCORE. The run was also along the bike course, so nice and flat and views of the water. The last bit of the run was pure gumption, but I made it through and ran the entire race finishing with a time of 3 hours 25 minutes. Not super speedy, but perfectly good for me!


Cheers to Triathlons!

An Athletic May!

Wow! Things have been crazy the past couple months over here in Brooklyn. Not only has the photo business been crazy, (you are following the photo blog right?) but I've been involved in a number of super athletic endeavors through the city. No triathlons for a bit yet, but there's been a storm of running and biking feats!

On the Brooklyn Bridge on the way to the start.

First up, the NYC Bike Tour. My dad suggested this back in February or so, and I emailed my lovely friend Andrea to see if she'd be up for attempting it with me. Nothing crazy, just 42 miles through all 5 boros! :-) She agreed and off we went! Unfortunately I was in a rush to leave that morning and forgot my camera, but luckily Andrea saved the day and remembered hers!

Waiting to get rolling.

The tour was May 1st and both of us were pretty excited! We biked over the Brooklyn Bridge and to the start line in the financial district. Holy cow, SO MANY BIKERS!

The crazy amounts of bikers at the start!

It was bikers basically as far as you could see. We waited quite awhile to actually get started, and it was a bit of stopping and starting, but once we got rolling it was really fun to coast down 6th avenue without any traffic at all!

One of the many unfortunate traffic jams.

However, the ride did end up having a number of bottle necks, Central Park, getting out of the Bronx, into Queens, a bit in Brooklyn, and then a huge massive traffic jam on the BQE. Thankfully, it was a beautiful day, so it could have been MUCH worse, but hopefully next year they'll plan things out a bit better so there aren't the massive back-ups on parts of the course. It was pretty awesome to bike down the FDR and across bridges that aren't normally open to bikes! I got to see many parts of the city I'd never been to before.

Atop the Verrazano Bridge into Staten Island.

Biking Across!

After my legs had recovered from the bike, it was on to the running! This past weekend I got to run in the Brooklyn Half Marathon! This race had sold out in about a day, so I was excited to get one of the coveted spots! I also finished with my best time ever, 2:28! Crossing the line just in time to beat my goal of sub 2:30!! (I know that's not super speedy for most of you, but for me, it was pretty awesome.)

It was a beautiful day for a race, and the course was pretty much shaded the whole way through, so it made for a great run.

The best part of this race was the finish, all the runners make their way onto the Coney Island Boardwalk, running past the Wonder Wheel on one side and the ocean on the other before crossing over the finish line.


Alex managed to snap a photo just before the finish!


Hurrah!

Afterwards, Alex and I enjoyed a walk out on the pier to enjoy the view.