NYC Triathlon Race Report

I signed up for the NYC Triathlon as one of my main races for the season.  I figured it would be a good measure of where I stood in the elite field, considering this race draws over 3,200 triathletes and has a very talented field of elites/pros.  Even though I didn't get a full taper before the race, I took Friday and Saturday as a very light training day so my legs were somewhat fresh come race time.  With Timberman 70.3 in New Hampshire coming up in 3 weeks I wanted to make sure I didn't lower training volume too much.

Raceday: It was not the best day for a triathlon.  Rain made for a rough water swim and also a slick bike course. 

3:00 A.M. Wakeup
Breakfast: 2 or 3 eggs. Shake with blueberries/peanut butter/coco oil/strawberry/Green Superfood and made sure to take my Krill Oil pills.

3:45: 10 min Drive into NYC
4:15: Set up in Transition area
5:00: 30 minute Walk to swim start

The race was supposed to start at 5:40, but due to an oil spill on the West Side Highway we ended up with a 45 minute delay.  Waking up at 3:00 a.m. was miserable in itself and to add that everyone was sitting in the rain for 2:30 prior to race was even worse

Swim: 16:04   17th/40 Elite

I was in the 3rd Wave with all the Elite Age Group Men.  The first three waves, which including both pro men and pro women had a "dive" start of the 99th street pier.  The 1 mile swim portion is known for very fast times with the help of the Hudson River current.  I consider myself a pretty strong swimmer, so the speed of this course was an advantage to all the weak swimmers since the difference in times weren't that large.  On this day, the current was rough with large swells similar to that of an ocean.  I lined up as far out on the Pier as possible behind another competitor.  I had read that being on the far side would help carry more of the current.  As soon as the horn went off I was immediatly struggling.  My goggles had came off due to the dive start and I found myself on my back trying to get them readjusted as quick as possible.  Wearing new goggles was a bad idea and I soon realized instead of being out in front with the strong swimmers I would have to battle my way back in some rough waters being blocked by some of the slower guys.  I past a fair amount of swimmers, but didn't really settle and get my breathing calm until 3/4 of the swim had past.  The swim was a disspointment as I wanted to be somewhere between 5-10 coming out of the water.  The horrible swim condition is a situation that you cannot train for.  Experience is what helps you get through these types of challenges and next time I will be prepared.



Transition 1:  4:29

The transition at this race is like no other I have seen.  With some many atheletes there were two transition areas.  The distance from the swim exit to where my bike was about 3/4 of a mile.  We had to enter the transition on the South side with our bikes on the North end.  We pretty much ran past our bikes all the way to the South and had to run back North.  With the transition being so long I could hopefully make up for the mediocre swim and push the pace.  Running at a good pace (6:15 or so) I had gotten and my bike out of transition in 10th place.  This was huge as I gained 7 spots just while transitioning, which shows you the importance of the transition and also how close in time the swimmers exited the water.  About 6 swimmers came out of the water 10 seconds before me.

Bike: DNF

The bike started off on the sidewalk by the Hudson River followed by an immediate steep hill up to the 79th Street Boat Basin and onto the West Side Highway.  I carried 2 water bottles with me.  One bottle was strictly water while the other carried my electrolytes.  Before entering the Highway I hit a bump, which immediately flung my Electrolyte bottle to the ground.  I had a split second to go back, but decided I would try and manage with the one water bottle and some gels I had brought.  The Bike course was an out and back 25 miler.  The roads were very slick since it was raining and I had to focus on balance, avoiding puddles and potholes while pushing a steady pace.  I told myself that I would not hold anything back this race on the bike and I began to cruise, passing 2 to 3 people withing the first 6 miles.  Around mile 7 I began pushing the pace and was battling with 2 other guys for position.(One who wound up 5th overall in the elite & another that finished 10th).  With a couple miles to go I saw the lead Professional Men being followed by police as they made there way back to 79th Street.  About a half mile from the turn around I saw a pack of Proffesional Women making there way back and knew I was putting up a strong bike performance half way through.  With 12.5-13 miles of biking complete I had a time of 30:25(25 mph), which was encouraging. 

Soon after an amazing 1st half bike I realized I was fucked going 10 mph through the Bronx on the Henry Hudson Parkway!  I began losing air in my back 808 tubular with no spare.  In a race where a couple minutes can be the difference between finishing 1st or 30th I figured I wouldn't continue if this had happened.  Also, due to my inexperience with changing a tubular, where the process includes ripping of the tire from the glued wheel.  I soon got off the highway and realized my day was done.  There was no bike support North of the toolbooth, which was a couple miles up the road.  At this time it was 7:30 a.m. and still raining. I borrowed a policeman's phone to leave a message for family that I wasn't going to be at the finish line.  Luckily enough an old lady called a cab for me around 9 a.m. to take me to Central Park to meet up with family.  Thank god or else I would;ve had to wait until 11:00 a.m. until the last biker was finished!

At the end of the day, it was a huge disspointment for me with all the preparation the week prior and expectations to perform during the race.  Even more dissapointing was the idea of your family getting up early to cheer you on, but in the end having to pay for my cab ride and wait hours for me to collect my belongings.  Meanwhile 3200 other athletes and 1,000's of spectators are racing or cheering with so much excitement.  I would like to try and put this race behind me until next year and focus on Timberman 70.3 for August 21st.