NYC Tri: Race Day

Sunday, July 16 NYC Triathlon.
It was my second time racing it. This is my first time doing a race report.

Pre-race weekend:
I had decided to try a different taper technique. For those of you who don't know, the goal of a tapering is to have your body rested and ready to go for race day. I usually do this by decreasing my activity, and only doing short, light workouts. This time I tried shorter, but high intensity workouts.

Sat:
I usually have everything done, but bike drop off. But on this day, I still had some errands I had to take care of - post office, bank, pick up more sports drink mix and race day food. I also had to pick my bike up from Toga and ride over to transition. What I thought might take two hours almost took 4. And to make matters worse, it was very hot and humid.

I got everything done, rode my bike to transition, put it in my spot, and went to walk the course. It helps me to be calmer if I get to see the route, especially for NYC tri. Transition is set in Riverside Park, and the route to the Henry Hudson is bound to have a short steep climb. I didn't see a map in my race packet so I asked an official, and then another.

They were only able to give me a vague description, but what I needed was specifics. I started asking participants, with no luck. I tried to picture the route they showed us at the information meeting, but couldn't remember all of it. I finally, ran into one of the Team In Training coaches, and asked him. He didn't know either. He told me to find him in the morning and he would tell me.

But I want to visualize the whole race tonight, so I kept walking. I finally ran into another participant and a friend of hers. They seemed to have a clear idea, so I asked them. After they described the route to the Henry Hudson from transition, I left them - with many thanks - and walked the route back to the transition. Stopped to say "Hi!" to Tyler and ask which side of the fork in the path we would take, and headed to the subway.

Now normally, I would have gone home, eaten dinner and gone to bed. But I was so jazzed that I decided it was a good idea to vacuum my apartment. While my dinner was cooking, I showered and finished setting up everything I needed for the race - race clothes, frozen bottles of sports drink and water, and food.

When I finally sat down to eat, I knew I had done too much - my legs were tired. The good thing was that I was actually sleepy early. So with one last check to make sure I had everything, I went to bed. I wrote down my goals for the race, and turned the light off by 9:30 pm.

Race day:
I woke up at 2:59 am. The alarm was set for 3 am. I had arranged to meet Christina at 4 am. I got everything packed and got myself out the door with out a hitch. Christina was at the corner with a car service waiting. Amy had gotten one up by her in Inwood and came down to pick us up. It was nice to have them to talk to on the way down.

They had already closed the 79th street exit from the Henry Hudson, and had started to divert the Northbound traffic. We ended up down at 56th St and took 11th Ave up. We got out at 72 and Riverside, grabbed our bags, and went into a bodega for some extra drinks.

I realized at this point that I left half of my drinks in the trunk of the car. Not a big deal except that one of the water bottles was meant for my bike. Of course Scott was there to witness this. I found a gatorade with a squeeze top, and bought a huge bottle of water to refill it.

Got into transition. I was already sweating. Must remember to drink, drink, drink. It wasn't hot, just very humid. Set everything up. Drank down gatorade and refilled bottle with water. Everything was in place. Made sure I could find my spot from both entrances. Didn't want a repeat of last year, when I couldn't find my spot coming back from the bike.

Grabbed everything I needed for swim start, and headed to 99th St. Didn't see the first pro wave start, but saw them whipping by on my walk up. Also saw lots of debris. Current looked strong though that means less time in Hudson.

Picked up my timing chip, got my wetsuit halfway on, dropped my swim bag in the appropriate box, and headed to my corral. Turned out to be a lot of TV camera crews around this year. Waited until a few minutes before my start to pull my wetsuit the rest of the way on. Stood there dripping with sweat, praying we would be getting into the Hudson soon. I know. I couldn't believe I was actually looking forward to getting into the Hudson.

Swim: 20:16 (last year 27:02)

We were held up by a tree branch. Finally, we took our spots. Most of us jumped in and held onto the rope attached to the starting platform. Some people stayed on top and waited. I could tell the current was much stronger this year.

Around 6:35, we were off. Kept myself focused on my form. Noticed my shoulders were tired at around 600 meters, must be because of the wetsuit. Focused on stretching out as far as I could with each stroke. I had a feeling that I could just stay on my side, and get to the finish in almost the same amount of time. I kept swimming. Near the end, my hand hit bottom. Gross! Swim to the ramp I told myself. But you couldn't avoid stepping one foot in the mucky bottom.

T1: 9:52 (last year 9:28)

Felt I did alright in the swim. Kept a good pace. Didn't bother to look at my time. Just got halfway out of my wetsuit, goggles and swim cap off, and focused on a steady paced run 3/10 mile barefoot on pavement to transition. Not fun, but I didn't hit a pebble this year.

Had a full out fight with my wetsuit to get it off my calves. Grrrrrr. I really have to work on this transition. It should've been better. Anyway, got the wetsuit off, wiped my face, put on my socks, shoes and sunglasses, took a drink, helmet on, bike off rack, and off on the bike.

Bike: 1:39:17 (last year 1:41:26)

Legs felt tired from the start. Made me panic a little, but I put it down to the run from the swim and the short, steep hill out of Riverside park. Drank some and had a couple of pieces of my cliff bar. Legs felt better 10 mins into it. Enjoyed majority of the ride. Made better use of down hills this time. Only started coasting more towards the end of the bike, when I got tired again. Top speed 36 mph. I know I can do better, but still pleased with that. Also, got in more food and drink than usual.

At the U-turn at 56th St, I almost forgot to turn. Had to tell myself to turn several times before I actually turned. Don't really know what that was about, but crashing into the police officers really wasn't on my list of goals for this race. Managed to make the turn and head back to transition. At the roundabout at 79th St, there were a few mentors from TNT. Felt good to have so many cheering for me. Gave me a boost.

T2: 3:34 (last year 4:27)

Really, I don't know where the time goes. Had to struggle a little to get my bike back on the rack, not much space this year. Helmet, sunglasses and shoes off; shoes, race number and hat on; eat a GU, drink some water and pour rest on head. Now the sun was up, and it was hot.

Run: 1:09:02 (last year 1:15:21)

I know I did just over a ten minute mile for the first mile, but it slowed considerably after that. Ran into lots of TNT people on the run. It is sometimes the only thing that keeps me going. I felt fine up the westside of the park. Had stopped at mile one for water to drink and dump on my head. Saw Dad, M-J, Jen and Sarah. Thanked the guy spraying people with the water hose. Saw Rachel on the way up the westside. Didn't stop at second water station, but grabbed water and kept going. I ended up stopping at the rest of the water stations. Saw Jay on the way to mile 3. Asked me if I thought this was easier than St Anthony's. Didn't have a good answer. I was heading up hill.

Saw Earl on the climb of Harlem Hill. Can't believe I was actually able to complete a sentence. Saw Marisol almost at the top of the hill. She said that I was a rock star, but I didn't feel that way. It was getting harder to move my legs. Ate a GU somewhere on the eastside at a water station. Mile 5 would never come. Mentally I started to crack, and my legs were really tired. Mile 5 and water. Saw Rachel again. She said that I was looking good. Smiled, but didn't believe her.

Now it was downhill to 72nd St and the finish. But this year they had us run past the finish, around Cherry Hill fountain and back through a narrow line of spectators to the finish. It was good Dad and M-J were stationed at the fountain, because I almost stopped. I nearly started to cry. I was certain this was taking me much longer than last year.

But in the end, I managed a little sprint across the finish line. Was glad that Brad and Dave had found me right away, because I felt very wobbly.

I have no idea where I got that smile from, but there it is just the same.


Overall: 3:22:00 PB (last year 3:37:43)

I was 8 out of 16 in the Athena 39 and under group. In my age group 30 - 34, I was 157/220. I'm pretty proud that I came in 3rd in my swim in the Athena group, and 40th in my age group. I don't focus on my placement in the other two, because I have a long way to go. But I am pleased that I have improved.

Next planned race is FirmMan, which will be my first half Ironman distance race.

Need to work on:

Must rest the day before the race.

Do more hill work on the bike.

Still need to stregthen my mind for the run. Did better this time, but I need to do more solo runs were I have to rely on myself to keep going.

Transitions, transitions, transitions.

And a million other little things.