New Jersey State Triathlon – Sprint Distance

Four years ago I had a crazy idea to sign up for a triathlon. I don’t recall how I learned about the race; I only knew that it sounded like it would be something fun to try. I had completed two New York City Marathons and thought that through “triathlete” on my social resume would be pretty cool. That first triathlon I did was the New Jersey State Triathlon – Sprint Distance, the same race that I completed for the fourth year in a row yesterday

My goals for this race were probably a bit unrealistic, but then again if you make your goals to easy to attain there is no need to push yourself. If I were to achieve all of those I set, I was looking to better my PR in this race by more than six minutes with my lofty goals and I would place in the Top 25 of the race overall.

Race Goals (Best Case Scenario):
Swim (500m) – 10:00
T1 – 1:30
Bike (11.5 mi.) – 30:30 (22.6mph)
T2 – 1:00
Run (3.1 mi.) – 22:30 (7:15/mile)
Total: 1:05:30

Saturday night (night before)
I got to bed around 10:00pm, not bad for the night before a race. Around 3:00am a thunderstorm rolled though and woke up my 4 year old daughter and she was calling for me. I hopped out of bed, and basically we swapped beds. I retreated to her room to spend the next one and a half hours of remaining sleep with the security of Snow White, the Frog Princess and various other stuffed animals.

Sunday – Race Day
I rolled out of bed around 4:40am, got dressed and did a once over to make sure I had everything that I might need and off I went, out of the house at 5:00am on the dot. The stars were out and the thunderstorm that woke my daughter was far off to the south now. It looked like it might be a good day for a race. I ended up getting to the race site by 5:45am, parked the car and made my way to transition. I couldn’t believe that the prime rack spots had already been taken, amazing!

Swim – 500 meters
By some miracle of nature, the water in the lake was 77.9F, just under the legal limit for wetsuits. I pondered the benefits of wearing it for the swim and after a very tough debate with myself I figured that it would only benefit me to wear it. I was in the third wave which was a bit odd; I have always been in one of the first two waves. Last year they had an athlete die during the swim portion, so in an effort to alleviate some of the congestion during the swim, they mixed up the waves a bit, mixing different age groups together and then sending them off in five minute intervals (in most races it is 2 – 3 minutes).

Not too much to say about the swim other than I felt really good. I didn’t have a chance to do a warm-up which definitely didn’t help, but otherwise I was somewhat loose and swam solidly. I took a good route through the water, didn’t get hit or kicked, and passed more people than I ever have. I was out of the water in 10:02 which is more than a minute faster than any other year I have done this race. 10:02 – 162nd Overall, 1:50/100 yd.

T1 - The run from the water to transition is up a bit of a hill and then through a parking lot. Footing was a bit rough on my bare feet and I would have been a bit quicker if I didn’t have the wetsuit on. I still managed to get out of there in 1:52.

Bike – 11.5 miles
Simply put, I felt great on the bike. Given the length of the course, I pretty much tried to pedal as hard and as fast as I could for the entire length. My early average was around 25 – 26 MPH, but that would slowly drop as small hills and some wind would take their toll. I probably passed about 30 - 40 people during the ride and was only passed by one guy…who I tried to chase down but just couldn’t catch. My only complaint about the bike was that due to the spacing of the swim waves, there were some big gaps on the road and I had a hard time targeting people to pass. Since I am so competitive, I always do better if I can pick someone out, chase them down, and then pass them. There were times when there wasn’t someone within 200 – 300 yards in front of me. I still managed to ride well. 32:13 – 45th Overall, 21.4 MPH

T2 - I really need to be smoother in transition. I lose valuable seconds here. I was slow racking my bike and getting my running gear on. I normally wouldn’t wear socks in a sprint distance, but I had two blisters on my toes from Friday nights run and I had to put on socks. I probably lost about 20 seconds doing that. 1:30

Run – 3.1 miles
I loped out of transition and started my run with tons of people yelling and screaming. It was such a great feeling to hear people yelling my number as I ran by. This year was a bit different in that I didn’t have any family members there to cheer me on. My ‘rents are in Arizona and my wife is still recovering from some medical issues and couldn’t make it with the kids (my in-laws usually come but since my wife and kids weren’t going to be there, they didn’t come either). So, I tried to channel as much positive energy as possible and started chugging away. My running has been pretty much crap lately and I was just hoping to keep my pace under 7:30 for this race. For the first two miles my pace was right at 7:36 and I was alright with that. The last 1.1 miles I picked it up a bit but didn’t have anyone to run down (thank you 5 minute wave spacing), so it was a bit tough to get going for the home stretch. There was also that matter of my left hamstring feeling like it was going to cramp up. I still finished strong, and heard the announcer call out my name as I shot down the finishers chute. 23:07 – 91st Overall, 7:28/mile

Post-Race Analysis
Swim (500m) – 10:02, 162nd Overall
T1 – 1:52
Bike (11.5 mi.) – 32:13 (21.4 mph), 45th Overall
T2 – 1:30
Run (3.1 mi.) – 23:07 (7:28/mile), 91st Overall

Total Time: 1:08:42
Overall: 53rd out of 1121
Age Group (35–39): 10/91
Gender (Men): 41/559

I didn’t exceed any of my goals which I am OK with that. The goals were a bit unrealistic, but had I attained them I would have been ecstatic. Fact is, I managed to have a great race and improved my time from last year by over four minutes and just missed the top 50 by a mere 30 seconds. I had a fun day out there and drove home to my wife and kids very proud.

Next up, Steelman Triathlon – Olympic Distance on Sunday August 9th.