Course
Olympic distance. Potentially nice swim in Noyac bay though has been known to be washing-machine-like on occasion. Slightly short twisty-turny bike course with a large number of sharp bends, usually not helped by either sand or water on the road. Opens up a bit on the second half which is flatter and prone to some interesting cross winds. Too many people on the route tends to turn it into a draft-fest. Run is flat-as-a-pancake out and back to the Shelter Island Ferry.
Preamble
After "definitely the last race of the season" at Timberman, I promptly signed up for Mighty Hamptons,a race I had not done for a few years and interestingly the site of my one and only boot-and-rally. Training was a little tricky because I was travelling a bit in the 3 weeks between the races and would not be able to get any decent riding in. At the mid-week race check in I made the executive decision to pass on the open offer to enter the elite wave - which given the traffic on the course, was probably a bit silly. Warming up the day before the race, all I could say is that my HR was very high - perhaps it was my new HRM? The plan was to ride at about 260W for the first 5 mins, getting my HR down to 150. From there, I'd try to peg it at 300W and see what would happen.
Swim
I almost missed the swim start and did not have a chance to warm up. It was all a bit thrashy at the beginning, but was generally uneventful, though it did seem a bit long.
Bike
Usual comedy out of transition with the put-your-shoes-on-while-you're-riding from some of the more ambitious members of the field. The plan to let my HR fall was shortly abandoned: it seemed perfectly happy at 165 so I figured I'd just let it stay there. The first 20 minutes were a little scary - the roads were quite wet and some of my fellow competitors clearly need some cornering lessons. Great moment at about mile 12 where I overtook a friend who was in the Elite wave - a 12 minute head start picked up in 60 minutes. The most exciting moment occurred coming back into transition where some complete retard - who was riding in the road (instead of the slip lane) decided to a) crash into me, b) somehow get in front, c) ride very slowly, d) do a very bad job of taking his shoes off.
Run
Coming out of transition, I was in 40th place or something like that. Given that I was in wave 4, I figured I must be in the top 25 or so. I was fortunate to run out with someone who had exactly the same pace / cadence so I got into a great rhythm at the get-go. My running compatriot for the first 10 minutes happened to be exactly half my age! He soon blew up, but I kept plugging away, picking off a few folks ahead of me and only having 2 guys burn past me.<./p>
Overall
All-in-all, it went very well, I came in 18th place overall, 6th in the age-group, and 2nd in my wave (does that count as a podium finish?). I crushed my 10k record - putting down a 41:34 or 6:38 per mile - hmm - perhaps the run was a touch short?. Season over - thankfully.