Monday Night Mini Tri (Lake Placid)

I'M BACK!
My previous best time on this course was 1:04:00.
THe course is a 400 Meter swim in Mirror Lake, a 12.5 mile bike, and a 3.0 mile run.
The bike and run is pretty hilly. It's a pretty challenging course. The nice thing about this triathlon is that it is laid back. It is also offered every Monday night during the summer.
I attempted the triathlon 2 weeks ago and probably shouldn't have. I got off of the bike and started to run with immediate cramping in my stomach. The rest of the night (at home) was a living nightmare.
So compared to that experience, let's call it "night," this one was "day."
I was feeling really good at the start. My swim ended up being acceptable. I was shooting for a low 7 minute swim and ended up doing a high 7. I got on my bike and really went for it. I ended up biking my best time ever on this course, 34:30.
I got off of my bike and threw caution to the wind. I had a guy right in front of me to chip away at for the first half mile. I caught him and looked for more. At the 1.5 mile turn around, I could see my next target. He was far enough ahead to give me a really good challenge to pass him before the finish line. I also noticed that I was in 5th place at the turn around. As I turned, I saw (to my horror) a youngster with his sights set on me. This gave me a new goal, catch the guy in front of me and do not get passed by the spritely looking kid coming up on me. I found another gear and started moving. I could hear footsteps and breathing for the next mile. I also noticed that I was reeling in the next guy. The youngster pulled up next to me and said, "Let's go get him," reffering to the guy with my target on his back. My response was something incredibly unintelligible that sounded like it needed a highly skilled translator. I think I tried to say, "I'm trying."
The kid that probably still can't grow facial hair cruised by and passed the guy in front of me. At this point, Kelly was coming towards me going out on her run and the finish line was probably about 400 meters away. She told me that I was in 6th place. Maybe Kelly knew that I like the number 5 better than 6 and her intention was to get me fired up and motivated. If that was the intention, it worked. I pushed with everything I had to pass this guy and I got him with about 200 meters left. After passing him, I thought, "Great. Now I have to hold this pace until the end." I did hold it and came in 5th overall.
Now for the funny part. I came in 5th overall, and the awards are given to the top three in each age group. I have never received an award and I figured I would be a shoe-in. Not so. The top three finishers were all in my age group so 1st, 2nd, and 3rd all received an award for the 18-29 age group. The 4th place kid was 17. I was left with no award. How frustrating is that?!
I received a great raffle prize, however. A watch that you can plug your ipod into and it can control your ipod. It was the featured prize of the night and I won it.
I guess I can't complain.
So as for my time, I completed the course in 1:02:18. My best time by almost 2 minutes! I am so happy! This, on the day that I signed up for Ironman Lake Placid 2009. What a way to celebrate.
Next up, Mini Tri next Monday and Race the Train on August 2nd.
Until next time...