Triathlon in New Hampshire - Mooseman 70.3

A couple weekends ago, we raced Mooseman 70.3 (1.2 mile swim; 56 mile bike; 13.1 mile run = 70.3 miles) Serious distance, and it usually brings out the serious athletes.


We headed up to New Hampshire on Saturday afternoon. Saturday began with Tstorms and pouring rain, but the afternoon was warm & sunny. The race directors had a shorter race on Saturday morning -but with the thunderstorms they had to shorten it. It was supposed to be a 1 mile swim; 24 mile bike; and 6.2 mile run. They cancelled the swim and shortened the bike to 17 miles. It's always a bummer when you train for a race, and then the distances are changed. I was wondering what Sunday was going to bring, as rain, rain, rain was predicted.


We arrived at the race site to pick up our bib #'s and check in. Then we decided to check out the course.

Views of the swim course - Newfound Lake - nice & clean!

Chris checking out the water... it was pretty warm: high 60's, which is rare for this early in the season. At least we wouldn't have to worry about frozen foreheads & headaches while we were swimming on Sunday! There are 9 swim waves. I'm lucky to be in the last wave (not!). Chris takes off in swim wave 6, so he'll be way ahead all day.

Transition area - still muddy from the morning rain. Some people elected to drop off their bikes early. No thanks - I didn't want to deal with a soppy wet bike, if it rained over night.

Once we get out of the water & out wetsuits - we'll head out this way: onto the 56 mile hilly course

I know I will be glad when I get to this point: Bike Dismount = bike portion done!

Then we'll head out onto the 13.1 mile run course...

Chris checking out the run. Dirt = mud...

The run course is 2 laps. Of course you start the second lap, right near the finish line. Oh, it's so hard to go back out on lap 2 when you can hear the people yelling for the finishers!

Now this will be nice to see :)

And this will be even better! Finish line = Done!!

Standing in the finish line chute.

Our trainers! Their tent is set up near the finish line.

My racing outfit all ready to go!

Race day dawned, and it was cloudy. No surprise there! Chris & I got to the race start around 6 am. Pros started the race at 7:00 am, so we had plenty of time to get our transition area set up. We went out for a quick little run, then we had to get our wet suits on and head to the swim start. The officials wanted the transition area cleared early. It started to rain, just as the pros went off. At least the rain held off until then, so I didn't have to set my transition area up in the pouring rain! The swim went well. It was a rectangle counter clockwise swim. I saw a lot of clear water, didn't have to battle too many people; and the water was clean & mostly chop free. I loved the big archway at the finish line b/c you could see it from 3/4 mile away. It was easy to sight & stay on target. I didn't have to keep looking at the buoys - the finish line target was all I looked at! Chris said he had a good swim too. Our times were comparable as well, which isn't too surprising since we train together.

The rain was falling pretty steadily on the bike ride. It was also cold - only in the low 60's. Everyone put on extra layers: arm warmers, or coats, or long sleeve shirts. The bike ride seemed to last forever. I couldn't believe it when I saw mile 10. I thought it was a bad joke. I still had 46 miles to go?!!?? I knew it wasn't going to be a great performance day, so I just tried to keep positive and get the darn thing done! The hills were pretty steep - 16% grade. Many people walked some of the hills. I stayed on my bike, but it wasn't like I passed a lot of the walkers.... Chris saw many people just fall right over: plunk. Their bikes weren't geared low enough, and they didn't have the power to get them up the hills so they fell over. I wish I had seen that b/c it would have brightened my day a little :).

The downhills were dangerous b/c there were a lot of turns, the roads were wet; and many had gullys of water rushing down them. I knew I didn't want to race in the rain ever again. One time was more than enough!!

Finally I did see the bike dismount sign & could get on with event # 3 - the run. I did feel good on the run, although I didn't really pass anyone. I kept a good pace (for me) and run all the hills with no problems. I had taken a gu right before the run & that did not agree with me. I'm not sure why, as I've had them before. Fortunately, I was able to stay focused on the run & keep going even though my stomach was revolting. So these little victories were good morale boosters. It was pouring during the run though. So much - that my visor had torrents of water rushing over it. Crazy!! And of course, they had to have an out & back portion on a dirt road, which was now muddy & full of gigantic puddles. I saw some people on the run - including Chris. So that is always a pick me up too. Chris said he wasn't feeling as good on the run, even though he had a really good bike.

I made it the 2 loops & through the finish line (the chute was so muddy: deep mucky tracks that almost took my shoes!) - woohoo!! It wasn't pretty, but I got it done. I took the hat & medal (didn't even look at them) and went to look for Chris. I found him in the transition area, and we both said - 'let's get out of here'. We were both so tired from being wet & cold all day. No victory celebration - just get me out of here!!

Looking back, it was a successful day, even though it didn't really feel like it that day. Just finishing the race was amazing, as the weather conditions were horrendous.

Bib #'s & Medal!