New Jersey State Triathlon - July 18th 2015

"Swim, Bike, Rain"

Mike and I drove down on Friday late afternoon to pick up my race packet for Saturday’s Sprint race.  Packet pickup was quick and painless, and the vendors had already set up.  I was excited to see that RedShift Sports was there, since I had wanted to try their system.  I had been looking to put aerobars on my road bike anyway, after the Patriot race, and thought this might be a good way to go.  After talking to the Redshift guys and a little Bondi Band browsing (LOVE the headbands), we stopped at the Triumph beer tent for a few beers.  We ran into some friends from my tri club, and did a quick walkthrough of the swim and transition areas before heading out.   Mike and I ended up going to the Triumph in Princeton for dinner and tried to get Halo Pub for dessert, but all of the ice cream places in Princeton had lines going halfway down the block.  Went home, packed my bags and filled my bike bottles (Shaklee electrolyte powder in one, CarboPro powder in the other) guzzled a bottle of water to refill with tap water (for rinsing sand off feet in T1), threw my bike, air pump, and helmet in the car, and fell asleep around 11:30. 

I had set my alarm for 5:15, but hit snooze once.  I really did NOT want to get up.  Finally I rolled out of bed at 5:30, brushed my teeth, threw on my clothes (laid out the night before), filled the two bike bottles with water and realized I had absolutely nothing else to do/get ready, and it was only 5:45.  I figured I’d aim to get there by 6:30, so I still had some time to kill.  I made myself a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast, guzzled some more water, and off I went.  Parking was easy and plentiful, and body marking was quick.  I dropped everything off in transition, racked my bike, chatted with some people in my transition area, and then wandered back to our club tent.  One of the greatest things about CGI events is that they have a portapotty section reserved just for tri clubs.  We had our own club portapotty!  Anyone who has ever stood in one of those lines on race day knows how great of a perk this is.  I ran over to swim start, where we were taking a club picture, then wandered over to a section of the lake where they were allowing practice swims.  I walked in waist deep just to get wet, and then walked over to the start since I was in the 4^th wave.  

The water temp was reported at 81 degrees, which meant it was not wetsuit legal.  I thought about wearing my Lava pants, but decided since it was a shorter swim (500yds), I’d just stick to my tri kit.  Once my wave was called, we all waded into the water and hung out for a few minutes.  It was nice to have some time to acclimate to the water.  I started towards the back of the wave so I wouldn’t get elbowed/kicked too much.    This was my first OWS since my first triathlon (Jersey Girl 2010) without a wetsuit, so it felt a little weird.  The swim was uneventful with the exception of my goggles, which I could not seem to get in a good position.  I must have stopped at least five times to empty the water out and readjust them.  I also couldn’t really seem to get a good rhythm going.  Finally I got to the exit and carefully made my way out of the water, since it was really rocky coming out of the lake.  Race mgmt had dumped a bunch of sand at swim exit though, which was helpful. 

T1 was faster than usual since I didn’t have my wetsuit to take off, and I didn’t bother with the water bottle (to wash my feet).  I wiped my feet on my transition towel and put on socks/bike shoes, race belt, sunglasses, helmet, bike gloves, and headed out on the bike. 

The bike course was great.  I felt strong and fast, and my little bike computer was reading speeds in excess of 18mph.  For once, I was the one doing most of the passing.  There were a handful of times I could have passed other bikers but felt the lane was a little narrow, so I dropped back a bit.  However, I would then catch myself coasting, and then speed up again.  I also saw a few friends on the course!  And by "saw" i mean "they passed me really quickly on their bike and shouted encouragement ;)"  The bike leg went by pretty quick, and before I knew it, I was heading back into the park for the last mile or so.  That’s when I noticed the giant wall of dark clouds in the distance.  I joked to a fellow biker that there was no better motivation for the run than not getting hit by lightning.  Little did I know we wouldn’t have a chance to get out on the run course.  When I got to bike dismount, volunteers were telling me to dismount, and one guy was shouting “the race is over!”  I thought he was referring to the bike leg being over, until I started walking my bike to T2.  

Normally I would have jogged my bike to T2, but it was unusually crowded in the chute leading to transition.  I heard people talking to each other, some saying the race was cancelled, and others still wondering if they should go to transition and continue.  Then, we heard the announcer over the PA system saying that the course was closed, since a dangerous storm system was coming through the area.  They urged everyone to find shelter, specifically in their vehicles if possible.  I continued into transition, grabbed all of my stuff, and headed back to the club tent.  Everyone was packing up so I headed back to my car, but not before getting my timing chip cut off by the finish line and getting my medal.  I felt a little weird about getting a finishers medal since I didn’t technically finish, but not by choice! Plus, it still counted as an aquavelo.  I was bummed about the race being cancelled, but happy about the parts I did complete.

I walked over to the field where my car was parked, and at this point, the rain was coming down in sheets.  I had to keep wiping the rain from my eyes since I could barely see in front of me.  Bikers were still coming in from the bike leg, and it was getting a little chaotic.  As I walked over to my car, I heard someone shout “hey, Central Jersey!”  I looked over and this guy I didn’t recognize shouted “Great job today…you looked really strong!!”  Turns out his name is John... I met him again the next day (when I was cheering for my teammates at the Olympic distance race) when he came over to the club tent to say congrats before heading out.  

Later that day the race directors issued a letter to Sprint participants.  While it was a bummer we couldn’t finish the race, it was definitely the right call.  We ended up getting our official results (for the sections we had completed) and I was so excited to see that while my swim felt slow to me, it was actually a PR.  And I went over 18mph average on the bike!  I’m definitely looking forward to doing this race again next year.  Last but not least, our club took 2nd Place in the New Jersey State Triathlon TEAM UP Challenge and 1st Place in the USA Triathlon Mid-Atlantic Division II Championship.  Great job, everyone! :)