Hi All,

I did it, I completed my first HIM distance triathlon!

The race is the Timberman 70.3 in Gilford, NH

The swim is at Ellacoya State Park in Lake Winnipesauke. Its a beautiful lake, clear water no weeds. The swim was a rectangular course about .5 mile out, then parallel to the shore then back in. Since the lake is so large it tends to be a little rough but it wasnt' too bad. I am a slow swimmer and was a little worried because we were wave 3 and right after us was the 24 and under men, then the 40-44 men but my coach recommended staying slightly to the left of the bouys (5-10 yds) as the fastest swimmmers would take the most direct line and this way I wouldn't get run over. It works. I guessed on the swim I would be about 50 minutes and was 54 minutes.

The bike is a somewhat hilly course (at least the 1st 10 and last 10 miles) the middle is small rollers. There are two hills one at mile 10 and one at mile 40 which have short sections of 10-12% grade. The total climbing on the route is about 2600'. My goal for the bike was to maintain a consistant pace at about 75-80% effort (to save my legs for the run); I was targeting under 3:30 for bike and was 3:26.

The run course is two loops of an out and back course with some small rollers. My goal for the run course was to run the entire course and to finish under 2:30. I acheived both, run time was 2:22; I was also pleased that my run was fairly consistent as my splits on the run course were all within 20 sec.

My overall goal for the race was to finish under 7 hours, and I finished in 6:48!

The other highlight is that Chrissie Wellington usually runs this race, I was able to meet her at the pasta dinner on Friday Night and after finishing her race in 4:18 she hangs around at the finish line and hands out finisher medals to us age-groupers. So, I received my finisher medal from Chrissie!

Stats:
Swim 1.2m - 54.07
Bike 56m - 3:26:31 (16.3mph)
Run - 2.22.12 (10.50 pace)
Total: 6:48:52

Overall I really enjoyed it and was thrilled to acheive the goals I had set. The weather was pretty good - it was mid-60's at the start, and about 80 at the finish but very humid. Fortunately, most of the run was shaded and it was slightly overcast. The ice cold sponges are awesome!

Now I just need to figure out how to swim faster

Sharon