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 Swim
Comments: My goal was 25 minutes in the swim. We had a strong current race morning and I thought that 20 minutes could be possible. We left in waves of about 100 every 4-5 minutes. I was in one of the first waves after the pros. There was only a little debris in the water, nothing big like the day before. About 30 seconds before the start you are allowed in the water and can hang on to a rope on the pier. The water was about 70 degrees and felt great. Even more so in a wetsuit. Our wave started and there was maybe 2 minutes of jockeying for position. Lots of feet to the face, elbows to the body and hand slaps to the feet. It was not that bad. Several of us were trying to get as far right from the seawall as allowed because the current was supposed to be stronger out there. I immediately felt horrible. My arms hurt and felt heavy. I could not get my breathing under control. The wetsuit felt uncomfortable, but I don't know why. I had practiced in it and felt fine. I don't think I was having a panic attack, but cannot explain the feeling. I felt horrible the whole swim and could not get into a rhythm. About 30 seconds from getting out of the water I had started to calm down and felt a little better, but it was too late. I looked at my watch to check my time and saw that my watch had stopped at about 1 minute. I had no idea what my time was, but I was crushed. I figured it at a good 25 minutes at least. If this was how swimming was going to go for me, I wasn't sure if I should continue triathlons. After the race I found out my swim time was 15 minutes and that I placed 24/222 in my age group. I have no idea how to explain my swim. I felt like nothing went right in the water, but I did well. And yes, the water in the Hudson is disgusting. What would you do differently?: I have to figure out how to get myself under control in the water. I think that I need open water swim practice.  Transition 1
Comments: There were 2 transition areas for this race and mine was the one that was furthest away. I figure it was about 1/4 mile from the swim exit. About 4 minutes of this transition time was the run to the bike racks. I had counted racks in the morning and found my bike easily. Got my bike gear on quickly and ran out with my bike.  Bike
Comments: I have only 4 months of experience on a road bike, so this was a big unknown for me. I was hoping to break 1:30. One side of the Henry Hudson Parkway was closed for the bike course. This was awesome! I have only been riding on trails and roads were you have to slow down to dodge runners, other bikes, dogs, kids, cars, etc. This was incredible to be able to just fly on the bike! I was not prepared for the number of hills on this course. They got me good and my legs are aching for it today. Going down the hills was a blast, but in the back of your mind you knew that you would be climbing them on the way back. I was doing about 40mph on one stretch of the course that was downhill. This is the fastest I have gone on my bike and was awesome. I was surprised to see so many people coasting down the hills and not pedaling. About 20 minutes into the bike I hit a big seam on the road just as I was putting my gatorade bottle back in the cage and lost the bottle. I had another bottle, but it was only water. I had only drank about 1/4 of the Gatorade. I had Gu on the bike that I could use for calories, but no more electrolytes. I put it out of my mind and resolved to drink plenty of sports drink on the run course. I passed a few people, but was mostly passed by a number of bikers. It was fun watching the pros come back in as we were heading out. Heading back into the city on the way back in was a lot of fun. I had a blast on the bike! What would you do differently?: I just need to ride, ride, ride. Transition 2
Comments: Ran in, lost the bike gear and threw on the shoes. Love the Yankz! Grabbed my race belt and was off.  Run
Comments: I had my race plan for the run down solid and had been thinking about it for weeks. The first 3 miles were going to be at an 8:30 - 9:00 pace and I was going to keep the HR down. The last 3 miles would be at a 5k pace and I was going to just go for it. The first mile felt really good and I was certain that I was at around an 8:30 pace. Imagine my surprise when I hit the lap button on my watch and saw that I was at a 6:30 pace. What the #$@#@!!!! This couldn't be right. The course had to be measured wrong or something. I don't run that fast ever. I backed way off and finished mile 2 at a 8:22 pace. Damn, I knew that I had overdone it already and that any chance of a negative split was out the window. I also knew that the last 3 miles were going to be tough. I drank something at every aid station. They had water and some weird flavor of Cytomax. The Cytomax was disgusting. I could barely get it down, but I knew that I needed it. Lot's of people at the finish were complaining about how disgustingly sweet it was. I passed a few people on the run and was passed by a few people. There seemed to be very little racing, just everyone trying to push through to the end. Sure enough, the last 3 miles were a killer. There were some ugly hills, including one at the end that was horrible. I was really hurting and just absolutely hating the run. I was trying to think positive thoughts and telling myself that it all came down to this, this would show me what I was made of, blah blah blah. All I know is that I hurt. At mile 4 someone named Wayne who was also hurting introduced himself and we just started talking. I have never spoken more than a few words to anyone during a race. Our conversation took our minds off the race a bit and helped tremendously. I don't know if I could have held my pace without talking to this guy. Wayne from NJ, thank you. Splits: Mile 1: 6:31 Mile 2: 8:22 Mile 3: 8:28 Mile 4: 8:06 Mile 5: 8:30 Mile 6.2: 9:44 What would you do differently?: Learn to pace myself. I thought that I was good at this! Post race
Warm down: Received a finisher's medal and hat. Got a bottle of water and started drinking. Got a wonderful leg massage immediately from a volunteer using ice cold towels. Wow, that felt good. Ate part of a banana and drank a couple more bottles of water. Got in line and received a massage. Found my wife and her friend and ate a bagel and drank more water. Event comments: It is really fun to race in NYC. The only downside is that everything is so far apart. It is a real effort to get your gear from the hotel to transition and vice versa. The finish line was also a few miles from transition. Overall it was an awesome experience! Profile Album Last updated: 2006-04-28 12:00 AM
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United States
NYC Sports Commission
Sunny
Overall Rank = 579/2291
Age Group = M40-44
Age Group Rank = 92/222
Arrived in NYC late Friday night and immediately crashed. Stayed in the host hotel, which was nice. Attended one of the first mandatory race meetings Saturday morning. About 40 minutes of reviewing the course and rules. A little too long, but no big deal.
One of the points that the race director really wanted to make during the race meeting was that the bike course on the Parkway could be bumpy and rough with all of the joints on the roadway. He wanted us to make sure that our water bottle cages were good and tight because they typically pick up a couple of hundred bottles every year that are lost on the course. It was going to be hot and losing your hydration on the bike could make for a long day. (Hmmm, some foreshadowing here?)
After the meeting, picked up my registration packet and goodie bag (t-shirt and a couple of water bottles), and checked out the expo. Very small expo.
I spent the next few hours with my wife wandering the city, checking out the sites and having some good food. I tried to keep the walking to a minimum, but that is pretty much impossible in NYC.
I brought my bike to check into the transition area around 3:00. I should have brought my helmet and shoes and rode my bike there. It was 2-3 miles from the hotel and made for a long walk.
After racking my bike, I went to check out the swim course. I watched in amazement with several other participants at the large number of big logs and other things floating down the swim course. Check out the picture below from that day and notice the logs and pallet floating down the swim lane. We all hoped that they could keep most of this away during the race the next day.
Had a good pasta dinner at a nearby restaurant and was in bed by 9:00. I needed to be up by 4:00am to catch an early bus to transition in the morning. I was in one of the first waves at 6:04am.
We were not allowed in the water until about 30 seconds before our waves started, so no swim warmup. Walked the mile from transition to the swim start.
This was my first olympic tri and my second tri since the Osprey Sprint last fall. I originally set a goal of 3 hours for this race, but in the last few weeks of training I realized that I could have a shot at 2:45 if everything went well.