It looks like the weather is going to cooperate this year. Hooray for us! Now, for the important details, like "where are we going to meet?" 

For the run, unless I get waylaid by the media (more on that below), I'm going to suggest the north end of the baggage drop-off. This map should help, a bit. Be warned: this whole part of the park is happy chaos as midnight approaches, noisy, dark and confusing. Drop me a note in the comments if you want my contact information, as I'll have my cellphone with me. If you don't know what I look like, well, just look at the handy pictures on the blog.

For the bike, we'll meet at the Central Park band-shell, which will look strikingly different from the night before. Let's say 10:00 a.m.? This should give us plenty of time to take a leisurely ride to Coney Island. Bring a helmet and a lock.

For the swim, if you haven't already met up with us in the park or en route, let's try for 12:50 p.m. on the beach side of the pavilion where all the hoopla is taking place. There are restrooms and lots of noise at this pavilion, but on the beach side, it can be a little calmer, as most of the craziness is taking place closer to the water.

As for the media, CNN has taken an interest in my little project, and they may be interviewing me at about 11:30 on Saturday night, giving valuable filler so that Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin don't have to make awkward banter on air, which means that I should be done well before the race starts. However, this is live television we're talking about here, and that means either the schedule could get moved around or I could get pre-empted by important footage of an adorable kitten dressed up in a costume for New Years Eve (aww!). Stay tuned.

Time to ring in the New Year with yet another NYC New Years Triathlon

If Christmas is eight days away, then New Years must be only fifteen days from now, if I'm doing my math right. That means that you can make plans to join me for some - or all - of this year's NYC New Years Triathlon. And how do you do that?

Run
Join me at the New York Road Runners Club Emerald Nuts Midnight Run. If you've never been in Central Park at midnight, this is your chance. Will it be cold? Probably, but so is Times Square, but you'll encounter fewer tourists and have a better view of the fireworks.

Bike
The following morning, join me in Central Park for a leisurely bike ride to Coney Island. The route is mostly in parks and along greenways, and there's not a whole lot of traffic on the morning of New Year's Day.


Swim

Jump in the Atlantic with the Coney Island Polar Bears. This is one of those things that plenty of New Yorkers have heard about but never done. Quit putting it off - this is one of the happiest places to be on January 1. The crowd is rowdy - clearly some folks never stopped drinking after the night before - but friendly. Run in to the water, run back out, and in addition to getting your heart rate up, you'll have something to impress your friends with when you get back home.

And for triathlon purists, I know that the order is backwards. But so what? It's not like it's a USAT sanctioned event, and no one is keeping score.

Recap of 2010/2011 NYC New Years Triathlon

... or NYC New Years Duathlon, as it turned out to be. As you may recall, New York was hit by a huge snowstorm on December 26, 2010. The mayor may have made sure that East 79th Street was clear, but by New Years, most of the city was still under a blanket of ice and slush, not ideal conditions for biking. So, I made an executive decision as Race Director and cancelled the bike portion of the event.

All the same, a good time was had by all. For starters, there were the fireworks:


And Mr. Emerald Nuts was at the start:



The next morning, I saw the oddest bunch of people at Coney Island, including Neil and Julie Cook, stalwarts of the Asphalt Green Triathlon Club, and also Andrew Cote, perhaps best known as the beekeeper who helps Martha Stewart, among others.

And did I get wet? Why yes, yes I did.



Plus, as you can see from the picture, I also snagged a new beach towel, thanks to sponsor Nivea, which had nice folks handing them out.