Westchester Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

Good race, swam with Michelle the whole time. Felt nice and relaxed. Unfortunately we were in the last wave (11) and waves were only about 3 min apart. I must have swum over at least 20 people. I think my time would have been considerably faster had I been in clear water and did not need to navigate around so many flailing swimmers.

not much

I got the wetsuit off fine, but I forgot to unvelcro my shoes before the race so had to unvelcro them to put them on. Also stumbled trying to get my socks on and my helmet fell off my bike which caused my glasses tumble about 4 feet from my transition area.

See above

This was a great bike for me -first time ever averaging above 20 mph (think the course was actually 23.8 -but average would still be above 20). Ate one gel and drank 1/2 bottle of water -not enough. Nozzle was stuck so I had to really suck to get any liquid.

Fix nozzle, drink more, bring drink mixed with electrolytes

Ok tranisition, could have been faster but much better than T1.

I felt really good and was in the lead until about mile 2 when Kathleen surged by me -suprize! Helps when you split a 40 min 10K! However, I do not feel that there were nearly enough water stops and when there were, it was in dixie cups and often smart water -yuck. Needless to say, I became severely dehydrated. Not wanting to walk, I didn't (even though I should have). I started feeling really weak at about mile 5 but was determined to finish. With about 500 yards to go (I could see the finish line -and the med tent -that was where I was aiming) I started to get incredibly dizzy. So much so, I started to swerve off course and eventually fell next to a spectator. She asked if I was OK and I remember saying "yeah, i'm fine" and getting up and continued to run. At about 200 yards to the finish I passed out. I must have been out for some time because when I came to, there was already an IV in me -lots of people around me and it was about 10:45 (I should have finished around 10:30). When I came too, I had horrible cramping in my feet (my shoes had mysteriously come off) and proceeded to puke all over the place. I was very confused and had little memory. The ambulance arrived -they asked if I wanted to drive through the finish line because I was so close -I said no (the race director even sent me a finishers medal) -we were blocking the finish line area. The EMS lady started asking me questions like where I lived, what my phone number was, what day it was and I couldn't remember any of it. Then I started having a panic attack -I was freaking out because I couldn't remember stuff.
When I arrived at the hospital I continued to get treated for sever dehydration. The doctors ran tests and found some weird stuff going on. 1. I had enzymes leaking into my blood stream from my heart. 2. The QT interval on my EKG was way too long.
Over the next 4 days in the hospital I underwent a series of tests. The doctors have 2 hypotheses:
1. I was severly dehydrated and passed out and have a long QT interval
2. I suffer from Long QT syndrome (one of the leading causes of sudden cardiac death in young people) and my heart may have stopped for a few seconds and restarted on its own.

I am now undergoing genetic testing to see if I have LQTS -If I do, it will likely mean no more competitive activity. That's right, no more triathlons, no more swimming. I am praying this is not the case.

I know people say that competing in triathlons can be a life altering experience. This has certainly been the case for me with this race.

Drink more -I hope I have the chance to do this in the future.

Havign an IV does wonders for recovery -I felt awesome the next day (apart from being in the hospital and having IVs stuck in me) and was not the least bit sore, except for the cramp in my foot.


Well, passing out before the finish! If I had finished, I would have gone about 2:25 -this would have been a best time by almost 20 min.


My post race activities were a little different than most.
Side notes: Kathleen ended up winning the 25-29 AG -you go girl (2:18!!!)
Michelle also passed out on the run -we seem to have a cosmic connection during triathlons (luckily she was fine once she got to the hospital) She would have won the 19-24 AG and kept crying "i was going to go to Alcatraz" to EMS which they found quite disturbing.
I would have would up 3rd in the 25-29 AG had I made it 200 more yards.