Too much slush

Since this event is meant to be an enjoyable way to ring in the New Year (are there other events that get rung in?), I'm officially skipping the bike portion of the triathlon. Welcome to the NYC New Years Aquathlon!

I'm going to be at the baggage drop-off in Central Park tonight at 11:40 (you can look at last year's pictures if you want to see what I look like). Tomorrow, I'll be at the northwest corner of 86th Street and Lexington Avenue (at the Best Buy), at 11:30 in order to take the train to Coney Island. Anyone who wants to jump into the Atlantic can meet up with me at 12:50 on the beach, just below the pavilion.

So, in the meantime, Happy New Year!

Ready to Run (and bike and swim)?

In case you didn't notice, the city had some snow recently, most of which has not melted yet. The Midnight Run is definitely on - there were some reports of a little black ice on the drives today, but by tomorrow night I expect that a combination of NYRR and Mother Nature will take care of that. And as for Coney Island, the good news is that while the water will be chilly, Saturday's high is expected to hit 50 degrees, so the water will actually be colder than the air, a change from the past few New Years Days.

And what about the bike? Well, I'm reserving judgment. The roads are clear here in Manhattan, and I even saw a video of a politician in Brooklyn in hysterics that the city had cleared the bike path along Ocean Parkway. Still, there are plenty of parts of the route that may not be clear or even safe for cycling, so I am going to wait until at least tomorrow to decide on whether this will be a New Years Aquathlon (the term for a swim and run, for those who think I'm making this up). Of course, this assumes that the subways out to Coney Island are going to be up and running by Saturday...

Afraid of a dip in cold water? read on...

Advice from a Coney Island Polar Bear:

http://bodyodd.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/12/30/5734446-planning-a-polar-bear-plunge-how-your-body-reacts

Chips

This appeared in my mailbox today:

Kettle Brand® Rings in the New Year in Central Park
This year, Kettle Brand® Baked Potato Chips are joining our partner in healthy snacking, Emerald Nuts, at the Emerald Nuts Midnight Run in New York City's Central Park on New Year's Eve. With running revelers in costume and a festive laser light show, the Emerald Nuts Midnight Run is the perfect way to get a head start on a healthy 2011. Emerald's mascot, Emmy, will be at the finish line with samples of Kettle Brand® Baked Potato Chips so runners can pucker up for a bite of Baked Sea Salt & Vinegar and ring in the New Year with a crunch!

Chips! Like you needed more reasons to join in?

2011 Already?

Time to sign up for what I'm counting as the third annual NYC New Years Triathlon. What exactly does that entail? For starters, you sign up for the NYRR Emerald Nuts Midnight Run, which you might want to do sooner rather than later, as the price goes up on the 17th. Next, you let me know that you are planning to do the rest of the, well, it's not a race, so let's call it an "event". This way I'll know to look for you as we meet in Central Park on the morning of 1/1/11 to bike down to Coney Island for the Polar Bear Swim. Run, bike, swim, geddit?

As you can see from the pictures in the posts from last year, we had a great time. Next year, maybe a bigger group will see the, um, wisdom of starting the year with a triathlon?

We made it!

Met up with Simon in Central Park and rode dow
n to Coney Island.

The bike leg was relatively stress-free, thanks in part to some seriously upgraded cycling infrastructure. One bottleneck was the Brooklyn Bridge, which was overrun with tourists who didn't get the concept that part of the walkway is designated for cyclists. This did not stop Simon from taking a picture of us in motion, though:

We arrived at Coney Island and locked up the bikes (again, at a recently installed bike parking facility). We got ready to jump in:



(Simon isn't angry, he's just getting ready for the cold water).

Finally, time for the swim. Simon had brought his waterproof camera with him, and he has posted the results on facebook - if anyone can tell me how to download the video, that would be great. In the meantime, here's the link .

Happy New Year to all, and I hope to see more of you next year!