One of a kind tennis ball
Among the Champions
With friends on the escalator en route to the Arthur Ashe Stadium to watch Serena Williams
A perfect day to watch the US Open or the camera man
Monday, September 14, 2009
SEPTEMBER WEEKEND AT THE US OPEN
Thursday, September 10, 2009
IN THE STEPS OF OUR PILGRIM TRIATHLETE ANCESTORS
Saturday, September 5th I made my way down to Plymouth, MA for the 2009 Mayflower International Distance triathlon. l had signed up for this mostly on a whim, looking for a prep race to squeeze in before I did my next 70.3 at the end of the month. Two things made this course look appealing. First, the leisurely start time of 10 a.m. Since I was making the two hour drive down from New Hampshire, this meant that I could get up at a reasonable hour. Second, the swim, which started at Plymouth Rock, and ended at the Mayflower II (apparently retracing the path of the Pilgrims who, once they realized they had landed in Massachusetts, fled back to their ship).
I got to the race with plenty of time. The field was pretty small, so packet pick-up, body marking and racking were all a breeze, leaving me plenty of time to organize my gear, do a quick test-spin on the bike and get to learn the quarter mile run from the end of the swim to T1. The swim start was about half a mile from the transition area and, while the organizers provided shuttle buses, I opted to walk, taking a nice leisurely stroll down the sidewalk with my wetsuit, googles and cap in hand. And, which I realized as I neared the swim start, my sunglasses on my face. So, my leisurely stroll now became a speed-walk as I had to do another round trip to transition and back, and get suited up before I left in the first wave.
The swim was a one-mile frown-shaped affair running clockwise from Plymouth Rock to the Mayflower. The buoys basically followed the curving seawall for about half a mile, and then navigated their way through the multitude of anchored boats and floating buoys. Had the field been larger, things could have gotten tight, but my wave was pretty reasonable. This was my first deep-water swim start, and also one of the better swims that I've had. At the sound of the whistle I was able to get in a few, quick strong strokes to get out in front and find some open water (again, not too hard because of the small field) and settle into a rhythm pretty easily. Also. because of the large seawall, and calm conditions, the water was incredibly calm. That, combined with all of the landmarks in the water, made sighting a breeze. After about 2/3 of the mile I found myself a ways behind the small group of fast swimmers that were way out in front, and a larger group behind me, so I pretty much had things to myself. This was a real benefit because the swim exit was up onto a small dock, with about three ladders, so things would have been much more difficult with a crowd. But, after 24 minutes of swimming, I got myself up onto land, ran up the gangplank (first time I've used that word in a tri report), and got my wetsuit quickly down to my waist.
The long run to T1 wasn't as bad as I had imagined it would be. I really thought running that long in the wetsuit would really get to me, but I didn't really notice it. Unfortunately, I did end up with a pretty crappy spot on the bike rack--way off in a back corner, which is not just a pain for having to step past other people, but just adds that much more to your transition times. Oh well. I got out of the wetsuit, threw on the helmet, belt and glasses, and was off onto the out-and-back 25 mile bike.
Now, right away, things did not go well for me on the bike. My shoulders and neck were really stiff, making it hard to stay down in the aero position. I was also having a hard time getting my legs under me, so it really felt like a struggle. Add to that the fact that the course was not the best. For one, the road surface was in rough shape--frost heaves, long cracks, and deep potholes (some of which required some real maneuvering) were persistent. But, I remembered the similar experience that I had had at Mooseman a couple of years ago and this time just tried to hang in there. After about twenty minutes I felt like things were going a bit better and, once we hit some fresh pavement, I was able to really start moving. The downside, however, was that now that I had picked up all this speed, it made the crappy road conditions all the more problematic. At one point, I failed to avoid a significant bump and managed to come down on my seat hard, pushing the nose of the seat down to about a 45 degree angle. This was not preferable, but manageable. The nice thing though was that no one was passing me and, because it was out and back, I knew that there were only a handful of riders out in front of me. I also had a "buddy" on the ride, another guy in my age group that I kept going back an forth with. Despite the ups and downs of the ride (ha ha ha) I managed to eek out 21 mph for the ride.
I had a good arrival into T2 and, being a bit slow to get my running shoes on, my "buddy," who came in just after me, left just before me. So, off on the 10k run.
My legs felt good right from the start and I managed to leave my buddy behind within the first few hundred yards. The course was flat, so I was able to keep a good running rhythm going. Over the next mile I managed to pass two more runners. The course turned onto a gravel rail trail, and I came up to a guy hanging out on the side. "How many have come through here?" I managed to ask him. "You're fifth" he said. So now I could start doing the math--if I could just keep any one from catching me, I was looking at a podium finish. I kept checking over my shoulder, but just didn't see anyone coming up behind me. I knew I was way behind the front group of four, so my goal was just to maintain my place. After about mile three, and still no one behind me, I started to feel a bit more comfortable and eased up a bit. As a race first for me, I grabbed a water at an aid station and managed to ge the crumpled up cup into the garbage can. The kids who were volunteering there went nuts. The rest of the run was pretty straight forward and, around mile 4 when I hit the turn-around I started to see the people behind me--I had quite a lead going. With only about 2 miles to go I held on to a brisk, but manageable pace, averaging 6:17 for the run and crossed the finish at just under 2:19, managing 6th overall and 1st in my age group.
So, overall, a great race. I got a nice little statue (or maybe it's a statuette?), but more importantly felt good during the race, and after, giving me a nice confidence boost going into a half in two weeks. And, while I didn't end up with any pictures for the race, the organizers did use this neat little service. Go to http://www.zumtri.com/race_files/Mayflower2009/ZumTri.html# , put my last name in the search field, and hit next twice.
I got to the race with plenty of time. The field was pretty small, so packet pick-up, body marking and racking were all a breeze, leaving me plenty of time to organize my gear, do a quick test-spin on the bike and get to learn the quarter mile run from the end of the swim to T1. The swim start was about half a mile from the transition area and, while the organizers provided shuttle buses, I opted to walk, taking a nice leisurely stroll down the sidewalk with my wetsuit, googles and cap in hand. And, which I realized as I neared the swim start, my sunglasses on my face. So, my leisurely stroll now became a speed-walk as I had to do another round trip to transition and back, and get suited up before I left in the first wave.
The swim was a one-mile frown-shaped affair running clockwise from Plymouth Rock to the Mayflower. The buoys basically followed the curving seawall for about half a mile, and then navigated their way through the multitude of anchored boats and floating buoys. Had the field been larger, things could have gotten tight, but my wave was pretty reasonable. This was my first deep-water swim start, and also one of the better swims that I've had. At the sound of the whistle I was able to get in a few, quick strong strokes to get out in front and find some open water (again, not too hard because of the small field) and settle into a rhythm pretty easily. Also. because of the large seawall, and calm conditions, the water was incredibly calm. That, combined with all of the landmarks in the water, made sighting a breeze. After about 2/3 of the mile I found myself a ways behind the small group of fast swimmers that were way out in front, and a larger group behind me, so I pretty much had things to myself. This was a real benefit because the swim exit was up onto a small dock, with about three ladders, so things would have been much more difficult with a crowd. But, after 24 minutes of swimming, I got myself up onto land, ran up the gangplank (first time I've used that word in a tri report), and got my wetsuit quickly down to my waist.
The long run to T1 wasn't as bad as I had imagined it would be. I really thought running that long in the wetsuit would really get to me, but I didn't really notice it. Unfortunately, I did end up with a pretty crappy spot on the bike rack--way off in a back corner, which is not just a pain for having to step past other people, but just adds that much more to your transition times. Oh well. I got out of the wetsuit, threw on the helmet, belt and glasses, and was off onto the out-and-back 25 mile bike.
Now, right away, things did not go well for me on the bike. My shoulders and neck were really stiff, making it hard to stay down in the aero position. I was also having a hard time getting my legs under me, so it really felt like a struggle. Add to that the fact that the course was not the best. For one, the road surface was in rough shape--frost heaves, long cracks, and deep potholes (some of which required some real maneuvering) were persistent. But, I remembered the similar experience that I had had at Mooseman a couple of years ago and this time just tried to hang in there. After about twenty minutes I felt like things were going a bit better and, once we hit some fresh pavement, I was able to really start moving. The downside, however, was that now that I had picked up all this speed, it made the crappy road conditions all the more problematic. At one point, I failed to avoid a significant bump and managed to come down on my seat hard, pushing the nose of the seat down to about a 45 degree angle. This was not preferable, but manageable. The nice thing though was that no one was passing me and, because it was out and back, I knew that there were only a handful of riders out in front of me. I also had a "buddy" on the ride, another guy in my age group that I kept going back an forth with. Despite the ups and downs of the ride (ha ha ha) I managed to eek out 21 mph for the ride.
I had a good arrival into T2 and, being a bit slow to get my running shoes on, my "buddy," who came in just after me, left just before me. So, off on the 10k run.
My legs felt good right from the start and I managed to leave my buddy behind within the first few hundred yards. The course was flat, so I was able to keep a good running rhythm going. Over the next mile I managed to pass two more runners. The course turned onto a gravel rail trail, and I came up to a guy hanging out on the side. "How many have come through here?" I managed to ask him. "You're fifth" he said. So now I could start doing the math--if I could just keep any one from catching me, I was looking at a podium finish. I kept checking over my shoulder, but just didn't see anyone coming up behind me. I knew I was way behind the front group of four, so my goal was just to maintain my place. After about mile three, and still no one behind me, I started to feel a bit more comfortable and eased up a bit. As a race first for me, I grabbed a water at an aid station and managed to ge the crumpled up cup into the garbage can. The kids who were volunteering there went nuts. The rest of the run was pretty straight forward and, around mile 4 when I hit the turn-around I started to see the people behind me--I had quite a lead going. With only about 2 miles to go I held on to a brisk, but manageable pace, averaging 6:17 for the run and crossed the finish at just under 2:19, managing 6th overall and 1st in my age group.
So, overall, a great race. I got a nice little statue (or maybe it's a statuette?), but more importantly felt good during the race, and after, giving me a nice confidence boost going into a half in two weeks. And, while I didn't end up with any pictures for the race, the organizers did use this neat little service. Go to http://www.zumtri.com/race_files/Mayflower2009/ZumTri.html# , put my last name in the search field, and hit next twice.
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