Third Tri
The Ridgefield tri was my third attempt at the triathlon and
my first finish. My first attempt was my first open water and first time
in a wetsuit. I quickly panicked and within a few minutes had to be
rescued. My second attempt was at the lake placid half ironman.
There I didn't make the swim time cutoff of an hour and 10 minutes.
Critical to this race was the lessons I learned from lake placid. During
the race I was being coached by a man named John who was volunteering on a
kayak. John taught me that I won't drown with a wet suit, that cold water
causes you to breath faster, that my stronger right hand causes me to pull more
towards one side, and how to freestyle with breathing every 2nd stroke.
The race gave me some confidence and a backup way to catch my breath while
still doing the only swimming stroke I know (freestyle/front crawl) and the
knowledge to what happens to the body when you hit cold water.
The
day before
With
bib pickup at ridgefield the day before, it seemed like a good idea to practice
on the actual course. However, I wasn't too sure if I would be able to do
open water swimming at the site, I heard that open water swimming wasn't
allowed in the lake of the race. So I opted to cram in some easy training
in Harriman. Harriman with it's
rolling road hills and lake tiorati beach for swimming is a hotspot for
triathletes. Unlike 9W and the palisades which attracts many cyclists,
Harriman seems to specifically attract triathletes. I got in almost
20 miles bike ride and a 22 minute open water swimming. I however,
did not venture to the deep end of the swimming area of the
lake. The water was cold and I just practiced breathing
out in the water, being relaxed and sighting a bit. I got a lot better in
sighting than lake placid. There I kind
of jerked my head up to see where I was. This time I was slightly lifting
the head to take aim and breathe a bit before putting the head down.
Probably still not effective as switching to breast stroke but good
enough. I also practiced doing very small kicks. In lake
placid John told me to not kick as it draws a lot of my blood that I need
elsewhere. At bib pickup I brought a new pair of swimming
goggles. I was a bit nervous about
trying new things on race day but I lost my good goggles so this seemed
important. Afterwards I had a late lunch
with Jackie, Michael, Jason, Cathy and Yin.
Then I headed back home to spend some time with my family who I haven’t
seen in a while. I briefly practiced
barefoot running in their backyard since T1 (swim to bike) would involve some
time barefoot.
Setting up
I got to the parking lot at 5:15 am and started setting up my
gear (putting my stickers on my bike, filling up tires, etc). The rest of
the gang soon parked over in a few minutes. We biked over to the
transition area. I was riding behind Michael when his bag get caught in
the front wheel and saw him flip over. Lucky he seemed okay, however
several bike spokes broke. We walked the rest of the way over and he went
to a bike mechanic. Eventually he was able to borrow a wheel from a volunteer
who had biked over.
Being
a small triathlon we had the option to position our transition areas wherever
we wanted (granted you came early enough and the spot you want wasn't taken [normally
your spot is assigned]). We positioned ourselves close to the bike
in/bike out location. Some people want to get to their bikes ASAP after
the swim but then you got to roll your bike out dodging people before you reach
the mount area. I had a small hand towel but forgot it in the car me so
nothing to dry feet with. I decided to not use my sun glasses or cap as
it was cloudy so I stored those away from my spot. I would later regret
the glasses decision as there was some dirt that hit my eye in during the bike
ride. Jackie helped position my helmet and I laid the cycling and running
shoes out. I decided to use cotton socks because I thought since they
stretch out easier that they would be easier to put on (note I normally never
wear cotton socks for anything athletic). I started loosening my
goggles for them to be more comfortable but Jackie told me that they should be
tight so I retighten them.
The Swim
Pre conditions
I should first of point out that I still suck at
swimming. I usually swim pool length (25 meters one side) and then take a
3-5 second brake before swimming back. I could swim back and forth, 50
meters but that sometimes feels like an extensive effort. My body is not
straight, my legs dip down so my arms tend to do more work (not sure if wearing
a wetsuit corrects this). I did get, comfortable
in the pool (my last two tris I was not comfortable in pools) but I lack
continuous swimming experience. I started the year off serious about
swimming training but as soon as my races started rolling in, swimming lost
priority. Timing was a bit bad and I couldn’t crap in last minute swims
like some of my friends. I came in the
swim nervous like usual but I knew what to expect and had backup plans (thank
you trial by fires).
I got to the pond that we were going to swim on early.
About 6:30ish, a half hour before the elites went off. I was the third athlete
there. I saw a bunch of speculators set up beach chairs. I guess
speculating won't be that bad. No one else was in the water so I
waited. Saw the rescue boat drop into the water (wonder if it's the same
one that pulled me out last year). Finally one of the others started
swimming and another man came in so I started. I started away from the
deep end and just tried to get myself comfortable. I started going a
little bit into the deep end and then retreated back to shore. Soon after
the rest of the gang came over and went farther in so that forced me to do so
too. I was surprised at how fast I got to the first floating platform thing
(I guess that initial push off gives you some speed). Then I started
swimming back and saw three swimmers heading towards me. Somehow got
through them. Cathy then went over how to float around with me so I had a
final backup. It was something I had not practiced so good to review
it. Jason gave me some last minute advice as well.
Elites
went off at 7 am and the mens 39 and under went off at 7:03. The Elites
were fast! I was a bit glad to start off with 3 people I knew. We
started at the back of our wave. As soon I hit the water I switched
to my backup freestyle stroke where I breathe every 2 strokes. After
a while I found my right shoulder to start tiring out so I flipped over and
just relaxed. Flipped back and got back to it. Quickly
other waves passed by me. I saw groups of green and soon red capped
swimmers pass by. There were three buoys and getting to the first
one felt like forever. I made to it without veering of too much off
course but probably lost time to getting myself comfortable. After
the first buoy I once again flipped on to my back to relax and catch my
breath. Going to the second buoy I found myself going way off to the
left too much. As I struggled I thought of friends who wished me
good luck and my friends swimming in the water with me and used those thoughts as
a source of strength. I was able to see a group of other swimmers
and headed towards them. I started using groups of other swimmers as
reference points. I flipped on my back a third time too to
relax. I finally passed the second buoy! The third buoy was by the
finish and with the thought of finishing I felt my motivation soaring. My
form switched between my normal pool breathing rate (every 4 strokes) and
between the 2 strokes backup. I focused on the follow through of the
form as well. I was gaining confidence in my abilities. I
caught up to a group of kids who were swimming with no wetsuit and using odd
strokes to swim. They were a bit easier to see so I tried to keep up
with them. Finally I could see sand on the floor and I knew I could now
stand up. I ended up a bit to the right of finish and made my
way. I remember seeing people in the timberland half ironman finish their
swim and so effectively take off their wetsuit. I had trouble simply
reaching for the strap. I decided to pull on the zipper and then
attempt to take off the top but with the strap still there it didn’t
move. Finally got the strap and removed the top half of the
wetsuit. I jogged to the transition area. I did not feel
vertical dizziness as I was expecting.
The
Bike
As
I neared transition I realized I forgot to tap my transition button so lost a
few seconds on my strava. At transition I saw Jason. I asked
him if he was still alive, trying to joke but definitely not thinking
clear yet. Jason went off and I would not see him again till I
finish. I got my helmet on with no problem but I struggled to put my socks
on with my wet feet. I should have just went barefoot on my cycling
shoes. Then I struggled to strap on the cycling shoes, things that I
never had problems with before. Finally got my bike and jogged over to
bike out and to mount loading. Got on pretty normally and ate my science
in sport gel. I had two bottles with Gatorade in the bike but quickly
realized that once was more than enough for the 12 mile ride. I initially
passed people on the uphills but then got passed on the downhills. I
quickly realized I was shifting wrong and that overall I wasn’t comfortable in
the bike as I was last year. It was my fourth time on my road bike this
year so I guess I been on the citibike for too long. I used higher gears
and stood up to get up the hills since most of them were very short. I
know that’s not the best strategy but it seemed to work for most of the
uphills. One was too steep however and I got slowed down to a crawl which
is a bit dangerous when you are clipped in since you could fall off.
There, lowering the gear would have been better. I never really practiced
cycling so this was a known weakness. I drew on my desire to finish the
race and I breathe pretty heavy on the entire ride. For most of the ride
I told people I was passing left and then said good work or good job as I
passed by. I don’t think this was normal as people didn’t really do the
same, I kind of just went to my ultra-runner manners.
The
run
At transition
2 I rushed to put my bike back and then took off the shoes. I went to put
on my running shoes but found something in one. My last gel! I
forgot I placed it in there. I bend down to put my shoes on, I had them
double tied so I just slipped them on. I headed towards bike out before
realizing I need to get to run out. I asked a guy standing around
(volunteer I guess) and he pointed the way. I ate my last gel on the way
out.
As
expected, running was my strongest area. My first mile was 8:12 with the
hills and with my legs feeling heavy. I
was also struggling to breathe a bit. I got into a breathing rhythm after
the first mile. At 1.5 miles I knew the uphill was over and felt my legs
going faster. 7:45 second mile. I passed a lot of people…I was
constantly passing. Near the finish I started kicking and a man nearby
kicked too. He initially passed me but at the last second I think I pushed
forward and passed first. 6:48 for the last mile! Note that the
downhill of the last 1.5 miles helped my speed.
Immediately
after finishing I saw Jackie, Jason, and Michael. Shortly after the rest
finished. The race had tacos with coffee and bagels but the tacos all had
cheese and only cream spreads for the bagels so I ate two plain bagels, some
oranges, and a banana with two bottles of water. I stayed around and
watched the many age group winners and saw Jackie come in 3rd and
Cathy 1st in their age groups. Afterwards the rest of the gang
went to their hotel to shower before heading home. I decided to go
straight to Queens to join Queens Distance Runners in a parade.
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