Race Recap – Atlantic City Half Marathon

Atlantic City

On October 18, 2015, I completed my third half marathon, the Atlantic City Half Marathon. This was supposed to be my first Marathon, but a few months before, I chickened out and down graded to the half. I still can’t seem to work up the nerve to do a full marathon and may never. It just seems so daunting to me. In addition, right before the race, I was not really looking forward to it. I was a bit burned out on racing generally and just wanted to skip it. But since I had never been to Atlantic City before, I figured I may as well go and try to enjoy myself.

Pre-Race

I booked our room at the Bally’s Atlantic City, which was the sponsoring hotel. This turned out to be both a good and bad thing. I have no interest in gambling and right off the bat, I was not impressed. The lobby was filled with tons of cigarette smoke from the casino and the building was dingy and old. They were supposed to bring a cot for my son to sleep in and it took several hours, four calls and a visit to the front desk to get it. On the good side, however, the expo was at the hotel, and the start and finish line for the race were just out the back doors. Generally, I have to wake at 5:00am to drive to get to my races and then the when the race is over, I get to marinate in my stinky running gear for a long car ride home. I have never before been able to wake up only a half hour before the race, get ready and go downstairs, and still be early! And after the race, I even had time to go back to the room, shower and hang out for a bit before checking out. That was glorious and almost made the cot problem ok. Never underestimate convenience.

Hard Rock Cafe

The night before the race, we walked up the boardwalk and had dinner at the Hard Rock Café. I had not been to one in years and honestly expected the meal to be typical mediocre chain food, but I was wrong. My food was outstanding and we ended up having a blast. Teddy’s meal came on a cute guitar shaped plate and they gave him a whole activity book of games and puzzles, that looked like a DVD package, to play while he waited.

As for the race itself, it was a beautiful course and a beautiful day. The sun was shining and there were barely any clouds in the sky. The temperature was cool, but not freezing. It was a mostly flat course, with a handful of mild hills. The course started on the boardwalk, then veered onto the roads for a bit, through a tunnel and some highway, then ended up back on the boardwalk with a loop. The traffic tunnel was so quiet and windless. It was new and interesting experience for me. Since, I love running alongside the ocean, I was pretty happy for most of this race.

Early on, at about a mile and a half into the race, I decided to tag along with pace keeper for a 2:45 half marathon, since I was pretty much pacing him anyhow. He was using a run-walk strategy of 2 minutes running and 1 minutes walking. I figured “What the heck do I have to lose by sticking with him,” since I had already told Mark I would meet him at the finish line around 2:50. This worked out pretty well and I stuck with him until Mile 11. Unfortunately, at that point my knee, which had started bothering me at about Mile 8, was unbearable and I just needed to walk it out, so I told them to run ahead.

I had brought my own fuel belt, which had two water bottles and two Gatorade bottles, so I didn’t need to stop at any of the water stops, but they were extremely plentiful and evenly spaced throughout. For the first time ever, I wished I hadn’t worn my belt, since at one point, a bottle fell out and I ran back to grab it then had to sprint to catch up to the pacer. I think this choice was ultimately a stupid one and was part of the reason I had to leave the pace group later. When the bottle felt out a second time, I let it go. I’m thinking about getting a Camelpak for next time, since that it mostly what I used on training runs.

Bass Pro Shop

I finished in 2:50:56, which was almost four minutes faster than my last half, ten minutes slower than my first one and almost exactly the time I estimated I would finish. I saw Mark and Teddy a few feet before the finish line and hugged them, then I headed through the shoot and to get some snacks. They were plentiful and interesting. In addition to the usual bagels, bananas and water, they had suckers, pretzels, caramel corn and beer. I ended up forgetting about my beer ticket entirely, but I had some pretzels and a banana and headed upstairs.

After getting cleaned up and checking out of the hotel, we went over to the Bass Pro Shop to buy Teddy a bow and arrow set. That place is pretty cool and if you are ever in Atlantic City, you should check it out.

Blinking Medal

Overall, I really enjoyed this race, though I probably won’t do it again. I was not really into Atlantic City, generally, but the race itself was well run and a fun course.

Race Recap - NYC Triathlon

I have been a little lax in my blogging for the last few months. It’s not that I have been sedentary, I just haven’t felt like writing. During my “break” I completed 3 event: a GoRuck Light in NYC, which I really enjoyed, the Buffalo Half Marathon, which I completed with my best friend Suzi, and ran the Lincoln Park Triathlon again and beat my time from last year.

GRL

Buffalo HM

I thought I should get my butt in gear and write about this last race, since it was a big one. Two of my cousins, Gary and David flew in from out of town (Arizona and Nevada, respectively) to do the race also. They both, of course, both did way better than me.

The NYC Triathlon was my first Olympic Distance race. For those unfamiliar with the course, it starts with a point-to-point 1500m swim in the Hudson, followed by a 40k (24 mile) bike ride on the Hudson River Parkway, then a 10K run around Central Park.

This was the most logistically challenging race that I have ever done. The packet pickup and briefings were held Friday night and Saturday at the Midtown Hilton, the mandatory bike check in was on Saturday evening at Riverside Park and the race started on Sunday in the early morning. What this meant was that I had to drive in from NJ on Saturday, ride my bike from 34th Street to the hotel at 54^th Steet,  “valet” it at the Hilton for a bit, then ride it up to the transition at 72^nd Street and Riverside Park. I had rented a hotel room for the night near  71^st and Central Park so that my husband and son did not have to wake up at 3am to drive me in.

As it turned out, I got zero sleep the night before the race. The hotel room was too humid and the air conditioning was too loud. So, at 3:40am I gave up trying to sleep and got ready to head to the transition area, which was open only from 4am to 5:15am. I had left my transition items overnight in the provided plastic bag. In the morning, however, everything was wet due to the park sprinkler systems – even the stuff inside the bag.

If that wasn’t a bad omen, shortly thereafter, after setting up my transition and walking to the swim start (over a mile away), I used the port-a-potty and when I unzipped my trisuit, the zipper broke at the bottom. So, when I zipped it back up, the zipper popped right open from the bottom up. Wardrobe malfunction. Thankfully, I found a nice lady who had a safety pin and after pinning the bottom together it stayed closed the rest of the race. Whew! I thought I might end up having to race half naked.

Swim: 23:53

The race was a time trial race, with the swim starting in waves by age group off of a platform anchored in the water and ending at another platform. I was a bit tired, but the adrenaline kept me going. I found it to be a fun and uneventful swim. I didn’t really try to push it, and just swam at an easy pace, enjoying the view from the water. I found the water quality to be fine and much cleaner than the East River. No funky tastes, just salty. It did seem to take a bit longer than I expected, but I think this was mainly because there so much talk about a fast current, that it had my hopes up and also the fact there were no giant orange buoys to gauge my progress. Overall, I was happy with the swim.

T1: 13:11

This was the longest transition I have ever done at a race. It was an almost mile walk back to the bike transition along the waterway. Some people were jogging it; I have no idea how. A smart person would have worn watershoes or clipped some flip flops to the fence near the exit or even spent a bunch of time before the race developing calluses. I did none of that. This was so painful for me on my delicate bare feet, that I just winced the whole time and walked very slowly.

Bike: 2:00:19

I enjoyed the bike course. It was on the highway and had really interesting views. At many parts it is elevated, so that you could really take it all in. It was also, however, very hilly. Up and down, up and down. I really enjoyed the downhills, the uphills not so much. My Garmin shows that I went 35 miles per hour down one of the hills. Whee! This was my longest bike ride and I was very proud that I kept the pace up. (Well, for me. I was actually one of the slowest riders out there.) I learned a few things on the ride, for instance, if someone is going slowly down a hill, pass them! There is a very good chance they will lose all momentum once they get to an uphill. A number of times I got stuck behind slower people on the uphill and just couldn’t get any momentum back. It was excruciating. I avoided this in the second half and it went much better. I was very proud of myself that I never walked my bike up any of the hills, even if I was only going 2 miles an hour in my lowest gear.

Another thing I learned was that if you are going 2 miles an hour, don’t try to drink water. At one point I did this and actually tipped over. I totally felt like an idiot. I literally just tipped over because I had zero speed. Thankfully, I landed on a soft patch of grass and the only thing I bruised was my ego. Doh!

The last thing I learned was that I can’t get my second water bottle out and back in its cage when I am moving. I just can’t. The angle is weird for me to navigate while riding. As a result, it was as if I didn’t have the second bottle it at all. So, I ended up only drinking from my water bottle and barely touching my Gatorade. By the time the transition came along, I think I was fairly dehydrated. But at the point it hadn’t really hit me.

I keep saying it, but I really just need to bike more on the roads. I think it is also time for some clipless pedals and a bike fit. My back was not feeling happy after that many miles.

T2: 5:44

It was an uneventful transition. The longer time was because I stopped to use the bathroom.

Run: 1:34:10

This is where my race went all to hell. The lack of sleep, dehydration and exhaustion finally caught up with me. My intention was to walk out of the transition, but when I got the road, and tried to pick up the pace to a jog. I just couldn’t. I had no energy left and just felt overheated and tired. I kept telling myself, just walk a little and you’ll feel better. But I never did. Finally, after mile 2 I just decided to resign myself to the fact I would have to walk the whole thing.

I was able to talk with another girl for a bit, who was also struggling and that helped my mood. I also managed on two downhill sections to jog a little, but not for very long. By mile 4, I had developed a painful blister on the bottom of my foot, so that it hurt to even walk. I am fairly certain there are no photos of me from the run portion of the race, or if there are, they are not very flattering. I pretty much had WBF (walking bitchy face) throughout.

At every water station I grabbed some water to dump over my head and some more to drink. It helped for a few seconds and then I was back to hobbling along. I was not about to quit, no matter what, so I just concentrated on moving grumpily forward.

By the time I got to the finish line, I was spent. I saw Mark and Teddy cheering me on, but didn’t have the energy or mood to really wave. Some kind stranger grabbed my hand to try to cross the finish line triumphantly with me and I yanked it away. I didn’t want anyone to touch me or talk to me. 

It took all of my strength to drag myself across the timing mat and into the medical tent. I’m pretty sure I started crying at that point. I only really do that when I am completely physically exhausted.  A man in the tent asked me what was wrong and I couldn’t really put together a sentence. Hot. Tired. He asked if I wanted to sit or lie down. I just looked at him blankly. He repeated the question. I couldn’t make up my mind. Sit, I thought, and nodded to the chair. In my head, I just was so disappointed with myself and my inability to get it together. Why wouldn’t my body cooperate? He put bags of ice all over me and gave me a bottle of Gatorade. He told me to sip it. I disobeyed and drank that sucker down and I felt a bit better. I adjusted the ice and tried to cool off. I realized that I never got my medal and asked him where I could get it. He took down my info and asked me more questions and let me sit for a bit more. I probably could have used another Gatorade at that point, but I was feeling slightly better and was worried that Mark and Teddy would be worried about me taking so long.

When I finally felt well enough, I went out and grabbed my medal. My cousin’s wife saw me at the food tables, where she was volunteering, and I think I said Hi. I grabbed a bagel and chips and went to find Mark and Teddy. I know I was still a bit out of it at that point, because I took one bite of bagel and handed it to Teddy, then completely forgot about it. Mark put the chips into his pocket and I forgot about those too. Looking back, I think I may have had too much water and not enough salt. The only salt I really had was from the Gatorade and I think that was what made me feel better the most.

Finish: 4:17:16

Then came time for more logistical crap. I was supposed to check out of the hotel by noon, but despite being so close by, the hotel key card was in my bike bag back at the transition. I called the hotel and got a late check out. We hightailed it the four blocks to transition, got my bike and gear and hightailed to back the four blocks to the hotel. It is really not fun to have to race back and forth that many blocks when you are already exhausted and in pain. But, I managed to check out in time to avoid a late fee. Then Teddy and I waited for a half hour outside the hotel for Mark to get the car from the parking garage at 56^th Street and drive it back up to us. Finally, were we were finally able to load up everything and drive home. Ate home, I bathed, I ate a burger and took a nice long nap. It felt so good.

Overall, I can’t say I would recommend this race, unless you are from out of town or live in the city. The race course itself was not bad, but the heat was ridiculous and that logistics were just a huge pain in the ass. The medal, however, is pretty cool. 

NYC Triathlon 2015 Medal

I think though, I would much rather stick to smaller local races. I seem to have much more fun at them. I am looking forward to racing the Iron Girl Sandy Hook again in September.

On Being a Competitive Athlete

Results

Some people are born with an innate sense of competitiveness. They strive to be the very best in everything they do. When they take up a sport, they will settle for nothing less than first place. The drive to win pushes them past pain and fatigue and onto the podium time after time. This drive is so strong, that if they break a bone, they might still keep going.

Other people do not like to compete at all. They will only workout when it is enjoyable and either in solitary or entirely cooperative environment. They don’t really care how they measure up against others as long as they are having a good time.

And then, there are those of us who fall somewhere in the middle. For me, this means being an athlete whose abilities don’t match up to my competitive drive and who despite training intensely always ends up in middle of the pack and resigning myself to PRs and simply trying to enjoy the sport for what it is.

For years I have tried to reconcile these two things, to lose my competitive drive, or at least temper it somewhat and just enjoy sports for their innate physicality. But I really enjoy competition, and as a result, I tend to enter and train for a lot of races.

This year I am signed up for 2 Sprint Triathlons (Lincoln Park, Iron Girl Sandy Hook), 1 Olympic Triathlon (NYC), a half marathon (Buffalo) and a marathon (Atlantic City).

I don’t expect to win any of these. In fact, I don’t expect to be above the middle of my age group, unless a miracle happens. However, I am shooting for a PR in all of them and, of course, to enjoy myself.

I’m not sure whether my inability to win in sports is a matter of simple genetics or deeply seated psychological issues which prevent me from truly giving it my all. But, I have never been able to push past being in the middle of the pack. It has taken me a long time to be “okay” with that, but I am. I don't really need to win to enjoy competing. I have often wondered whether I simply have a low pain tolerance, whether I lack discipline or whether it is just that I simply can’t imagine myself winning and don’t train for that task. I’m not sure I’ll ever really know the answer.

However, it is easy to feel inadequate if you compete. Part of the reason is that, in competition, there are winners and losers and if you are not the winner, then by definition you are ones of the losers. Often times, fellow loud-mouthed competitors don’t seem to want to let you forget this. They say things like “real runners do (such and such)” and imply that if you are simply out to have fun or run a PR, you’re not a “real” athlete. If you compete, you can sometimes feel judged for not winning or not at least “trying” to win. If you are a back of the packer you may even get treated like a second class citizen.

This is totally crazy, when you think about it, since most people aren't going to win in any given race and most people aren't even in the top ten of larger races. Except for a handful of people, most of us are “losers”. So why does a dickish minority get to decide how we race? If you see someone talking smack like this, feel free to tell them to shut up.

This negative attitude which creeps into competitive sports might have you saying “Why race at all if not to win? Why even compete?” Sure, you can still exercise and not compete and just find a way to push yourself every day. While I admire people who can do this, I am not one of them. I find a certain joy in seeing how I measure up against my peers, to seeing how much further I can go, if I really push it hard. Competition forces me out of my comfort zone. It gives me an end goal and a measuring stick to see if I've been successful at meeting that goal. Just because I am not the fastest, doesn't mean I can't be faster than I am!

On the other end of the spectrum are the people who say “You are lapping everyone on the couch!” This annoys me also. While not mean spirited, it is insulting to compare an athlete who trains hard and competes regularly to a person who does nothing. I don’t want to beat a non-athlete. That’s pretty easy to do. I want to be the best me I can be. I want to push my body to go as far as it can, to be as fit as I can be without taking it too far. When I enter a race and get my results, I wonder if it is possible to climb higher next time. I am not competing against the people on the couch, I am competing against the people I raced against. I want to continually improve.

So, what should you say to an athlete after a race or competition? For me, the top questions would be “How did it go?” “Did you meet your goals?” “Is there anything you felt you could improve upon?” “What did you learn from this experience?” and “Did you have fun?”

Whether you are competitive or not is a matter of personal preference and no other person’s opinion should stop you from being active. But if you are competitive, you shouldn't let not being number one stop you from competing! The fun truly is in competing against yourself.

Race Recap – Sleepy Hollow Halloween 10k

Welcome to Sleepy Hollow!

Where is the best place to visit for Halloween? Aside from the obvious Salem, MA, I would rank Sleepy Hollow, NY a close second. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, written by Washington Irving, is one of the most famous American short stories and the source of the famous Headless Horseman tale.

The Headless Horseman

Around Halloween time, the town of Sleepy Hollow, NY embraces this history and offers many fun Halloween themed events, including the Sleepy Hollow Halloween 10k, which is put on by the Rivertown Runners.

Hanging around

As you may recall, I previously ran the Sleepy Hollow Half Marathon. That race was very well run and so I knew I had to come back for the Halloween race. The last half of the 10K course was identical to the final three miles of the Half Marathon course, so I knew just what to expect. This race did not disappoint me and I would say it was by far the most fun road race I have done.

Costumed Volunteer

The course starts and ends at the Morse School parking lot. This is where they set up the food, check-in and kid’s activities. Prior to the 10K there was a 1 mile kid’s run and during the race there were crafts, face painting, games and a fun bus for the kids to play on. There is also a playground there for the kids to play on.

Sleepy Hollow is a very hilly town and the course was both scenic and challenging. What really made it special was the care the race organizers and volunteers put into it. The course was well marked, well staffed and had minimal traffic. As with the Half Marathon, there were signs of encouragement and decorations throughout the course. This time, they were all Halloween themed and I slowed down to take lots of pictures, as I had no goal time in mind and I really wanted to enjoy myself.

I just needed to rest.

Along with the signs, many of the race volunteers were in costume. There was a local band (of very cute and talented kids) playing around the halfway point and two water stops. Another band played at the start area. Being a Halloween race, many of the racers were in costume as well. In addition, a real headless horseman was riding around. That was real highlight.

After the race, they offered beer, water, gatorade, granola bars and donuts. The race shirt is a very cute cotton baseball style one with the Headless Horseman. I really appreciated this, because I’m not a fan of tech shirts and have plenty of plain t-shirts. It was nice to receive something a little different.

My sentiments exactly!

Immediately after the race, the street where the race started remained closed for a street fair. Down the block, the town’s farmer's market and the library’s book sale were also going on. In addition, many local residents and churches were having rummage sales. There was no shortage of things to do in Sleepy Hollow that day.

Encouragement sign

After walking around the street fair for a bit, my family and I headed to the historic Old Dutch Church and the nearby cemetery to visit the graves of the real Van Tassels who served as inspiration for the story and to visit the grave of Washington Irving himself. There are paid tours you can take, but we just walked on our own, since my husband knew where to go.



Overall, it was just a really fun day and a fun race. I would highly recommend this race.

Washington Irving's Family Plot

Race Recap – Iron Girl Sandy Hook

Sandy Hook

Iron Girl Sandy Hook was my second triathlon ever and it was a great race. After a number of races this summer that were not so great, for various reasons, like my health and the organization, it was fun to participate in a race where everything came together.  It was a 1/3 mile swim, 15 mile bike ride and 5k run. My overall time was 1:56:08. I was 68/125 in my age group and 412/836 overall.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous and sunny, without being too hot or humid and the layout of the course was great. It was a very straightforward and flat course and it was well staffed and organized. I would highly recommend this event to other women, whether new or seasoned triathletes. It was simply a very fun race.

Point Pleasant

Because this race was a bit further from home than usual, and because bike check in was permitted the day before, my race weekend actually started on Saturday afternoon. My husband and I drove down to Sandy Hook and stayed at a local hotel for the night, leaving my son with his Nana for the day. It was a nice little mini-vacation for us and we had dinner at a restaurant on the beach and then went for a dip in the (very small) hotel pool.

The race started very early on Sunday morning, with transition closing at 6:30am. This was a bit of a pain, since we were only permitted to park in the lots that the Park Rangers directed you to and there was a long walk from the parking lot to the transition area. I was very nervous we would not make it in time, but fortunately, they kept the transition area open past the cutoff. Once I got to the transition area and set up, there was about an hour before I raced and so I had plenty of time to get settled.

Swim: 17:33

Prepared to Swim

The entire course was conducted with chip times, rather than gun times, and the swim waves were sent off into the water by age and last name. As an older woman with a name at the end of the alphabet, I was in a later wave and started racing at 7:35am. Before starting, we are permitted to wade into the water to warm up. It was nice to have the chance to get used to the water immediately before swimming. It really makes a big difference, in my opinion.

The swim course was a straight line in the bay side of Sandy Hook from one end to the other, with buoys set up every 100 yards. The water was a bit choppy, but without a strong current. It was not too difficult a swim. I was surprised at the number of sheer beginners and was alarmed to hear one women telling another that she hadn't been swimming in years and didn't really swim. I appreciate bravery, but I do think it's a little crazy to attempt open water swimming without some preparation.

Swim Course

Unlike my first triathlon, instead of pushing to the front, I hung out in the back and tried to enter last. However, I regretted this decision at the start because I immediately got caught behind some beginning swimmers who were barely moving. It was too clustered together to push past them and I had to keep stopping and waiting for them to move forward before I could go again. Eventually, the crowd broke up and I was able to pull ahead of them and gain some speed. I ended up finishing in the top 1/3 of my wave of swimmers (36/125). I think I could have done slightly better had I been able to get past the beginners and into a rhythm sooner.  If I had to do it again, I still think I would stay at the back, since it was a chip time race after all, but I would have stayed to the perimeter more.

Bike: 1:00:50

The transition out of the swim was a straight line into the bike racks and went fairly smoothly. The only slow down was that the bike racks were very close together and I had to keep stopping removing my wetsuit to let other racers past.

Bike Course

The bike leg was two loops of a straight course. It was a great ride and I really had a lot of fun with it. Because the field of racers were both new and experienced I ended up both passing people and being passed. There were racers on bikes with aero bars and water tubes and racers on comfort bikes with baskets. I really enjoyed not being the slowest racer out there and it really gave me some confidence. At one point a very fast racer passed me and yelled out “You go girl, you’re a bad ass!” and this really inspired me. I thought to myself “Yes, yes, I am.”, then I made a game of trying to catch up with her and pass her. I never did, but I enjoyed trying!

I had grabbed a few gels at transition and ate some on the bike and was left holding the package for a mile or so before I realized I could shove it in my back pocket. That was a bit of a “duh” moment. Also, every time I wanted to drink I had to slow down. I have such terrible balance putting the water bottle back in the cage that I weave like a drunk when I do. I became really jealous of the people with water tubes and now I want one.

Riding in the direction of the entrance gate was fast, but turning around to head back, we rode into a mad headwind. I had forgotten about that from my prior runs at Sandy Hook, so it was a surprise the first loop. It was nice and cooling and fun to fight against it. On the second loop, I made a point of trying to ride fast against it and pass people. I finished near the middle of my age group. (73/125)

At the transition, I tried to do a flying dismount and caught my leg, because it was more jello-y than expected. It was a disaster of a dismount and I almost crashed into the poor woman next to me.  I laughed a bit when the volunteer quipped “Very graceful!” But, after that I was fine. I racked my bike, removed my helmet and set off on the run.

Run:  32:24

Run Course

My whole mantra on the run was “have fun” and “push it”. I tried really hard to walk as little as possible. At the start, however, I had a really bad pain my back from leaning over the bike and had to stop a few times to stretch it out. Once I got the pain to ease up, I had a fairly good run. I do feel I can improve quite a bit on the run, if I can just put my mind to it. I seem to have energy left at the end, which means I am not pushing as hard as I can. I plan to work primarily on running over the winter. Given that I have been running for several years now, I think I should be faster than I am and have not been training smart enough. I finished 90/125 in my age group, which shows there is a lot of room for improvement.

At the finish line they announced my name as I crossed and “You are an Iron Girl!” I found this a tad cheesy, but was happy they pronounced my name right. After this, I wandered around for about a half hour trying to find my husband. We really should have planned out where to meet a little better. I was proud of my race and, most of all, how much fun I had. I have had a tough time staying positive lately and for me it was just a great and joyful day. I enjoyed every minute of it and can’t wait to do it again next year.

Finisher Medal

This was my last triathlon for the season, so the next few months coming up it will be pool swimming and running mostly as well as more trips to the gym as the weather gets colder. I miss summer already.

Race Recap – Stars & Stripes Aquathlon

I <3 2 SWIM NYC

Let me start out by saying this race was extremely well organized, and if not for the fact that NYC SWIM has decided not to offer their short course races next year, I would probably do this one again. Unlike, the Coney Island Aquathlon, which I wrote about previously, it was extremely well staffed and planned. I counted 7 boats on the water and a few kayaks. In fact, there was a boat at each of the 6 buoys. They  also held 2 pre-race webinars which covered all the race details including the antcipated tidal changes.

Setting up buoys

The race started out just off the grassy area near the path on Randall’s Island facing 109th Street in Manhattan. Each swimmer was sent into the water individually by their seeded time (based on qualifying submissions). The run transition was set up neatly in the grassy area, with a flag and space for each participant and the run was held on the paved running path and comprised a loop with two turnarounds. It was a nice course, with not too much difficulty, generally speaking. I expected to have an awesome day and to use my time to qualify for the Statue of Liberty Swim, which will also be their last one.

Entry to Swim

Unfortunately, that is not going to happen. This turned out to be my worst race to date and a really bad day. I do not have my times yet, but I’m pretty sure I came in last or darn near close to it. As a result, I will not be able to do the Statue of Liberty Swim.

During the swim, I was doing okay until about a quarter of a mile in, when my goggles started fogging up. I had not spit on them as I usually do, due to the delayed entry and the fact that there was no way to really access the water immediately beforehand. Usually, I spit, rinse them and put them on. This time I just put them on dry. I didn’t think this would make much difference, but it was a huge mistake. They kept fogging up every few strokes and each time I stopped to clean them I fell more and more behind. At about half way through, I just ended up breast-stroking with my head up so I could see and not have to stop. In addition, the water that got into my goggles really irritated my eyes. I think I must have had an allergic reaction, because my husband said when he saw me part of the way into the run, that my eyes looked so swollen I looked like I “had been petting cats”. I am highly allergic to cats. He later joked that there was a cat washing factory upstream. I don’t know about that, but there was definitely something upstream as I swam through two spots during the race that tasted exactly like tobacco juice. Maybe they were washing off smoking cats? I don’t know. But, during the run my eyes hurt so badly I thought they must have severe corneal abrasions. However, after washing my eyes out several times afterward with eye-wash they felt much better. Although, my eyelids still have an odd ache to them.

My Transition

I also must have swallowed some of the tobacco cat water, because when I got out to run, I nearly vomited about 5 times. I just couldn’t stop dry heaving. I ended up walking for at least half of the run. I was just miserable the whole time and kept trying to push past it and not give up.

Lately in my races, I have been developing a weird headache across my forehead whenever I run. It feels like I am going to have a stroke and my head feels all hot and I feel disconnected and confused. It scares me a little. But, thinking about it today, I think the cause may be something as stupid as caffeine withdrawal. I normally drink about 3 cups of coffee in the morning when I wake up. But when I have a super early race and wake at 5 a.m., as I have done for my past few races, my stomach gets too upset from waking up early that I can’t really handle coffee and I skip it. I need to test this theory. Or maybe I need to see a doctor before I pass out dead? Either way, it is not a fun feeling and I hope it is temporary. This also effected my run quite heavily.

Finally, I think I was slightly undertrained for this race. Although I have been doing these distances all summer, last week I went on vacation and did not work out at all and did not eat very healthfully. It definitely had an impact and I don’t plan to repeat that mistake again.

All in all, I was very disappointed in my performance and wish it had gone better. It am sad that I won't be able to swim around the Statue of Liberty, but perhaps it is for the best, since I'm not sure my bank account could afford the $145 entry fee anyhow.

Race Recap – Coney Island Aquathlon

Finisher Medal

This was my second year doing the Coney Island Aquathlon. Last year, I completed the Sprint Distance (half mile swim, 3 mile run) and this year I completed the Olympic Distance (1 mile swim, 3 mile run).

My finish time was 1:36:05.79 and I placed 2/4 in F40-44, 43/51 overall and 14/28 women. It was a very difficult race and I am proud of my placement. I am also proud of simply finishing. I had only gotten a few hours of sleep the night before and was feeling really sick to my stomach before the race.

In the swim, I choose to start more toward the back this time, and it worked out well. I was never kicked or hit the entire time. I was also able to get into a rhythm a lot earlier. This, however, did not stop me from having a few moments of panic during the race.

Exiting the water

The first was when I saw jellyfish swimming by at about a quarter mile in. They were about muffin sized and I wasn’t sure if they were going to sting me or what. I had to calm myself down and remind myself that it was actually kind of cool to be out there swimming with sea life. They left me alone and I didn’t see any more after that point.

The next moment of panic came between the half mile buoy and the ¾ mile one. I was sighting off the shore and just didn’t seem to be moving at all. This reminded me of my race last year when I DNF'd and I started to panic that it was going to happen again and that I was stuck in a current I couldn’t overcome. I really wanted to give up at that point. I was overcome with sadness and fear and exhaustion. However, I took some deep breathes, put my head down and reminded myself  that “slow and steady wins the race”, “don’t quit” and "just keep swimming".  After a short amount of time, I looked back at the half mile buoy I was surprised to see I had moved quite a bit of distance from it. This gave me some confidence because it meant that I must be moving forward. From that point on, I just focused on the buoy ahead of me and getting closer to it. When I finally reached the buoy at ¾ mile, I knew I was almost done and was relieved.

From there, it was a quick swim into the beach and off on the run. My run did not go so well. Because of how sick I had been that morning, I just hadn’t eaten or drank anything. I had a few sips of Powerade at the transition, but couldn’t really stomach it. I even skipped the first water station, because I just didn’t feel like it. Well, I must have been really dehydrated at that point, because about halfway through the run, I felt like I was going to pass out. At the turnaround, I grabbed two cups of water and felt slightly better. But I made it to the end on sheer willpower and just focusing on getting to the timing mat. I was in a daze at the finish. Once I was through the gate, I sort of didn’t know where to go or what to do. Mark sat me down and gave me some Powerade and I started to feel mildly better. Exhaustion overcame me and I just wanted to go home and sleep. This was unusual for me, since after a race I am usually wide awake, full of adrenaline and ready to go some more. Not this time. When we got home, I slept for about 4 hours.

I will not be doing this race again next year and I cannot recommend it to others. As this was my second year, I feel I have given this race a fair shot. This was the most disorganized and unsafe race I have ever done. Last year, it was mildly disorganized, for instance, they had forgotten the finisher medals and the run was poorly marked. But, they had insisted that since it was “new” race they would be working out the bugs.

It was worse this year. It started with my registration not making it to the race directors, so that I never received any pre-race emails. Both of e-mails regarding this went answered. So, I wasn't even sure they would have my registration when I got there. When I arrived, my name was written on a separate paper from the rest of the entries, and when they looked for my bib, they had accidentally given it to another racer and had to give me a new number. The transition area was chaos and no one was telling people where to go or what to do. They had way too few volunteers and none of them seemed to have a clue. They forgot to body mark people at registration and were running around frantically trying to write numbers on people’s hands, because at that point most everyone had their wetsuits on. When it came time for the pre-race briefing (which usually takes place on the beach) they called everyone back to the boardwalk and half the people were still in the water warming up. During the briefing, they misspoke the distance of our race telling people it was a 1 mile swim, 6 mile run. The directions were incomplete and unclear and when people asked a question, they never stated the answer over the microphone so that ALL of the race participants could hear.

But bigger than all of these issues and why I will not be doing this race again, is that is was completely understaffed and unsafe for the swim. I only saw one kayak out on the water. When we started out, it was slightly foggy and you could not see the buoys. Already, that is an unsafe situation. They had one individual standing on the jetty blowing a whistle and waving his arms randomly. I could barely see him and I had no idea what the heck he was doing. USAT rules state that you can use any stroke and that you can even hang on boats and buoys (unlike traditional OWS rules.) He seemed to blow the whistle every couple of seconds when someone stopped or switched to breaststroke. I think he blew the whistle at me once when I stopped and treaded water to fix my goggles once after they had fogged up. But, I could be wrong. Who knows? I really have no idea what his purpose was. By the number of times he blew the whistle it could not have been to call for help. There is no way that if something went sideways, like it did at my prior race where the current was so strong and many people were pulled from the water, that one kayaker and a guy blowing a whistle would be enough. If there were others out there, I didn't see them. At the point when I had panicked, the kayaker was nowhere to be seen. If I had seriously wanted to exit the water, my only way to do so would have been to swim in to the beach. If there was a strong change of current, we would all have been screwed. The lack of safety measures in the water was just unacceptable to me. There are a million things that can go wrong in the ocean and it cannot be taken so lightly, IMHO. I will stick to races where they are prepared for contingencies, like the ones run by CIBBOWS. To compare, the Grimmaldo's Mile  at the same beach had 10 kayakers, jet skis, EMTs, swim buddies, rescue boats and police on hand.

On the run, the only staff people on the course were at the start line and at the turn around at the far end of the beach. Once again, we had to dodge the weekend beachgoers on the run. Since this was only pedestrian traffic and the course was a straight line, this was ok. But near the exit of the race, the second water station ran out of water before the race was over and the location of the post-race food was totally unclear. As I had mentioned, I was in a daze at the end and someone should have pointed me to the food or at least noticed that I looked unwell. It took me wandering around to locate some water and some bagels. Ridiculous.

The overall disorganization of the race coupled with the total lack of concern for safety was just awful. Cross this one off the list.