NYRR Sprint Triathlon Report (2011)

At a Glance

One of my earliest race reports — the NYRR Sprint Triathlon in Flushing Meadows. A pool-style 400m swim, two loops on the bike, and a 5K run around the Unisphere. Despite a wrong turn on the run and slow transitions, a standout 14th-fastest bike split carried me to 28th overall in 1:11:38.

HIGHLIGHTS

Finished 28th overall in 1:11:38
14th-fastest bike split (36:57) — the day’s standout leg
Swam the 400m pool-style course in 9:03
Ran 20:50 for the 5K despite a wrong turn
Learned transitions (T1 was 3:01) were a place to improve

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Transitions are free time: A 3-minute T1 showed early on where easy seconds were waiting.
Know the course: A missed turn cost 1–2 minutes — scouting the route matters.
Lean on your strengths: A strong bike leg made up for a slower swim.
Adapt to pool swims: No wall push-offs makes an 8-lap swim its own challenge.
Result: 28th overall in 1:11:38 in an early-career sprint tri.

First of all, thanks to all those who woke up before dawn and cheered me on during the race.

Second, special thanks to emotionphoto for amazing race day pictures! You can find more of his work here!

The past couple of days prior to the race were plagued with record breaking temperatures – NYRR sent out numerous emails and warnings about training/racing in the heat. But on early Saturday morning, the heat and humidity that our trusty weathermen had earlier promised was not there!!All the triathletes got their bodies marked when entering the transition area. I bumped into Keri just before entering. I set up my little area and hung out for a bit.

At 6:45am, all the athletes were briefed by the regular NYRR crew.

Since the swim was an 8 lap zig-zag of 50 meters, all of the swimmers self seeded themselves from fastest to slowest.

The swim part of the race was tough. I no longer had the luxury of pushing off the wall every 25 meters. Fanny (our ex-Whippet) started her swim right behind me and passed me after 150meters! Woah!

After the 400 meter swim, I managed to jog down the steps (without whipping out) that led back into the transition area. I clocked in at just over 9 minutes. The transition took me a while…a whole 3 minutes (I need to work on this for the next Tri).

The bike course was simple; two circuits of the outer loop inside the park. This was my best opportunity to pass other cyclists. And after 36 or 37 minutes, the 13 mile bike course was completed.

Transition 2 was much simpler than Transition 1. I placed the bike on the rack, took off my helmet and bike shoes, slipped into the racers and ran out as fast as I could. This was the part of the race that really hit me. I could feel the pain rip through the upper parts of my leg – the pain went away after three quarters of a mile.

About 2.5 miles into the run, 3 others and I made a wrong turn on the run course. Instead of making a right, we all went straight (with no sign of volunteers). Once I had realized the situation, I immediately pulled a sharp right turn. This is where the race resembled cross country as I ran through dirt, grass and gravel to get back onto the course. I had wasted about 1-2 minutes, but hey, it could’ve been worse.

The rest of the run was simple; run around the unisphere and finish at the fountain. I gave all that I had left in the tank and finished!

Here’s a snapshot of my results! (is it blurry?)

And of course,