Nautica New York City Triathlon : Official Thread (Page 4)

I have a 12/27 with a compact and it's great for steep hills for sure, but you don't need one for NYC or the surrounding areas. I'm doing IMWI this year so I'm keeping it on through that race, then going back to my 25. A BT friend gave me the cassette (people are awesome here) but I think they are around 90 bucks. I paid a mechanic 20 to put it on. If you're planning really hilly riding it's worthwhile.

I looked on the website and that swim looks interesting. I may sign up for the swim or the aquathon.

did you do it last year? How was it?

I couldn't qualify to get in last year because I had just learned to swim, had never done a long enough tri and didn't have time to try for the pool cert so I had to skip it. But I just did the one downtown (dragged jmk-brooklyn along with me) and it was great. It was freezing, but so well organized. I think it's a good organization so I'm planning to do the Tune Up and then the big Governor's Island Swim in Sept. I'd say it's worth doing if you want a preview of the Hudson before race day.

X2. The Great Hudson River Swim was one of the most fun events I've ever done. It's a great organization, I think.

Hmmm. Looks like out of the two of us I picked the better event to convince the other to join

I had fun on the century the year before when it was 80 degrees, and sunny with a 12mph tailwind the whole way. If it had been 50 and raining, that swim woulda sucked, too. Although it wouldn't have sucked for 6 hours...

After reading your posts, I am a nervous wreck about the NYC triathlon.  Swimming is my weakest.

Can still defer until July 16!

You'll be fine. Lots of people who were a lot less prepared for the race than you are entered the race and finished with no problem. Everyone's nervous. Deferring just means being nervous for another full year.

If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.

This will be my first Olympic tri- I watched it last year and couldn't be more excited to be racing in it this time around.

As long as you CAN swim you'll be fine. It's a good swim if you have good solid skill but it's perhaps your weaker of the three sports. It's a bad idea if you can't really swim or havent been swim training at all.

I had only been swimming for 2 months (ever, never had a swim lesson in my life) when I did this race but I was in the pool 5 days a week training and had a great race. Don't stress over it, you'll be fine!

Thanks everyone for the encouragement.  Well, I did a sprint today that involved some Hudson swimming and it was fun.  Current was great.  But not as strong I am told as the NYC.  I really enjoyed the sprint and have decided, with that being my second tri (first = Wildflower), that I do really really love this sport of triathlon so far.  Ha! Who knew that I would ever be sporty.

I am hoping that I can do well at NYC and not be nervous (and surely not for another year! *smile*)

I just get anxious - maybe I need some Xanax.  Xanax for Triathletes - that could be my club.

Anyway, I obviously am exhausted and started to talk nutty.  But I did want to thank you for encouragement.  I am a sloooooooooooooooooooooow swimmer. I embarrass myself I am slow. I can be in the pool four days a week, go to coaching - still slow. Argh!

Yours truly,

dbw27

Sorry...  What does "BT" stand for?  And who's your mechanic?  I'm trying to find an affordable solution in the City, but it gets expensive quick.  I have a 12-21, which explains why I have such trouble on the hills!  Trying to get that fixed before the race, but we'll see...  Thanks for the tip!

I'm been lurking in this thread for a while now...just wanted to say HI and thanks to everyone all the info, the tips are very helpful.  See you in the Hudson...in less the 30 days now!!!!!

-C

Just signed up!  Subject to them accepting my application, but it should be fine.  Hope to see you guys there.  E.

BT= BeginnerTriathlete.com.

I signed up for the NYCSwim Aquathon on July 18, and it looks like I am cleared. Is anyone else doing it? I am thinking it will be a good warm-up for the NYC TRI.

Being I missed out on this race last year, I really am looking forward to it this time around.

My legs haven't felt right in a bit (still in recovery from a race I did a few weeks back), but I'm think I should be recovered and ready to go in time for this one. Should be a great event.

Not sure where you live, but I'm using a mechanic in Brooklyn (thanks to jmk's reco) and he's very reasonable. Very good too. He's just off Prospect Park. I'm fairly appalled by the cost of basic services at most NYC bike shops. I need a tune up just about every month and it can eat a hole in your wallet for sure. Finding someone independent is a much better deal.

I'm doing the Tune Up swim instead of the Aquathon. I think they are one in the same, I just won't be doing the run.

Thanks -- I'm in Manhattan.  Urgh, so expensive.  I was just upstate over the long weekend, and popped in some bike shops.  Everything is so much more expensive here!  Guess I'll be going to Toga.  I'm going to try and do that cassette replacement -- it's about time anyway, as some of the teeth on my gears are starting to look like toothsticks.

I'm also doing the tune up swim -- a couple of others on this forum are too.  We'll hopefully get organized and maybe get to meet up before/after the race!  E.

Argh.  I wish I could do the tune up.  I was ready to sign up, and then realized that's the day I am going to Hersey Park with the kids.  How many are in for the underwear run?  Maybe we can make a BT meetup then too.

i missed the sign up, but am off the day of the underwear run, i may just show up in my skivvies anyway, i dunno....

I'm just getting back into triathlon but I saw this thread and wanted to post about what I remember from the last two years of this race. The 2007 was my first Olympic and like many, I saw it on TV in 2006 and was determined to do it the following year. I was lucky because I went to the website and was able to register. It was the race that made me buy a bike, get a swim coach and start the training process.

The Organization:
The race is very well organized but going to the briefings, bike check in and setup will rob you of a lot of weekend time & sleep, especially if you live out of the city. To me it is a big PITA but I understand why they do it. You can ride your bike to the briefings at the Sheraton and bring it into the hotel when you register. It may be posted that you can do it but I didn't' know and made a big deal about locking my bike up outside. Fortunately, it is well organized and everything is clearly spelled out.

The Swim:
As mentioned by JMK you shouldn't underestimate the swim. I would interpret that as saying be trained for an open water 1500 meter swim and don't expect to just float down the lazy river at the water park. OTOH, I am a back of the pack type of triathlete and I cut 14-16 minutes off of my pool time so the current can cut a lot of time from the swim. I thought the start was more aggressive than others and in 07 I really felt banged up the first few hundred meters. This happens because everyone in the wave has to start from the same short rope. If you are uncomfortable with that I would hang on for a few seconds after the horn and try to stay closer to the bulkhead at least for the start. After that try to get as far over as you can to catch the most current.

One of my biggest fears was actually being in the Hudson and getting that water in my mouth. Fortunately it wasn't that bad. I don't think a wetsuit is necessary because the water was pretty warm both years but it makes me feel like the river water is not really on me. It is wetsuit legal so why not wear one? About 95% of people will be wearing some type of suit. BTW, I was lucky and didn't get stung last year by the jelly fish.

As already mentioned, Don't stand up at the end. The hardest working volunteers will be at the end of the swim, hip deep in the river, helping to pull you up and out of the river quickly. These guys can not be thanked enough for what they do.

Make sure you bring a pair of flip flops to walk from transition to swim start. You will be able to check them in your gear bag.

The Bike:
I am a weak biker and I think the course is similar to 9W. Mostly rolling hills with one relatively big climb on the way back. One thing that caught me a little off guard is that the bike course goes all the way down to the 50's before looping back to the bike finish. I didn't really notice it on the map and I thought the course was short first time around.

The Run:
Standard Central Park stuff. Better than the medal at the end is the ice cold, wet towel that you get after crossing the finish line. The finish is video taped and you can download it so make sure you look good : )

The last two years the waves went off Pros--> Elite --> Age group starting with the faster groups. Since there are two transition areas they had a break between the different transitions so they didn't cross each other. Maybe it is different this year but I doubt that the slower groups will be in front of the faster ones. Last year I went pretty early as a 40+ but in 2007 I was in the 35-39 and went much later in the morning, after the break.

Good luck everyone!

Keba

Here's an update on the current:

For Sun July 26th
Max current will be -2.9 knots at 6:46AM.
Slack tide will be at 9:52AM.

2.9 knots = 5.371 kilometers per hour.
A cheetos bag will finish the course in under 17 minutes!!!!

For those in the Aquathlon/Tune-up Swim on Sat July 18th
Race starts at 8AM
Slack tide at 8:16AM
Max current of -2.2 at 11:47AM

source:
http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/get_predc.shtml?year=2009&stn=0611+George+Washington+Bridge+&fldavgd=010&ebbavgd=203