Early in the race season, my coach and former Timex Teammate Mike Lavery persuaded me that it would be a great idea to join him in the great state of New Hampshire for his “home” race, Timberman.

Naturally, I jumped at the chance for the opportunity to race a more difficult bike course and check out the scenery in the Northeast.  Needless to say, after my bike “warm-up” on Saturday before race day on the course, I knew I was in for a HARD day at the office on Sunday.

Jumping into gorgeous Lake Winnipesaukee, the swim felt great.  Looking at my watch after exiting the swim I saw 30:20, a disappointment after a much better swim in Steelhead, but I knew I couldn’t dwell on it.  On to the bike.

Saddling up, I began a tortuous, yet gorgeous ride.  I am from Chicago, and needless to say, my definition of a “hill” shows me what pitiful “hills” are in the pancake-flat Chicago area.  The entire ride my legs felt zapped, but I convinced myself to keep hammering, which resulted in a bike time of 2:24.  Rather satisfied given my severe unpreparedness for the course, I threw on my run shoes and moved out of t2 onto the run.

For the first time all year, I felt great on the run. Consistently dropping 5:50-6:00 per mile, I ended up running a 1:18, the 6th fastest run of the day.  I even managed to outrun three-time defending Ironman World Champion Chrissie Wellington, who just killed it. Here is a quick shot of me at the start of the run:

At the end of the day, I ended up 2nd in the 20-24 Age Group, losing by under 4 minutes to Brian Duffy, the 2009 Amateur Triathlete of the Year.  With an overall time of 4:17, I was 6th amateur and 16th finisher overall (losing to Chrissie and being “chicked” for the first time all year).

All-in-all, I am quite happy with my overall performance, but would like to give some mad props before signing off.

• First off, to Lavery, who won the 25-29 AG and was second amateur overall. Here is a great shot of Mike and I post-race (for those who don’t know, I’m the pre-maturely balding dude on the left…):

• Secondly, I’d like to give a shout out to Timex Teammate Chris Thomas, who had a great race, winning the overall amateur title!
• Lastly, I’d like to say “thank you” to my host family for the weekend, Lavery’s parents.  They were fantastic, cooking a great pre-race meal and putting up with me for the weekend!

That’s all I have for this post.  Keep your eyes peeled for another soon!

Until next time, peace…