As
a Phoenix native, born and raised in this great southwest city, I grew up
blessed with sun, clean air, beautiful sunsets, and of course that desert heat.
There has always been the novelty of being from a place where the vast majority
of the people who live there are from someplace else. When I meet people I’m
always interested to learn where they are from and what brought them to the
Valley of the Sun. Like them, I have lived other places, but as life often does
– I’ve managed to come full circle more than once, back to the place I
love for family, lifestyle and quality of life.
To that point I believe it adds to a an
intrigue and sense of adventure associated with this great sport of racing in
new and epic venues all over the world and I can now cross NYC off my bucket
list.
Not only did I have the pleasure of racing in
NYC, but I took a huge bite out of the “Big Apple” with a 4th place
age-group finish out of 190 finshers, and 98th overall out of over 3200 competitors in a time of 2:18 in the Olympic distance event. It was a hot and
sticky NY summer day -- indicative of what you would hear a New-Yorker refer to
as “nasty”, but that didn’t seem to faze many of the more than 3200 finishers who gained
entry through the race lottery process. In the days leading up to the race I
wondered exactly how race organizers could pull it off. After-all NY is the largest
city in America and they will have athletes swimming in its busy waterways,
riding on its busy cab-filled streets and running through one of the most
infamous and picturesque tourist attractions in the world. But they did it and
even made it look easy. My personal account of the day goes something like
this…
The swim at NYC Tri has been called the
fastest swim in triathlon. Launching from a dock on the Hudson River using a time trial start format, you swim
1.5K downriver alongside beautiful Riverside Park. Some fun-facts about this
swim, which presented themselves in a need to know fashion. 1. The downriver
current is stronger earlier in the morning and actually changes direction mid-morning…the
key here is the earlier your swim wave the faster you’ll go. Unfortunately, I was in a later wave. 2. The closer you
are to the shore the slower the current…makes sense. You want to be nearer the
center of the river to maximize full benefit of the swift current. I started nearest to the shore. 3. It's
freshwater, no inherent benefit from saltwater to be had. Unable to take full advantage
of these nuggets, I came out of the water in 19:37. Swim: 38/190 in AG.
After that fun-fast swim down the Hudson it
was onto the bike. The bike course exits transition via 79th St. and heads out on the Henry Hudson Highway -- the view as you cross the Henry Hudson Bridge was breathtaking.Then onto the Mosholu Parkway for an out and back to the Bronx. I felt strong from the get go and stayed very aggressive from
start to finish. The course had just enough risers to keep you honest but allowed for ample time in your aeros. Unable to get my power meter properly calibrated despite
having it ready and checked during pre-race I relied on heart rate and
perceived exertion as my guide..and was my HR humming, averaging 159 bpm during the 25.4
ride at an average speed of 22.8 mph. I managed the 3rd fastest bike split in my
AG with in a time of 107:12. Bike: 3/190 in AG.
Exiting T2…the heat is on the rise…I
made my way out 72nd street across Broadway to the entrance of
Central Park. The northbound loop around the park is anything but your average Sunday morning stroll…its hilly! I was so glad I did my pre-race run a couple days
before the race to clue me in and even then I was still amazed. The elevation
gain was over 500-feet on the 6.2 mile course. The intrinsic value of actually racing through
Central Park was intense. Spectators were fantastic -- several deep in some
areas and very engaging – in true to New Yorker fashion. It was encouraging to
hear Go Timex several times. At one point as I came up on another runner I
heard someone say…'these guys are probably running a sub-7 pace in this heat, that’s impressive'…I
couldn’t help look down at my Timex One GPS and it read 6:58—I thought, Wow, that guy is good! I pushed throughout to maintain a steady pace but felt
myself slowing as the temperature and my HR continued to climb…Finally onto Dead Rd into the
finish chute and across the line. My 10K time was 46:12...slow by 10K standards,
but good enough for 5th in my AG and on a hot and hilly course like this -- I’ll take it! Run: 5/190 in AG.
There was New York magic in the air on this
Sunday in July and I am stoked to continue my strong
season momentum with my second top-five finish and fourth top-ten finish out of
4-races this season.
Much thanks coach Chris Bagg - I couldn't have done it without you! Your direction, lead, and guidance (DLG I like to call it) always has me prepared physically and mentally to race.
Thank you Timex Factory Team for the sponsorship, and team sponsors Blue Seventy, Scratch Labs, SKINS Compression and Castelli for the great gear.
