New York City Triathlon Race Report

After Alcatraz, I had a whole month to train for my next group of races. The first race after 3 long weeks of hard training was the NYC Triathlon on July 10th. The U23 team departed Colorado Springs on the morning of the 8th. Our flight out of COS was at 6am...and we assumed that our shuttle to the airport would depart at 4:45. Well, we all know what assumptions do...they make an @$$ out of U and ME!!
At 4:55ish, Matt, Manny, Jasmine and I realized that we were not getting a ride to the airport and drastic action needed to be taken. Jasmine and I both ran to get our car keys and pulled up to the front to load our 4 bike boxes and 4 rolling bags into my car and three other people into Jasmine's car. I promise that I obeyed all speed limits on the way to the airport:) and we made it there in plenty of time to check our bags and catch the plane to Chicago and then on to NYC.
As part of the U23 team, I was staying in the YMCA in NYC...it was an interesting experience because this Y was a lot different from the Y's that I am used to...it was 14 stories tall in the middle of the city and right next to Central Park. It's location was perfect because we did part of the race in Central Park (the other perfect part was the cost of a room versus the cost of any hotel in NYC:) Every room in the building was a single so we each got our own space to hang out...it wasn't very much space...but it had all the requirements (i.e. a bed and a TV).
A quick assembly of our bikes was followed by a delicious dinner with the whole team. The next morning we got up early for a bike ride in Central Park...two loops, each loop about 10K...checking things on the bike and doing some speed play stuff to get our legs moving. After the bike ride we swam in the Y pool, located on the 3rd floor, 25 yards by 4 lanes...it was really cute and really old!!
A quick trip to the city for the pre race meeting followed by dinner in times Square and then a good night's sleep before the race! I was so excited for race morning because my parents came up to NYC to watch me race (well, they came to see some Broadway shows and I happened to be racing:)haha.
The cool thing about the NYC pro race was that we had 2 different transition areas...T1 was located right at the edge of the Hudson river where we swam...but T2 was in the middle of Central Park. In the morning we dropped our run shoes at T2 and then continued on our bikes to T1 to set up all the other stuff. That's where Mom and Dad were waiting...it was great to see the 'rents because I've been away from home for so long and it's great to have some of my own cheering section at the race!
After I set up the bike...we walked the whole 1500m swim course to the start. This swim was in the fast flowing Hudson River which meant that all the swimming would be in one direction (with the current to my dismay!) As we walked on the river's edge I peered into the infamous Hudson and the first thing I laid my eyes on was a dead rat floating belly up in the race course!
Ummmmmmmmmmmmm....that was almost the end of my race:):) haha
Denny had one last team meeting before the women were called to line up for the start on the floating dock. It was about 2 feet above the water so we had a dive start...and the race was started!
I was swimming in the Hudson River in NYC...not something I ever planned on doing...but it was time to race and not time to think about all the things I could be touching in the water:) I knew that the swim was going to be fast, thanks to the current, so I swam as fast as I could and exited the water in 13 minutes (yep, a 13:00 open water 1500m...that would be a world record:). I looked back as I ran to T1 and saw a nice large gap before the next women to exit...I grabbed my bike and hauled @$$ out of transition!
The bike course was out and back on the Henry Hudson Hwy...Unfortunately on the way out we had a nice head wind. I worked as hard as I could for as long as I could stay in front but around mile 10 I looked back and saw a huge pack of 20+ women reeling me in. As I was swallowed by the group I was thrilled to see Jasmine, Sarah, Jenna and Kelsey in the group!
The 5 of us worked together at the front to keep the pace of the pack high to hurt the runner's legs. We brought the pack into T2 with all of us at the front and took off on the run.
The run course was 3 laps in Central Park and I focused on staying smooth so that I could finish strong. I knew that I had to let the leaders do their thing (I am nowhere near the running speed as some of these ladies) and worry about my own race...I did that by working hard on the first lap and then relaxing a bit on the 2nd lap so that I would be able to finish with a strong kick and maybe catch some girls who were struggling at the end. I was excited to see that my room mate, Sarah, was leading the front runners for the whole race...she ended up 2nd overall in a sprint to the finish!
I finished 11th overall with a respectable race...I wasn't very happy with my run time but I knew that I put a lot of energy into the swim and bike! After hanging out with Mom and Dad for a bit after the race...they headed off to see another Broadway show and I headed back to the Y to pack my bike and head back to the airport! I had to be a bit speedy in the packing because I had a flight at 5:30pm after the race...boy, I was TIRED! Next post will tell you why I a flight so soon after the race!!