Nautica New York City Triathlon : Official Thread (Page 6)

MarioJW - 2009-07-16 10:31 AM

JMK-Brooklyn - Some great insight given, thanks!

I was a volunteer last year at the exit of red T2, so I got to see many aspects of the race. I am thinking of removing my wetsuit BEFORE I start my run to the bike. I saw only a few people do this last year, but I think it is more efficient. I can understand why someone would want to get out of the Hudson andd start running immediately, but running with a wetsuit on has to be slower than running with it off. If you drap it over your shoulder, it will cause minimal hinderance and you should be good to go.

As you said before, there isn't carpeting on the long run to transition, however, I don't see why they can't get some. For those that are old enough to remember, for many years the NYC Marathon had carpeting on the Queensboro bridge (sponsored by Dupont) and that was over a mile. I bet that is sitting in some warehouse somewhere!


Here are some important highlights from JMK-Brooklyn's postings:

- Footwear needed to walk to swim start
- At the swim exit, don't stand in the water until you feel the ladder
- Hold on to goggles when jumping in, can't warm up and outside 'lanes' are faster
- Drink water/sportdrink when exiting T2. No stations until Central Park

Any thoughts on when to take off the wetsuit?

Thanks!!

jmk-brooklyn - 2009-07-16 12:18 PM I’ve read some articles that say that in general, it’s slightly faster to remove wetsuits as soon as you get out of the water, as opposed to waiting until you get to your rack in T1. The suits are still soaked with water and are more pliable and therefore easier to remove. I tried it once last year in a sprint and I think it made a few seconds difference at most. I’d say if you’re worried about the podium, it’s worth considering, but if not, just do the run with your suit pulled down to your hips. I know that we have been told to dissuade people from taking their suits off at swim exit, just to prevent crowding. Imagine if you have 30 or 40 athletes all struggling to pull their suits off at the top of the ramp, while the rest of the field is trying to run past them, and while you’ve got cyclists coming towards them from the other direction? Wow—I don’t remember the carpeting on the bridge at all! I have a volunteer meeting tomorrow, so I’ll mention it. But like LazyMarathoner said, I don’t think it’s an issue at all. The path will be swept multiple times. Every race has a barefoot run from point-a to point-b at some point, and there’s almost always sand or gravel or other debris to contend with.

drcherrybomb21 - 2009-07-16 12:54 PM

  Were they just being woosies and I should just forget it?

drcherrybomb21 - 2009-07-16 11:54 AM

I went to a tri forum a few months ago and they told stories about leaving shoes under benches etc. since the run to transition was so uncomfortable.  I thought putting them inside my wetsuit might work, although I was going to try it in the pool first.  Were they just being woosies and I should just forget it?

philjlee - 2009-07-18 5:41 PM I second those comments, I'm considering doing the swim for the triathlon in a shorty wetsuit - it'll be easier to get on and off and less restrictive. The water was ~74F today. The water quality was fine, it was murky but the only things I bumped into were other swimmers. One tip I've heard from at least three people now (maybe on this forum?, I forget) is to hold on to the barge as soon as you get in for the swim. The current's strong enough that if you let go before the start then you probably won't get back, and it's suck to be DQ'd right at the start.

drcherrybomb21 - 2009-07-21 2:57 PM Saturday is forcast to be nice.  Fingers crossed indeed.  Is there gonna be a BT meetup at the underwear run?