Race Report – Gold Coast 2008
The water off of Hempstead Harbor Park was absolutely calm, not even a ripple, with a mist over it so you could barely see across Hempstead Harbor. It was a warm and humid morning when Nicole, Tatiana, and I arrived for the Long Island Gold Coast Triathlon in Port Washington early on Sunday.
This was going to be Nicole’s first triathlon. She was nervous, but I think, more prepared than most first timers. Tatiana was fresh off of a half Ironman, so she was prepared. This was going to be my first triathlon after having a problem with a pulled muscle in my leg. It’s a sprint race, in other words short, with just a three mile run, so I figured my legs could handle it.
I ran into quite a few people I knew from the Terrier Tri team as well as the NY Flyers running club I belong to.
I was starting the swim in the second of nine or ten waves so I had to be ready to go before the 7:30 start. I got my wetsuit on and gingerly stepped into the water. I had been told it was cold, and remembered it being cold last year. But I was surprised how warm it was! The goggles I wore were tinted brown, so that made everything look warm too. I swam a little way out for a warm up, and then headed back to shore for the start. My first swim in two months!
I didn’t recognize anyone in my wave and I was surprised at the diversity of ages. There were, appropriately enough, the old guys, but a lot of young guys and women too. I don’t know how they divided us up at all. We started the half mile swim in ankle deep water and instead of starting all the way in the back the way I usually do, I got closer to the front. When the horn went off we ran into deeper water and dove in.
I pretty quickly settled into a rhythm, and really didn’t have too much interference from other swimmers. Often I was completely alone – and yet still on course! Every once in a while I’d bump into someone, but I’d keep swimming. The course took us straight out to a buoy where we make a left to another buoy where we make another left back to shore.
As I hadn’t been swimming in months, I didn’t really expect to do too well. I kept trying to concentrate on my form, but my mind wandered a lot, thinking about the transitions coming up, how I would do on the bike, how my leg was going to hold up on the run, what I would write about in the race report! When I did concentrate I think my form was not too bad. I was actually passing people from the wave that started four minutes ahead of me.
I kept an eye on where I was going and stayed on course pretty well. I never saw anyone from the wave behind me pass, but I’m sure some had by the end. When I got close to shore I tried standing up, but there was no bottom! Rats! I had to start swimming again. When I saw the guy next to me standing I tried again and this time I had more luck finding the bottom. It takes me a few seconds to get used to standing again, but then I started running towards transition peeling off my wetsuit as I went.
When I got to transition I struggled, again, to finish getting the wetsuit off! Such a waste of time! I really need one that fits better and comes off more easily!
Once free of it though, I got my biking shoes on, got my helmet, my glasses, and grabbed my bike. I was pretty close to the bike exit from transition so I was on the bike for the twelve mile ride in no time. I took it fairly easy to start with – I often start off too hard and burn out. We ride out onto West Shore Drive and head north for about a quarter of a mile where there’s a tight U-turn. Then we head south and make a right turn into an industrial area, make another tight U-turn, and head back out to West Shore Drive and continue south. Then we make another right turn back into the industrial area and make a loop out onto West Shore Drive where we make a left and head back north to the start. We ride this loop twice. On the first loop there wasn’t too much traffic, but by the second loop there were a lot more bikes out there and it got really crowded.
I kept an eye on my speedometer. Last year, according to the official results, I averaged 24.3 mph. This time I was rarely seeing any speeds like that. I was passing people, but it didn’t look like I was averaging 24.3. The U-turns were getting really crowded. Fortunately most people took them very wide and I was able to pass three of four people at a time by taking the turns tighter.
By the end of the ride nobody had passed me. In a longer race I hear that that’s a sign that you’re riding too fast and you’ll pay for it in the run. For a short race like this that rule doesn’t apply. At least I hope it doesn’t!
Once back in transition I racked the bike, and changed into my running shoes and headed to the other end of transition to start the three mile run. As I was leaving transition, I saw Nicole heading in from her swim. She didn’t look like she was having a good time! Within a few hundred yards of the run we go up a few stairs onto the boardwalk that we run along for a while. Just after reaching the boardwalk, I ran past my old swim coach Neil Cook.
I wanted to take the run easy, as that’s where my pulled muscle had been bothering me. This course has us running up stairs, up and down curbs, onto and off of grass; all things that might aggravate the injury again, so I was really being careful. I was getting passed by quite a few people, but I just let them go. I ran at my own pace.
My legs felt fine, but tired. I hadn’t run this fast in months. The run course is basically two loops, and about half way through the second loop I picked up the pace a little bit, at least I tried to. As I was approaching the finish line I resisted the temptation to go flat out. That, and I was exhausted! I crossed the finish line in a round 1:13 something! Very similar to last year’s time!
A little while later I saw Nicole coming in on the bike. I went up to cheer her on from the boardwalk as she started her run. She was as white as a sheet. She said that she didn’t feel good and was having an asthma attack, something that hasn’t happened to her in years! I was sure she was going to stop, but she said that she wanted to keep going! I saw her again as she started her second loop, and she didn’t seem much better.
Once she finished the race I tried to talk her into talking to the medical staff, but she thought she’d be OK. After a while she was and she could breathe again. What a trooper, I think I would have bailed a long time ago!
I ended up being 5th in my age group – same as last year! My time was actually 18 seconds faster than last year – so it’s another course PR! My swim time was about a minute faster than last year, my bike time was 25 seconds faster, and my run, as expected, was about a minute and a half slower. However, out of the 38 finishers in my age group I was the fastest biker (by 18 seconds)! I was very surprise that I was the 9th fastest swimmer and the 8th fastest runner too! My transitions still need work. I lost 4th place because of a really slow first transition. The distances in this race I think are all wrong. I really don’t believe that I averaged over 24 miles an hour on the bike, or ran better than 7 minute miles, but we all run the same course and it’s a fun race anyway.
The rest of the Terrier Tri team did really well. There were two first place finishes, and Tatiana, who I gave a ride to, was third in her age group!
As miserable a time as Nicole had, she plans on doing more!
Since the race my leg has been bothering me a little, so I’ll lay off it for a few days. I plan on doing an Olympic length race next weekend in Philadelphia! Wish me luck!
