Signed up for this race to join the Team NRGY folks, as a prettier (and earlier-announced) alternative to the NYC Tri on the same day.\u00a0 Spent the night at a hotel in Princeton, lucking out when eating dinner at the bar and watching the Pan American swimmers (inspired by how THEY catch the water!).<\/p>\n
Bullet-proof coffee, apple sauce with protein powder, some sports drink for breakfast at 4:45 a.m. Picked up registration on a hot, humid morning; even the lake at Mercer County Park was warm, at 83 degrees (wetsuit non-legal). Saw Jason near the team tent, met up with Chris Vaughan (cousin Rob Falk’s friend), re-met Kevin L. who another age grouper recognized as the runner who amazed us all at Nationals last year by his apocryphal, sub-6:30 run; got my transition area set up (distinctive orange towel).\u00a0 “Never turn down an available toilet” but still suffered the long lines.<\/p>\n
Warmed up in the water, after really two rest days (Friday’s practice swim in the Hudson was a bust — the current had been too strong), and felt good.\u00a0 Note to self:\u00a0 8 oz. of sports drink 20 minutes before the start isn’t enough on a hot day; I was starting thirsty, but got a sip from a stranger’s water bottle.\u00a0 Chatted more with Chris (Coach Debi set up our battle: “should be interesting – he’s a faster swimmer but you’re a faster runner”) and met his husband Philip.\u00a0 Usual jitters magnified by having to tread water before the start (no wetsuit!\u00a0 \u201cIt’s the wetsuit that protects me from drowning!\u201d), got in second floating “row” (bolder than usual) and “Get outta here!” was the verbal starting gun.<\/p>\n
A good swim — no self-doubts to weigh me down. Mentally paced myself (ah, the first big yellow buoy – this is only the first 15%, keep your hopes down), lots of orange sighting buoys gliding past, shot down those destructive thoughts (“boy, this is a hard pace, I don’t know if I can keep this up for 2.4. miles…” “Shmuck!\u00a0 You\u2019re not doing the Ironman today!”), focused on keeping my butt high in the water and when I engaged a “hollow back” I felt like a wave or a dolphin was pushing me forward and catching the water and feeling STRONG.\u00a0 And that great feeling of not passing a few, but a LOT of guys in the orange-swim cap wave that started 5 minutes before mine (even if they included older men)…\u00a0 Finished in 30:08, 1:55 per 100 yds., not my best by far, but FELT my best.\u00a0 And getting mentally ready for the Ironman swim is key.<\/p>\n
And I jog nicely to my bike (rehearsed it:\u00a0 13 rows from Run In, 4 racks from the second section) and one of my best transitions in 2:38 (no wetsuit makes it easier…) and start the ride with some but not many AG guys ahead.\u00a0 As a new experiment, I decide to do what Coach Debi said.\u00a0 So, 5 to 7 age groupers pass me but I don’t take the bait, I keep my panting down and my RPM up to 90 (easy to do on this flat flat\u00a0course) and even when I start leap frogging with Mr. White and Blue Shirt (because THIS guy I can beat), I realize I’m peaking into the 150s for my heart rate, and that’s Z4, and that’s crazy, plus to keep up those rotations in the higher gear is wearing out my legs, and I don’t know what HE’s doing next, but I have a run ahead of me.\u00a0 I manage to JUST beat him on the bike — as we dismount!\u00a0 Bike split:\u00a0 54:31 (for a 19.5 mile course) = 21.4 mph.\u00a0 Not my best, but then this is the new experiment:\u00a0 do what Debi says.<\/p>\n
Another good transition, in 2:21, and as Coach instructed, I’m only jogging not sprinting out (blue and white shirt is still changing his shoes…), and the first mile is OK and then I feel the heat. And the humility.\u00a0 But I figure, this is MY race, and I can’t complain about the conditions, running is simply HARD and exhausting under any conditions and I and everyone else is slower than normal (except the demonic Kevin!\u00a0 Here he comes!\u00a0 There he goes!\u00a0 Final time shows he did 6:25s!) but doing all as fast as I can without throwing up (unlike a 20-something guy in a USAT one-piece) and by mile 2 I\u2019m wishing it was over, and there\u2019s some shade and it IS beautiful and here\u2019s the sunshine again and it IS hot and I\u2019m slowing down by mile 4 but just keep chugging, this is MY race, I can\u2019t fail, and I pass three age groupers! \u00a0(including Chris, but I didn\u2019t even realize it until we met up after the race) and I am done.<\/p>\n
And those cold showers.\u00a0 OMG. Brilliant.\u00a0 More showers.\u00a0 OMG. That\u2019s great.\u00a0 One more time.\u00a0 Oh, thank you, I don\u2019t need a medical tent after all.<\/p>\n
Finished the run in 47:27 (7:38 min\/miles), finished the race in 2:17:05.\u00a0 10\/81 AG, 189\/1272 OA.\u00a0 Alas, missed the top 10% for my age group, so not yet qualified for Nationals this year, but this was the best I reasonably could do; the first 4 or 5 guys were just incredible, and the next 4 guys were far enough out of reach\u2026\u00a0 Did my best, felt solid, a great final stepping stone towards Mt Tremblant next month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Signed up for this race to join the Team NRGY folks, as a prettier (and earlier-announced) alternative to the NYC Tri on the same day.\u00a0 Spent the night at a hotel in Princeton, lucking out when eating dinner at the bar and watching the Pan American swimmers (inspired by how THEY catch the water!). Bullet-proof […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2015-races","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n