Triathlon Fun!

Saturday 6/21/08

Green Lakes Triathlon; Green Lakes State Park; Fayetteville, NY
(aka Fayetteville Triathlon, Syracuse Triathlon or YMCA Triathlon)

Green Lakes Park is home to a couple of meromictic lakes, which are deep glacial lakes where there is no fall and spring mixing of surface and bottom waters. A wonderful description of the park can be found on the Wikipedia site.

This is where it all began for me one year ago…my first triathlon was here in 2007. I never got around to documenting that first triathlon, but I do remember the terrible time I had during the swim leg. I remember resorting to every stroke, even the doggy paddle, just to maintain some semblance of forward momentum. I was seventh to last coming out of the water that first year! This year I did much better. I settled into a nice rhythm and even had the energy and presence of mind to enjoy the beautiful aquamarine blue water. The lakes are each about 200 feet deep and swimming is usually confined to a shallow beach area. As far as I know this triathlon is the only time that people can swim legally in the deeper portion of the lake. I even managed to get my wet suit off without too much difficulty. All other times I have swum with the suit on, I have struggled to remove it (in my mind I imagine it must be somewhat like having a full-grown octopus clinging to your arms and legs which you must remove before you can hop on your bike). Who wants to bike 12 miles with an octopus clinging to them? Once on the bike, I felt strong on the flats, but a little weaker than usual on the hills. I did get a burst of adrenaline from fellow bicyclist Kate, cheering us on at the top of the steepest climb. Amazing how someone screaming at you can do that! Silly pride!

It was a different story for me on the run, however. Upon starting the run, I was seriously out of breath, even though my heart rate was reasonable, considering my exertion level. Within a few hundred feet of the start of the run, I entered the part of the path where I had hiked with my parents a couple of months previously. This is what it looked like then….

I felt a calm come over me and I just kept telling myself not to worry about staying ahead of the other competitors, just to do my best. I expected to get passed by some men, but deep down I was hoping to stay ahead of the other women. I did end up getting passed by a couple of women, including one from Cazenovia whom I had met at a training clinic. This was her first triathlon and she did terrific! She even had a few words of encouragement for me as she passed by. Somewhere between miles two and three, I was really starting to have trouble maintaining my pace and was starting to really slow down. This also happens to be one of the prettiest views of the lake.

Another runner passed me and again I heard words of encouragement and we commented to each other on the beauty of the lake. Soon enough, I was approaching the finish area and by this time my good friend Janet (who had already finished her race with an awesome time) was there to cheer me on. Again, another burst of adrenaline and I was able to get to the finish.

Janet and I walked around a little bit to cool down and search for Kate, but we never found her. We both considered another dip in the lake to cool off, but realized we needed to get our gear out of the transition area so they could start tearing down the equipment. By the time we loaded our gear into the cars, we were both ravenous and headed over to the picnic area where the volunteers had been preparing tossed salad, hamburgers and hot dogs. Mmmm! There’s nothing like some exercise to work up a hearty appetite.

All in all, I managed to shave almost six minutes off last year’s time, which I was very happy with. I placed 8^th out of 22 in my age category and Janet placed 7^th out of 12. Most of all, I am inspired to keep steady training and maintain my goal of Ironman Lake Placid in July 2010.

Finally, I’d like to leave with a link to a YouTube video – “The Triathlon Song.” It sums up this wacky lifestyle perfectly. Feels so good when you are done!