Riverhead Rocks Race Report

I was very excited when I signed up for this year's Riverhead Rocks Olympic Distance Triathlon.  I would be revisiting the site of my first Olympic distance race.  At last year's race, I established myself as a solid "middle-of-the-packer" at this distance.  My hopes for this year were to greatly improve in all four disciplines (I consider transitions one of them) and as a result, I set a somewhat unrealistic time goal for myself.

Over the years, some wise people have taught me three very important things about goals:

1. Your goals should be "Specifficult", concatenated from Specific and Difficult.
2. Be weary of setting your goals too low, you might just achieve them!
3. A goal is a dream with a deadline.

For this race, I had set a goal finish time of 2:15:00.  Just for reference, I finished this race last year in 2:41:39.  Yes, I thought I would beat my time by more than 25 minutes!  As it turned out, that was a bit of a stretch.

Prior to the race, I developed time benchmarks, start the bike at 30 minutes, start the run at 1:35, run a 40 minute 10K and finish at 2:15.  Here is how it panned out:

Swim

The swim has always been my weakest discipline.  I am sure that if I took a survey, 90% of all triathletes would say the same thing, so I wasn't putting too much pressure on myself for the swim.  Since February, my coach has had me in the pool at least 3 times per week for one hour sessions.  In addition, he has come up with these torture sessions he calls intervals.  I have basically water-boarded myself every Wednesday for the last few months.  Well to my surprise, it worked.  I was out of the water in 24 minutes with a below-threshold effort.  This swim gave me a ton of confidence for the rest of the season.

T1

I have been practicing with my shoes clipped in to the pedals and a "flying mount", but I have never done it in a race.  Although I was nervous about a possible face plant, I went full throttle and nailed it.  Out of T1 in 0:1:31.  I beat my benchmark by almost 5 minutes heading out on the bike.  So far, so good.

Bike

A near flawless T1 had me riding high as I started the bike leg.  I went at a comfortable level, but maybe pushed a little hard in the first 15 minutes.  Once I settled down, I found my rhythm.  I fueled on the bike with Amrita Bars and hydrated with Nuun.  My speed was right around where I thought it would be, but it turns out that the bike segment in this race was about 1.5K longer than the 40K listed.  I had the benefit of almost 5 minutes, so my 1:10 bike time only put me behind my benchmark by about 5 minutes.  At that point, I was satisfied with a possible 2:20:00.

T2

I took my feet out of my bike shoes with about a mile to go on the bike.  This allowed me to incorporate my flying dismount going into T2.  Bike on rack, helmet off, shoes on and I was on my way.  Got out of T2 in 0:0:45.  Nailed this one also.

Run

This is the discipline that I have been putting the most effort in to.  A few years ago, I HATED running.  Running a mile was nothing less than 15 minutes of hell.  Over the last 2 years, I have actually come to love running and I had all the confidence that I could tap out 7-minute miles for this race.  That is where it all went wrong.  No matter how hard I tried, I just could not get my legs to go any faster.  My Garmin chimed in with 1-mile splits: 7:45, 8:05, 8:15 and so on.  This was not the plan.  Maybe the humidity?  Under fueled?  Dehydrated?  Over trained?  Who knows.  I finished the run in 51 minutes, almost 10 minutes longer than expected.  I still don't know why I couldn't get the turnover I was seeking, but I hope I can figure it out before my next race at the NYC Triathlon.

The final result was pretty good.  2:29:11, 35th overall and 4th in my age group.  I discovered that I missed the podium by about a minute and a half.  That was also how much I missed qualifying for the Age Group Nationals this year.  Something I have to strive for next year.

It was great to have Tara at the race cheering me on.  It was also nice to meet some followers of this blog and your positive feedback was greatly appreciated.  Off to the next training session.

John

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Urban Cheetah

Yesterday, I -- Tara-- headed into New York City to be with my dad while he had hip surgery at The Hospital for Special Surgery on East 70th Street.  I am not a lover of the city.  We (John and I) are country people for sure.  John is a clean freak and the city filth (no to offend any city lovers) gives him the hibby jibbies.  He usually starts bathing the kids in sanitizer on the way to find our car.  Then they strip out of their city clothes and shoes before their tushies even hit the car seat.  If I have failed to plan for a clothing change in the car (it happens), they are stripped in the mudroom before entering the house and shoes are always left in the garage to be sprayed with Lysol.  I tell no lies.  I have witnesses.

Anyway, back to yesterday.  My plan was to walk from Penn to East 70th (approx. 3.25 miles) and back.  I have NO idea how to use the subway and taxis are pricey.  I thought this was a great way to get in some miles whether walking or running.  My father thought I was a little nuts but I know I can do 6 miles easily especially if it is broken up.

When I got into Penn I got a wicked cramp in my arm and started seeing stars.  This has happened to me before but not in a long time.  I am wondering if it has anything to do with my recent changes in my diet.  Either way, I had the cold sweats and the dirty floor in Penn Station was rapidly approaching my face.  You know that feeling...right before lights out.  Somehow I surfaced to street level where I immediately saw an Ambulance, Fire Truck, and Taxis.  Figuring if I pass out on my way to the taxi at least the Ambulance would be right there.  Thankfully I made it to the taxi where I started guzzling water and stretching my arm.  As I started to feel better I began to regret deviating from my plan.  I was really looking forward to the hot, muggy city walk.  I don't love the city but I can enjoy it now and again.

At the hospital we waited for Dad to have his surgery which went well.  He was so anxious at one point he had MY resting heart rate well into the 90's.  Um, of course I was wearing my Garmin! I need to track my walk/jog to and from the hospital.  Data Junky!!

Thankfully my afternoon with my Dad was uneventful.  The family waiting room was really nice with a cafe and free WIFI.  I was able to get on to Bloglovin and catch up on some of my favorite blogs.  People are using Bloglovin to replace Google Reader.  If you haven't checked it out, you should click on the link above and start following your favorites (and US!).  I think it is an ENORMOUS time saver to be able to open an app and find the blogs I enjoy in one live feed.  You can search for blogs you might like, search by popular topics, group blogs, and sort.  Of course, it is set up like any other social media where you can like and share. Check it peeps!

The other thing I was able to do in the family lounge was grab a Starbucks coffee and some clean eats! Score!

Once I knew Dad was out of surgery and doing well I had to head home.  This time on foot.  It was 4:30 and the city streets were starting to fill with people leaving work.  This made running more of a start and stop kind of deal.  Not to mention waiting for street lights to turn.  I headed down 3rd Avenue into the 30's before heading over to 7th Avenue.  I felt like avoiding the mayhem that I saw in Central Park earlier (horse and buggy, bike and buggy, tourists on bikes, taxis, etc).  I ran most of the way only stopping for congestion, lights, and to crush a few 16 ounce bottles of water along the way.  It was HOT!

For the  record, I consider this running for fun (even though I had my Garmin on).  I have never just run for fun.  My mantras were "why walk when you can run" and "hey, look at me...I am an Urban Cheetah"!

I think the most fun I had was watching everyone stare at me while I ran by or the people in Penn totally grossed out by my sweat! OH, and what is with all the smoking?  I can't believe people still smoke.  Give it up people...smoking is so 1980's and a health killer!

Here are some of the fun sites and a very sweaty selfie!

MAJOR Traffic...faster by foot for sure!

Can't believe I had the self control to pass this gem up

Yum!

I had to much fun taking these pics!

Garmin was in and out...
Seeking Garmin advice in another post
The pace is obviously off...I am slow but not THAT slow!

Sweaty City Selfie!

What are some fun runs you have done lately? How are you guys handling the heat and humidity? Share your stories below! We would love to hear from you.

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