My goal for the swim was to gain more experience dealing with contact in preparation for Wisconsin. The Hudson current is so strong that swimmers have to cling to a rope to keep from getting pulled down river. Last year I sat on the barge until the gun went off to avoid the pile of women on the rope, but this year I got into the pile. It was crazy, we were all pushing backwards or trying to backstroke and going nowhere.

The gun went off and everyone started flailing but no one was really swimming. I was right in the middle and had nowhere to go so I just started to move forward. I felt like I was climbing over a carpet of people. I wasn't being malicious or aggressive, but the Hudson was demanding we move south and the only way to get there was to break out of the crowd. It was really rough, a lot of grabbing and kicking, but I held my own and felt pretty confident. It only took a minute or so to find some space and really get moving. I could tell my HR was racing so I focused on calming it down.

Near the exit ramp my hand hit something and I realized it was the mucky silt on the bottom of the river. Either they moved the swim exit closer to the seawall or water levels were significantly down because this didn't happen last year. It was disgusting. I could feel silt hitting my face as the women in front of me tried to stroke through it. You can't stand up in this stuff so I used shallow strokes until the lifeguards at the ramp could lift me out. Those guys may be the best volunteers in the entire race.

I thought I swam really strong but my time was slower than last week's race in the Hudson and fell short of my goal of 21:30. But I was a little faster than last year and I exited the water with a smile so I can't complain.


I need to learn to push myself appropriately in a race. I love OWS and am really comfy, maybe too comfy and forget to push it.

It is what it is. There is a 400m barefoot run just to get to T1, then the run through it. There was a line to get out and to bike mount that ate up a minimum of 45 more seconds due to crowding.

NYC has long transitions, nothing you can do to change it, especially in the Yellow area. I knocked off about 2 minutes from last year so it felt like an improvement.

This course was really crowded, way more than last year. Add to that wet/slick roads, very narrow lanes at times, big puddles and a lot of people who seemed unaware of basic racing/USAT rules and it was a recipe for disaster. I felt at risk the entire time and was basically trying to ride a good race while avoiding a crash. Not how I want to feel and not fun at all.

There is an exhaustive thread about this in the New York forum and more details on my blog so I'm going to just leave it at this: if your goal is to simply finish and have fun, this is a good bike course. If you're aiming for a fast ride or trying for a goal, you will be challenged. Passing was difficult and a lot of riders got bent out of shape over other riders shouting "left" or trying to pass. There were profanities and nasty slurs being thrown around. It was unusual and unlike anything I've experienced in a race.

I felt I rode strong and did the best I could. I had to ride the brakes a lot on downhills for safety sake. My legs felt good despite the training load leading up to the race. I overhydrated again. I have to get that under control during overcast conditions. I missed my goal by 4 minutes but still improved over last year.


I did the best I could on this course. Safety is way more important to me than a faster split.

Much better.

Nothing, this is pretty good for NYC.

If I were harboring any lingering disappointment over my swim and bike times, it melted away when I discovered my run time. I wasn't feeling particularly speedy and my legs were heavy so I guessed I was doing an 8.5 minute mile or so. I didn't start capturing my splits until Mile 3 and realized I was hitting a sub-8 pace. I thought perhaps the beginning was slow and I was gradually speeding up. I saw Jonah (jmk-brooklyn) around Mile 3, he was on a bike as a volunteer course marshall. He came and rode up a nasty hill with me, it was a very nice distraction.

My pace stayed consistent but I desperately wanted to speed it up so I picked a woman ahead of me who appeared to be running really strong and tried as hard as I could to catch her. We were in lock step for almost a mile with her about 20 yards ahead of me. But as we came into the final stretch I finally passed her. I felt incredibly strong coming into the finish and knew I had done the best I was capable of that day.

The run was my greatest improvement over last year and it was also a 10K PR for me by almost three-minutes. I was elated when I discovered this. I'm sometimes frustrated by my minimal improvements on the bike, but my coach said my bike endurance is paying off by allowing me to use the run fitness I'm building to fly. If being slower on the bike means having better than expected runs, I can live with that. 16th in my AG is just awesome for a race of this caliber.


Nothing!

Drank a Muscle Milk, had a banana and lots of water, walked around and saw Michelle (mburkhart), we got a finisher photo together (below). Then found some non-BT friends. Drank a Recoverite on the stroll back to transition and had a Cliff Bar on the long train ride home.


Crowded course. No taper. Still learning to race a swim. I'm getting there.


This is a great race for fun, but as said above, not the best place to really test yourself and push the limits. It's a great experience and the most unique race I've ever done. It's excellent for first-timers, it was for me last year.