This was a pretty phenomenal experience. I’ll admit that when I decided that I wanted to do triathlons this year, it was not always for the ‘right’ reasons. But hey ho, I wanted to get something off my ‘bucket list’ and there is sometimes nothing better then just getting off your ass and just doing it.
A lot of this race for me was not actually about race day. But it was really more about the lead up to the race. How to get to the race, What to eat, when to rest and what I’m actually doing about training and how to log data and track it. I am positive that I do not have all the pieces right but, it was good enough to finish the first race and not feel like needing to lie down on the floor right away!
The day before the race started off with figuring out what actually to pack. I have a horrible tendency to over pack, which seemed to happen again. I had two huge bags and didn’t need half the stuff. Vanessa who was also doing her first triathlon decided to crash at my place since it was a 20-minute ride away to Staten Island and my friend Neil was going to come pick us up at ‘crack’ a clock. I stopped in the evening to grab our spanking new spiffy uniforms from Claudia and Evelyn. I got some last minute low-down tips on what to expect on the bike leg – a leg that I feared greatly. And Claudia even told me a story that basically said that I could not side-kick anyone on the bike even if they blocked me!
It was also absolutely fantastic having two friends who had also never done a tri before sort of gather around me. My favorite moments were V and I figuring out how the hell to use my new floor bike pump. I think our exact words were “Erhm, so how does this thing work with the PSI gauge? It doesn’t come with a manual? Ok I think the tires are hard, I think I’ll stop right there!” and I did not feel mad when wondering out loud what I was going to do if I needed to pee after the bike leg and Neil saying "Do you need me to show you how?"
When we got to the race site, it was quite cloudy and cold. I was concerned about being cold in the water but it promptly warmed up to just the right temperature. We really couldn’t have asked for a better temperature. It was not too hot for the bike or run and not too cold for the water. We got there way early, which gave us time to setup in the transition area, take photos (like good little tourists), walk a little bit of the course and get suited up before being closed out of transitions. We picked a rack opposite a giant silver balloon (it was a first come first serve racking system). That balloon really helped all three of us greatly to spot our area and I’ll have to remember to bring something next time!
Probably half of roughly 600 people who were doing the tri were newbies. That made for a very easy and friendly atmosphere. Everyone cheered for everyone else and asked if they were ok.
The swim was short – only 1/4 mile, point-to-point and parallel to the shore. V and I were in the same wave so that was reassuring having someone familiar hanging out in the water before we started. I panicked for a little bit when we were treading water at the start but once the swim started, it was the first time I felt confident enough to hang with the wave for a while and even had fun chasing and touching feet in front of me. Sadly my sighting definitely needs work! I could not spot the second orange buoy clearly and ended up almost swimming into the shore before having to correct my line and swim out again. V and I actually came out of the water about the same time.
Transition one was slow for me. I was dizzy out of the water and I felt a need to tape up my bad ankle before biking or running so I decided to sit down and do it right before taking off.
Biking was tough! It was a 12-mile ride with 3 four-mile laps around. I seemed to hit a wall and could not go any faster despite my hardest efforts. In fact, I was so slow that I slipped from 251 place in the field to a 426 from swimming to biking. And I certainly felt it! Neil who started in a later wave also passed me on his dinky rental mountain bike yelled: “go faster!” and I yelled back “ I can’t!!” Everyone was passing me and I could not figure out how to go faster. It was mildly frustrating. I was also wildly panicked about the bad condition of the road down Father Capodanno Blvd. There were giant potholes all over the course. Of course they marked the roads in bright orange where the biggest holes and bumps were and that seemed to make me aim for the orange holes more then avoiding the orange! There were also many people pulled on the side of the road with busted tires. Sad but true!
Dismounting from the bike and racking it was all fine. Again, the balloon made for easy spotting and it was an easy transition for me since I already had my running gear on. I just had to drink some water and ‘gu’ up since I haven’t figured out how to pull my bottle from the bike without falling over!
My fear about peeing came true. I really had to go to the bathroom, which made for an uncomfortable start to the run. Not to mention that my legs were hurting a lot when I started running and it felt like I was dragging some darn heavy weights. But I decided to suck it up and not stop for a pee and made better time then expected. It was an out and back course along a really gorgeous beach. On my way out, both V and Neil were already on their run back and we yelled cheers as we were passing each other! I also spotted Mike and Dave! That was fun! The only slight mess was not figuring out how to keep running and drink out of a cup. Twice, I almost choked and swallowed air bubbles instead. I gave up trying to drink water and really focused on getting to the bathroom building just past the finish line to get my pace up. I am still convinced that the run was shorter then 3 miles because its just ridiculous for me to run an 8:30 pace right now.
In general, it was a really great and fun first race. It really made all the difference in the world having good company and moral support along the way. I really liked that it was a small group of racers and a very friendly supportive atmosphere. Plus they fed us pancakes at the end so I highly recommend it.
Here’s to the next triathlon! And before that Claudia & Les help me on the bike please!!
swim .25 miles, bike 12 miles, run 3.1 miles
swim 15:04 bike 45:18 run 26:22