Liberty to Liberty - TriathlonOther

DNF (Along with around 150 of the 170something competitors) The current switches direction at the mouth of the Hudson 4 times per day (we were given an education :) and the swim start was supposed to be timed to that switch at 6:30. 6:40, 6:50, 7:00, 7:10... no switch. I think we finally got in the water around 7:20 as you could start to see the current change directions. We had about a 4 foot jump from the pier into the water. A couple of notes about the Hudson-

1) It's F*(&ing COLD!!!
2) It's dark- I couldn't see past my elbow
3) It tastes suprisingly salty, with a just a hint of diesel fuel
4) It was suprisingly free from debris

Once I was in the water I immediately had to lightly breast stroke to keep from moving backwards. When the gun went off I initially made good progress, but I kept sighting every stroke because the water was so cold that I couldn't keep my face in long enough for a full stroke. After about 10 minutes I finally warmed up and got a decent rythm going. As we rounded the tip of Manhattan, past a wooden pier and next to a sea wall, the current was supposed to start helping us. It got worse. Much worse. I was gauging my progress by looking at lamp-posts on the shore. Every stroke I took (when I was swimming hard) equated to maybe 6 inches of progress, and if you tried to glide you lost what you just earned. After about 20 minutes I noticed people were using the weep holes on the sea wall to hang on to for a rest. So I tried it. I must have timed my arrival there with the wake of a cruise ship that passed under the Verazzano 10 minutes earlier- not fun. But...after a few minutes of trying to make progress near the wall, I wanted to get away from all the others who had the same idea, so I started swimming again. In 5 minutes I made it about 50 yards. I turned around to see what was going on behind me and everyone was getting into the safety boats. They told my to do the same, so I did. According to Mr. Garmin I covered .51 miles in 37 minutes.

*Note- there was a swim race set to start 10 minutes behind us (apparently people swim in the Hudson all the time. Who knew???) These were swimmer-only types. After seeing what happened to us, they bagged it. Wussies.

Get a new current. I didn't like that one. And more body glide on my neck. I've got a huge wetsuit hickey.

That is one hour and thirty minutes. Transition was an untimed walk across lower Manhattan to a Ferry to the bike start in Atlantic Highlands, NJ

Get an extra shot of espresso in my Capuccino. They made it quite nicely on the boat.

This (like the rest of the event) was bizarre. There was an 11 mile prologue on the bikes to get to the official start. We rode that together and covered it in about 45 minutes. After the Competitive leg there was a 4 mile untimed spin down to get to the start of the run. Total bike- 91 miles.

We started in Atlantic Highlands, rode to Lincroft (where the competitive leg started), then followed a very scenic and well marked route through NJ farm country. It was great- cops stopping traffic, courteous drivers, etc, until...

CAMDEN!

In the span of about 10 minutes it went from country to ghetto. The pavement went to crap (loads of fun bunnyhopping $X,000 worth of carbon over the craters they had for potholes), the police disappeared (wtf?) and the markings got fewer and fewer. I had to stop at some traffic lights on some really sketchy corners. Nothing like being a white guy in spandex hangin' in da hood.

Overall, I had a great ride. We started in numerical order. I was about 15th from the end and started about 20 minutes after the first person. One guy passed me right off the bat- he was part of a relay team. Other than that, when I got to the bike-run transition there were about 10 bikes there ahead of me.

I rode well, but too hard. My HR was elevated and I couldn't get it down, so I just rode what felt comfortable instead of what felt easy. The temp also got into the upper 80's w/matching humidity. I haven't had a training day above 75 w any humidity, and I didn't drink enough water. I paid for it a little on the run, not too bad though. Lesson learned- I can easily gut my way through a 10k, but I won't have the same cushion at the IM.

Oh yeah- my daughter was at the first aid station helping to pass out water. She's cool like that.

*note- my bike time is my GPS time, not including traffic stops, mandatory aid station check-ins, etc. Official race time was 3:53.

Slow down and respect the heat. Also take more time to apply/reapply sunscreen. We were rushed to get on the bikes and I either missed some spots on my shoulders/low back, or it rubbed off. I have the most rediculous looking sunburn.

Crossed the timing mat, had to walk the bike up the stairs to the Ben Franklin Bridge, and then ride to the run start at the Art Museum (Rocky Steps)

Nada

I was great for the first mile- about an 8:30 pace, which is what I wanted to run. Then the heat got to me. Slight cramping, couldn't stay cool, etc. So I just slowed it down and focused on form and cadence until I came around the last corner. Zipped up the tri-top and kicked it in. I actually came across looking strong, which was nice, because the parents and my little angel were all waiting for me at the finish.

Turn down the heat.

Drank recovery drink, water, and ate.


Too hard on the bike.


The results are kind of hokey. Since only a few people finished the swim they decided to rate them against each other in a Triathlon, and the rest of us in a Duathlon. There were also a few relay teams, and some people DNF'd along the way. I'm waiting to see if anything changes, but as of right now I finished 2nd in my AG :)