Nautica New York City Triathlon : Official Thread (Page 3)

jmk-brooklyn - 2009-06-14 11:16 PM What else? hmmm... If you're a strong swimmer and you're comfortable with the strong current, pick a spot on the outside of the pack (towards the middle of the river). If you're not, stay towards the inside. The further away from the wall/shoreline you are, the stronger the current is. There's an aid station right as you leave T2, but the next one isn't until about the 1.25mile point, after you enter the park. If you're too discombobulated from the bike and you run past the aid station in T2 without getting a drink, that run along 72nd St. can feel awfully long and hot. I brought a little 4oz bottle of sports drink with me out of T2 and I was happy to have it. I ditched it as soon as I got to the park. In case it matters to you, the sports drink on the course this year is Cytomax. Last yr it was Accellerade.

trying1 - 2009-06-15 6:58 AM



Thanks for all this info, it's great.  One question, did you bring your own bottle to t2 and they filled it for you or did they have bottles for you to take (this may be a stupid question)? 

jmk-brooklyn - 2009-06-15 5:31 PM No, I brought my own bottle, already filled, and had it with my T2 gear (running shoes, race belt, etc.) You have to pack in all of your nutrition, including fluids, the morning of the race. (I think that answers your question, right?) The aid stations on the run hand out cups, not bottles, and there aren’t any aid stations on the bike course.

jmk-brooklyn - 2009-06-10 11:05 PM One of my pet peeves about the way the NYC Tri is promoted is the way in which they talk about the swim as if it's so easy. Yes, the strong current is nice, and yes, you'll probably PR your Oly swim split. But you still need to train for it and prepare for it. It's still open water, it's still a wave start with 50-100 other people, you still have to sight and to navigate, and there are still obstacles, critters, and whatnot to contend with. I don't lay the blame entirely on the RD's--I think it's the reputation that the race has gotten, but I plan to make a point of telling people during my orientation tours that they shouldn't take the swim lightly. Oh--one more thing I forgot to mention by way of a tip: (and you already know this if you've done the race) DO NOT stand up at the end of the swim until your feet are on the exit ramp. If you stand up in the water, you will sink into the nasty, silty goo at the bottom and will end up with black gunk all over you. The RD's are debating putting mirrors up next to the rinse showers between swim exit and T2, which I think is a great idea.

chanachor5 - 2009-06-15 10:39 AM Thanks Michelle!

I am really excited and nervous! For the bike ride is it necessary to have a Road Bike? Or would a mountain bike be ok?

Cheers!
Megs

drcherrybomb21 - 2009-06-16 5:17 PM

When is the jmk-brooklyn tour?  Are there any plans for a BT meet-up? I am also looking for someone to do a ride across the GW and up 9A.   I am not the strongest biker and would like to fiend a friendly group to tag along with.  Any thoughts?

jmk-brooklyn - 2009-06-14 11:16 PM What else? hmmm... If you're a strong swimmer and you're comfortable with the strong current, pick a spot on the outside of the pack (towards the middle of the river). If you're not, stay towards the inside. The further away from the wall/shoreline you are, the stronger the current is. There's an aid station right as you leave T2, but the next one isn't until about the 1.25mile point, after you enter the park. If you're too discombobulated from the bike and you run past the aid station in T2 without getting a drink, that run along 72nd St. can feel awfully long and hot. I brought a little 4oz bottle of sports drink with me out of T2 and I was happy to have it. I ditched it as soon as I got to the park. In case it matters to you, the sports drink on the course this year is Cytomax. Last yr it was Accellerade.

drcherrybomb21 - 2009-06-16 6:17 PM When is the jmk-brooklyn tour?  Are there any plans for a BT meet-up? I am also looking for someone to do a ride across the GW and up 9A.   I am not the strongest biker and would like to fiend a friendly group to tag along with.  Any thoughts?

ericolaf - 2009-06-17 10:37 AM

I've been going up Palisades Pkway / Hudson Terrace on weekends (and occasionally doing the 10k CP run afterwards as a brick workout).  Not sure what your fitness level is -- I'm not great, probably average around 16-17 mph for a 40 klick ride.  I'm sort of weak on hills but better sustaining a good tempo on flats.  I practice w/ a friend in Central Park during the week -- if you (or anyone else on this forum) want to do a few laps with us before tackling 9A, drop a line.

My question to everyone is whether there is any way to "test ride" the NYC Tri bike course prior to the race.  I'm guessing not, but in that case, perhaps someone can give some pointers as to the course difficulty, elevation, things to watch out for, etc.  I tried to map the ride on Gmap Pedometer (which gives elevations for courses), but can't figure out how to do it, as the map automatically follows street traffic rules, which bungles the mapping.  I haven't found any other resources yet on the elevation (that's why I got on to this website forum -- I got sidetracked by the excellent forum discussions!).

This forum looks really great -- thanks to everyone in advance for your advice and thoughts!  E.

Rudedog55 - 2009-06-17 2:19 PM aske and ye shall receive....seems like i moght have said that before, lol


http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/training/map.asp?routeid=91517


almost there, i am soooo psyched!!!

LazyMarathoner - 2009-06-17 3:26 PM

Because it's on the Henry Hudson you cannot test ride it but you can drive it or take a cab on it if you're nervous and want to see it. The course is really nice actually and not overly hilly. There are a couple good climbs that make it feel challenging but it's not overwhelming. If you do head out on 9W and make it all the way to Nyack (about 36 miles RT from the Jersey side of the GW) there is a good climb coming out of Pieremont that makes for good practice. It's almost a mile long and about 4-5% grade. If that's not an option, do repeats on the upper loop of Central Park during your park rides. Whenever I'm in the park I throw an extra upper loop on every two loops or so. It's fun and breaks up the monotony of the looping.

ericolaf - 2009-06-17 9:24 AM



Hi JMK, thanks for all the advice.  First time Oly on July 26, many sprint tri's and du's under the race belt.  Just signed onto this website!  Your comment above is a bit confusing to me -- as a weaker swimmer, wouldn't you want to be outside the wall, to reap the maximum benefit of the current?  Or am I missing something here?  All of my previous open water experience has been on lakes without currents (did Patanella's Pancake in 2007 in Raritan Bay, but no current there, either), so I'm not very familiar with the situation.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!  E.

ericolaf - 2009-06-17 4:12 PM

Thanks!  I think that would be a good idea...  I will maybe rent a Zipcar and do a drive-by one of these days.  I may even borrow a Flip camcorder from a friend and record it.  If I do, I will be sure to post it online so others can see it!  As for 9W, I usually take the Henry Hudson Drive, along the river.  It bypasses the 9W for a while (up until Alpine something-or-other), and has great views, has great tree coverage, and most importantly, a few challenging hills.  Sadly my tri bike's gear ratio setup is such that my granny gears are really lacking, so I suffer on those hills!

Have you done the Harriman State Park sprint tri's?  As I mentioned earlier, someone has said that the hills in that race are worse than the NYC Tri bike course, which is heartening to me...

E.

LazyMarathoner - 2009-06-18 10:28 AM

I haven't done the Harriman races but NYC is really not bad. Just average with a few long climbs, nothing crazy. I just started riding a 12-27 (thanks Rudy!!) on my tri bike in prep for the hilly riding I'm doing in WI this week and it makes a huge difference on the hills!

MForger18 - 2009-06-16 7:23 PM

Just an update for those of you wondering how many waves will be before you.

A friend of mine who is the director for the First Responder Challenge said that the start will be in this order:

1 Pro Males
2 Pro Females
---5:00 break---
3 Elite
4 Challenged Athletes
5 Challenged Athletes 2
6 First Responders
7-? Age Groupers

For those wondering about the tides, this can give you an idea.

philjlee - 2009-06-24 7:38 PM A BT meet-up would be cool, and I think I owe a few people on here a beer or two for the useful info! Is anyone else doing the NYCSwim Riverside Tune-Up (http://nycswim.org/Event/Event.aspx?Event_ID=1906) a couple of weeks before the tri? From what I've heard, it's the same course as the tri. Phil