Shellback1998 Group - FULL (Page 54)

Me too! ^_^

We left for NY Saturday morning at 8:15AM and got to the hotel around 12:30. I parked the car and dumped my stuff at the hotel luggage check minus my bike which went to the bike check in which was hosted by the TRI expo in one of the back conference rooms. All this running around took me up to 1:25. The next mandatory briefing started at 2 so I went to the expo and I was starving. I quickly ran around gathering all the free and more importantly quick samples that I could.

I went to the briefing which was really well done as were the athlete packets they emailed out and kept updating weekly. After that it was close enough to check in that I took care of that. Then I grabbed my bike and needed to get it to West 72^nd and Riverside which is 20 blocks up and 5 blocks west. So I wasn’t sure on riding or walking. I took my helmet, cycling shoes and a backpack and figured I’d find somebody else who was going and do whatever they were doing. One of the volunteers happened to be bringing her bike over so I went with her. Melissa was a 31 year old graduate student who was very nice and we chatted about a myriad of topics.

I got to transition and grabbed my timing chip first as they made a change because of the rain coming in to grab them the night before. I then set my bike up and put a bag over my aero bar pads to keep them dry.

I then walked back to the hotel hoping to organize my stuff for the morning, eat a quick meal and get some sleep. My wife had been running around with the kids and was spent and stressed. I started putting stuff together and it hit me that my wetsuit was missing!!! FARK! I checked lost and found, the lobby, the conference rooms……nothing.

I was now in a complete funk and so pissed off at myself. My wife being simply wonderful said let’s just go get one and worry about it later.  At first I resisted and was thinking screw it if you’re stupid enough to not keep track of your wetsuit you don’t deserve to wear one. Eventually I calmed down and common sense took over as I knew the water was going to be rough. So we took a cab and I picked up a new one.

We grabbed dinner way too late and got back to the hotel at 8:30. I finished getting ready for bed and re-checking my stuff at 9. The kids were in our room and amped.  Their chatter didn’t allow me to get to sleep until 10. I woke up at 12:30 and didn’t get back to sleep until 1 and after that it was sporadic sleep. Then I woke up at 3:05 for good. So maybe 4 at best of broken up sleep and probably closer to 3 hours.

I got ready and hit the lobby at 3:30AM eating a kind bar on the way. It was already packed with triathletes. Then the comedy began. Pack after pack of drunken twenty-somethings who had been out clubbing kept stumbling in drunk out of their minds and saying stuff like, wow I can’t believe these people are up this early, what time is it and my personal favorite do you think I’m in any shape to race? It was such the opposite ends of the spectrum we were all cracking up. Only in NY.

I headed outside to the shuttle bus and the humidity hit me like a dense cloud. It was already so oppressive. The ride was quite  and I ate a banana then we got out and walked down from the street to the park and the skies unloaded with rain. They had spotlights set up everywhere and with the George Washington Bridge in the distance it was so surreal.

I set up my stuff and poured my drinks where they needed to be. Put my helmet and race belt fully loaded with gels over my areo bars. I put my sneakers and cycling shoes in plastic bags. A couple of guys on the same rack showed up and I bonded with Doug my Chicago who was my age. We got our wetsuits together and I grabbed a couple of gels, my goggles, and swim cap and left. It was pouring and yet the water wasn’t cooling us off at all. We hit the bathroom and then did the mile and a quarter walk to the swim start.

They had the entire route wired with speakers and were constantly making announcements. Around 5 they announced there was an accident on the West Side Highway that would delay the race for at least 20 minutes from the 5:50 start. They also announced that lightening was 100% ruled out so the swim was a go. At 6 they announced 20 minutes to race time as the road was cleaned up. At ten minutes to go I took a gel with caffeine.

The swim start was time trial style off of a dock. 20 people every ten seconds over a timing mat. The pros went off first and man was their pace impressive. I got up and the horn went and I was in. The water was 76 degrees and felt great. The waves were the highest I’ve ever swam in. I started out with a nice slow pace and very quickly caught several people who had gone ten second before me. They were really struggling with the rough water and already doing breast stroke or threading water.

The sea wall was marked with very large numbers indicating 250, 500, 750, 1000 and 1250 meters which totally rocked. I probably passed a couple of hundred people first catching the red caps like myself, then gray, then yellow and then orange. Really my pace felt good even though I was getting tossed around. The exit dock was lined with people pulling the swimmers out and it’s a good thing they were because I wouldn’t have been able to get out on my own with how steep the ramp was and how turbulent the water was.

It hit me when I got upright that my heart rate was much higher than I thought my exertion level had told me.  There was a 750 yard run from the swim exit to transition. I got my wetsuit to my waist and downed my other caffeinated gel while running. There were showers by the exit and in retrospect with the heat I think I would have been better off taking my wetsuit off fully and quickly showering to drop my body temp. Instead I ran with the wetsuit on to the entrance of the transition and sat down on a park bench to pull it off which worked nicely but my body temp was really high.

I got my stuff on quickly and downed some sports drink and hit the road. The first half mile and the last quarter mile of the bike were on the Riverside bike trails which were super tight, soaked and had some technical and steep turns. A guy in front of me couldn’t keep his line going up the steep hill to the traffic circle and nearly took me out twice and another rider two separate times. He screwed up again at the traffic circle and almost caused a really big crash. I buzzed around him as fast as I could.

The roads were soaked but the rain had stopped. The spray and gravel kick-up was pretty bad. The bike course itself was awesome. It was almost never flat but the hills with one exception were fairly gradual. If you take out that first half mile and last quarter where you just had to be super careful and slow I averaged 18.6 MPH and the volume of biking I did in August really paid off. Going up through Harlem and way into the North Bronx was super cool. Driving over multiple bridges, through toll booths, past different marinas, it was awesome. The way back was a really strong headwind especially over the bridges. Getting back into transition was downhill and super treacherous with the roads still soaked.

I transitioned really fast and sucked my 5^th gel exiting transition. 

The run was like a reoccurring nightmare. Mile one I’m feeling great. Mile two ditto. Mile 3 the sun comes out and I start to wilt. The temp went up to 92 about this time and I hit the largest hill at mile 3.6. At the top of the hill I was cramping, overheated and fading. I had to start alternating between running and walking to keep my quads from seizing and body temp low. The next water station I got 3 cups of water that I dumped over my head and then a cup of ice. I took the ice and put some in my running beanie, some in the armpits of my shirt, some in my shorts, some I rubbed over my neck, some I rubbed over my wrists and some I ate. It barely made a dent.

I continued to alternate between running and walking and then sucked it up and ran the final half mile. I crossed the line and could barely walk. They pulled three people who crossed right around when I did into the medical tent. One guy was crying he was in so much pain. I later found out the winner did intravenous fluids for 90 minutes after finishing. They gave me an iced towel that I threw over my neck and I thought I’m good I’ll rough it out. In retrospect I should have probably have gone to the medical tent. I went and sat down for 15 minutes and really had nothing in me to get up and walk around.

Overall I’m happy with the event but I need to monitor my swim better. The heavy chop didn’t help but still. I wish I knew why the sun just hits me so hard as well.

The event itself was run awesome. So many logistical challenges and they thought of everything. I would highly recommend doing it but also getting there sooner than the night before. I did end up finding my wetsuit in the end and I was smart enough to buy a sleeveless since my other one is long sleeve so now I have both. No sleep, late dinner and the stress pre-race didn’t help.

Great write up Scott! You should come up to western canada...rarely do we deal with 92 degree weather and oppressive humidity!

Did you ever find your wetsuit? My wife would kill me(after the race of course)!

Everlong - great job, loved the detail in your story.  I was honestly pretty disappointed in my race.  I sort of moped around the next day.  Over it now and plan to stay on focus.  I'm doing a 5K with my sister just for fun on Saturday.  I've just been getting slower with my running and that really bugs me.  I think it might be because I spent more of my time swimming and so less time running.  Now, I will be able to even the 3 areas out and spend time researching where to join a masters group.  I am in the twin cities so I should have some options, but working in the evenings will limit some of them.

Anyway, sounds like you did great considering the heat and it seemed to affect everyone else too.

Linda

I did find the wetsuit but not until after so now I have two which isn't a bad thing I just wish I didn't pay NYC prices for it. I might have to take you up on the western Canada tri, heat sucks! With how rocky the water was I'm glad I broke down and bought the wetsuit. It would have been really miserable without it.

I'm torn because the heat did wipe out a lot of people but because it was so much like Stamford where I was great until the sun came out I'm worried about this being a reoccurring theme.

Glad you dodged the bullet there man!  Stupid drivers with their cell phones, ARGH!

Holy smokes!  Missing wetsuit, buying a new one, choppy swim conditions, dangerous bike, pure death during the run... and lack of sleep???    Damn!  You killed it regardless man!  Very impressive swim performance again!  Is your racing season done?  =)

~Roland

P.S. -- Where did you find your wetsuit?

The wetsuit was in the car tucked under a seat in it's bag. I would have bet you a million dollars it had made it to the hotel with me.

I'm not sure about my race season. Part of me wants to do another Olympic and not blow up on the run in the heat. Another part wants to burn a few sprints and go for speed. And yet another part wants to go back into base building for next year to do a half. I'm also considering doing a marathon in early October to knock that off of my list of things to do.

I say do the marathon since it'll be your longest distance race before the year's over!  I think that might also get your cardio prep'd a bit for your next HIM.  I'm still deciding whether I should finish with an Olympic distance tri in October.  =)

Go on the BSTT Forum, I think Cranberry had some opening for us...

what's the max miles you ran before Roland?

Longest distance since I started seriously training 3 months ago is 5.0 miles low to mid Z3 pace on the track.

well, just be careful with a marathon then.. Normal marathon training plans are around 20 weeks, with mileage of 15-30 miles a week. Can you dedicate to that?

Wait.... I think there's some confusion about who's doing the marathon.  I was suggesting that Scott Everlong do the marathon in October and I do an Olympic...

yes there was confusion... Ok that cleared it up

Valid points. Based on your results I think you can handle an Olympic.

I had seen that which was part of the reason I started to mull it over as an option. Are you doing that one?

Yeah, I have this weekend, the 28th the Oly, then a HIM 9/11/2011, then Buzzards Bay followed by Duxbury... Last race of the season will be the "Chilly 1/2 Marathon" in Newton on November 13

I say do the Oly Roland!

Holy $hit, how many races are you doing this year?? My wife and kids would kill me if I do more then 4 or 5(unless it takes them on a holiday somewhere warm!)

Okay, you guys talked me into it!  Looks like I'm gonna train (and sign up) for that Olympic tri happening in October.  My bike volume is gonna increase to accommodate that so now I'm seriously considering aero bars.  Any recommendations for installing a pair on a 2009 Felt Z25?  =)

~Roland

Great job Roland! Really there is not much difference in a sprint and an Oly, er, well other then it is twice as far... 

I have my final oly next weekend and I signed up for a sprint Sept. 5. Might even try do another sprint Sept. 10 if sceduling(and family) allows it.

Is anyone racing this weekend?  I haven't done a workout since my tri last Saturday because I caught some kind of crud and have been dragging myself to work and back home to sleep.  Think I am on the downside now.  The good news is that my hubby is saying that I should get a road bike for racing next year.  YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS.  I love my hybrid but it is so heavy. I think he was waiting to see if I'd stick with it.

Side note on the tri I did last Saturday, and I'll set this up by saying it seems that gentlemen that are in the 70-85 age bracket seem to find me quite fetching (weird huh?).  Anyway, in the bike with only half a mile to go an older guy goes to pass me and slows to ride next to me and says, "You look really great from behind".  Well what is that supposed to mean?  This quickly runs through my oxygen deprived mind while he stays next to me waiting for a response? Oh, my form looks great , He likes women with BIG butts, or I look much younger from behind and when he saw my face knew I was an old lady.  I really think it was just an innocent comment trying to encourage me along, but I was pretty tired trying to kick it to the transition area that these thoughts all just ran through my head.  So, I just said, well I'll take that as a compliment and he speed away. Oh, well I finished the bike with a smile and off to the run.

Stay safe on your bikes out there!

Linda