Timberman 70.3 Scout Out

This past weekend was a great experience in New Hampshire! I was fortunate enough to be able to go scout out the Timberman 70.3 race course and get some much needed R and R.  I was fortunate enough to have my wife Chelsea with me as well as my friend/training partner Mike Hoffman along for the weekend.  Mike was giving a talk at a conference in Proctor, NH so he came up a little early to join me for the training sessions.  Because of the connections Mike has, we were able to stay with the amazing Dix family at their wondeful lake house on Webster Lake about half hour west of the Timberman Race site.

Pictured below is Webster Lake with the great lake house, boat and nice diving dock....

  We started the weekend early as we left the Rochester  around 2.  After a pretty drive we made it to New Hampshire around 9.  When we got there we met the David and Molly Dix and their 3 kids!  A big thanks to them for everything they did for us this past weekend....they opened up their home and family to us strangers!  (And they have been kind enough to let us use the place again for race weekend!!  Thanks so much!) We ended up watching a little of the olympics - which I have been obsessed with - then headed off to bed.
      Mike and I headed out early on Saturday to scout of the course.  The race site is in beautiful Ellacoya State Park --

After checking out the beach we headed out on our bikes to do the 56 mile course.  I was pleasantly surprised with the course as it provides a mix of rollers, flats and some challenging climbs.  I always try to ride any course I will be racing as I believe it gives me more confidence headed into the race.  I highly recommend doing that as much as you can....in some races however that just isn't possible -like the NYC tri a few weeks back as we biked on the west side highway!  After biking the course I added on another couple hours to get my long ride in for the week. It ended up being a pretty hot and humid  day-- really hoping it isn't going to be like that for race day!! 

After a nice ride I got some good food and relaxed the rest of the day back at the lake house.  It is always enjoyable to relax in a nice lake, eat some food, rehydrate and relax with some good friends and fam.  That night we went to Kathleen's Cottage in Bristol NH and I enjoyed a delicious Reuben - I am a sucker for Reubens! 

The next day Mike and I went on a nice 18 mile run to start the day. It was a very humid morning so once it was over it was an amazing feeling to jump in the lake!  I was pretty beat from the ride and run so took a nice nap and woke up to the smell of some amazing quesadillas!  Thank you Molly!

So to round out the weekend I had a nice open water swim...however as I was about half way done the clouds rolled in and so did the thunderstorms....I got out just in time for the downpour to begin. 

After a great weekend in New Hampshire I was sad to have to return back to reality and the 7 hour drive home!  I am excited and prepared to race the Ironman Timberman 70.3 as my first professional race.  The race numbers are up and I will be #7!  Lucky #7 I hope! 




Once again    thanks again to my family, friends and sponsors for all of the help- this is an exciting journey and I hope to be able to share it with all of you!