Nowhere, NY: Where The Sidewalk Ends

It pours.

So, first off, the schedule change. Having gone through an incredibly good several weeks of training during the past month, I took a step back and re-evaluated my racing schedule for the second half of the season. Keeping in mind my season goals, I decided it was in my best interest to "trim the fat", so to speak, and eliminate my remaining "C" races. These would include the Grafton XTERRA triathlon and the Hops Dirt Duathlon. By removing these races from the schedule, I think I have a much better shot at hitting the Skinnyman Sprint and the Saratoga Lake Olympic triathlons with much more fervor than trying to cram in extra races in between. It should also give me that extra punch to take home the Canal Cup this weekend.

This past weekend was another winner as I went about my typical training regimen - first hitting up a long, hilly ride over, through and beyond Mariaville on Saturday, followed up by a good, long road run on Sunday. The heat and humidity were pretty high on both days, but I was feeling sharp and strong on both the bike and the run. Finally fully acclimated.

Generally speaking, I take Monday's as rest days. But every now and again I decide to do a light run around the block to keep things loose. Okay, so it's more like a 5k run around the park, but who's really counting? So tonight I took to the road around 6:00, did my thing and was just about finishing up at the end of my street when a fellow runner came up on me. We got to talking, told him I lived "right over there", at which point he quickly identified it as "Marty's old house." Asked if he knew the original owners, and he said he did...As he lives right down the way, and something about "doing the triathlon thing".

"Hmmm..." I thought aloud. "Did you say you're a triathlete?"

"Yes", he said, "Yourself?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact I am, mostly short-course, how about you?"

"Ironman distance mostly, just did Lake Placid." He added, more modestly than I would've.

"Geese, that's pretty impressive! How'd you do?"

"Well, I qualified (for Kona), so I was happy... Though I've been 5 times before so..."

"Huh. Five times you say? Five, right? As in: V? Or: 4+1? Or even: [25^(1/2)]?"

"Yeah. Five times"

And with that we continued to jog around the block a bit, me quickly submitting my alpha card. He mentioned that Saturday's are the long run with him and his friend, starting from the end of the street - apparently something I've been missing out on for the past 12 months - and during the week he likes to ride west, mostly over and through... You guessed it: Mariaville.

We parted ways and agreed to hook up in a couple weeks to do some rides and some runs together. Why not, I thought, as I headed home.

See you out there.