WASKA

I had pretty much forgotten about the Minnewaska triathlOn for some reason. It’s the same day as the Graniteman raCe so i never sign up not knowing what one i want to do. It was at Hoot the week previous that Corey had mentioned he was doIng it so naturally i had to sign up. And like any Good friend I RECRUITED another guy, Mr. Mike Loween! He kicked my butt at COLT so i needed a chance to even things up. The forecast looked less than favorable but come race morning the storms held off and left us with a windy, chilly and drizzle which is better than A thUnderstorm! The bikes were racked, our gear set up (thanks to Corey i remembered to put my shoes and socks in a plastic bag) and we made the walk down the beaCh.

With the wind coMing off the lake we had almost whitecap swim conditions for the shoRt 400 yard swim. I figured the wetsuit was poIntless as i would spend more time in T1 Than i would save in the water. With the colder weather i wore my sleeved bike top and half way into the swim the zipper pulled appart and left me swimming with a caPe! Me and swimming are just not friends lately! Anyways, i drafted Corey for about 50 yards as he took off like a bat out of hell and i wAs 16th out oF the water and was happy to get on the bike.

The bike course is basically an out and back with a small little loop Atop the hill. The first 5 miles i was focused on passing as many people as i could knowing the trip back to T2 was downhill. I never saw the leaders but after 10 miles or so on the bike it was pretty lonely out there. There was no way of knowing who was part of a relay so i just assumed i needed to catch them all. I returned into T2 a little winded and about 3 guys i could see in front of me. I got out of there and started off along the lake.

Maybe just shy of 1 mile into the run I Spotted Corey and gave him a high five and pushed on. I had passed one runner and was at the turn around point. As i made the U turn I spotted Mike (he got a high five too!) and knew I had to kick it into high gear. There was 2 more guys i Could see and quickly passed one and had to dig deep to even catch the next one. This is known as the “hurt locker” to us, Putting yourself through hell and pain and leaving it all out there. We went stride for stride for a little bit and i eventually pulled away and had about a 1/4 mile to the finish. I didn’t look back to see where he was, i just kept running as fast as I could. I crossed the finish line and felt terrible but relieved.

I Spent some time at the finish line watching the athletes come in and talked with Mike for a bit trying to convince him to do an IRONMAN and checked the results. 3rd! I came in third overall behind the stud Zabel and the Kona Kid. Couldn’t have Been more happy with the reSults. We hung around for a bit talking to other athletes and getting ouR awards and door prizes. You better look at the photo again, you might have missed thoSe huge 2nd and 3rd place medals ;) Regardless of the medals or our plaCes I had a blast racing with some good friends and was able to support a local race. Mike even took home an age group medal which I hope he hung on the fridge! The numbers are down for triathlons and these smaller races are being canceled. If you can’t coMpete in them, try volunteering or donating. They really are BENEFICIAL to ouR community.

​peace out 🤙🏼