ALEX…3RD AGE GROUP…10TH OVERALL, TIME 1:09:50

ALEX… 3RD OVERALL TIME 1:05:10 MIKE 3RD AGE GROUP TIME 1:16

JASON….1ST TIME 1:42:59

ASHLEY…3RD AGE GROUP TIME 1:28:39 CARLO… 2ND AGE GROUP TIME 1:33:42

Some of you have done the Musselman and know how good that race is – they know what they are doing (they should this was the 11th annual) – good course, good race director (Jeff is fantastic) and an unbelievable group of volunteers. The race is held in Geneva NY at the northern tip of Lake Seneca in the Finger Lakes region in the heart of wine country. There are 2 days of racing – on Saturday is an Olympic distance race, kids events and fun runs – Sunday is the main event – the Half-Iron distance tri and an aqua-bike.
The lake is usually crystal clear (really you can see the bottom), the bike course runs along the shores of 2 of the Finger Lakes and has some moderate false flat climbs and a couple of short steeper hills – no mountains to climb here – the run course has a couple of challenging hills as it cuts through one of the local vineyards. For those so inclined the local college (Hobart) makes the dorms available at a very reasonable rate to create an athletes village environment – My wife was with me so we opted for one of the local Bed and Breakfasts on Cayuga lake. Overall spectacular views of country side. So what could go wrong —

Well it turned out that Mother Nature came to play with her A game on Sunday – Driving over to the event site (some 20 minutes from the B&B) I noted that the branches in the trees were moving pretty good in the wind and the weather report was for rain later in the day. Transition zone was super-organized where each athlete had an assigned spot by bib number – At your spot there was a personal one-liner motivational message taped to the rack – Mine was “Be determined today Jim” Hmm did they know something I didn’t???? –
I had tested the water on Saturday and decided to wear the full length wetsuit and proceed to get ready to get into the water – I was in the 6th (last wave) so ended up started about 30 minutes after the first – The 1.2 mile swim course was a point to point where you started straight out into the lake for 200 yards then headed south for 1200 yards then back into a channel that serves as a boat marina to exit at a boat ramp. The first 100 yards was so shallow that you had to walk – I tried to swim but was dragging on the bottom with each stroke – but then got into a swimming rhythm to the first turn buoy – made the turn South and immediately started fighting the waves that were coming almost head on and a little off my right shoulder. These were not your everyday swells but full on 2-3 footers with white-caps that were consistent the entire course – and tended to push me in toward the shore as well as backward – more the kind you would see in an ocean swim not a lake swim – Getting around the midway buoy was an adventure – seemed like it was never getting closer and twice I got pushed a good 20 yards inside the buoy-line and had to cut back out around the outside – got to the last open-water turn buoy and down into the channel where the water was finally calm enough for me to get into a smooth rhythm. Lost a lot of energy on the swim today.

Transitioned to the bike and got out on the road – the course is a south to north loop that cuts across from Seneca lake to Cayuga – it starts with about a 5-6 degree climb for a mile that becomes a 2 degree false flat for the next 10 miles – Sunday it was dead into a 25 MPH steady-state wind (“be determined today Jim) – but the scenery was nice – About 1/3 of the way into the bike it started to rain – light at first then some real heavy rain that, combined with the wind, stung the arms and exposed skin when it hit. By half-way on the bike the roads were slick with puddles in the low points – Finally got to the point that there was a tail wind – that was great – literally hitting a bike speed 28-30 mph on flat and level pavement. At about 40 miles there is a stretch that cuts through a trail similar to the tow-path but paved (probably 20 years ago) with asphalt – it was pretty rough and I had to slow down to stay vertical (remember – rubber side down) – the rest of the ride would have been beautiful along the lake and it finally stopped raining.

Thank goodness for volunteers and police at every intersection, at the 5 water stations (water, HEED, fruit, Gels) – those guys were soaked, some with umbrellas that had turned inside out in the rain, – at least they were having fun.
Transitioned to the run (I did one thing right by putting my running shoes and biking shoes into plastic bags when I set up) and got out on the run – at least it was cool and there were plenty of water stations with water, HEED, coke, Gel, pretzels, cookies). Started raining again, lightly, during the run but the wind never let up – pretty constant all day – at mile 7 of the run you cut up through a service road in a vineyard – the road is coarse gravel and rock and ends with a monster hill – think a grade like the steep section on Truxell – other than that the run was uneventful –

I did finish a good hour and a half past my goal time but I did finish (7 1/2) and got the best finisher medal ever (SEE PIC IN 2014 PHOTO tab) –
I would definitely recommend the race – it is considered one of the “destination Half’s” in the country – fun place to visit and you won’t find a better organized race

Hit the food tents then went to cleanup my transition but Mother Nature was not yet done – it started raining again heavily as I knocked down my bike and loaded it into the car –

SPRINT DISTANCE…..  CARLO…. 2ND AGE GROUP 1:22:49    JOHN…1ST AGE GROUP  1:26:43    ASHLEY….1ST AGE GROUP  1:34:43

MIKE ….2ND AGE GROUP  1:28:48

OLYMPIC DISTANCE…. MEGAN…  1ST WOMEN OVERALL!!…. 2:12:37       EMILY…..1ST AGE GROUP  2:40:16   HENRY…2ND AGE GROUP 2:39:54

ALEX…FINISHED BUT CHIP NOT READ