Given all the recent rain, plan on having your running shoes sucked off your feet with in the first quarter mile of the Run

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2015 American Zofingen Du is May 17.
R.I.P. Chris Gleason

The worse the weather, the more need Bagpipis!

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''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law

That's not the only thing I've been slacking off on of late.

You gonna come out in your skirt and strangle that bag o' cats again this year?


PS - I emailed ya over a week ago, never got a reply.
Anyway, let's make it official - please drop me down to the CWD.
(I registered for GCG, but no way I can complete that, much less compete in it.)
Or tell Tom Ganz so he can do the honors.
Thx!

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float , hammer , and jog

Just home from my last pre race loop on the bike- little rain this morning but the run course is a swamp- I'm thinking at least two sets of kicks and socks.

Hey Rip Van Winkle, it's 2016. Change your signature line or your marketing department will be getting complaints that nobody was there on the wrong date.

Pouring right now in New Paltz. More rain possible Fri, Sat, Sunday morning.

Don't forget to bring your Wellies!

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''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law

What's a Wellie? I've got a few days left to acquire one, if needed.

Anyone care to remind me what I wear to be comfortable running / biking in rain at 50 deg? I can do warmer and wet, and colder and dry, but am drawing a blank here.

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

I'm a pretty huge fan of neoprene kayak gloves for those conditions.

I recognize it tends to be cooler on the Western part of the course, so if wet, maybe better gloves would be good. Just not sure I'd want full fingered in anything above 50. I'll pack for the worst imaginable scenario but still need to think through what I'd actually wanna grab in T1.

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

I've got some SealSkinz gloves which also work well for days like that. Better dexterity than the kayak ones.

Also have my fall/spring/winter MTB PI gloves (forget the model, they're wind/water resistant, not proof) that I'll probably use - they won't keep my hands totally warm or dry, just not miserable, which is really all I'm aiming for next Sunday.

For anybody trying to decide which kit to use, here's a Pro tip:
Bring EVERYTHING.

Better to have it all in the car with you, so you can make a last minute decision on what to use, based on what Mother Nature decides to throw at us.

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float , hammer , and jog

Final hill work out on the bike this afternoon. Hit everything around Cold Spring Harbor one last time. Tomorrow's a hill run again. Then I'll start to take it easy. At 66 I need extra time, even for CWD

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''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law

Shit, at a 22 yrs younger, I'm not even working out as hard as you are! But I'm in for the long haul. Nothing can save me now anyway...

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

Yes, but when you complete LC you will know that you have done something that not many have done. On the toughest course in the country!

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''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law

I took an o-fer this week for running, not surprisingly. Ugh. Less than ideal.
Was hoping to maybe get in one today, did a casual family hike instead. Toe was mostly ok-ish for that.

2 decent bike rides on Thurs and Sat, hit some local hills.

Got the DreamCrusher Express all gussied up in her dancing shoes today.

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float , hammer , and jog

Hey everone,

I'm an AmZof newbie, trying to find some basic info, and hoping for a little help. What time does the race start? I found the info from 2015 - will it be the same? Does everyone get their packet the morning of the race?

Thanks!

Lack of info is one of this race's charming qualities. Don't get dropped on the run or you'll never figure the course out.

And no, packet pickup is generally the day prior, in recent years held at the gazebo at the Mohonk Preserve. Hours though - your guess is as good as mine. Try noon to 3 pm, that aught to be safe, I think.

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

******** EDITED *********


Usually the Long Course race starts at 7:00Middle Distance GCG F1 at 7:30 and CWD (short course) at 8:00

******** start times are all :30 mins EARLIER than what I had posted prior. ***********

(In 2012 and prior, the start times were indeed :30 mins later)

I've always gotten my "packet" (such as it is) on race am.
I know sometimes they have pickup the afternoon before, so if you happen to be in the area then, swing by.

Rack spots are usually first come, first served.
But honestly, unless you're gunning for the overall podium in whatever race you're doing, it probably doesn't really matter much where you rack, it's not going to make much difference overall.

There are 2 real bathrooms, and several porta potties.
Please let the LC racers use them first, as there's plenty of time for everybody else later.

Overall, it's a very chill, casual vibe.
And then the race starts... ;-)

There's nothing better than BEING FINISHED RACING at AmZof.
You get to hang out and drink beer, swap war stories, and heckle whomever is still racing.

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float , hammer , and jog

Finished my last "hill" workout today. It consisted of 10 trips up and down 4 flight of stairs carrying furniture and boxes. Moving my daughter into her apartment...ugh.

Awesome. Thanks so much. Super helpful. Are the run and bike routes marked? I'll do my best not to get dropped but . . .

Bike route has people at most turns. I drove the route prior to my first race and still found some places where I wasn't sure which was the main road and which the side road once I was on my bike. Maybe I'm navigationally challenged.

There are markings for the run, caution tape or something. My 1st year I blindly followed others on the first lap, looking down at my footing more than up at blazes on trees, and found myself confused when I ran again alone. But if you watch the blazes on R1, remember them for R2, and remember your adventurous spirit, you'll be fine.

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

Got it. Thanks again. I am definitely navigationally challenged, especially when gasping for breath, so I'll try to pay attention.

Forecast: 10% chances of rain he he he!

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The entire event (IM) is like "death by 1000 cuts" and the best race is minimizing all those cuts and losing less blood than the other guy. - Dev

Bike course will have volunteers and/or State Police at intersections at turns, especially for the first two laps if doing long course. There will be aid stations at the exit of Spring Farm (aka transition area, gazebo), which is also in the middle of the climb up to Mohonk (end/beginning of each bike loop) as well as at the base of the decent off Minnewaska (roughly mile 17 or 18 of the bike loop). Mostly uphill. All right turns on course.
Run should be well marked with caution tape, spray chalk, and the crushed dreams of many an athlete. Run is sort of a figure 8-ish course with one aid station that you hit twice coming from different directions. You never run the same trail in different directions, but there are a couple of cross-overs. Also mostly uphill.

As for the comment about what to wear for 50's and rain, something slightly less stuffy than you'd wear for 40's and rain.

Charged the battery and pumped up the tires on my TT bike which had been sitting dormant since SOS for my longest (30 miles) and 6th ride of the year. Anyone have a gain 50 watts in 5 days training plan?

I am going to be perfectly content drinking beer from a Solo this year.