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St. Anthony's
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St. Anthony's - TriathlonOlympic
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 Swim
Comments: I'm sorry for all the people on relay teams that didn't get to do their leg. I also feel bad for the triathletes that excel at swimming and didn't get to do their strong sport. However for me, I was tremendously relieved by not having to swim. My longest swim in the pool this year had been 900 yards. Under normal water conditions I would have been able to get through 1.5K swim, but Saturday's struggle in the water scared the crap out of me. It was totally surreal sitting not far from the transition area with bunches of people that I'd normally not see before the race. Typically the guys would have headed over to the beach long before I would have. I actually found a few of my NY friends, and hung out with them. They thought the time trial start would maybe speed things up, but actually it took longer to send everyone off in numerical order at 2 second intervals. What would you do differently?: Swim more in the off season.  Transition 1
Comments: Even though I started with my bike shoes and helmet on, I had a long run to my bike, and an even longer run to mount line. I always get hurt with long runs in transition because I'm so slow.  Bike
Comments: What can I say when this was my longest ride on the bike all year? I knew I was not going to be able to hammer out the miles. I was going to have to pace myself. It was strange coming out of transition with all these people at the same time. Usually the swim spreads people out a bit. I felt like I was standing still as women of every size and shape on any type of bike passed me. There I was on my flashy tri-bike being passed by 50 year old women on hybrids. I felt like a dork. At least I had the good sense to leave the race wheels and aero helmet at home. I didn't want to look like a total fraud. I guess after years of laughing to myself while blowing by guys 20 years younger then me with the latest and greatest gear it was time for pay back. I went to the big ring pretty quickly, but about 5 miles into the race I realized I couldn't sustain the cadence, so I decided to drop back down to the small ring. I guess I'm out practice on making that shift because I dropped my chain and couldn't get it back up without stopping. I pulled over, put the chain back on. Good thing I had a tune up before I left. The chain was pretty clean. It was hard for me to stay down on the aero-bars. My back, shoulders and ummm the female anatomy got very sore. I have lost my callous in that part. The other problem was I had to pee really badly. I guess I've never been aware of how much water I would lose on the swim. At the water station I stopped to use the porta-potty. I have never had to stop in the middle of the bike leg to pee. If I was in super race mode, I would have never made that stop, but in my frame of mind it didn't matter. I was very happy when the ride was done. Between the wind, heat and sore parts I was ready to go for a walk. What would you do differently?: Train. Transition 2
Comments: This was my all time slowest T2. Usually in this race my T2 is under 2 minutes. I didn't go blazing into the transition area with my bike. Usually when I come in from the bike, the racks will be pretty empty. Not this time. The racks were full of bikes. I took my sweet time racking it, taking my shoes off and putting on my running shoes. I had not bothered to put speed laces, or anything on my running shoes.  Run
Comments: I walked almost the entire way. I caught up with a man who is 75. The last time when I've walked the course I just went right past him. This time after going back and forth with him a few times, I decided to slow down to his pace and walk the course with him. What a nice way to spend what would have otherwise been a crappy "run". Edwin talked my ear off telling me interest stories about his travels and races. Here was somebody who could actually out talk me. We got passed by everyone. When I race walked the course in 2007, I actually passed a few of the shufflers. Not his time. We walked a very mellow 16:30 pace. Towards the end we picked up the pace and jogged across the finish line. What would you do differently?: Train Post race
What limited your ability to perform faster: Lack of training. Event comments: I really like this race, but I'm not sure I'll do it again. I hate winter so much, and I hate training indoors for outdoor sports like biking and running. The only thing that got me through winter was working very hard at Tae Kwon Do and going up three belts between December and April. It's hard to justify entering a race on December 1st, not knowing whether I'm mentally and physically able to commit to the training. It's too expensive to make a half ass attempt to doing on on so little training. I enjoyed hanging out with my TNT and BT friends. Thanks for making it a fun weekend. I hope I can start over with running, and get back to doing some sprint triathlons. I'll never say never regarding doing Olympic distance or longer again. One never knows. Last updated: 2009-04-27 12:00 AM
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 2009-04-27 6:19 PM |
Expert  936    Westchester County NY |  Subject: St. Anthony's |
| 2009-04-27 7:38 PM in reply to: #2113985 |
Master 1795 Boynton Beach, FL | Subject: RE: St. Anthony's It was really refreshing to hear about your honesty on the swim. I think there were several hundred people that were having to use the porta-potty's after seeing those waves in the morning. I would have done it and was 1st upset, but comments like yours put it into perspective from a Race Directors stand point. You put limited rescue personel on the water with 4,000 amatuers in those seas and it equates to disaster. Not everyone would have checked their ego's at the door and DNF'ed. Glad it worked out for you and you enjoyed the trip. That's all that matters. Nice report. |
| 2009-04-27 8:24 PM in reply to: #2113985 |
Champion 7704  Williamston, Michigan | Subject: RE: St. Anthony's Polly Huge congrats for getting down here and doing the race. I know its not what you hoped for but you toed the line showed up and did it!! Welcome to the back of the pack. We have more fun anyway in the BOP |
We are a friendly lot. MOre about having fun and doing the best you can on that day and not stressing over it. I hope you had a safe trip home and it was good to see you again.| 2009-04-27 8:30 PM in reply to: #2113985 |
Champion 8766 Evergreen, Colorado | Subject: RE: St. Anthony's I'm glad you did the race, Polly! It was nice to meet you! |
| 2009-04-28 7:18 AM in reply to: #2113985 |
Champion 6046 New York, NY | Subject: RE: St. Anthony's nice job!!! Hope to see you at some other races. |
| 2009-04-28 5:26 PM in reply to: #2114141 |
Expert 936 Westchester County NY | Subject: RE: St. Anthony's cardenas1 - 2009-04-27 8:38 PM It was really refreshing to hear about your honesty on the swim. I think there were several hundred people that were having to use the porta-potty's after seeing those waves in the morning. I would have done it and was 1st upset, but comments like yours put it into perspective from a Race Directors stand point. You put limited rescue personel on the water with 4,000 amatuers in those seas and it equates to disaster. Not everyone would have checked their ego's at the door and DNF'ed. Glad it worked out for you and you enjoyed the trip. That's all that matters. Nice report. Having traveled to Kansas City in 2005 for the Age Group Nationals only to have the entire race washed out by terrible rain and thunder storms, I can deal with any changes a race director makes in the name of safety. I was very thankful that the swim did not get replaced by a 5K run which is a fairly normal thing to do in these cases. 2004 NYC Triathlon the water had high bacteria levels so the swim was replaced by a 5K run. I think since this race has so many triathlon newcomers in it, I think adding an extra 5K run would have been tough for those who had trained specifically to complete a race with 10K worth of running. I know I would have been one hurting puppy. As it is I'm walking gingerly from the shin splints I developed from walking 10K |
| 2009-04-28 8:49 PM in reply to: #2113985 |
Champion 19812 MA | Subject: RE: St. Anthony's Polly nice race! I'm glad you came and did your best all while having fun. I had similar thoughts about the swim even though I had plenty of 2000 yard swim in this year. I hope you find your tri training groove again and have lots of fun racing this summer. |
| 2009-04-28 8:59 PM in reply to: #2113985 |
Veteran 197 Manhattan | Subject: RE: St. Anthony's I'm glad you got to dip your toes back in the tri water (even if the water was not during the race). I loved chatting with you before and after the race and getting your perspective on this crazy sport. I look forward to seeing you around the hood! |
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United States
Overall Rank = 3664/3682
Age Group = F 55-59
Age Group Rank = 31/33
I looked at my race reports from this race of 2005 and 2006. I had not even written one for the 2007 race. I think I was too embarrassed to do so. It was funny reading about my lousy winter in 2006. The winter 2006 looks totally wonderful compared to this past winter.
I had deferred my 2008 entry to this year because I had some little injuries that had added up. Also my heart was not into doing the race. When I deferred to this year I was hoping it would get me motivated to get back into triathlon after a two year hiatus. It didn't. WINTER SUCKED!
I think as I've gotten older I gotten less tolerant of cold weather, and training outdoors. I think my new cycling mode is wait until the temperature matches my age. :-)
I was so untrained for this race, that I had no business doing. However I paid for the entry, the deferral and an airfare so felt I needed to come do it.
When I went swimming on Saturday, I struggled with the waves. I only went out to the second marker before turning around. It was very difficult for me. I was not convinced I would be able to complete the swim on race day.
I enjoyed meeting everyone for dinner on Saturday night. I must admit it was a little bit like being in another world as I picked up little bits of conversation about races already done, training, high tech toys, etc. It was a bit overwhelming. OMG has the sport changed that much in 2 years?
No. I have changed in 2 years. The obsession is gone. No more crazed race eves freaking over how I packed my transition bag, who's in my age group, and all the other crap I used to obsess over.
I slept like crap, but I think it was more over being terrified by the swim and facing my first true DNF. Also I've been having some sleep issues that hopefully will be diagnosed after my night in a sleep lab this week.
I got up at 4:45, ate a Hammer Bar, grabbed my gear and left the hotel around 5:15. By the time I found a parking garage and walked to transition it was almost 6:00 am. I had brought my own marker so that I could bypass the long body marking lines. I marked a few people and got someone to mark me. It was at this point that I heard the news about the swim. I was afraid they were going to add a 5K run to replace the swim, but they didn't. Thank God!
Did my Tae Kwon Do warm up routine, minus the Korean pushups and back bends.