Race Day Has Arrived

Days left till NYC Triathlon: 0

Activity: The New York City (Olympic Distance) Triathlon

Today was the New York City Triathlon and it was amazing. My goal this year was to finish the race faster than I had in 2010. I was not sure if I would be able to beat my time (3 hrs and 30min) from three years ago as I my travel schedule the last few months made it difficult for me to be consistent with my training. There were few differences between my training this year vs. the last time I trained for this event:

1. I trained less but smarter

2. I focused on my least favorite leg of the Triathlon - running; 3 years ago I went to my happy place which is swimming and put in a lot of hours getting better at what I was already good at 

3. I did my bike training in central park vs. the west side highway; I have to admit it was boring to train in the park, to get the miles in I had to do numerous rounds but what helped me were the hills 

4. I focused on my 'week-of-the-race' nutrition with lots of hydration and eating right which helped a lot

5. I had an amazing meal of fettuccine with a spicy sausage & tomato sauce the night before that my husband cooked

All of the above made a huge difference and I shaved 7 minutes off my previous triathlon time; I finished it in 3 hours 23 minutes and 11 seconds. Below is a breakdown of what I did / felt for each of the segments:

I woke up at 3:30 in the morning, I had packed everything the night before and all I needed to do was get ready and eat my peanut butter and banana sandwich (yum). We were out the door at 4 am and in a cab heading to the transition area on 72nd and Riverside. Once in transition I set up my area; we had very little space but I managed to pack in all my stuff on my mickey mouse towel. I walked over a mile to the Swim start at 99th street. Once at swim start we watched the elite athletes jump in first and waited our turn. The age groups moved pretty quickly and I was on the barge at 6:50 am ready to leap into the Hudson.        

The Swim: I was watching the swimmers who went in before me and noticed that the current was strongest to the right side; so as soon as I jumped in I swerved to the right to take full advantage of the strong curent. The swim was easy, enjoyable & refreshing; the water was 75F so not too cold. Right after the swim I had to run half a mile in my wetsuit from swim exit to transition to get into my bike shoes and start my 25 mile bike ride.

The Bike: The bike ride felt much easier this time round; I attribute this to my training on the hills in Central Park. I was thankful that I did not fall off my bike or get a flat tire; I saw many people on the side of the road hurt or fixing a  flat. My ride was uneventful, I have no idea what I would have done had I gotten a flat - changing tires is not a skill I mastered.

The Run: The run was the toughest part for me, during the first mile my legs got used to running and there were a lot of people cheering. Mile 2 I had my cheering squad on duty (thank you thank you for coming out -> you know who you are). My strategy for running was to run to each water station without stopping and then walk through the stations while sipping on water and Gatorade. The hills were brutal as they are meant to be; but then I hit mile 5 and it was the home stretch, I started to think about packing for my trip to the Galapagos (I leave Monday); this helped me get my mind off running and before I knew it the race was over and I had crossed the finish line!

I was very happy with my time; not sure when I will do a Olympic Triathlon next. I do want to thank all the people who donated to my cause (http://pages.teamintraining.org/nyc/nyctri13/Alefiyah) and Team In Training for helping me train and cross the finish line. Not sure what will happen to this blog now that the Trials and Tribulations are over; writing about training was very satisfying it kept me honest and motivated - Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed it.