Well, for the second time this year the weather altered a race. At least at TriRock Philly, I got to finish! Anyway, here we go. After the traffic experience going to Ironman Princeton last year, I made sure I was definitely on time to Mercer Lake Park for the NJ State. Unfortunately, there was no traffic which meant i was one of the first people there, even before transition opened. Checked in, got set up and waited. And waited for seemingly hours. When it came time for my swim wave, entered the water with the rest of the age group and started swimming. I am assuming Mercer lake must be man made as it was fairly clear with good visibility. Sluggish swim, mostly due to tiredness that set in and swimmers in front going slowly/on their back/breast stroke/or not at all. Finished the swim feeling relatively good and had a very fast 3 minute transition (for me) and got on the bike.Β
Immediately on the bike the skies started to look real mean. Very dark for 8am or so, so dark that I needed to take off my sunglasses to see. At this point, I am thinking this could be a problem as I started to look for places to take shelter in the event of lightning. After several scary minutes the skies began to lighten up but then the rain started. Not just drizzle, we are talking downpour. I was soaked, water was draining out of my shoes soaked. Visibility turned to shit and had to slow down to about 17 mph average, At this point, I am thinking there is nothing I can do about the rain but at least it isnβt lightening. Headed back into the park and into transition, i notice a large amount of people...uh .leaving. And then people sayingΒ βslow down, its overβ. Shit. Shit Shit Shit.Arrive at the bike dismount, pretty disappointed but since lightning is now crackling across the sky, figure its for the best. Head into transition, grab an undeserved finisher medal (but I would have finished so whatever), packed my soaked gear and headed to the car. all in all a sucky day but I will be back as i must finish this.