2009 New York City Triathlon

Yesterday, Sunday July 26, 2009 was the New York City Triathlon.

Race morning began with me waking up at the ungodly hour of 3:45am. I had been very careful to make sure everything was already packed and ready to go for the morning, so that all I had to do, was eat breakfast, get dressed and go. This included having different bottles labeled and ready to go in the refrigerator. They were as follows:

• Three Fuelbelt gel flasks with chia, lime juice and sugar (1 pre-race, 1 halfway through the bike, 1 just in case)
• One bottle with just water to rinse off my feet in T1
• One bottle with Gatorade for the bike
• One bottle with FRS and Endurox R4 for the waiting around before the swim start

So, I gathered my bottles and myself, I headed out the door and down to 72nd St. on the 1 Train. As soon as I got out of the subway it began to rain. Fortunately, I brought an umbrella for just such an event! Myself and a ton of other people were  making our way to the transition area on the West Side Greenway at about 76th & 78th Streets, depending on which transition are you were assigned (I was in the Red transition area).

The day before when I dropped off my bike at transition, I had secured a garbage bag over my handlebars. I did this because whether rain or just dew, I did not want to have my grip any more slippery than I knew it would be with water from myself and the copious amounts of sweat that I knew were coming. The rain that had welcomed us to transition that morning quickly stopped, and I got about the business of setting up my transition.

About the transition rack situation: In this transition are, as with most triathlons, this is the type of rack used. In this event, each racer was designated a space which was indicated by a sticker with your race number on it (my race number was 4517). The idea is to hang your bike on the rack by the nose of your saddle (seat), so that each bike was facing in the opposite direction than that of it’s neighbor. It appeared that each bike was being given about 9 inches (+ or -) which does not sound like a lot, but it’s pretty standard and works just fine if the bikes are alternating sides properly. In my transition space however, because I was close to the end of the rack where the supports are located, whomever had placed the stickers had gotten lazy and had not planned ahead. This resulted in my transition area and that of the bikes on either side of me, being crammed into an area about 18 inches TOTAL!! Now, my handlebars are about 18 inches wide, just to give you some perspective! It was ridiculous, and should have been checked over by race organizers and/or transition managers, and I know for a fact that my area was not the only place this happened.

I digress.

The transition area closed at 5:45am and the first wave of professional men were scheduled to start at 5:50am. Due to weather, this time was pushed back about 25 minutes. I still left the transition are at 5:45 and headed in the general direction of the swim start with my wetsuit slung over my shoulder and my bag for the finish line (change of clothes and Ipod and such) in hand. Keep in mind that because the swim for the NYC Triathlon is a straight shot down the Hudson River, the walk from transition to swim start is right at a mile.

I got to the swim start with a TON of time to spare, so I just sat down and stretched a bit and mentally ran through my race. After a while I decided to drop my finish line bag at the trucks that would be transporting them for us. Then I went to do a quick crowd scan for my wife before getting in line in my wave. Danielle did end up finding me with our friend Allie which was awesome to get a last minute good luck!

I started the swim in the water as far to the outside (closer to the middle of the river) as I could, knowing that was where the current was strongest. The start came and we were off! I can’t really say too much about strategy for the swim, because I tend to just rely on raw speed and technique to get it done. I can say that I aimed to stay toward the outside portion of the course to take full advantage of the current. For the record, I don’t think ANYONE should count on current being a help. If you can’t do the distance in a pool, you should not be doing it in open water, it’s not safe, period!

I was first out of the water in my wave and by the time I exited, had passed a lot of swimmers from the five waves in front of me as well. My total time was 14 minutes 53 seconds. This is when the fun started. After coming out of the water, each runner had to then run/walk about 300~400m to the transition area. This had the effect of making the T1 times look very slow, mine was 4:48.

I got all geared up and ready for the bike and then went! I saw Danielle and Allie at the beginning of the bike and it was so great to hear my name being yelled! The bike course ran North on the West Side Highway out of Manhattan and onto the Mosholu Parkway where it made a u-turn at Gunhill Road, then came back the same way it went out, passed the transition area, made another u-turn at W. 57th St. and came back North and into transition. It was awesome having the West Side Highway completely open and not having to worry about vehicular traffic! The course itself, did not present and crazily steep hills, but it was most definitely a hilly course, that did have me coming out of athe saddle a few times.

My biggest problem on the bike were people not watching their surroundings. In the MANDATORY briefing that we all had at packet pick-up, the race organizers were VERY clear about riding to your right at all times, unless you were passing someone. Many, many, many people did not heed this advice. Drafting was illegal in this race (the practice of riding right behind someone to take advantage of them breaking the air for you), but because of the amount of people riding on the left full time, it was impossible not to draft without pulling across the cones separating outbound and inbound racers. I was constantly yelling, and I do mean yelling, “On your left!” just so I could be safe and to keep people riding on the left would not get wrapped up in less observant racers than myself.

The bike as a whole, felt really great, and I felt strong throughout. My total time on the bike was 1:10:24 with an average speed of 21.2 mph.

I got into transition and was out pretty quickly, not feeling rushed in a time of 1:44. Not super fast or anything, but I got everything I needed done, so it’s all good. On the bike course, there were no water or aid stations, and so I relied on my hydration on my bike and my chia. Once the run began, however, there was water and Cytomax right away. It was nice to be able to dump some cold H2O down my back and get something with some flavor in it in my mouth. As I came up W. 72nd St. and headed toward Central Park, I was amazed by the crowds that formed a solid wall of humanity for the entirety of that part of the course, which once again, included Danielle and Allie!!

After entering the park, there were about five miles left in the run/race. I was feeling very comfortable in my stride, not too fast and only a bit slower than I wanted to be. At about 3 miles into the run, my stomach started to rebel against the liquid that I was all of a sudden cramming into it. I felt a tiny bit uncomfortably nauseous off and on for the remainder of the race. Not enough to really effect me, but just enough to make me notice.

I finished the run in a time of 51:34 which make for a 8:19 per mile pace. This is about a minute per mile slower than my general 10k time, but it is faster than I felt like I was going.

My total time for the race was 2:23:20 which put me in 42nd place out of the 443 people in my division (Men 30-34). For my first Olympic distance triathlon, I felt great! I feel like I really like this distance and can’t wait to do another!! Please listen to Brandon’s Marathon Podcast, Episdoe 51 for even more info and impression of the race!!

My Results:

New York City Triathlon Result Page