A couple days before the race my coach reminded me that I'm a front of the pack swimmer, so I need to be more confident in the start and stop positioning myself in the middle of the pack. So, I positioned myself in the very front of the pack and on the outside where the current was the strongest. Took me a couple hundred meters to relax and get into a steady rhythm & breathing, but from then on I felt better then I've ever felt in an OWS. I eventually caught up to girls in the wave ahead of me, and then some more girls from two waves ahead. I had no one around me for the majority of the swim. It was a little congested at the exit.

Nothing

This was about a 400 meter run to the TA. First thing I did after exiting the water was to wipe away my Hudson 'stache. Took the run pretty easy to help bring down my HR.

Nothing

From the moment when I got on the bike until I dismounted I found the course to be extremely crowded! At the bike mount there was actually a line/crowd of people and I had to wait to get on my bike & get going. It was pretty cool to be riding on the West Side Highway and to ride through a toll booth. With the course being as crowded as it was and road conditions not being the best, I found it difficult to pass people at times. Those conditions aside, I thought it was a great course. I felt great on most of the climbs and managed to pass quite a few people here, but found myself getting nervous and holding back on many of the descents. I've spent a lot of time this season working on my confidence in descents. I feel like I've come a long way and feel pretty strong here, so I'm not totally sure what happened here today. Shortly before getting to the turn-around in the Bronx I realized I didn't drink anything yet. I had 1 bottle of water and 1 bottle of GE....plan was to alternate between the two and drink most of each bottle. Took 3 solid mouthfuls of water. The bottles were wet from the pre-race rain, and as I was trying to put it back in the cage it slipped out of my hands. I yelled out to apologize to the girl behind me, fearing that she'd hit it. Luckily it didn't fall in her path (or anyone else behind me), and she was so nice & encouraging and yelled back to remind me that I didn't need that bottle anyway, I had another one. Saw a lot of people out on the course with flats and other bike troubles, and really thankful that I was not one of them.

Have more confidence on the bike, which will come with more time in the saddle. Drink more!!! And not lose a bottle next time.

Nothing

I felt great going into the run!! I was a little nervous about hydration bc it was really humid and I didn't drink very much at all on the bike. I also started to feel pretty hungry at this point. I took water at every other aid station and was fine, and actually forgot about the hunger. The first mile across 72nd Street with lined with loads of people cheering....it was unbelievable and that mile fly by! Slowly picked up the pace each mile. By mile 5 I pushed out the rest with everything I had. This made me appreciate those long intveral speed workouts that I hate so much :) This was my fastest 10k ever and a huge PR for me.

Nothing

Got my cold towel, finisher's medal and had a couple bottles of water. I was a lot easier finding my family and friends than I expected. Went to brunch with my family afterwards.....I was starving by this point and couldn't decide between pancakes or eggs & bacon....I got both :)


I had a really great time and it was a fun race, but I never got excited in the way I thought I'd be. When I volunteered for this race last year and when I reigstered last fall I was unbelievably excited for this race! In the week leading up to the race I never felt that I excitement...and it never came when I was at the expo...still didn't come when I went to the bike drop off on Saturday and much to my surprise I still didn't have the excitement I expected on Sunday.

This is a organized race for the most part, with tons of extremely helpful volunteers (thank you all!)!! But I would not do this race again.