Tim Cronk SOS Race Report "I am a Survivor"

You are a Survivor is what you hear when you cross the finish line to this race call Survival of the Shawangunks. I really have to rate this race as possibly the best I have ever done. Loved the format, the course, the convenience, and all the volunteers , the limited number of participants, and the RD's execution of the Race. Bike roads were smooth, intersections manned, and still challenging with a nice climb, all the runs on very nice carriage dirt roads along the ridgelines with views, along the cliff bases, waterfalls, only small portion of pavement and single track trails, the swims in beautiful mountain lakes.

Here is the race plan.

Saturday- Heather and I arrived in New Paltz , met up with @scott dinhofer for lunch at the Karma Cafe. Got caught up with Scott, added a mango, ginger, banana smoothie and 2x sweet potato bisquits for lunch to my chocolate chip pancakes breakfast. Drove to bike start, then drove the bike course, checked out T1 area a bit, back to town , checked into airbnb, back out to packet pick-up, briefing, pasta dinner, back to the room after stopping for chocolate cake. Carbo load complete, prepped the gear, and went feet up. Downtown location of a college town surrounded by bars/restaurants on a Saturday night was really convenient but really noisy. The bands and people were rocking till 2am when it finally died down a bit. I still slept pretty good considering.

Weather- 52 degrees for the start and reaching 60 in the very late afternoon , cloudy, light winds, no precip.

Gear Choices

- Bike - EN LG M2 suit topped with EN Castelli top for 2x layer on upper body, arm warmers , gloves, and toe covers.

Swim/Run - Wore the blueseventy swimrun shorty wetsuit over the M2 suit. This worked well for me under 60 degrees, would have to reconsider this set up on a warm day. Usually they have cold water and warmer air vs. our warm water cold air day.

Sunday- Alarm was set for 4:50am, I got up at 4:40. Got the coffee started, ate 2x chocolate chip pancakes with almond butter, drank coffee, went for a short walk to get things going, dressed, and relaxed. Left room at 6am and was at bike start in 5min. Checked in body and bike. @6:50am Lined up in Wave 8 out of 9 waves for the 7am start, sending 1 wave per minute.

Bike- 29.8 miles, 1:33:36 , AP196/NP198 , IF .93, 3.5 w/kg, HR 163 https://www.strava.com/activities/1830656690/overview I thought the TT start was going to make for a crowded course but it wasnt that bad. Online said almost 200 starters but results show only 135 finishers and launching 9x waves a minute apart actually spread things out more than I would have thought. Lined up front of my wave and went hard to stay in front, went back and forth with 1 guy for the first 5 miles and then never saw him again, within the first 2-3 miles I was catching people from the previous waves. They did have course marshalls out and for the most part they would drive by you , park up ahead, and just watch , I think it did a really good job of preventing all intentional wheel sucking. Steady flow of sling shots passes for the entire ride, burned a few extra matches getting past a few long strings but nothing too difficult and always able to resume legal riding. Best ride of the year.

T1- Estimated Time 2-3 minutes... The only split I did not record. Dismount at the line, I left my bike shoes on not knowing exactly the surfaces to transition area, find Heather, follow her about 50yds to set up , took off gloves, arm warmers, 1 shirt off, bike shoes off, put on wetsuit, shoes, ate gel/drank skratch, grabbed cap/goggles and kissed Heather.

Run1- 4.4 miles, 37:11 . 8:25pace, HR 160 https://www.strava.com/activities/1830643502 eased into the run after the hard bike ,loosened up and started running well after the first mile, shortly after that first mile I hear a guy catching me, I said oh man you sound like a runner, then he goes by me like I am standing still, I see 57 on his calf, then I say hey your in my AG too?, I spent the remainder of the day not having a clue where he was, I'm guessing he wasnt a swimmer as I never saw him again.

T2- 32 seconds - shoes off, cap goggles on

Swim1 - 1741 yds , 27:29, 1:34per 100yd pace, HR 136 this was a rough into a head wind choppy swim, very easy to sight along left shore and kayakers on the right. The water was very warm. https://www.strava.com/activities/1830643502

T3- 50 seconds - shoes on

Run2 - 5.75 miles , 45:56 , 8:00 pace, HR 151 https://www.strava.com/activities/1830643544 Getting out of the water on the first swim is when I felt cold for the first time, its still 52 degrees and forecast not gonna break 60, now I am wet and running, hands and feet cold, left swim cap on over ears and goggles on head, tried to run with wetsuit zipped to keep chest warm but was too restrictive so unzipped again, thankfully the 1st 2 miles of the run were hard uphill allowing some drying to occur while working, the last 3.5 miles were "easy terrain".

T4 - 27 seconds - shoes off

Swim2 - 966 yds , 1:26 pace, 137HR https://www.strava.com/activities/1830643467 This was probably the best swim . They had a cable/rope to follow similar to IMLP.

T5 - 45 seconds - shoes on

Run3 - 7.8 miles , 1:05:15, 8:18pace, HR150 https://www.strava.com/activities/1830643651 The first 7 miles of this section were easy terrain and then 1 hard mile up.

T6 - 34 seconds - shoes off

Swim3 - 806yds, 1:23pace, HR 135 https://www.strava.com/activities/1830643507 The home stretch.

T7 - 41 seconds, shoes on

Run4- .4 miles up , 6:07, 14:41pace, HR 152 https://www.strava.com/activities/1830643536 This was the only section I walked all day, just a few steps as it was pretty steep. In the future I would consider coming out of the water and doing the last .4 miles barefoot.

The Finish - I had come in a few minutes ahead of schedule, Heather's plans were breakfast after the bike start, then a 10 mile run after T1 pickup, meet me at finish. The tracker was lagging just a few minutes and I beat her to the finish. I found her looking down the hill for me! Big hugs, 3 cups of really hot vegetable soup, a hike up the tower for a couple pics and to take in the view, then to our room for hot showers, came back for awards at 3pm.

Nutrition - 3 blocks pre-bike , 1 bottle green tea scratch on bike, 1 gel and scratch T1, 3blocks out of 1st swim, 1 gel out of second swim, drank GE every AS except for the last 3 AS went COKE. Estimate is for 900 calories or 180 per hour, 52oz of fluid or 10oz per hour.

Quick Summary- 1st place M55-59AG , 7th OA, Highly Recommend this RACE. Aside from the bike start there was really very little racing , I would go back and forth with a couple guys on the swim/runs, I'd pass in the water, then they repass me on land, but I had started on a later wave.