I spent a fair amount of time last year devoted to improving my swimming, and while I did see improvement, it did not significantly impact my placings in most triathlons. So this year after some careful planning, I decided to ditch triathlon for a season and make a go of it as a full time duathlete. When I initial chose my races I did not include the Central Park duathlon, mostly because I was trying to race locally as much as possible. That said, I have a soft spot for racing in Central park. It was where I did my first bike race, I have had some of my best races there, and the course is a good mix of up, down and curvy. Just what I like. Since my A race for the summer was a disaster, I got sick 1 week prior to that race, I planned to use the Central Park race to build for my next milestone the Hagerstown duathlon in October. As luck would have it, I had the best 6 weeks of training prior to the Central Park race I have ever had. I came to NYC race ready and I brought out the Colnago for good measure!
The weather had been great this week so I should have known it would rain overnight. It wasn't terrible, I have certainly trained and raced in worse conditions, but it did put a damper on my mood. I was going over in my head all my wet weather tactics: Avoid the white lines, pedal though the curves for more traction, no standing and sprinting. I got to the race early and encountered issue #2. I was registered, but as a FEMALE! Ok, I'm thinking this is an easy issue to fix. The woman registering me says I need to see the race director. "Sure, no problem", I say. I walk over to the race director. I explain the error. He says, "So you made a mistake when you signed up." I say, "No, at least not knowingly." He says," Well we don't touch the computer you must have a made a mistake!". I am thinking, "This is dumb! Obviously I am not a woman and I am not trying to race as a woman can we just change the "F" to an "M"?", I just say, "I am not arguing, just tell me what I need to do." He looks at me a bit surprised and then calls over an assistant. "Change his registration from female to male." I am thinking, "Really? You went through all that and you could have just told someone to change the damn thing ?" OK enough time wasted, I get my packet, my chip, race numbers , etc. and set up my transition area. I got to the race early (which I usually do) and had unfettered access to the bathroom (real bathrooms, no Porta potties!). This turned out to be a great strategy since there are only 3 toilets. Late arrivals had long waits for the facilities. Since this is a short race ( 2.1 mile run, 12 mile bike, 2.1 mile run), I go to warm up. The run starts straight up a hill so I don't want my heart rate sitting at 90 when the guns goes off. I am trying to podium in this race, which I know will be a tough task, since there are some fast old guys in NYC. All the same if you want it, you have to believe you can do it.
First run:
Bang! The gun goes off and folks are flying up this hill! I don't feel so great at the start (this is pretty normal for me though) I stay positive for the first mile and by the turn around I am starting to feel ok. But there are A LOT of people ahead of me! Experience tells me some of these people went out to fast, I am running right where I need to be right around a 7:45 pace. As I approach transition, I notice it has taken me a bit longer than I expected. I begin to wonder, "Did I slow down?" I focus back on the race, run #1 is over, worry about the details AFTER the race!
T1:
My bike is racked right near the run entrance, I wore my shades on the run so I don't need to put those on. Helmet goes on first, check. I decided NOT to mount my shoes on my pedals since it was wet and I didn't want to attempt a flying start on wet pavement. Shoe change went ok, or so I thought. I get to the mount line and I can't clip in, "Weird I just rode yesterday with no problem..... hmmm, feels like something is on my shoes.... SHIT! I left my cleat covers on!" OK definite faux pas there. I feel dumb now, never did that before! Off the bike, take both covers off, I was about to just throw them away when I remembered how much they cost, I stick them in my tri-suit back pocket. Now I am thinking, "Let's get this party started!"
Bike:
I am a cyclist. I raced my bike for 15 years straight before I even considered doing multi-sport and this is where I have the most fun. I am psyched , but a mere 1/4 of a mile into the bike there is a terrible accident as a another racer has hit a person jogging in the park. I am hard on the brakes slowing down to get past the accident without causing any physical harm to myself. For the next 3 miles I feel as if I am riding an obstacle course! Dodging slower riders, joggers, tourists, dogs (yes dogs!). Central park is used much more than when I raced here in the 80s and 90s. The twisty descent to the 110th street hill is harrowing with riders not holding their line, slower riders in the wrong lane, and yes, DOGS! I managed to move up a bit then came the 110th street hill. Here is where my hill repeats and consistently hilly rides really paid off. I caught or closed on numerous riders which helped me get clear of those speedy runners who left me on run #1. The west side of the park was a bit less congested than the east side but only marginally. I was still more or less picking my way around slower riders for much of the first loop of the bike. As I approached the end of loop #1 I checked my split time. I was about 75 seconds ahead of my projected pace and I felt pretty good, event with all the grit and grime I was picking up from the wet roads. I now remembered the fallen rider and was preparing to ride to the far right to avoid the accident only to find that an ambulance and a fire engine were now blocking virtually the entire road! Hard on the brakes again, I ease over to the left of the road, and being totally mindful of all the runners, I managed to squeeze past the accident scene. Back on the gas, full on now, looking only at the road and my power meter numbers, I am prepared to go full gas until 1 mile from T2. On the twisty descent before the 110th street hill, a racer took and incredibly bad line and basically crossed the whole road forcing me and and another ride to slow to avoid her. Much to my surprise, she then starts explaining to me ,"This isn't my race bike... I had a flat.... blah blah blah." I am really trying to race here, give me the details later, "OK?" After that much of the ride was uneventful until we got about 1/2 a mile from T2. Spread across the entire road were 4 people on their bikes; stopped in the middle of the road, 4 across, just chatting! All I can think is, "Where are the course marshals?". OK I am close to T2, I drop a gear or 2 to prepare my legs for that last run. I open my shoes, slow down, and another racer goes inside me on the left to get into T2 before me. I was a bit annoyed at that, I mean its transition not the finish line.
T2:
Almost flawless, I missed the rack on the first attempt at racking my bike, but other than that uneventful.
Second run:
I felt about 7 out of 10 when I left transition. I was determined not to give too much back to anyone I passed on the bike. I felt slow getting up that first hill, but once I crested, the legs began to loosen up. My bete noire for duathlon, and triathlon as well, has always been the final run. Today I broke through. All those transition runs and track work suffering paid major dividends. I was finally able to run sub 8 minute pace for the second run and actually accelerate to the finish. I had a kick! I could close on people! It was awesome! I also felt good about only being re-passed by 2 people instead of the steady stream of runners I usually see. I know for certain how I will be training for the Hagerstown duathlon!
Post race:
It was great performing up to my training. My power numbers and run pace was dead on. Even though I did not podium (4th place again!), I felt I raced my best race and that's really all you can ask. As for that first run taking longer than I expected a quick check of my watch revealed the course was actually 2.27 miles and not 2.1. Ok I feel better now! I am looking forward to that last race of the season and a well deserved rest after that.
Peace and keep training !
Rob
