Congrats again! You going back next year? Where did you swim, the bay?

I'm thinking about it, it would be cool to get this one in before I have to hang it up.

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

Cool, I will definitely look into Bridge to Bridge!

Oh, for sure!
It was a fun event, and also a good excuse to visit my brother & SIL up there.

Swims were in lovely, fresh water ponds.
Bike was far more interesting than I expected, and I have some KOM whoring to do there next time.
Runs were decent -
first one most challenging and interesting, the middle 2 just kinda OK, and the last one was a little over a mile on the road to get back to the village of Wellfleet, so it is what it is.

It's a much more accessible race than the original SOS, due to the shorter distances, and not selling out in 5 minutes at midnight.

Winning times for NY are typically right around 4.5 hours, vs Cape Cod was just under 3.
My best SOS time was 5 flat, and I was basically 3 flat for CC.

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float , hammer , and jog

 
Question: I have done the middle distance on my road bike, but I am looking to do the long course on my tri bike this year. However, my tri bike is a 1x10 set up. Whats the thoughts on a 42 front and 11-32 rear for gearing? My road bike was 39 - 12-23 and I could have used a few more on that second bike leg!

39x23 is a TOUGH "granny" gear for AmZof - especially the 2nd (or 3rd!) lap(s) of the bike.

I've done that in training, going up Mohonk seated in the 23 as a Stupid Human Trick, but it's ill-advised for the actual race.

From what I found online, 42 x 32 is about equal to 39 x 30.
That is a TON of climbing gearing.
You should be fine.

Now, you may get spun out a bit on some of the descents, but that's probably also a Good Thing, as you'll be prompted to just coast and enjoy the free ride while it lasts.

Typically, I'll stop pedaling once I get up to the mid-high 30's, but that's also usually on Lap 1.
By Lap 2, anything 32+ feels like plenty, so I'll stop pedaling.
By Lap 3, anything north of 28 works. ;-p

Tri bike is the right tool for the job.
There's plenty o' aero goodness to be had, when you're not climbing.

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float , hammer , and jog

 
Thanks for the advice, exactly what I was looking for! Oh I'll be coasting on the downhills, just trying to breathe between cuss words.

Whoo Hoo! Got out on the bike today on Long Island! Great day, 2 1/2 hours of Oyster Bay/ Cold Spring Harbor hill-work. Don't laugh, the stuff over there, while not as long as the hills Upstate are just as much killers. Five hours later, I'm still a wreck!

This is going to be as lot harder at 70 than it used to be!

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

look's like i am signing up today and maybe Shawn too... we'll try to keep him on his bike for this race rather than in the ditch.
face surgery can drain your pockets.

Newb questions...for the run how technical are the trails? Are trail shoes recommend and if so more like racing shoes or heavy duty ones?

Also I presume start finish for the bike and run laps all end up in the same place? How does setting up transitions work?

Thanks!

You definitely don’t need heavy duty trail shoes, but I am glad that I wore my trail shoes last year. I would say that the uphill sections are technical, but you are going so slow that they aren’t. The downhill sections are mostly on dirt road, so nothing technical there. The little extra grip was nice to have on the uphills.

Run/bike start/finish are in the same area. That part is easy. No thinking required.

Enjoy the race. It is an awesome experience with a great atmosphere.

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https://www.endurancelab.fit
https://www.teamodz.com
https://discuss.endurancelab.fit

Singletrack uphill, double uphill. Trail shoes are not a must, but you might be glad you wore them. You will be pounding down some long downhills, so keep that in mind when picking your shoes.

I'm an old guy and I use Hoka trail shoes, and I've never felt that the reason I didn't win the race because of my shoes!

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

Perfect thank you!

What, no mention of AZ 6 hour trail run?!

I got this yesterday from Tom;

''new this year is the trail run for 100 people that is 6 hours to run as many loops as you can. I would like to ask that you spread the word so we can fill this up and make a great donation to the Preserve and the Wallkill High School Nordic ski and track teams who provide a lot of volunteers. This is not an official non-profit race but any profit is donated to these groups.''

It looks like a great idea. I hope it gets off to a good start this year

Right now I've got to go. Heading out for some more Shandaken hill work!

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

"6 hours to run as many loops as you can... looks like a great idea."

AmZof always looks like a great idea before and after the race.

You got that right!

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

 

Any chance of Am-Zof ever becoming a qualifier for Powerman Zofingen? Seems to make more sense than long course Nationals.

I'm going to check with the host bike shop, but wanted to check in on here as well. I am looking to take a trip to check out the course and ride/run a loop one of the next few Sundays, may have some days off in April as well if someone is local. Anyone planning to get on the course that wouldn't mind a tag along!

Hopefully there are not virus complications by raceday!!!

I'm about an hour and a half North and would definitely consider coming down. We have a wedding on race day this year but I would like to race the long course someday.

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Tim Russell, Pro Triathlete

Instagram- @timbikerun

I don't know if I'll get to do a ride around the course this time around. I'll keep working the hills in Shandaken and on Long Island's North Shore.

But I got good news the other day; due to the Corona Virus, the King's Park 15k race has been postponed. They are hoping for June 13. This has been a great training race for me on the way to AZ in the past and I've had some good races there on the very hilly course. It's always going up or down and some of those hills will suck the legs right off of you.

So this year, being 69 and 11/12ths on Kings Park race day, I didn't want to give away so much age advantage to the 65 year olds on such a tough course. I thought I'd wait til next year and hit it as a 70 year old. With the postponement I'll not only be able to race it twice as a 70 year old, I'll be able to make it my focused race for June. Hurray for me!

And now for the best thing about King's Park, besides the killer course, the thing that makes it so perfect for all AZ racers;



You get to race through the old insane asylum!!

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

Any word on whether this race is still on? Everything looks good on the facebook page and website, but just wanted to double check since so many things through May and even June have already been called off. Sadly, the wedding we were going to got cancelled, which means I have the weekend off to race if it is still an option. Silver linings maybe?

Also would be awesome to get a training ride/run in on the course this month if it is still on.

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Tim Russell, Pro Triathlete

Instagram- @timbikerun

Wanting to know this also! I think the preserve is closed at the moment, which doesn't look great for it staying on.

Also if it opens/you are going to hit the course let me know! I am looking to rag along with someone who knows it...and my month is wide open unfortunately

I received an email from Tom a few weeks ago saying that he was hoping to hear From the Mohawk Preserve by the end of March about whether or not the race can go on. With how this virus has exploded over the past couple of weeks, and with the prediction that the next three weeks will get much worse, that takes us to the end of April with our police and medical systems strained to the max. I don't see any way for the race to go on in the middle of May.

I've been training hard for AZ and for the Kings Park 15K race, that's now scheduled for June, but I don't think either one will be happening. With our medical system strained, it just doesn't seem right to take a chance and sending someone else to a hospital.

Now this is just me, but I also don't think we should be training on the AZ course. There are plenty of places to train. Of all the training routes I know, the AZ course is probably the one that you're most likely to crash on. Again it's just me but I don't think we should be taking that risk at this time.

On AZ race day, I plan to do a solo 4 mile run, 40 mile bike, 4 mile run, in Shandaken. It won't be the same but what the heck, an old guy's got to do, what an old guy's got to do!

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

Well, I'm sure most of you have gotten the email for Tom and to no one's surprise, AZ is officially cancelled for this May. We might get a shot at it in September or October, and we might have a virtual race in May. And everyone will roll over into the next r

It's the right thing to do. I think it's time to stay safe, and stay away, and live to fight another day!

I'll see you all in the fall or maybe in 2021.

Stay safe everyone!

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

I'm sad, but not surprised, and honestly I don't have the fitness I wanted either. But I hope to bring it in 2021!

I will definitely be doing some kind of 5-28-5 torture-fest on May 17th, likely with virtual biking hills and zero running hills. Though I could run up and down my street for 5 miles. That would probably be suitably punishing.

Until next time, gang...

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

Darn, it's a perfect day to race. It's in the low 50's in NP right now and only going up to the high 50's. It could have been awesome.

I wouldn't have made it to the starting line anyway. Everything was right on target into the first week of April when I did a 1:45:00 minute mountain run here in Shandaken and strained everything in my left hip. That took away about a week and a half of training. Then just as I was starting to feel good again running, I fell off of my roof and injured my ribs. That cost me about another 2 1/2 weeks. I started running again last week and rode the bike outside for the first time in a month, yesterday.

I learned a lesson about my limits for run training and I think I'll be back for next year. I didn't get to celebrate being 70 at AZ so I'm looking forward to doing the race next year at 71!

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