Tri One On Race Takeaways
When it has been just shy of a month since a race, the minutest of details, such as the severity of the waves, the slippery sand on the boardwalk, and the potholes on the bike course, are tougher to remember than the main takeaways. (Actually, the potholes I remember. Holy derailleur adjustment!) I raced the Tri One On Sprint Triathlon on Sunday, June 15th. A 500m swim, 10 mile bike, and 3.0 mile run awaited me on the waters and roads surrounding North Hempstead Beach Park in Long Island. The swim almost didn't happen after a rough storm made for some dark water conditions, so the course may have been shorter than 500 meters. The 10-mile bike course was pretty flat but windy, and the 3.0-mile run course was one-fourth small, paved, hilly paths and three-fourths pancake flat boardwalk.
Key Takeaways:
1. Leave time to get coffee. I did this race coffee-less, wanting to just get on the road and grab some later from my sponsor, Dunkin' Donuts. (Just kidding - DD does not sponsor me, but they do give me free munchkins from time to time). Lacking coffee didn't bother me much, but next time I'll grab mediocre, more convenient coffee at 7-11, the only place open that serves coffee at 5am on a Sunday morning. (If you want to see what rock bottom looks like, go to a 7-11 very early on a Sunday morning. Find the person buying a taquito and a Red Bull.)
2. It is easy to underestimate transition set-up time. Having been training for a triathlon since December, it was hard to believe I hadn't actually completed one since last September, a whole human gestation period ago. There are so many little details that occurred to me as I was setting up - do I usually place baby powder on top of or inside my folded towel? Which orientation do I lay out my race belt? Where is my bike when I run in AND out of the transition area? Before I knew it on Sunday, I had only 25 minutes to warmup and get my wetsuit on.
3. Remember what I need inside and outside transition. The last things I do before the race starts is warm up and put on my wetsuit. However, the transition area usually closes during my warmup. Do I carry my wetsuit? Body glide? Such things are much easier when you have someone outside of transition who can hold gear for you!
4. Get a more aggressive swim start. I don't know how it happened, but several girls got in front of me before the swim and created a wall of kicking feet at the start. I kept my cool and went around, but only after I tried relentlessly to go through them.
5. Recap earlier. And mention the results! I won the women's race in an hour and 9 seconds. (Splits: Swim - 7:19, T1 - 1:22, Bike - 32:37, T2 - 0:51, Run - 18:02)
Next up: NJ State Olympic Triathlon!