Swim ... Bike ... Run ... Celebrate!!!

Sunday, July 22, 2007 got to an early start at 4:00 am. Usually being up at that hour in the morning means I have not gone to bed yet from Saturday night, but this weekend means its race day. The transition area was packed as athletes worked to get their area set up before the 5:45 am close. Its important to make sure that you have set up all the equipment you will need to move from swimming to biking and then from biking to running since the time spent in transition counts as part of your total race time. It is considered the fourth event in the triathlon.


After checking that my bike and all my equipment was set up and my bike was in the proper gear to make it up the hill at 79th street out of the park, I exited transition and begin the long walk to swim start at 98th street and Riverside park. At that point I had a long wait since my wave didn't start until 8:27am. Luckily I met up with some friends and got to relax with them while waiting for the race start.

Soon it was time to put on the wetsuit and line up for the swim start. Having completed the 1500m swim in the Hudson the prior week at the Stars and Stripes Aquathlon, I felt pretty confident in completing the swim. Of course, that doesn't mean he nervous anticipation was not there, but no need to visit the complementary shrink tent available at race start. Starbucks and counseling, definitely a full service triathlon.

Prior to race day, we had always heard about the strong current in the Hudson. Tales of a bag of Cheetos overtaking racers were often heard. After jumping all I can say is good thing we had a safety line. I grabbed on to the line and discovered that other racers were pushing the line down which made it difficult to hold on and keep my head above water. I finally managed to position myself with the rope at my thighs so I could remain in place as the current pushed me forward and keep my head above water. Finally our prayers were answered and the start gun was off. 25 minutes later I was stepping onto the finish barge which was much faster than my 35 minute swim the previous week.

Triathletes lined up at the swim start line

Heading into transition I "quickly" (relatively speaking) got my gear and headed out for the bike portion. Having practiced exiting the park up the steep hill often enough during group training sessions, I had my bike in an easy gear and avoided struggling or falling up the hill. Heading north up the West Side Highway, we faced a strong head wind. That along with not being in optimal gear selection resulted in a slower bike ride than I would have liked. Although, the ride back with the wind at my back and more downhills felt much better.

Heading out of transition to start the bike course

Heading back into transition from the bike

Finally, it was time to head out for the run. I was feeling pretty tired at this point, even more than usual. Not sure if it was from dehydration or lack of nutrition, although I had made a conscious effort at both, made the run a lot slower than my usual pace. The great thing about training with TNT is all the support you get from your other teammates as well as from random people on the road. All during the bike ride and during the run, I heard shouts of "Go Team" from teammates, strangers who cheered the purple shirt, and friends who decided they would wake up early on a Sunday to come out and support me. All of that helps to keep you going when you are tired. And of course thanks to our TNT coaches who stationed themselves on the last leg of the run for that last bit of encouragement. Finally, thanks to everyone who donated to the Leukemia society on my behalf and helped me raise close to $3400 and helped the NYC Chapter raise over $1 Million Dollars for the fight against blood cancers. Go Team!!!

Some of the music at the finish line festival

Heading to the finish line

All finished!!! (Final time: 3:33:51)

Celebrating with Team in Training teammates (Nancy and Jay)
at the Boat Basin victory party.

Triathlon Finish Line Video

A full race report and pictures will be posted soon, but for those of you who can't wait here is a video of me crossing the finish line at the triathlon this past Sunday, July 22, 2007. I'm the one coming up wearing the purple Team in Training singlet.

As a team, the NYC chapter of Team in Training for the NYC Triathlon raised over One Million dollars for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Less than a week to go!!!

In less than a week, this adventure which began in the cold dark days of February will finish in the still dark, but much earlier and warmer morning of July 22. That Sunday morning will start extra early at 4am to get to the transition area, check in and get set up. While the race starts at 5:50am, my wave will start at 8:27am. Lots of hurry up and wait!! I am estimating a finish around noon, maybe between noon and 12:30 depending upon lots of different factors. One drawback to the late start time will be the heat of the day.

For those friends who wish to come out and watch, here are some of the details for spectators from the NYC Triathlon website.

Nautica Cheering Zones

1. Swim Start - Riverside Park & 98th Street on the Hudson River.
2. Swim Exit - Riverside Park & 79th Street on the Hudson River.
3. Run Course along 72nd Street from Henry Hudson Parkway to Central Park West
4. Run Course along 72^nd Street Transverse in Central Park – Park Drive East to the finish
5. Race Finish - Dead Road in Central Park near the bandshell off the 72nd Street Transverse

No Go Zones

For athlete safety we ask that spectators NOT attempt to go to the following locations:

1. Westside Highway (no walking, no standing, no riding, no nothing)
2. Bike Transition (NO ONE is allowed in transition except athletes)
3. Transition Bike Paths – respect the race marshals or your pal will end up in a bush – bad tri karma.
4. Finish Line Mix Zone – this is the first 40 yards after the finish. It’s for medical, athletes, and press. Meet your star in the Delta Finish Festival.

Also, as one of the sponsors, Accenture has set up a system where you can track my progress during the race. Sign up at http://triathlons.accenture.com/NewYork. You will be able to receive e-mails, text messages or even voice phone calls with my progress during the race. On race day Accenture will even have a finish line web camera so you can watch the race live. Although if you are in NY, it will be a lot more fun in Central Park!!!

Aquathlon Weekend

Last weekend I became a triathlete with my first triathlon, the Sobe Mossman Sprint triathlon in Norwalk, CT. This weekend I became an aquathlete with not one, but two aquathlons . An aquathlon is a swim followed by a run. On Saturday, I did the inaugural Coney Island Aquathlon, which was a .25 mile swim followed by a 2 mile run. The organizers did a pretty good job with the event, it was a fairly small crowd and a nice dri-fit t-shirt with registration.

Sunday was the Stars and Stripes Aquathlon in Riverside park. It was a 1500m swim in the Hudson followed by a 5k run in Riverside park. We had a large contingent of team in training athletes signed up for either the aquathlon or the Riverside Park tune up swim which was just the swim and not the run. This was an important swim since it was an opportunity to swim the same distance as the triathlon in the Hudson River. The race day course is a little further north.

The start for the swim was from a floating dock by W. 70th street in Riverside park. From there we swam south until we exited by the Pier at West 56th street. A "quick" transition and its off for a 5k run up into Riverside Park. While the much vaunted current seemed almost non-existent (oft-repeated tales of a log doing a 20 minute mile seem mythical), the swim was not bad, at least once I exited the water. The run felt good as well, with my goal being to go at a relatively easy pace and still running an average of sub 10 minute miles.

Swim only athletes getting ready to start their race in the Hudson.

Finish line for the swim

The team in training contingent, ready to do it again, next week.

First Triathlon Report - Sobe Mossman in Norwalk, CT

This past Sunday, July 8, 2007, I completed my very first triathlon. It was a sprint distance triathlon which for this race was a .5 mile swim in the Long Island Sound, a 12.5 mile bike ride and a 5k (3.1 mile) run. It was a beautiful day for a race with clear skies, a perfect day to be swimming, biking and running before most people have even woken up and considered where they would have their Sunday morning brunch. The scene to the left is the transition area at about 9:00 am after the race.

Overall I had a blast and was pleasantly surprised at how much fun I was having. Since I was considering this more of a shakedown and work out some of the bugs, I was very happy with my time and definitely came out with a list of things to keep in mind for the next one which will be the NYC triathlon on July 22, 2007. One of my Team in Training teammates, Nancy came with me and this was her first triathlon as well. As you can see we are both happy to have survived our first event no worse for the wear. So let's look at the full race report.

It started off very early in the morning. About 3:00am in the morning, As I was packing up my car and getting ready to pick up Nancy, the only other people on the street were leaving some of the area bars and getting ready to head home for the evening. For extra fun I should mention that due to a number of factors, I had slept no more than a total of six hours since Friday. Not the recommended rest for a race, but what can you do. The race location was at Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk, CT. Only about an hour from New York, so it was an easy ride, especially if you just follow all the other cars with bike racks on the road.

Map of Calf Pasture Beach

Arriving at registration in the morning, the big question was, so what do we do now. A good strategy seemed to be to look for the lineup of people with bikes and gear and join them. From there we picked up our race numbers, got our timing chip, race t-shirt, bag filled with complimentary swag from the sponsors (a very good selection, although I don't have use for a scrunchy), and body marking. From there we separated to set up our transition area. My strategy again was to follow what other people who seemed to know what they were doing. At that point its getting close to 6:30 am and they are directing everyone to the beach for the race start.


This was the location of the swim start down at the far end of the beach. Halfway down the beach they announced that the first wave with the orange caps would be starting in less than a minute. So my run got started a little early. But I got to the start before they blew the whistle and even got to ask what the swim course was before I got going. Its important to find that stuff out. For the swim course we would be swimming out to the first big yellow buoy, swimming parallel to the shore for four buoys and then swimming back to shore. I was pretty happy with the swim and for the most part stayed on course. There was one time between the third and fourth buoy when I though that I was on course and when I look up saw nothing up open water in front of me. Using the third open water sighting technique that our coaches have taught us (the where the f... am I technique), I saw a line of swimmers and a buoy off to my right in a completely different direction from where I was swimming. So I go back on course. At that point I was now being passed over by the speedy swimmers in the second wave start. An errant elbow knocked by goggles of a little, but I was able to readjust before too much water entered in. In the end my swim time was 25:14. Not necessarily speedy, but then I didn't think it would be. Running up the beach towards the the first transition otherwise known as T1. This is where we strip out of the wetsuit and get ready to bike.

Now, the big problem for this transition is gravity, or staying vertical in the face of gravity. I was feeling a little shaky as I was getting out of the wetsuit and opted to sit on the grass to get my socks and bike shoes on. Finally helmet is strapped, bike is off the rack and I am racing (strolling) out of the transition area to start the bike portion. Time for T1 - 5:06, lots of room for improvement there. The bike portion was a loop course out on the surrounding roads with the distance comprising two loops of the course. I felt pretty good during the bike portion and was able to maintain a pedal cadence of around 95 which is what the coaches have recommended for us. After two loops on the course, I headed back into the transition area for T2. The time for the bike course was 47:16. Heading into T2 and switching from biking to running, a little faster than T1, the time was 2:46. Room for improvement as well and then off to the run.

I felt pretty good coming of the bike and beginning the run, although a little tired by now. The run course was a loop that took us out into the marina and surrounding area and then back.
The time for the run was 29:09 which averaged out to a 9:24 mile split. I was surprised at that since I felt I was going much slower and that is typical for my time when I run a 10k without swimming and biking. Total for the entire event, 1:49:31.

Complete Breakdown:
Age Group: M 35-39
.5 Mile Swim (min/100yds): 25:14 (3:03.5)
T1 5:06
12.5 Mile Bike (MPH) 47:16 (15.9)
T2 2:46
5K Run (min/mile) 29:09(9:24.2)
Total 1:49:31

Overall Male Winner Time: 1:04:00

Now the lessons learned:

• I should probably get more then 3 hours of sleep.
• Faster transitions, especially going from the swim to the bike
• Reset the bike computer before the race starts so I have a better idea of distance and pacing during the bike ride.
• Figure out how to rehydrate during the bike ride. Not as much of an issue for the sprint distance, but will come into play during the longer distances, including the NYC triathlon in less than two weeks.
  

Three weeks to go

Only three weeks to go till the big event. As our coaches have told us, that means two more weeks of hard training and one week of taper till event day.

In addition to our regularly scheduled training sessions, I have decided to compete in a couple of warm up events prior to the NYC triathlon. Next Sunday, July 8 I will be competing in a sprint triathlon, the Sobe Mossman Triathlon in Norwalk, CT. This event will be .5 mile swim in the Long Island Sound, a 12.5 mile bike ride followed by a 3.1 mile run.

Then on Saturday, July 14 I will be competing in the Coney Island Aquathlon at Coney Island. This event will be a 0.25 mile ocean swim off Coney Island, followed by a 2 mile run.
Back in February when swimming 5 laps in the pool was a daunting task, these events would have seemed like great efforts instead of just a warm up as part of regular training.

Finally the following weekend will be the big event. For those of you reading and in the NY area, feel free to come down and cheer me on at the finish line at Central Park. Once again, thanks to everyone who has donated to and helped make the efforts of Team in Training and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society possible.

Awesome Donors!

Everyone please stand up and give a round of applause to all everyone who has donated to the society on my behalf. Thanks to you, I have currently my personal goal of raising $3,000 for this event. However, that doesn't mean the work is over. Rather, its a great opportunity to have an even bigger impact on the fight against leukemia.

Once I raised the Team in Training minimum of $2,500, 100%, that's right One Hundred percent of everything donated above that amount goes to the Leukemia society to fund research and their patient service programs and not to administrative costs. So for anyone else who still wishes to donate, please visit my fundraising page at http://www.active.com/donate/tntnyc/herb and use the form on the left. Now is the time to contribute and your money will go even further in the race for a cure!

Thanks to all!!!!!