1850 people started the swim at 7AM. Spectators said Mirror Lake looked like a washing machine.  I spent the first mile of the 2.4 mile swim in a frenzy of arms and feet.  

By 8:30, I started the 112 bike ride.  It was two 56 mile loops that started and finished at the Olympic Skating Oval in Lake Placid.  All the athletes benefited from a spectacular day of cool temperatures and low humidity. 

The course had some challenging hills.  There was a stretch of downhills about 10 miles into the course that had me going about 45-48 mph for 3-4 miles.  Too fast to peddle, and too fast to relax!  Luckily the climb back into Lake Placid had the matching uphill climbs stretched out over about 10 miles.  Just 9.5 miles longer than any of the hills I ride in South Jersey!

The marathon consisted of two 13.1 mile out and back loops.  I've run some tough races, but nothing has compared to this one.  I tried not to think of the run as 26 miles, but more like two 2 loops of 13.  No matter how you look at it though, 26 miles of running after 112 miles of biking and 2.4 miles of swimming does not sound like fun!