Tupper Lake Tinman
The Tupper Lake Tinman was celebrating it’s 25th year! Wow, I was 1…ok so aside from being a youngin’ I was excited to be a part of a triathlon that has been in existence for such a long time. However, this race also had a little bit more special meaning for me. My father use to compete in triathlon many years ago and the Tupper Lake Tinman was a race that he used to attend!Being three weeks out from Ironman LP, my goal race, I didn’t want to alter my major build weeks, so as a result I didn’t really take much rest for this race and was treating it much like a lower priority race, however, being the 25th year they were offering a nice prize purse for all the participants involved, not just the pros, and I wanted to race well. Let’s just say the race went exceedingly well and I could not have asked for a better day!
An 8am start time made for a very relaxed morning where I had plenty of time to check my bike in, get in a swim warm up and talk with a few friends before the start. The race went off in 8 waves, mine being the first, with the M30-34 and M35-39 5 and 10min behind respectively. As a result I wasn’t going to be able to watch the race unfold in front of me or see where the other racers were.
I got a great start and before I realized it I was swimming with only 2 other people. The swim was beautiful and fast, until I hit the turn around and was swimming directly into the sun, sighting was…well interesting…although not my fastest swim time, I’m sure I swam off course more than a few times.
A quick T1 and out onto the bike, but not before being stopped at the bike exit by a race marshall to let a few cars go past…I couldn’t believe it! I took that frustration and put it into the pedals and was riding right at my goal power. The bike was an out and back and the only chance I would really get to see the competition. The first 10mi included some hills and then the leveled out into a gradually rolling course. The roads were smooth with nice wide shoulders, and the sunny and 70 degree temperature felt great, the only issue was the relatively gusty wind that was constantly changing direction. At the turn around I was 4min ahead of the next cyclist, only I had no idea if they were from my wave or another. No bother, I kept my power constant and rode back into Tupper.
The run was interesting to say the least. It consisted of 2 loops, but they were not the same loop. The first loop took me through downtown Tupper Lake and out through some main roads with a more scenic return. That loop was pretty well populated with a few spectators and several athletes in the sprint race. The second loop was far more scenic, consisting of several small residential areas, an ATV trail through the woods and even a short section of single track. I wasn’t sure where I was going at times, but just followed the chalk arrows and occasionally not sure where I was or even if I was on the course. On this section of the course there were a few scattered aid stations, some with simply cups of water on a table, and no one there, I also only saw a few other racers heading out towards the second loop in the final few miles as I made my way back into town. Racing in IMLP in just three weeks I didn’t want to totally beat myself up so I cruised in the last few miles of the run feeling pretty good. As things turned out the arrows did not steer me wrong and I crossed the line in 4:05:03 a new PR!! I had to wait another ten minutes or so to see if anyone from any of the later waves caught up, I was pretty happy when the clock ticked 4:15 and it seemed as if no one caught me!
I had a great time at the 25th anniversary of the Tinman triathlon, it was a great race and I had a lot of fun. To read the local paper write up follow this link, (anyone know how to make a hyperlink from this text?)http://www.lakeplacidnews.com/sports/sections.asp?Section=sports. Now I just can’t wait until IM LP in 2 weeks!
http://www.sportstats.ca/display-results.php?lang=eng&racecode=41554
