New York City Triathalon - TriathlonOlympic

A little nervous about this swim. I've heard some crazy stories. When my wave finally came (one of the last ones), I walked down pier onto the floating pontoon and it all quickly set in that I was really about to get into the Hudson River. They had us wait on the barge until about 45 seconds before the gun due to the strong current.

We got in and I grabbed a hold of the rope, however it was really low in the water and being shorter than most I had a hard time holding on to the rope and staying above water. Not too mention that my feet were down stream thanks to the currrent. I was basically in a super man flight position!

The gun went off and I was happy to let go of the rope. There was very little pushing or shoving, and I don't really remember being hit or swam over. I just got into a nice stroke rhythm and went. I felt really good about the swim. I know the current helped a lot, but I also felt like I was really strong. I finally looked up to the walkway at the 400 meter mark to see if I could find my spectators, but they weren't there. I continued swimming and then again I looked for them at the 1000 meter mark, and no one. I followed the advice of some participants last year that said monitor your swim off of two buildings in NJ and that's where the swim exit is. Excellent advice.

I noticed during my swim that I was passing a lot of Blue Caps (my wave was blue) and then I caught up to the pink caps (the wave in front of me). This made me excited and I continued to swim strong. At the 1200 meter mark I noticed a red cap coming up on my right (the wave behind me) and I decided to stay on him. I tried my best but he was gone shortly. It didn't matter though, b/c by this time I was near the swim exit.

We were warned prior to the event that you can feel the ground with about 100 meters left, but don't stand up, b/c it is all silt and you'll sink more than be able to walk. A guy to the left of me was running but I continued to swim. I swam without exhaling underwater at this point forward, since we were given a stern warning to not inhale the silt. It was quite gross towards the end b/c you could see it all over your goggles.

The swim exit was great. A guy at the ramp grabbed my arm and before I knew it I was on the pier walking up the walkway.

*Side note: My spectators never did see me swim, b/c they were behind me and couldn't keep up with me for the mile swim. That's how strong the current is, not too mention that we all (including myself) underestimated my swim capabilities and they thought I was further back than I was.

Nothing really. I loved the swim. I came out of the water in front of the majority of my wave and felt great! I may have spent too much energy on the swim, but it didn't matter, being one of the first out from my wave was great!!

T1 was difficult. After the swim, you had to run a good length to the transition area (1/4 mile or more). Fortunately I was in the closer of the two TA's, but it still was over a two-minute run. I got to my spot and was out of breath, from the run more than the swim. I took my time getting out of my wetsuit. Made sure I put my gels in my pockets, grabbed a gulp or two of gatorade, put on my bike shoes, helmet, sunglasses and then got my bike and left. The good thing was that my rack was with a lot of people from the prior waves, so it was relatively empty when I got there. (More on this in T2)

Practice T1. I mentally practiced T1 multiple times and I did it race day exactly according to plan, but I was slower than I mentally practiced :). The run after the swim really killed me, I should have run slower.

The bike was harder than I expected. The hills killed me. I was expecting them, but I didn't think I would be going as slow up them as I did. I was disappointed with the out portion. After the turn around I had a Gel and that made a world of difference. I really started pushing the pace both up and down the hills. Unfortunately as I started to climb one of the hills, my chain popped off. I tried to do the gearing up while riding trick I use on my Mountain bike, but I was running out of speed. I quickly clipped out so i wouldn't topple over. I put the chain on, but was stuck clipping in and riding up an incline. Must say all who passed me were very nice and asked if i needed help.

After the whole chain incident, I really started to move. I never let my speed get below 20 MPH while keeping my cadence at 90 or above. even on the inclines. However, I was making up for lost ground. Up to that point my average speed was 15 MPH. I managed to get it to 17.5 (according to my computer), by the end.

The ins and outs of the TA's were difficult. I've practiced slipping in and out of the shoes while riding, but both the in and out were on hills. We were warned to not try it unless you were very very comfortable with it. I decided that clipping out and running with my shoes was the better way to go. Plus my rack position was very near the TA bike entrance/exit, so it wasn't a problem running in those shoes.

* Note: my cyclecomputer said 25.8 miles and I heard others say similar distances.

Practice more hills. Also take a gel sooner on the bike course. That really got me going.

Okay so my T1 was good b/c most of the bikes were gone then, however they were all back for T2. I couldnt' rack my bike that easy. I had to move the bike next to me, to make mine fit. It was annoying. I got my helmet and shoes off easy, put on my socks, running shoes and started to run with my visor and race belt in hand. As I got to the TA exit, I saw the port-o-johns and decided to pay a visit. Took a minute or so in there, but well worth it.

Not have to pee. Otherwise this was a quick transisition for me, I think. If I didn't stop to use the bathroom it probably would have been under 2 minutes.

This is where I lost a lot of time. The run up 72nd street was in the middle of the road and the sun was not blocked by the buildings. It really killed me, not too mention that it was a gentle incline for the complete mile. I finally got into the park and there was some shade. The shade was too little too late. I managed to do the first two miles in under 18 minutes, but I was pretty much spent. I got to the water stop, grabbed two cups of water, one for me and one for my head. I walked out of the station and continued to walk for another 30 seconds. Then the hills came. I passed a lot of walkers and refused to walk up any of the hils. I allowed myself only to walk when the water stops were in sight and for 30 seconds after each one. At every water station I would take one water and one cytomax. Each stations had a different gross flavor of cytomax, wasn't a big fan of this stuff. Finally at mile 5 when I realized I wouldn't be breaking my 3 hour goal, I got myself into a nice pace running and just decided to finish the race doing a jog/shuffle.

When I got back onto 72nd street and a 1/4 mile from the finish the crowds started to swell again and my pace picked up. I saw KT and she said she'd race me to the finish, yet she took a short cut, cheater... I finally got into the finish shoot and new the finish was coming so I started to sprint. I crossed the finish line and was done!!

The only think I could have done better was my pacing. I was too quick in the first two miles. This season my running has suffered a little bit due to my increase in biking and swimming. I have to remember that I'm not as fast as previous years.

No real warm-down. Found my family and talked to them for a bit. Saw some old college friends and chatted with them. Ate a bagel and a banana. Attempted to get a massage, but the line was too long. Walked back to my hotel, through the Time-Warner building's mall so I could get some A/C. Packed up and checked out of hotel, drove over to TA and got my bike and went back to Jersey!!!


Too hot. I know that's not a great excuse, but I was definetly dragging b/c of the heat. I hydrated just right, but I didn't have anything left to give for the run! I need to work on my run pacing too. Doing 8:00 m/m is fine for a running race, but not in a tri.


The race was very well organized. Race expo was small, but wasn't expecting too much anyway. I think they do a great job considering all they must go through with the race being so spread out over the city. Definetly on my consider list for races to do next year!