The swim start was from a barge. Because of the strong current, you had the option of jumping in and holding on to a rope or diving from the barge. I jumped in and held on the to rope while checking my goggles for leaks.

When the horn sounded, I let go of the rope as I started my watch. The current immediately grabbed me and everyone else. Within the first 15-20 feet, I caught an elbow to my lower lip. I kept swimming but not at a fast pace because I wanted to let the current do most of the work. I tried to draft but several others were letting the current do all of the work. Swam over a couple of people and thought I found some legs to draft off, but between them swimming hard and the current, it was difficult to catch a draft. About half way through the swim, I began to feel my lip swelling. Part of me was hoping it wasn't cut, I was in the Hudson after all. And, part of me was thinking what a great battle scar. Quickly got rid of those thoughts and then the swim was over.

I still need to work on my swim because even though I had a 20 minute swim with the current, I think I could have been faster. Not all races are going to have a current.

Here is an interesting part of this race. Because there were 4400+ participants, transition was divided in to 2 areas, Red and Yellow. The Red entrance was about 550-600 yards from swim exit. The yellow entrance was about another 500 yards past the Red entrance. I knew this would be a long transition because of the distance and my goal was keep it under 5 minutes. However, a lot of people were jogging or walking. You also had to keep to the right of the riverwalk because of bikes were coming down on the left. I was running but got trapped a couple of times because of walkers chatting (WHAT! This is a race!) and bikes. Once I got in to transition, my wetsuit came off quickly with the exception of my right ankle. I had put body glide on, but I guess not enough. After that, everything went quickly and my a/g rank for T1 was 40 of 357 so I guess I should be happy with a 5+ minute transition.

I felt rushed at swim start and may not have put enough body glide on my right ankle. I need to allow for more time to BE at the swim start when there is a point to point swim.

The bike was technical with several sharp turns and hills to get out of Riverside Park. We were warned about this in race briefing and I was prepared with my bike set in low gear. In the first half mile on West Side Hwy, I hit a bump on a bridge and my bike computer went flying off.

This is where my mental game took a turn for the better. I knew my mental game had been off for the last month or so. Part of my problem was always looking at the numbers, mph, cadence, time, etc. To help I bought the book "The Triathletes Guide to Mental Training" by Jim Taylor & Terri Schnieder. In one of their Triathlete Spotlights, they tell the story of woman who worried about her time expectations. It was suggested she cover her computer with tape, enjoy herself, maintain a comfortable pace, and finish strong.

After the bump, I looked back and saw my bike computer take a high bounce off the road and over the side of the bridge. At that moment, I remembered the story, decided to enjoy myself, maintain a comfortable pace, and finish strong. I passed one person. Then another and another. I was passed by a some riders but I was passing much more than were passing me. Another confidence boost came as I ended up passing a couple of guys that had passed me earlier. I never saw them again. Because the road was rough I saw a lot of "tire malfunctions" (avoiding the F word here) but I was having fun! My bike time ended up being in the top 22% for my a/g. The a/g ranking was a PR for me.

Maybe not buy a new bike computer?! At least not for a while anyway.

Practicing the flying dismount after every ride has been a big help. My transition area had 2500 of the 4400+ participants. So 1:04 for a transition area that was about as big as a football field was ok. Who am I kidding, my T2 a/g rank was 6 of 357! Couldn't be happier!

Nothing.

Coming on to 72nd Street there was a false flat. I didn't realize it until I saw my heart rate spike. Ended up running the course with heart rate between 170-177. Miles 2-5 were rolling hills with an up hill just after mile 5, energy drainer. Then I could hear the announcer in the distance so I picked up the pace to finish strong. I looked at my watch and saw 2:28:13. I knew I was going to smash my PR from Chattanooga and decided to try and break 2:30:00. I was surprised at how long the finish chute was and soon I realized it was for traffic control because there were more spectators than I have ever seen at a triathlon finish. Even more than GCT or IMAZ. It was awe inspiring. I began to run harder and started to feel my heart pounding in my chest. I crossed the finish line strong and very happy. By the time I remembered to stop my watch, it read 2:32:52. Ok, so I didn't break 2:30:00, but I did smash my PR!

After I got my medal, hat, cold towel and water, I walked out of the finishers area and was met by a volunteer that said, you can check your time at the Accenture tent. Not sure they would have my time posted already but I decided to give it a try. This was really cool, Accenture had laptops linked to timing system for Track An Athlete. All I had to do was key in my bib number and my Swim, Bike, Run and Total time splits came up! My run was 46:56! Only 10 seconds slower than my PR at Peachtree Road Race early this month! Total time 2:31:36!!!! New Oly PR by 28 minutes, 6 seconds!

Granted the swim had a good current, but my run finally came through and I was able to put all 3 together in a race!

Continue to work on my run. I've finally got sub 8/miles. Now I need to work on sub 7's.

Stretched, ate Chipotle's free food, banana and bagel. Enjoyed the Delta Finish Festival for a little bit. Went back over to check on tribesman's progress then headed back out on the run course to cheer others on. Saw tribesman coming up the last short hill and cheered him on to the finish line.


My limiter bounced off my bike in the first half mile!


New PR! WOW! What a race! I was hoping to cut 15 minutes off of Chattanooga for a new PR, but shaving 28 minutes, 6 seconds! That put me in the top 21% for my a/g! I was a little down after Chattanooga a week ago, but I think I took away a lot of learning points and was able to apply them here. I was also able to dump a lot of mental trash in the first half mile of the bike.

Despite comments about swimming in the Hudson, I would do this race again. However, a lot of things came together that allowed me to do this race very, very cheaply which included a very cool perk! A small group breakfast Saturday morning with Hunter Kemper. I also met Dave Scott and Sarah Reinertsen. They were very generous with their time and loved talking tri with everyone! What an awesome weekend in NYC! The only way it could have been better would have been meeting Emma Snowsill.