Race Report - NYC Aquaphor Triathlon

Yesterday I finished my first olympic distance triathlon!  The distances are a 1500m swim in the Hudson, a 40 km bike up the West side of Manhattan and back, then a 10k run in and around Central Park.

The more I compete in these races, the more I'm able to anticipate pre-race nerves, and even though they never seem to go away, at least I can tell myself in the back of my head that nerves are usual and, once I get going, I'll probably be fine.

For this event, the swim was again my biggest challenge.   I only progressed from a doggy paddle about 4 years ago, and had only done 2 open water swims in a wetsuit before this race.   My previous longest swim was 800 metres, so I'd be nearly doubling that, but I knew I just had to overcome the initial nerves about being in the water, find my stride, not panic, and I'd be OK.

I also don't do well in hot weather, and, as if ordered by the merciless Weather Gods, along comes a great heatwave affecting half of the country.  Even though I could do nothing about it, this didn't stop me from checking weather.com every 20 minutes or so in my waking hours in the couple of days leading up to the race.  I had disaster-scenario visions about sweltering and then passing out in my wetsuit in the river, or even worse - being told the river was too warm to wear a wetsuit, which helps my buoyancy.    Also, the hardest run I've ever done was the Chicago marathon in 2010, when it got up to about 88 deg F, so I was really hoping for a let up in the heat.  As it happened, the hottest day of the weekend was Saturday, when it reached about 100, but race day on Sunday was forecast to peak at 90.  My start time was 7.00 am, so as long as I didn't dawdle, I should be done before it started getting really hot.

Waiting for swim - with Stephanie, Eliza, and Kat

I was up at 4.30 am to take a taxi down to the transition area on 72nd street.  I'd taken my bike down, and packed all my stuff (swim cap, noseclip, goggles, wetsuit, goos, biking shoe, biking leg, running shoe, running leg, glasses, gloves, water bottles, energy bars - checked at least 4 times) the day before, so all I had to do was a quick bike check, and then make my way towards the swim start, a mile away from transition.

Quick pre-race interview!

As Rachel (kindly helping me as my 'handler' -handlers are assigned to help 'challenged' athletes - for the day) and I walked down along the side of the river, we saw the elite swimmers had already started, powering down the river, leading the approx. 3500 other athletes in the race.  We could also see the strong tide helping them.  The fastest swim on this course is only 9 minutes!    An encouraging sight was that the river was completely flat, unlike last year's choppy conditions (and maybe not by coincidence, where two people had heart attacks).

As we neared the start, my anxiety started to build up a bit, but I was also excited, and looking forward to getting going.  I also made it onto live TV!  I was collared by a Fox TV crew, along with Sarah Reinertsen, a well renowned ironman amputee, for a 2 minute chat about how we got into triathlons.

Then it was time to zip up the old wetsuit, and along with the rest of the approx. 30 para-athletes, hop on to the barge to wait for the horn announcing we could jump into the water.  Ignoring the sight of the odd dead fish floating around the barge (didn't want to think about how they died!), you could sense the energy and anticipation.  I was talking to a wheelchair competitor from England,  Liz McTernan, impressed that someone who can't even walk can throw themselves into the water (as it turns out, she did the swim 11 minutes quicker than me).

The Hudson

Before we knew it, time for the countdown.  First to go would be the TRI1 athletes (wheelchair users), then a 20 second pause, then TRI2 (above knee amputees, my category), and so on for the 6 para categories.  The organizer with a bullhorn announced the 5 minute warning.  3 minutes.  2..1 minute..30 seconds..and then the TRI 1 athletes were off, dropping themselves about 2 feet off the barge with a big splash.  I felt calm as my wave came next, and lowered myself as best as I could into the water as the klaxon went off.

As I went in, I was glad I'd practiced in the Hudson a couple of weeks before.  It must be alarming to go from swimming pool to the Hudson, which is completely murky, and where you can't see more than an inch in front of your face.  I felt fine and started to get some rhythm in my stroke.  I could see the signs on the river wall as I progressed, slowly but surely, first for 500 m, then 800, then 1000.  I knew I was going pretty slowly, but was also excited that I was going to make it, and the hardest part of the event - swim start - was over.

Eventually I could see the swim exit getting bigger and bigger, and I'd made it!  I was grabbed from behind, and up out of the water, and then had my wetsuit stripped from me by two volunteers, while Rachel waited with my leg.  From there I could run back to transition.  My final swim time:  28 mins 23 secs.

After changing into my biking leg, I was away and out of transition.  I was feeling exhilarated by the swim, and felt I had a lot of energy to take me over the finish line.   Going uptown, there was a slight headwind, but going back down south with the wind on my back felt really good.  My final bike time was 1 hr 26 mins, about 18 mph average.

Transition

Back to transition; by this time it was starting to get hot.  After changing into my running leg and stocking up on energy gels, I ran up a steep path out of transition, and onto 72nd Street, which would take me about a mile into Central Park.  The crowd support for this portion was great; there were alot of people clapping and cheering, and the buildings also provided a good amount of shade.

Then it was into the park, and around mile 3 as I started running up the hills on the West side, I started to get some cramps, and stopped for a minute or so to recover.  I knew I wasn't running to break any records or win any prizes, but just to finish, so I was Ok with giving myself with a little breather and not pushing myself too hard.  For the next three miles or so,  I ran for 10 minutes or so, stopped and have some water, and then went on my way.  Around 90 St and 5th Avenue, there was an Achilles cheering team, including Lisa, Soo, Wendy, and Tiffany, who gave me a very welcome cup of ice, and then it was on the home stretch, down Cat Hill, and to the 72nd Street transverse where the finish line waited for me.

Nearing finish line

For the last mile or so I would have loved to have stopped, but there were so many people around, including some familiar faces (Amanda, who I ran my half marathon with in March, and Junko, another inspiring athlete I met through Achilles), that my pride simply wouldn't let me, so I pushed through, knowing I was very nearly there.  I was as excited as I was to finish any marathon, and crossed the line after a run of 1.06.  My overall time: 3 hrs 13 mins.

I think I'm slowly but surely getting addicted to triathlons.  I was a long way behind the winner of my category (Mohamed Lahna, who did it in 2.46), but if I work on my swim more I could shave a lot off my total time.

The rest of the day was spent with the rest of the para-athletes, friends, guides, and handlers, first in one of the hospitality tents past the finish line, and then for beer and burgers on the Upper West Side, generously sponsored by the race organizer, John Korff.  There, as we talked about our race day experiences, my mind started wandering to what the next challenge should be.  Maybe not a full ironman, but I'm pretty should I could do a half...

Team Achilles!

Half Mile Hudson Swim

To help prepare for the NYC Triathlon next month, on Sunday morning I did a half mile swim in the Hudson, organized by Urban Swim.  Just getting access to the Hudson is not an easy thing - it is normally illegal, probably because of the strong currents and amount of ship traffic, but for this event, Urban Swim managed to scratch a few backs and twist a few knobs with various people working for authorities like the NYPD, Coastguard, Port Authorities etc, and got the green light to lay this event on.

Rachel and I met with Kat and Tessa from Achilles around 9.00 am to be signed in for the event, with about 40 other swimmers taking part.  At about 10.00 am, we were taken out in 2 boats up to about 100th Street, and then had to swim back down the river to another boat that would take us back to the dock.

I still get quite a bit of anxiety about swimming, so I need all the practice I can get.  I've found there are so many components - getting used to being in a wetsuit (which can feel claustrophobic and constricting), getting the breathing, swimming, and kicking all in sync (easier said than done), as well as the sighting, to make sure you're actually going in the right direction.

After being taken up the river, we had to wait around in the boat until 11.00 am sharp, until we were allowed in the water.  The waiting wasn't ideal, as this is when the old nerves can build up, and as the day was starting to warm up we were starting to boil in our wetsuits.

We were finally told we could pass the timing chips on our wrists over the mat at the back of the boat and jump into the river.

When I first got in I just couldn't get comfortable; in fact for the first five minutes I'd say I was really struggling, doing my best not to panic.  The water was colder than I expected, and I was hyper-ventilating; I don't know if it was from the cold or from the anxiety.  I was finding it hard to get into a rhythm, and took a couple of mouthfuls of water in.

Coughing and spluttering, for a brief moment I thought I wouldn't be able to make it.  One thing Urban Swim had done though was provide volunteer kayakers to help any swimmers in distress, and when I looked up, I could see one who'd noticed me struggling and asked me if I was OK.  Knowing back-up was close by, and it would be VERY hard to drown in a wetsuit, I decided I should do my best to get a grip and try to get my composure back.

Sure enough, after a brief panic about my nose-clip falling off (obligatory in all my swims), I was able to get some rhythm, and slowly but surely the target boat started getting bigger and within reach.

The current in the Hudson is so strong that you wouldn't actually need to take any strokes and you could complete the swim; my final time was 13 mins 23 seconds to cover about 800 metres.  It would have taken me at least double that in a swimming pool, and the fastest swimmer did it in just 8 minutes.

After the swim:  John Nunez, Tessa, Kat, Rachel, Ben

Getting on to the boat proved a bit tricky as I couldn't grab the stairs on the back of the boat, due to the current being so strong, and for about 10 seconds I had nightmarish (and maybe slightly drama-queenish) visions of being sucked under the boat and dying a tragic, premature, watery death, before being hauled out by Rachel and another helper on the back of the boat.

This swim was great preparation for the tri next month.  Even though it was 800 metres, and the tri will be 1600, the important thing is to get used to the feeling nerves before getting into the water, to keep calm when you dive in, and to find your composure as soon as possible so you can be relaxed in your breathing and start concentrating on your stroke.  Fingers crossed, when I get into the Hudson next month, everything will be OK.