undecided

Apparently a natural diet doesn’t extend to electrolytes:

In college, my friend tony decided he was going to run his age in miles as a birthday present to himself. I thought it was such a great idea that I ran part of the way with him for support. That year, I adopted the idea for myself and started running my age on my birthday as well (for years 19 to 21).

Over a couple of beers this week, I jokingly suggested to matt — who shares my birthday — that we should reinstate the one mile per year policy. He bluffed back, and by the end of the night we had agreed to spend the morning of our birthday circumnavigating the island of Manhattan.

The high-stakes bluffing continued through the “are we really going to do this?” birthday-morning phone call, and before either one of us could back down, we set out on our marathon-plus journey.

Our running tour took us by the George Washington Bridge, Yankee Stadium, the UN, the Brooklyn Bridge, Battery Park and through almost every neighborhood in the borough. Around mile 20, storm clouds rolled in and nearly eclipsed the Statue of Liberty. Moments later we were caught in a cold, drenching rain. For a few minutes, we discussed abandoning the run, but we decided that the pride in finishing the last eight miles was worth the temporary discomfort. So we trudged back up the west side with cold water squishing between our toes.

The whole run felt like an adventure, and I’m so glad we did it. Thanks and happy birthday matt!

Unfortunately, there’s no photographic evidence for any of this so you’ll just have to take my word for it. Here’s the (approximate) route:

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NYC - Ivy League Championship, July 22

I’d been looking forward to the NYC triathlon all year, and it was worth the wait. I can’t begin to express how much fun it was to race with nearly every triathlete I know in the area on my home course. Sleeping in your own bed the night before a race and knowing exactly how long or steep each hill is around the bend helps so much. Apparently the rest of the team felt the same way. CU did extremely well, winning the overall race with five of the top 10 finishers! I came in ninth overall in the Ivy League championship and sixth in my age group with a time of 2:14:52, but there wasn’t much time to celebrate. Immediately after the race, I hopped on a plane to Alaska. A special thanks to elle and kelly for waking up early to come watch. If you’re interested, mike wrote a great summary of the race too [click here].

Mighty Montauk, June 9

Racing six days after Alcatraz probably wasn’t the best idea. Nonetheless, matt, pratap and I rode the train (during rush hour with our bikes) out to Long Island for the Mighty Montauk triathlon. I felt uncomfortable the entire race since my body was still covered in open wounds from the previous race, I had to ride on a borrowed bike, and it was cold and raining the whole time. The discomfort continued all the way through the soaked train ride back to the city. The real highlight of the trip was hearing Jenny Thompson, a fellow CU Tri member and decorated Olympian, earnestly exclaim, “Ooh, I want a medal!” upon hearing that they were passing out trinkets to the race finishers.

Escape from Alcatraz, June 3

I “lottery-ed in” to the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon, a race where participants swim from Alcatraz to the shore, ride through Golden Gate Park, then run along Baker Beach (including the 400 step sand ladder). Since the race was my mom’s suggestion, my parents came to watch and spent the weekend cruising around SF with me.

My only (irrational) concern about the race was running into large aquatic life during the swim since the week before the race there were humpback whales in the Sacramento River and recently seals had been biting swimmers in the bay; however, the current proved to be a more formidable opponent. I spent a fair portion of the swim trying not to drown and thought the race would be uneventful once I landed on the shore. Unfortunately, I had a bad bike crash (that ripped a lot of skin and my rear derailleur off) with three miles to go. I pushed my bike back to the transition area and ran the course to finish the race. Despite the setback, I had a great time (especially with my family), and I’d love to do the race again next year if I can get in. Oh, and how awesome is it that my race number was 187?!

This weekend I continued my summer tour living the life of a full-time grad student / wannabe professional triathlete. Pratap, Ryan and I flew out to California for Wildflower. We spent a few days cruising around the bay area,

then headed out to what seemed like the middle of nowhere for the race. The whole weekend was so beautiful - the weather, the course, the scenery, the atmosphere. Even our bikes seemed to be happier in the warm CA sun.

When we got to the campsite, we tried to hurry and get the tent set up and a fire going before dark, but our novice skills showed right through our camping bravado. Our total lack of preparation and experience seemed to

provide our interim neighbors with a great deal of amusement. We finished setting up just before sunset only to realize that we didn’t have a functional flashlight or a reasonable way to strain the pasta we brought for dinner, but we had a great time and made do. We woke up to a 40 degree morning (we didn’t have warm enough clothes either), but after we ate breakfast in our sleeping bags and the sun came up, it was time to race.

The race was hard, maybe the most difficult course I’ve ever done, but I felt like I raced well. There was a strong head wind during the swim, the bike was hilly (as advertised), and the (nearly all uphill) run was so hot that at each aid station I dumped a cup of water on my head and was dry again within a mile. During the run, a deer just off the running path gave me a look that seemed to say, “What the hell are you doing out here?” I can’t wait to go back next year.

Last weekend, the CU tri team (plus a new friend from Penn who raced for Colorado) packed up our all our gear and drove to Tuscaloosa, AL. The 17 hour drive (each way) had all the excitement you’d expect from a college road trip. The race went pretty well considering it was the first time I’ve run this year, but this was by far the most fun I’ve ever had at a race given the environment and the company.

Be careful not to look at the race photos below for too long. You may go blind from the reflection off my pale North-Eastern skin.

After the race, there was plenty of time to indulge in less athletic activities.

I’m off to Wildflower this weekend… more race stories to come.

The streets are covered in nasty black ice, so I’ve been riding the hamster wheel (aka the bike trainer). It gets insanely boring on the trainer so I bribe myself to keep going with tv/movies and a buffet of snacks. It’s all like a very bad reward structure psychology experiment.

I got a new toy. Hopefully I’ll be fast enough to deserve it one day.

I got it at the most amazing store I’ve ever been to, SBR Multisports.