70.3 Miles

That’s a lot of miles!  I am trying to find the perfect race for my first attempt at swimming, biking and running a half-Ironman race.  The top two contenders right now are polar opposite races.  The first is the Patriot’s Half in Williamsburg, VA (http://www.setupevents.com/?fuseaction=event_detail&eventID=1138).  The second is SavageMan in Deep Creek Lake, MD (http://www.savagemantri.org/).  Patriot’s will likely be on 9/11 next year and SavageMan will probably be 9/19.  Curtis’s birthday is 9/12, so I’m hesitant about Patriot’s since I’m comandeering his bday this year for Nation’s.  However, like I said, the two races are polar opposites- Patriot’s is really flat and fast, while SavageMan has one of the steepest (if not the steepest) climbs in triathlon.  The WesternPort wall has a maximum of 31% grade.  Granted, it’s an optional part of the race, but the rest is pretty much par for the course with a lot of hills.

I also just saw that Ironman has announced a race in Syracuse, NY on 9/19/2010.  It’s intriguing to me.  I guess it’s brand new, so I have no idea what any of the courses would be like.  I’ll be watching chatter on this with interest.

I’m going to wait on my decision for a couple of months I think.  Since 2009 races are still wrapping up, I don’t think that all the 2010 dates and races have been announced yet.  I was thinking I’d want to stay local, but who knows?  Maybe we’ll turn it into a vacation.

Have a fantastic long weekend!