Sunday July 14th, I competed in the 3rd Annual Orange County Triathlon. The race took

Mentally prepared.

place at the beautiful Newburgh Waterfront along the Hudson River. Going into the race I had a few personal goals…

• Don’t panic in the swim (I don’t want to end up swimming in survival mode like at Pawling).
• Hammer on the bike, but stay in control, and hydrated.
• Stay positive and finish the race injury free!

The Swim: 1500 meters going south bound in the Hudson River. The high tide was on its way out, so the current basically swept me along. I’ve been swimming a lot at the MDSA beach at Lake Minnewaska, so I really believed in myself that I would have a much stronger swim than that of my first tri. Needless to say I survived the swim without having to go into “survival mode”!

Preparing to exit T1 for the 24.8 mile bike.

The Bike: The 24.8 mile course started and finished at the Newburgh Waterfront. The course started by climbing numerous hills in the Town of Newburgh until about mile 10. Then it ‘flattened’ out a little once I got to Montgomery. The last 8 miles of the course were awesome! (This is because it was all downhill.) Once we got into the City of Newburgh it was a smooth (actually bumpy because we had to go over cobblestones on Broadway) sailing back down to transition.

The Run: By this time of the day it was extremely hot and humid, but after all it is summer, so this is to be expected. After an amazing T2 it was time for the run. I’ve run the 10K course on numerous occasions, but never after swimming and biking. This was brutal, but I knew that the competition was going through the same pain as me, so I just kept going. The support that was out there was amazing! Not only the race volunteers at the water 3 water stops along the course, but also the residents of Newburgh that were out that morning cheering and giving out bottled water and ice!

Proud parents!

The finish of the race was awesome! Tons of support and positive vibes everywhere. I crossed the finish line with a time of 2:33:58 and the 2nd Overall Female. But the greatest part of the day was that my Mom and Dad were BOTH there to support and cheer for me! After the awards we grabbed lunch at one of the restaurants on ‘Restaurant Row’.

**For the full photo library click here. Photo credit to my Mom, who was basically taking photos like she was the paparazzi.

Now, time to prepare for ITU Duathlon World’s next month! Did you race this past weekend or in the midst of training for a special event? Please feel free to share in the comments section below!