Pittsford Triathlon Part II

The Pittsford Triathlon was this morning, and it was a very special day for a whole bunch of reasons. I was able to narrowly win the race by a mere 15 seconds over sprint specialist Kathleen Hayden. She's a world class duathlete and she specializes in the short and fast. I specialize in the long and fast. So a 300 meter swim / 15 mile bike and 3.5 mile run was ... well a speed session in my book.

Nonetheless it was also special because my awesome Yoga Studio was a race sponsor and the entire Weis clan, Larry, Abby, Carly and Cyndi. Cyndi is the brainchild of heaven on earth and they were there in full force. Tofu salad, organic smoothies, they put on an amazing show and gave me a fantastic sweatshirt so I could proudly claim my love for Breathe!

I had a pretty good clean swim, meaning no one got in my way. A smooth transition preceded a strong bike. I felt a little sluggish perhaps because of all of the miles I had ridden this week. Then the run.

One of my athletes Mike Foster was in view, and he began the time trial start swim 5 min ahead. I had caught up by the end of the bike. Now Mike is in The Air Force and this year he's been focused on his Thesis, which if you have ever written one... then you understand. Mike finished Ironman lake Placid in 11:15 and if he was in shape he'd wipe the course clean with me. So his fitness is not where it normally is, which I know is breaking his heart.

Mike also had the fortune of contracting food poisoning on Sunday, lost 8 pounds by Monday and then ran the 95 degree Corporate Challenge on Thursday. So before you give me any kudos please know that Mike was not at all in top form, but I thank him for my win today.

I was able to catch up to Mike during mile 1 of the race, and he sat on my shoulder. I have never run with anyone on my shoulder, so I thought excellent, let's try this out! We fell into a pattern, his exhale, my inhale, his inhale, my exhale. We kept it together stride for stride.

As we approached 1/4 mile of the finish line Mike called on me to pick it up.

"This is all I got!" I called to him. But he knew that wasn't true. I just didn't know it to be true. He kicked it up and then I kicked it up, pushed harder for all of 15 seconds than I have ever pushed in my life. And that, right there won me the race. WHEW!

It was special because Mike and his wife Erika (our associate coach) are going to be moving to Washington DC in another month. Special because I got to run with my friend Mike. Special because I didn't give up. Special.... because it was just 2 friends running.

I knew Mike was not at top form, I knew he was nowhere near it. But I was honored that he hung in there and helped me find something new within me.

Because I learned that I can run. And I can hurt.

After the race I took another 3 mile run before I joined the post race party.

So it was a good speed training day for me. I was three minutes off the course record of 1:09, which I set in 2004 when I was more focused on going fast than long. Funny how we switch focus and how things shift a bit.

Up next is a 4 week 20 hour per week block to finish up preparation for Ironman Lake Placid. Next Sunday I race in Keuka, then in Canada. I use those races for speedwork and see what happens.

I'd like to thank all of my wonderful sponsors;

Handlebars Cycling Company, Breathe-Yoga, TWIN Advertising, Skirt Sports, Tri Running and Walking, Victor Advanced Chiropractic, Fuel Belt and Score-This. Thanks to all of my awesome athletes for their support (they all kicked butt out there!) and to my husband and son of course who are the reason I am here to begin with.

Thanks for stopping by.
:-) Mary Eggers