The New York City Triathlon Race Recap

There really was no better way for me to celebrate my 3^rd anniversary of living in New York City.

But before the happy end of the race came, I was a ball of nerves.

I’ve never had more mixed feelings about a race before. I was feeling the normal, equal balance of nervous and excitement. But I was also wondering, am I really ready for this? There was a part of me that had serious concerns about my ability to finish. Would I get a flat tire on the bike? Could I handle the Central Park hills? Would I look really awesome, or close to death in my race photos? (all questions will be answered in-depth later)

Meggie and I went to the Tri expo Friday afternoon and picked up some goodies before our final Team in Training dinner. We had a casual photoshoot as well.

We made our way to the dinner, only to find the entrance lined with a red carpet. As we walked in, our mentors were waiting for us, cheering us on with insane enthusiasm. I felt like a total rock star.

Cheering mentors!

The dinner was bittersweet. It was amazing to see the entire NYC chapter of TNT together, and hearing how much money we raised for LLS (over $1 million!!!!). We heard really sweet speeches from our head coach, and one TNT participant who is a Stage 4 Lymphoma survivor. It was a really great way to bring my TNT experience to a close, and got me super psyched for race day.

Megs and me carbo-loading.

My awesome mentor, Andy!

I woke up early Saturday morning to put together my race day necessities. I felt like a crazy person checking and re-checking all my stuff. Between three sports, there is a lot of random ish to remember.

I met Meggie for our long trek to the west side to drop off our bikes at transition. We were “those people” you hate on the subway because we clogged up all entry ways with our bikes AND got our bikes tangled up in each other so you REALLY couldn’t get off.

After a sweaty subway ride, we made it to transition. Huzzah!

My transition spot, with inspirational quote/pick-up line.

We took a quick tour of the transition area, and figured out where we would be entering and exiting for the swim, bike and run. After walking around most of the afternoon, we finally took our coaches’ advice and went to dinner and a movie to stay off our feet. We also lucked out and stayed at Meggie’s boyfriend’s Aunt’s house (are you still with me? ) on the Upper West Side. It was a real treat not to have to go all the way back to Brooklyn after our long afternoon. We body marked, painted nails, and settled in for the night by watching Sex and the City. We agreed that Samantha is much more outrageous and sexual in the movie than in the show.

At 3:30AM IN THE MORNING, we woke up for the big day.

Really beautiful shot of us.

We laid out our items at transition, and walked to the swim start. It was very cool watching the sun rise over the Hudson, when most of the city was just about to go to sleep. It was one of those rare New York moments.

I got to my corral with Meggie, and the race officially started. While the logistics of bike drop-off and walking to the swim were a hassle, it was exciting to watch everyone jump in and start their race. Here I am AMPED AND NERVOUS. (also, don't mind the next several shots that say "proof" across them. Stolen from marathon foto).

Nerd.

As we got closer to the dock, my hands began to shake. Meggie and I finally stepped up to the starting line, hand in hand, and jumped in to start our race.

All of the nervousness I felt that morning disappeared as soon as I got in the water. It felt really refreshing, and I kept reminding myself to enjoy every moment. Every time I turned my head to breathe, I saw the sun shining on the water. I was having a total blast.

SIDE NOTE: To answer your burning question – the Hudson was not gross (I KNOW! I was just as delightfully surprised by this fact as you). In fact, the first ¾ of the swim the current was pretty quick, and the water felt great. But as we got closer to the boat basin, where the swim exit was, the only thing I noticed was the smell of gasoline. A lot of boats + slow current = gasoline smell. Kinda gross but perhaps understandable.

By the time I neared the finish, my arms started to tire a bit. The current slowed, and each stroke took more effort. I started counting down the strokes to the finish, which helped. Then it was time to get out!

Swim time: 22:27

Best shot of the day?

I was prepared for the fact that the distance between the swim exit and transition was about a half mile run. I slowly jogged to my bike, and started the leg of the race I was most nervous about (Cue my serious, irrational fear that I was going to get a flat tire).

Transition 1 Time: 7:49

Once I got on my bike, I decided to just enjoy myself. I started out slow, and then picked it up to a sustainable effort. I caught up to Meggie, and by the best coincidence, we passed a set of photographers. 

BEST FRIENDS DO TRIS TOGETHER.

The bike was my favorite part of the race. I had an ongoing passing game with a 70-year-old woman, tried with all my might to stay well-hydrated yet NOT drop my water bottles, and smiled the entire time (there is a hilarious set of photos of me trying to put my water bottle back in its cage. Is this also hard for other people? Please tell me I am not alone. Or maybe I am. Whatever).

COOL SHOT.

The toughest part was figuring out what “race pace” was. I pushed it pretty hard on the hills, and then took it a bit easier during the last quarter of the course. I wanted to make sure I had some fuel left in me for the run.

By the time we got to the last turnaround, I didn’t want the bike to end. I can honestly say I never felt that way during training. I was always ready to be done. But this was a really cool course, with lots of racers around you to keep you going fast.

Bike time: 1:34:52

I dropped my bike in transition, threw on my running hat, and headed out for the last part of my first official triathlon.

Transition 2 Time: 1:34

The beginning of the run course is on 72^nd street, lined with energetic spectators. I felt like I was going really slow, but hearing everyone yell “Go Team In Training!” made me pick it up a bit. Not to mention, I saw Keith, which always perks me up!

I turned to go into the Park, preparing for the beastly hills. My legs felt really, really heavy. I noticed before the start that my quads felt sore, I think from all the walking the day before. And I had to pee. I was off to a good start.

I reminded myself that this was my strongest part of the race. I’ve pushed through worse, and I should enjoy this as much as possible. When we got to the first hill, I noticed other people starting to walk. I decided that was not going to be me, and it fueled me to go faster.

NOT smiling because I am running up a hill.

Despite the heat and humidity, and my lead-filled legs, I felt really energized by the spectators. So many people had a connection with my purple TNT shirt, and their words of encouragement kept me going. The TNT coaches were lined throughout the park, yelling words of advice. Two coaches even ran with me, saying how strong I looked and that I was almost done. I’ve never felt such support during a race, and it made all the difference in the world.

I started my garmin later than where the run technically started, so while I had my mile times, I was mostly running on feel. I knew I was pushing myself because my mile times were faster than how incredibly fatigued I felt. I wanted to enjoy it, but I was seriously counting down the steps by the last two miles. I was tired and ready to finish.

The crowds started to get bigger, and I knew I was close to the finish. I tried to sprint it out, and work hard to the last second. I crossed that finish line, and was so happy!!!

Run Time: 53:09 (8:34 Pace)

Exhausted, but still throwing some peace signs.

As soon as I crossed the finish line, I was given a cold, wet towel for my neck, water, gatorade, and my choice of excellent post-race food. A wet towel will never mean more to me than it did at that moment.

Keith found me right away, and I was beyond happy to see him. After an immediate trip to the porta-potties, we browsed the finish line festival, and I stopped to get my official time…

WHICH WAS 2:59:49 !!!

I had a top secret goal time of beating 3 hours. I had heard from other TNTers that 3 hours was a threshold to beat. I crushed it with 11 seconds to spare.

Keith treated me to breakfast, and my exhausted body caught up with me. I was ready for a day of napping, eating, and watching Scandal. And Corona.

I have a lot more thoughts about this experience, both good and bad. But for now, I’ll let this recap stand on its own. What an amazing, fantastic day. I wish I could do it again.

With One Week to go…

I’ve been training for 19 weeks for the New York City Triathlon.

It's been a journey from being cold and sad...

To feeling strong and happy! (and warm)

When I signed up for the triathlon in January, I was hopelessly naïve and had absolutely no clue what I was getting myself into. I’ll admit I was even a little over-confident about the whole thing. I had run two marathons already – a triathlon would be easy in comparison.

I was also looking for a new adventure, something to get me out of my comfort zone. I wanted to do something that didn’t just benefit me, but other people who were in real need of help.

I definitely feel like I am about to achieve something bigger than myself this weekend, but I was 100% wrong about thinking the training would be easy. It was really hard.

I don’t say this to elicit sympathy from anyone, but rather to remind myself that training for any race is supposed to be difficult. It requires a little sacrifice, a bit of discipline and a lot of sleep. While I think that having experience in endurance running helped me, it didn’t prepare me much for the swimming and biking portions of the training. I had to work really hard to build up my endurance for both.

I remember the first weekend I had my road bike – I felt like I was flying. My new baby was so shiny and fast. I ended up doing a ton of mileage at a Saturday morning practice, more than I had ever done, and realized about ¾ of the way through that I was dog tired. I slowly made my way back to my apartment after practice, and was convinced that if my couch was a foot further away from my door, I would have collapsed on my floor instead. My right knee ached, and I slept for about 2 hours afterwards. I learned that day to respect the sport, and respect your ability level.

Showing some love and respect for my bike.
I did not collapse after this practice I will have you know.

I remember the stretch of weeks when I loathed going to the pool on my own. I would mumble curse words to myself on early Thursday mornings when I had to slip into my tight swimsuit, share a lane with another crazy New Yorker, and blow dry my hair in an insanely hot gym while sweat poured down my face. This SUCKS.  I couldn’t find anything positive about my solo swim practices. I wasn’t very good, I didn’t feel myself improving, and I couldn’t shake my frustration.

Then at some point, I started to KIND OF enjoy it. I started passing people at the group swim practices that I attended religiously. I patted myself on the back when I finished a set of long sprints and didn’t feel like dying. I successfully finished an open water swim and didn’t die. I learned that not everything is supposed to come easy or be fun. Sometimes you have to really work at it, and believe that it will pay off in the end. 

I'm smiling! Even though I'm about to swim!

I remember when I was cursing my body for not cooperating when I was recovering from injury. This was especially frustrating because while I might not be very good at swimming or biking, I felt like I was kind of good at running. I couldn’t do it as much as I wanted to, which I felt would have lifted up my spirits. I was nervous I wouldn’t be able to complete the race.

Finally, my injury let up, after some aggressive physical therapy and foam rolling. As I slowly built up my endurance, I savored every step. It felt amazing to be able to do the one sport that I feel most confident about.

Last Tuesday, I finally made it to a group run, which I had avoided all season because it is inconvenient for me to get to (plus, I really enjoy running alone! Not ashamed of it one bit). We were told to do mile repeats, but I just ran at a steady pace because I didn’t want to risk hurting anything. I let people pass me, and focused on my steady breathing. I felt strong, even if I wasn’t going as fast as everyone else.

After practice, I was talking to some fellow teammates, and we were sharing how we felt about the upcoming race. I said how I felt most confident about running, since I have done several races in the past. One girl, whom I had never met before said, “Oh you’ll be fine on the run. You looked so strong out there!”  It was such a small comment, but really boosted my confidence. Even if you’re not running as fast as everyone else, if you feel strong, chances are, you’ll look strong to other people too.

SO PLEASED TO BE RUNNING.

When I first signed up for this triathlon, I was most nervous about getting to my fundraising goal. I know asking people to donate their hard-earned dollars to my race is a bit of an imposition, but I hoped I would get close enough so I didn’t have to pay for the difference myself and have to live on ramen for months.

I have said before that I am truly amazed by the generosity I’ve been shown in the past few months. And two weeks ago, I surpassed my fundraising minimum. This was a huge part of my goal for this race – to raise enough money that would make a difference for families fighting LLS. Even if I don’t have a great race, I take great pride in knowing that I did something to help others in need. If you supported me in the past few months, whether it was by donating or just listening as I worried about training, thank you. Give yourself a pat on the back because we just did something really awesome together.

So here we are, a week away from my first Olympic Triathlon. After 19 weeks of insanely early Saturday morning practices, countless uncomfortable swim workouts and many moments of questioning my own sanity, I am just days away from putting myself to the test. It has been a crazy journey, but I feel ready for it. Let's go.

Birchwood Lakes Sprint Triathlon - Race Recap

This past weekend, I completed my first triathlon.

My lucky number is 8! This was a good omen.

I had so much fun, and it made me feel like all of the early mornings, long bike rides, and tough swims over the last several months were worth it.

I signed up for this triathlon as a test run for the NYC Tri in 2 weeks. I read it was a small, low-key race, which I figured would be a perfect way for me to practice transitioning and open water swimming.

I headed home Friday morning, and decided at the last minute to leave my road bike in Brooklyn. Trying to get my bike on the subway, through Penn Station, and home to NJ seemed like a lot of work. I chanced that I would be able to rent a road bike at home, like I did in Vermont. But unfortunately, I had no such luck.

I drove to a bike shop that rented road bikes, only to find out that they had none available. And neither did another place. They were all already rented, and I remembered that there were several triathlons happening in the area this weekend. Uh oh.

I quickly came to the conclusion that I would have to use one of my family's mountain bikes for the race. I was really bummed and nervous about it. I've been training on a road bike, and they're LOADS faster than mountain bikes. But I had no other choice, and pouted much of Friday evening about it.

My amazing parents agreed to come to the race with me, and we drove down bright and early on Saturday morning. I munched on my english muffin with PB and banana, chatted with my parents, and became super nervous as we got closer to the race.

My race-day nerves were somewhat diminished when we got to there, only to find that it was RIDICULOUSLY low-key. 

The "start" line

I checked in to the race, and putzed around on the beach where the swim started. The atmosphere was so relaxed that there were babies and dogs playing on the beach. It was so cute.

Next, I set up my transition area.

I became a little intimidated at this point, because I was about 1 of 5 people with a mountain bike. I was really wishing I had gone through the hassle of bringing my Raleigh home.

A huge upside to a small race is having access to warm-up in the water before the start. I threw my wetsuit on and went for a little swim out to the first buoy.

The water was a great temperature, and I was happy to get the chance to swim off my nerves a bit. I chatted with my parents for a few more minutes, and then the race began.

The swim was a half mile out and back, with about 8 buoys lining the water. I started out in the middle-back of the pack. Because there were so few racers, I didn't encounter any kicking or punching from other swimmers. I got into my stroke, and started to race.

After a few minutes, I started to feel pretty tired. The lake water felt really thick. It took a lot of effort for me to go a short distance, and I became a little nervous. But I put the thought out of my mind, and told myself to get to the end of the buoys.

At the turnaround, I just kept swimming and told myself I was halfway there. I also started counting down buoys - 5 left, 4 left, 3 left... and then it was finally over.

Me coming out of the water!
I'm second from the left... I think.

I felt REALLY tired at the end of the swim, more tired than I though I would feel. But I made my way to transition, got on my bike, and went.

The bike was a 13-mile out and back. The course was pretty flat, but it felt like everyone was passing me on their fancy road bikes. I pushed myself really hard to try to go as fast as I could, but it wasn't easy.

I just kept telling myself what my parents had said before the race - this is a test run. Don't worry about how long it takes you, just enjoy it. So at about the halfway mark, I got into a groove and stopped worrying about other racers passing me.

Starting the bike race... with a mountain bike.

I made it back to the transition, and saw the majority of the bikes already back in the racks... which meant I was probably in the back of the pack. But I knew my body was ready for my strongest leg, the run.

My legs felt tired after getting off the bike, but after a minute or so I was ready to race.  I didn't know how fast my body would be able to go, so I took the first half mile at an easy pace, but picked it up a bit for the last half... and clocked in my first mile at 8:22.

I started to feel really good, and was finally passing other people for once. I could feel the temperature rising, but just tried to enjoy the last two miles of my FIRST triathlon.

That's me! I swear!

I finished the second mile in 8:15, and was surprised at how fast my legs were going. I had a huge smile on my face, and focused my attention in the last mile on passing one more person. I turned around the final bend and let my legs go, clocking in the last mile at 7:35.

And just like that, I finished my first triathlon!!!

I was so happy that I did it, and that my parents were there to share this experience with me. They were the best cheer squad a gal could ask for.

Shortly after the end of the race, the beer-b-que started, and we enjoyed some well-deserved beers and burgers.

Papa! And keg beer.

I attempted to stretch, because I could feel that my hips were thrown off by the bike-to-run transition. Aside from feeling hot and a little dehydrated, I felt pretty good.

I saw on the website that they would give out overall awards and age group awards after the race. I had a dream last week that I won an award, so I secretly wanted to see if I had some small chance of winning in my age group. 

They announced overall female and male winners, and then worked their way up to the winners in the Female 20-29 bracket. I crossed my fingers when they announced 3rd place... and my name wasn't called. I knew it was silly to hope for, but thought I might have a chance. 

Then I heard the announcer say, "and in 2nd place, from Brooklyn, New York..." My parents and I started yelling, realizing that I had won 2nd place in my age group!!!

The cutest parents anywhere.

I was over the moon, so surprised that I had done well enough to get 2nd place. My parents told me not to sell myself short, that I worked hard for this day, and that I deserved it. That's why they are the absolute best.

And the splits for my second place finish were...

Swim: 15:31
Transition 1: 2:28
Bike: 48:40
Transition 2: 0:55
Run: 24:14
Overall: 1:31:48

Once we got home, I was ready for an afternoon of rest. I took a shower, got into comfy clothes, and turned on a movie. I had the best snuggle buddy to enjoy the afternoon with...

Morgan, the most adorable cat.

Two days later, I am still overjoyed by how fantastic this experience was. I feel really good about the NYC Tri in just TWO WEEKS. But this race, as my first tri ever, will always have a really special place in my heart.

The Open Water Swim...

It’s Week 15 of NYC Tri training – only 5 weeks left. I’m shaking in my booties.

Here’s what I did this past week:

Saturday: OPEN WATER SWIM + 45 min run

Sunday: 2 hour bike ride

Monday: 1 Hour Group Swim (I'M QUEEN OF THE WORLD)

Tuesday: 6 Mile Run (I HATE YOU BODY)

Wednesday: 1 Hour Indoor Bike (NOTHING TO SEE HERE)

Thursday: 40 Minute Swim (THIS ISN'T SO BAD)

Why all the random add-ons? This past week was filled with highs and lows. Let’s start with the craziest of them all – the open water swim at Coney Island on Saturday.

I really thought I would be more nervous than I was for this swim. Given my general hatred dislike for swimming over the past few weeks, I thought it was going to be rough. But swim practice earlier in the week was actually quite fun, and I was on my first-ever high from swimming.

My fave training buddy Meggie and I got to Coney Island nice and early for instructions by our coaches and the lifeguards. The first thing I heard when we got to the boardwalk – the water is COLD. Tropical Storm Andrea passed over New York and left just a couple hours before our swim, thus making the ocean cold and choppy. I found out after the swim that the water hadn’t been that cold in the eight years that one of our coaches has been doing TNT.

MIXED EMOTIONS.

We put on our wetsuits, and were advised to do some running before the swim to get warmed up. When we finally got in the water, and my feet were not happy with me. During the first lap, I kept my head up the entire time, since ya know, I COULDN'T SEE THE BOTTOM, WHICH IS STRANGE.  

In the second lap, I told myself to trust my months of training, and try to swim “normally.” I put my face in the water, and just swam. My face felt like ice during the first few minutes, but I started to get the hang of it. I have heard that it is really common for people to freak out the first time they swim in open water, but I wanted to avoid this. I counted my strokes in my head – one, two, three, four, five, six, SIGHT. This was also really foreign to me. We practiced sighting in last week’s swim practice, but it’s sort of silly in the pool because you know exactly where you’re going… but in the ocean, you have to make sure you’re not swimming out to sea.

We did twenty minutes of continuous lap swimming, a few other exercises, and we were done. We did it!!!

It really wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be. Looking back, this swim was a huge mental barrier for me. Now that I know that I can actually swim in open water, and brave it out in less than ideal conditions, it just doesn’t seem so daunting to me anymore.

That being said, I finally decided to sign up for this puppy:

I knew I wanted to do a sprint tri before the big day, but I was a bit scared about whether I’d be prepared for the swim. During the NYC Tri you swim with the current, so you’re not actually swimming for that long (my mentor Andy said that last year his NYC swim time was 17 minutes, and in a different race with the same distance, his swim time was 33 minutes…).

The Birchwood Lakes swim is an out and back half mile swim in a lake. No current, just still, open water. But now I feel like I can do it. Plus, I realized the other night at swim practice that we swam a little over a mile in the pool (!!!!).

At least I think I did. I am REALLY bad at counting laps and meters and stuff. You can tell me if I’m totally off, but I think I read somewhere that 33 laps is a mile. (Actually, don’t tell me and shatter my confidence. K great).

So the swimming is going well (for once), and I’m pumped about this sprint tri as a practice run for race day. Yet I have been sidelined this week by a stupid tweak in my left IT Band.

I went out for 400 sprints Tuesday night after what felt like a crappy day. Everything at work was bothering me, everyone was TOUCHING me on the subway, and I just felt like a cranky troll. Normally, a good run can get me out of a funk, so I was looking forward to it. But my body felt tired, and I should have listened to that.

I felt fine during the warm-up, and even somewhat strong in the first five 400s. But during the last sprint, I felt really beat, and at the end of it my body said ENOUGH. I couldn’t slow my heart rate, and I did some run-walking to try to cool-down. I noticed some pain in my left IT Band, and by the last mile it was really hurting. I cut the run short, and harrumphed my way home.

WHY OH WHY would you do this to me IT Band? We’ve been getting along so well, you and I. Did I push you too hard? Just tell me. I’ll be good to you, I promise.

I went to see the all-powerful Dr. Levine yesterday, and he was a bit perplexed by it as well. He found two big knots in the muscle, and worked them out for me. But he advised no running for at least a week. I’m still pouting.

Especially because in one week, I will be here:

My dad, cousins and me after the bike up the Notch!
You can really see what we look like, no?

I’ll be heading up to Vermont next week for a vacay/family reunion, and have every intention of enjoying the amazing scenery by running and biking as much as I can. Give me some trails and grass, and I am one HAPPY gal. I am not going to let my stubborn leg keep me from doing the things I love.