Syracuse 70.3 - September 2010
I've got five friends that I train with doing this event and I'm being asked to come along. This wil be its first year, so we cant have any reviews.
Did anyone from EN sign up for this race?
Does anyone know the area or have thoughs on the course?
thanks,
cary
FYI - there's a $50 off code for the race: IMSYRCLUB2010 (only 500 slots with discounted code)
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Hilly for sure. Both bike and run as there no way to get from Jamesville to the points in between without hills. Jamesville Reservoir is okay for the swim, not as nice as some of the Finger Lakes. Roads should be fairly good shape that time of year. Weather could be iffy. Could be Indian Summer and warm or in the 30s at the start. More likely somewhere in between. Don't expect much community support, Syracuse may be a 'college' town but it's no Madison.
Thanks for the code- considering doing the race as a trip to visit family and a late season half but also considering Lake Stevens since it's only a 6 hour flight rather than 13.
Lynne
Thanks for the local info. I'm gonna wait a little bit to decide. I've only got two races on my 2010 schedule so far I'd like to put the training to a bit more use.
And you've peaked my curiosity, where do you live that flight times would be that long? (Please don't say Hawaii or I'll be extremely jealous).
As a matter of fact, I live in Kailua on the island of Oahu. Not quite Kailua-Kona on the island of Hawaii but that's an easy weekend trip. There are definite plusses and minuses to living in Hawaii but the travel time to anywhere not in the island chain is clearly a minus.
I've done IMLP 3 times- 2002, 2003, 2007 and trained tons on the course. You should get on Northwoods Inn's newsletter email list as they run lots of specials that make for convenient training weekends on the course.
Lynne
I am signed up for it. I live down the Thruway in Rochester so it is basically a local race. Would be great to have a big EN presence there. Also racing the Musselman HIM in July on Seneca Lake in Geneva, NY (between Rochester and Syracuse). Probably has the more scenic course of the two. Would love to import some EN folks into the Finger Lakes for that race too.
Thanks again for the info Lynne. I'm on the Northwood email list already. Perhaps we'll meet if we both pull the trigger on this event.
I am doing it. I will be trekking up early Sat am, leaving Bucks County with wife around 6am so should be in 'Cuse by noon - always been paranoid abt getting to packet pickup ontime since debacle 10 yrs ago; drove over 2 hrs in killer rainstorm after a century ride in MD (Seagull Century) to DC, had shut down roads so didn't get to Army 10miler packet pickup until 20 minutes after it closed; needless to say, it being the Army, they wouldn't give me my chip even after I begged and pleaded. So been gun shy ever since. Planning on doing some recon Sat afternoon and relaxing with wife. Def planning on hitting up Dinosaur BBQ AND/OR Heigs hotdogs on Sunday after the race. Maybe even Monday too.
Staying at the Maplewood Inn in Liverpool. Wherever the heck that is. 
Hopefully I'll see some of you there! My first and last race this year....
So where and when are we getting together on Saturday night?
I'm with a group of 15 from long island
My number is 770-GEEK in 516 area code
speghetti warehouse if you are interested.... clinton st I believe
Hmmm-Chris G is this the forum you were suggesting I post the race review in? I'll do it; if it's annoying tell me and I'll delete it. Also, this was written to those I know who have no idea what an Ironman or triathlon even is, so forgive the amateurishness...Thanks JL
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, but I kept my ass planted squarely in the saddle the entire ride - not once did I stand up to mash gears up the hills. This was also at my coaches advice. I kept my heart rate manageable, and had some INSANE descents, one at 41.7 mph down a hill after which I was screaming like an 8th grader with joy afterwards and was impressed with myself (I’ve never been above 40 mph on a bike). That was until the next huge descent where I hit 47 mph and literally was the most scared I’ve ever been in my entire life. Remember - this is on a BICYCLE people. 
I was actually afraid to blink. Lastly, the equipment gods were smiling upon me as I had no flats, dropped chains, or other gear issues. I nailed my nutrition eating GU chomps and drinking Gatorade every two miles from my aerobottle, and actually felt great coming off the bike.
which made me very happy. I saw and heard Andrea at the finish chute upon which I started sprinting like crazy (like I always do) and which she got some video of me hooting and hollering with excitement as I ran by. True story: after I ran by and stopped filming, she revealed to me that the woman next to her said as I ran by’ “Boy, he sure still has a lot of energy. You’d better be careful tonight!” 
Sooooooo, I’m sitting here in my hotel room after the Syracuse Half-Ironman race. Had showered up, went to Dinosaur BBQ with the wifey to load up on grub, and am now horizontal with this nice, warm laptop on my...well, lap...and it feels so good on my legs! Ironically, my wife is fast asleep. She had a long day too, and was phenomenal with the support, constant schlepping back and forth (race started and ended at two different places), and putting up with my BS for which she should receive a Ph.D. But I digress.
I’m pretty emotional right now about this thing but there’s some stuff I wanted to get down in writing, both for memories and to share. Because that’s what I do.
For those who haven’t heard for the millionth time over the past 5 months, I’ve been training for and just completed my first Half-Ironman. I’ve run 6 marathons but took 12 years off from triathlon, and this was my foray back into it. A Half-Ironman encompasses swimming 1.2 miles, biking 56 miles, and running a half marathon of 13.1 miles. The cutoff time is 8 hours. The pros finish in just under 4 hours. My time was 6:03:06, which includes running the half marathon in 1:59:57, breaking my previous PR. And that’s AFTER 4 hours of exercise. I’m very happy with the time, and more so with what I learned about everything - about racing, about myself.
Some highlights:
I did not know how to swim freestyle 4 months ago. At ALL. And I’ve always been afraid of putting my head in the water, let alone breathing underwater. This was always the dealbreaker for me starting back up in triathlon. So I bought a cheap wetsuit, and spent tons of hours with it in the pool after work teaching myself. Final result? My swim split was 43:37, just below middle of the pack. And I kept my heart rate down, sighted well, and felt great coming out of the (very cold) lake. This, I am VERY proud of.
It rained on and off the entire bike - thick fog limiting visibility. And the hills on this ride were insane, at least for me. All of my training has been done on an inside bike trainer. SO glad I changed my gearing, crankset, and crankarm length after hearing one of my coaches’ “Come To Jesus Ironman Gearing” podcast. End result? Not only did I not have to get off my bike and push up any hills
Hmmm...maybe a little too great...
I definitely went out too fast on the run. It was hard for me not to - I felt great, kept my transition short, and the first few miles were downhill which hurts for me to put the brakes on. I paid for this during the middle third where my quads were on fire, my HR started to go zone 5, and I finally backed off my pacing. I somehow dug deep and ran fast enough on the back third to run a sub- 2:00 half marathon (by 3 seconds
Lastly and on a humorous note, I saved many precious minutes peeing in the lake during the swim, and on the bike during the ride. That may gross some of you out. But I am very proud as I actually had to teach myself how to do this effectively.
My take on all this?
Given my other commitments with fellowship, family, board exams, etc the past few months - plus given that I am not riding an $8,000 carbon-bling super tri-bike, but rather a 1996 Cannonwhale Aluminum overized frame - I’m pretty freaking happy with everything. This is the longest I have ever exercised. Even my slowest, most disastrous marathon where I had to walk several miles was only 5 hours 21 minutes, whereas today was 6 hours of constant pushing, strategizing, and self-talk.
I thought on a lot of things on the journey. Thought about many of you kind folks who have supported me; my friends and family of course; those who are no longer with us but dear to our heart; and most poignantly - my old self. The guy who weighed 241 lbs in January. The guy who chain smoked Parliaments for 10 years. The guy who gave up his triathlon dreams because of fear and excuses - it’s too hard, I’ve no time, I’m too old, blah blah blah.
So I guess the main reason I’m sharing this is maybe to motivate even just one person. Hey that’s all it takes sometimes. A push in the right direction. A nagging idea that won’t go away. A fly in your ear. A pain in the ass. I’ve been all of those things to some of you, as you have to me. A string of events, happenings, stressors, and even some disappointments all led me to become who I am this year. And I have always believed that every single g-ddamn thing on this earth happens - or doesn’t - for a reason. And our job is to figure out that reason, and to learn from it. To better ourselves.
I will end this with a quote from one of my old favorite songs. Cheesy song but VERY fitting, especially living and training in Philly the home of Rocky:
Risin' up, back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive
Risin' up, straight to the top
Had the guts, got the glory
Went the distance, now I'm not gonna stop
Just a man and his will to survive
Be well.
Liebs
Congrats bro! Awesome story and well done. Keep it up. Enjoy some time off now!
I wanted you to post it in the forum section titled:
RACE/TRAINING REPORTS
Its a nice read regardless - now to whack an hour off that time
I feel I need to post my race story since it is my first race being in the haus. I will apologize first for my picture. It is with a friend who actually told me she was inspired by my feeble attempt at IMLP last year and wanted to do a tri this year. I talked her into doing Syracuse with me, and gave her advice thru all of you here to get thru the race a very happy camper! As you will see, its not clear, but its the only of me almost proving I did the race (I usually don't dress up like batman until it is night and I see the bat signal.) Anyway, I don't own a digital camera that works, and my dad, bless his heart, has one but can't send me the pictures because he doesn't know how to download from his!
Anyway, I come from a short tri background with only 2 before this one, musselman, and IMLP. I only have time for one a year with 3 young children at home so I try to go big. I'm from an area about 1:45 southeast of the race so I am used to the hills, just not fast on them. Our morning started out early since there were 4 of us in a room, 2 of whom were racing. I never really slept because everyone but me was pissing all night and the AC was set for 60 for some odd reason that I never found out about. Plus, I have a fear of sleeping in the same bed with my dad since an incident from my freshman year of college when my parents brought my girlfriend down to visit. We stayed in a hotel that night and of course I couldn't sleep with my girlfriend so I slept with my dad. Well, to make a long story short, in the middle of the night he rolled over and thought I was mom... I've been scarred ever since, and can't sleep in the same bed without worrying! Ok, back to the race. We left around 4:45, and thank God, the traffic was horrible. Once parked, it took us 10 minutes just to walk to transition. All the announcements were saying how transition was closing and there were still 50 cars waiting to get into the park, not good for an inaugural race. Of course they were smart enough to extend the start time and all was good. After settling in and getting my gear sorted, I moved to the beach area to get my wetsuit on. On the way, a man thought I was tech support and asked for my pump, I told him it was mine, and he thought I was going to shoot him or something. Yes, I offered it to him, you always need good karma and I think I'm a nice guy! He wanted to return it after the race, but I assured him it would only take a second and I would wait, someone more nervous than me! Got over to the beach thanking the weather for not being forty degrees out and ran into a teaching buddy that I also talked into to do the race. So we hung out with his family and anxiously awaited the dreaded walk to the corral. Just before we left, I met up with my roommate and all was one again as we headed over. The pros took off, my head numb from the cap, I guess I have a big melon, and it was game on in 3 more waves. Shook my dad's hand as I've done a million times before as he was my xc and track coach in high school. Adjusted my new goggles that had hair already in it that I bought at the expo the day before. Yes, I didn't swim all season. We got called into the water, cold as hell! At least I held some pee in to just let it out and keep me warm (sorry, I know its gross, but tell me you've never done it before!!!). Horn and off. I swam okay, my shoulders loosened up around the third buoy and after cutting 7 people off. My spotting sucks. Got to the yellow buoy for the turn, and I swear the swim to the other yellow one was longer than the whole swim. Started heading back and still felt okay, until green caps were coming out of nowhere and I knew I was struggling, they started later than I! Finally could hear the announcer and knew I was going to make it. Felt sand, got up, was light headed all the way until someone asked if they could strip me, yes, sex is always on my mind, I was cleared right up. They worked and worked at the zipper but it was caught in the neoprene. Finally it came loose and then I was asked to lay down, heaven. Well, it ended as it usually does in the Forbes house and I just got up and ran but couldn't feel the ground because my feet were numb. Got to the bike, got dressed and headed out. Swim 39 minutes, transition 4+.
On the bike, I headed out without incident as I've rehearsed on the course and felt comfortable. The railroad tracks tried to scare my with a fishtail but no way was I going down that early (sorry Chris, I couldn't resist!). I was happy and pumped, until I looked down and no numbers were showing on my PT. Shit. Water on the contacts (its wired). Oh well, there's always something. As soon as you get on 173 you begin climbing, I figured if everyone was passing me, I was doing it right. I held back and stayed relaxed as I watched everyone go by. Some fast and standing, others just cruising. I was not tempted. My computer finally came to about 20 minutes in and I was set. Effort felt the same. One thing that sticks out was this guy in a short short jammer and a fleece vest with his number pinned to it in his big ring and big cog mashing at about 20 rpms up to the top of the long first climb. What was nice though, was that even though I was being passed, on the top outs, flats, and descents, I was making up my ground by sticking to my numbers, RnP are geniuses. Just cruising now that the last big hill was behind me, I was going 25+ mph and hitting 40+ on a couple of downhills. As I start seeing Fabius, my PT shits again. I was getting pissed now. I struggled to get it working and nada. Keep going. As I was going along it occurred to me how no one talks. So I take every opportunity to chat with passer byers for a few moments as I train alone and couldn't resist some company. Suddenly, some smokeshow (hot woman) passes me as if I'm standing still. I said to the guy next to me, that's reason to draft! He went, I'm married. Pt came back, then died. Pt came back, then died. F it. Came to the 35 mile mark and remembered I had a snickers packed in my singlet! Got it out and munched. Well, its crack. 10 or so minutes later I was cruising. Hills still there, one long one on 92 or whatever, and still felt strong. Came into mile 40 something and started to push and my PT came back to life! and stayed alive for the remainder. I felt good as no one was passing me anymore and I was gaining. My numbers were starting to get big but I figured it would even it all out in the end. I was racing a couple of guys in the last 7 or so miles and got them both. Reached the line, got off and trotted in... then one trotted past me right at the mat, I said you bastard, and we both laughed. Bike 2:48 (12 minute pr).
The transition was okay as I used the nice guys dry mat next to me to sit on while I got my shoes on and waited for my gps to get acquired. I put the watch on, and saw that I didn't clear it from yesterday's xc meet where one of my runners uses it. So I cleared it finally and got going. I'm always fast after the bike because it feels like your legs aren't moving fast. So I slowed to down to my +30 sec. pace of 8:30. I was in and out of 8-8:40 for the first 3 miles. I ran with a couple of nice guys that finally left me, but I didn't care, I was going to finish another race that most people think is too hard. I got into a rhythm and felt good stopping at each aid station to drink water and such gel every other station. Couldn't wait for mile 4 and some coke.... but there was none! Wind left my sails for a while, I wasn't happy. Plus the fact that the course was supposed to be all down hill and erie blvd was nothing but gradually up. I kept pace until about mile 9. I stopped to drink, and had trouble getting going again. Shit. I was at the point where stopping felt good. But, I put my head down and pushed on. The watch started to read 8:30+ but you know what, I didn't care. I figured I cooked myself a bit on the bike, and I would have to suck it up now. I did the best I could and waited for a turn somewhere and not miles of road where you could see miles of road. Finally a turn, it was down hill! I could see the harbor and hear noise. The finish. It flattened out and people were lining the road. Oh no! my left hammie cramped! I was paralized. I walked, it cramped, I tried to stretch, my quad cramped. I walked harder and felt the grapefruit pop and I just ran. I get to the turn for the final stretch and I see my wife, and all 3 kids screaming in the middle of the turn. I cried. I kissed them all and finished. Run 1:54, 10 minutes longer than I wanted. I grabbed a gatorade, skipped the heat blankets and went for food. I met my dad in the parking lot and waited for my family. My kids saw me but were more interested in running in the grass and hanging from trees (you gotta love kids!) and saw my wife and wept like my youngest in the middle of the night. I have no idea why, I've never done that before. Maybe its because I realized that I have a great family and they supported me, maybe its because I really tried to race and left it all out there. Maybe its because EN kicked my ass all season to get to this point and I had worked hard since November. Overall 5:30. I pr'd by 20+ minutes. Good day.
The course was good, a bit challenging but nothing too bad as I live in hills. It would've been a bit better if the run was a loop, the park was an excellent venue. Time of year is hit or miss there. 2 lane road to the start hurts a little. Course maps need to be settled earlier. As far as my performance, I have no idea what my numbers were on the bike, but I was probably high. Swim, satisfied. Nutrition on the bike was good. The run, okay, but I saw the next day that I really only took maybe 2 full shots of gel for the whole run and that probably hurt me more than the bike leg did. All in all, I was proud.
Chris, sorry we didn't meet up, we must have been standing next to each other the whole time in the corral and didn't know it! Thank you peeps, and thank you RnP. I love EN!!!
Dan
awesome report and awesome race. Congrats yourself!
Thanks buddy, it takes a lot of persistence to read that, no wonder you finished so well sunday.
I met your friend Roselee (from outside of philly) on the run. I was the second to last wave so I went through a lot of different waves on the bike a run. We ran together for a few and she asked me about EN. I told her I was very happy with EN, she told me that her friend joined recently. I asked "Who?", and she told me "Dan Forbes", I told her I knew you from the forums and I asked her name. We ran together for a while and I asked her if she wanted to go faster, she said yes and I suggested that she run her own race, which she did.
Hope to meet you at another event.
Cary, Rose said she met an ENer but told me the name was Phil or something! It was funny, but small world. She's quite familiar with us as I helped her with her training and it was all EN stuff. Too bad we didn't meet up, but most of the time people's feet were covered by shoes so I didn't recognize you
!
Thanks JT. Here's some proof of life: http://www.brightroom.com/view_user...0&PWD=
Too bad they don't take the bike photos on the flats. And you have to be FOP to get a profile shot?
Yes! its me, thanks brother!
I was rockin' the red flip-flops pre-race. I was the guy in the EN singlet with PJ bottoms & checkered Vans on after the race