Race Atmosphere in Syracuse

    The race atmosphere is pretty mild to say the least.  There isn't to much buzz going on here.  I have seen the same 3 people over and over again.  The course though is really beautiful, full of mountain views, farms with huge barns and silos, and the smell of cows. 
    The water temp today was 80 degrees so as of today we won't be wearing wetsuits, but we'll see in the morning.  I am in the very last wave with a start time of 7:50.  The bike course is going to be extremely challenging.  The first 12 miles is uphill with some very Very steep sections.  The key will be to stay patient and not over do it to early.  Then the course goes into a bunch of rollers, with an occasional steep section.  The views on the bike course are really amazing and the roads look like they are in good shape.  Then for the run, it is a 2 loop course with rollers leading into a 1 mile steep climb to the turnaround and then head back to do it all over again.  The run is probably about 50% in the sun so at the hottest point of the race we will have some cover which is always good.  My goal is to race hard and extremely smart.  I can't wait for the morning to arrive.