Patanella's Flat as a PANCAKE - TriathlonSprint

This seemed like a fast swim group, or else I just wasn't feeling as fast as I'd felt 2 weeks ago. Sighting was easy, since all you had to do was aim between the towers of the Verrazano Bridge, which was in the distance. The start was fine, the finish was a bit of a washing machine, since we were swimming into the BOP of the previous wave. I got bumped in the face and my left goggle got water in it. I was close to the finish, so I just kept my left eye closed for the last couple minutes of the swim, like a pirate triathlete--Arrr! I jogged slowly up the beach once I got out.

Concentrate more on my stroke. Overall it was a good swim, but I didn't feel as good as I did in the race 2 weeks ago.

Getting better. I took the wetsuit off in transition and it was ok. I was a long way from the entrance from the swim, but right next to bike out.

Keep practicing.

My plan was to settle in for the first 1/2 lap, then hammer for the next 2 laps, then ease off a little for the last 1/2 lap. I felt super fast on the bike. I passed tons of people. I ate two gels at 15 minutes and 30 minutes; I ran out of accellerade in my aerobottle with about a 1/2 lap to go. That was too bad, because it was hot and I was thirsty. The dismount was a sharp right turn, so I sort of did the flying dismount, but I kind of half-a$$ed it because of the turn. I'll nail it one of these days.

Keep getting faster. This was the first time I'd had a >20mph bike split.

A pretty good transition. I ate a gel right as I was leaving transition.

Wait for the water station before eating my gel. Drink more in transition--maybe bring a small bottle with me on the run course next time.

I was DETERMINED not to push this run and re-injure my leg. It felt ok--just enough tightness to remind me that it wasn't 100%. Reining myself in was a struggle. I hated letting people go who I knew on a better day I could smoke. One guy passed me and gave me the Lance Armstrong "disdainful glance over the shoulder"-thing, and I SOOO wanted to just take off and light him up. But I didn't I kept a very deliberate pace. Stopped to massage a cramp for a few seconds at one point, walked one of the water stations to make sure I drank the whole cup of Gatorade, and even took a 30-second walk break at about the 2.5mile mark, just to make sure I could finish strong. So, while it wasn't a great run split, I finished on my feet.

The shortage of Gatorade on the course was a pain. The first water stop isn't until just past the 1 mile point, and the second one feels like it's only a couple of minutes past the first one. So there are two long stretches at the beginning and at the end where there's no relief from the heat. I think , for NYC I'll carry a bottle of gatorade with me out of transition, because I was hurting in that first mile.

Stood under the shower for a minute, drank a few cups of water, and then went and hung out with the other Brooklyn Tri Club people, cheered some finishers, and went home. Once again, I skipped the pancakes.


My calf injury. It was still a PR for me, even with the slow run, so no real complaints.


This is a good local race, and probably the only real tri in New York City that's mostly local people, as opposed to the NYC Tri, which draws people from all over the US. This is my second year doing this race, and I could see doing it again. It's easy to get to (if you live in Brooklyn and have a car), and reasonably priced. Cons are that there aren't enough drink stations on the run, and that it has, hands-down, the ugliest race t-shirt in America.