When you live in New England all you have to do is wait a day for the weather to  change.  On Thursday we experienced the high heat and humidity that we have grown to love so much this summer.  Then on Friday, the cold front arrived.  Dropping temps over 40 degrees.  On Sunday morning triathletes woke up to 33 degrees in Lake Placid and 56 in Rhode Island.  This type of weather is why I encourage my athletes to train in all kinds of conditions.  Although there was a bit of banter and complaning, everybody got to the starting line and completed what they started.  The Lake Placid 70.3 now has the honor of being the coldest ever start, the race began at 33 degrees.  Susie Smith Tanner would not let a little cold air stop her. She had a stellar performance placing 2nd in the 55-59 age group in a time of 5:55:59.  This was her last tune-up race before Ironman Louisville next month.

In Rhode Island morning temps were in the 50’s with big surf for the Firmman 1/2 Ironman, Aquabike, and sprint race.  Marie Labriola ( who is not fond of the cold) rocked the Aquabike.  Winning overall in a time of 3:16:08.  She now has the number one national ranking spot in Aquabike.  We are looking forward to the Nationals in November.  John Goodwin finished off his season and his last race in his age group 60-64 with a 4th place finish in the sprint in a time of 1:28:41. Watch out for this guy next year 65 years young!

Finely a huge shout out to Chris Kendra.  The most mature 13-year-old young man I know. Chris is the future of our sport. I worked with Chris on his swimming so he could compete in his first Triathlon.  Although the day was daunting, Chris tackled the waves and the swim course like a champion.  He finished the race winning his age group in a time of 1:37:24. It was a great weekend of racing.  I am honored to work with these amazing athletes.