Three Times an Athlete
So many of us bike, swim or run for regular exercise, but what about the folks who do it all? Nicole Gull talks with Triathlon Newbies about entering their first races.
Anyone who has participated in a race is undoubtedly familiar with that pit-in-stomach feeling that brews as the start gun looms. The same people are likely just as familiar with the joy, camaraderie and accomplishment you get at the finish line.
And so it will go for the brave souls taking on this year’s Stamford KIC IT Triathlon on June 27 and Volvo of Stamford Greenwich Cup Triathlon on August 1. Both races are known as approachable and rewarding for first-timers and elite athletes alike. Melissa Grieco, 41, logged her first tri last August in Greenwich. “I had some insomnia the night before,” she remembers. “I think we left the house at 4:15 a.m., picked up a friend and got to Tod’s Point at 4:45 a.m.” (The race began at 6:30 a.m.)
The Rye resident and Greenwich Academy alum had always been athletic but hadn’t really considered triathlons until her husband, John, began training for them four years ago. (He’ll compete in his first Ironman this year.) “I was on the sidelines observing him get up at 5 a.m. to go to the Y,” she says. “I just thought this was a little over the top.” But after watching a handful of her husband’s races, the commitment and community tied to the sport inspired her to train for the Greenwich Tri. “I was determined that I was going to call myself a triathlete,” she says.
Grieco remembers her first experience vividly, starting the swim at Tod’s Point, transitioning to her bike for a ride up Palmer Hill and wrapping up the run back on the beach at Tod’s Point. The jellyfish and seaweed in the water were a bit startling at first (she shrieked each time she hit some), but once she was on the bike her competitive spirit kicked in. On the run back she could see the finish line; Grieco’s husband and spin instructor still joke that as she crossed, her eye makeup was still in place.
Jon Stellwagen runs the newly established Greenwich Triathlon Club and says interest in the sport has grown tremendously over the past few years. He and a handful of other coaches hold 14 workouts each week and partner up with local shops such as Greenwich Running Company, Threads & Treads and Signature Cycles to organize events and races. “The Greenwich area is filled with athletic people,” he says, noting that the club is all levels. The idea is to make the training manageable and offer a different kind of workout every day.
Abbe Karmen, a seventh-grade teacher at Greenwich Academy, once described herself as the “tag-along triathlete.” She says she initially tried one fresh out of college with the guy she was dating at the time. Now a member of the Greenwich Tri Club, Karmen, 45, is no longer the tag-along; she’s up every day at 5 a.m. to train for the Revolution 3 Tri Series in Middlebury. She says she’s eager to soak in as much information as she can about nutrition, training and gear from the more experienced members of the club. “You’re always learning something new about how your body works and how your brain works,” she says. “It’s an interesting side of personal growth.”
{Miles and Miles}
Tracking Down Trails
Mickey Yardis, owner of local running outpost Threads & Treads, shares his short list of top places to walk and run in and around Greenwich. (As told to Nicole Gull)
All-Time Favorite
Mianus River Park
It’s a spectacular maze of trails and a friendly place. You always bump into another runner or mountain biker, or even people walking their dogs. It’s safe and you can run a different loop every time you’re in there. You’ll get lost for a minute, which makes it exciting, but you’ll loop around and figure out where you are. I’ve been running there for 30 years and I still get turned around sometimes. It’s kind of neat. It gets your survival heart rate going. If you stick to the main trails, you’re fine. There are definitely some outer loops; I like to get up onto the less traveled peak trails. Those trails are softer and less beaten up. You can do three miles or five miles. It’s got great views so you can chill out next to the water and feel that energy, too.
Classic Greenwich
Tod’s Point
Can’t beat it. It’s where we host all of our Greenwich Cup events. There’s a 2.5-mile perimeter run. And then you can even explore the inner trails. You can do five or six miles without getting bored. We have a great 5k course set up for the high school — I think it’s their third year there. A friend of mine, Mark MacIntyre, and I designed it and cleaned it out a few years ago. Other than Waveny Park in New Canaan, it’s probably the most scenic and true cross-country course in the county. You get a little grass, a little sand and a little road, water views and the holly grove. You can explore the lesser-known area, too: the secret garden around the old Tod mansion.
Oldie But Goodie
The Bagel Boogie
In downtown Greenwich, my favorite run is a five-miler we used for our inaugural race in 1979. It was called the Bagel Boogie. It leaves from the YMCA and heads out through the midcountry pass to Greenwich Academy, out Husted Lane and back on Parsonage Road. It cuts down Ridgeview Avenue by the Lower Brunswick Field. It’s the perfect five miles. It’s hilly, it’s very quiet and you don’t need to worry about too much traffic.
Best Long Run Worth the Drive
Rockefeller State Park Preserve
The best long Sunday run is at the Rockefeller Estate in Tarrytown, NY. The smartest thing you can do for your body is to get your long run off the roads. Take a 25-minute drive over to Tarrytown. Park at Sleepy Hollow High School; you can park for free there, whereas in the preserve’s main lot you may pay a parking fee. (There’s a trailhead for the Old Croton Aqueduct across the street that leads right into the preserve.) It’s got hills and wide-open fresh air. You’ll run into a lot of other runners and lots of friendly locals. You might want to tuck a map in your pocket until you get familiar with it. You’ll recover three times faster from your long Sunday runs. It’s worth the drive and your knees will thank you.
Best Backcountry Run
The Mac 15-mile Trail Run
There are a couple hundred miles of trails in Greenwich. We used to park at the Round
Hill Club and run towards the Boy Scout property, bushwhack north into the Fairchild Garden (an Audubon preserve). You have to pick up an overgrown trail headed north to cross John Street into the old Fuzzy Perry Estate where we used to host the original Backcountry Bushwhack. Then loop around the Audubon headquarters property and head south through the Byram River Gorge and back through the Boy Scout property on Riversville Road, and then back to Round Hill. It’s 15 miles and you’re on pavement for about 50 yards. We call it the Mac Loop after Mark MacIntyre. He was a World Amateur Champion in the triathlon in 1989. He was originally referred to as the “Beast From the East.” We used to try to hang with him through 15 miles on six-minute pace. This is going back a few years and a few minutes per mile.