Nautica NYC Triathlon



Andrea K

This was a double header weekend with the NYRR Club Championship 5 Mile Race Saturday morning and the Nautica NYC Triathlon on Sunday!

On Sunday, I awoke at 3:30 am since I had to drop off my stuff at the transition area at 79th Street and Riverside before it closed at 5:15. I had dropped my bike there on Saturday afternoon and since the weather called for rain, I securely tied plastic bags around my bike so it wouldn’t get soaked overnight. I made it to the transition are in the nick of time arriving at 5:00 am as the cab driver ran into delays getting there since the West Side Highway was closed to traffic for the tri.

I then walked one mile in the rain from the transition area to the swim start. It was then that it hit me that this was going to be a tough swim because the wind was really blowing, which made the water really rough. We had to wait almost 40 minutes to start the race due to an auto accident and they had to clear the debris and oil slick from the road.

The delay was positive in that during this time the current changed directions and started flowing in the direction we were swimming. The negative was that due to standing around for so long, my heart rate dropped very low.

When the swim finally started, you enter the Hudson River by jumping off a bridge and then you just start swimming. The water was so rough there were white caps. Sadly, 28 competitors had to be pulled from the water, and a 64 year old man died from complications during the 1500 meter swim. A 40-year-old woman who was pulled from the water was rushed to Roosevelt Hospital where she died the next day.

Every time I turned my head to breathe I was smacked in the face by a wave. I also had to pee really badly so I thought I would just pee while I was swimming. I didn't know that I couldn't do both at the same time. I actually never tried before. All of a sudden I started to hyper-ventilate from going from a rested state to my adrenalin pumping from swimming in rough water and I couldn't breathe. I swam over to a kayak and hung on for a few minutes to get my breath under control and to pee. What a relief! I was then able to finish the swim, but not easily. I don't think I ever swam in such rough choppy water before.

My girl friend and NY Flyer, Dr. Elizabeth Alexander, told me after the race that it’s very difficult for anyone to pee while actively swimming/racing because the action of peeing is controlled by turning off your sympathetic nervous system (fight/flight) and turning on your parasympathetic system (rest/digest). In situations where your adrenaline is high (such as, oh, jumping into the rough water of the Hudson River) you can't pee.

After the swim was over I was so elated! I had a very long first transition of over eleven minutes. It's 700 yards, or a 4 city block distance from the swim exit to the yellow transition area. I took my time and I stopped to shower off the Hudson River from my face, I sat down on a bench to take off my wet suit and I had difficulty getting the plastic wrap off my bike. The bike portion went pretty smoothly despite the down pour of the rain and the huge puddles along the road. People were very careful about passing on the left and there was no big traffic jams. I swallowed so much of the Hudson River that I could barely drink during the bike.

Once on the run course I knew I was in the home stretch and all I had to do was run 6.2 miles. The sun came out as I started out on the run. I knew that once I passed Harlem Hill which is about half way it was pretty much downhill the rest of the way. I kept thinking that I hope I’ll see Janine along the run since she was bringing me a bottle of coconut water. I found Janine S with her coconut water and my running buddies Nina P, Elizabeth A and Rina just inside the park. I held onto the bottle for more than a mile.

It was so wonderful to see so many of my friends from Williamsburg Track Club along the run course and I even heard Mike Rustin cheering for me during the bike portion. I saw my friend Erin just as I came onto 72nd street. I was so happy once I crossed the finish line and there waiting for me was my boyfriend Captain Jack with a big smile and a huge hug.

Met at the Finish Line by Captain Jack

My goal going into the race was 3 hours and I ended up pretty close at 3:01:23. It took me 21:01 for the swim including the stop at the kayak; the bike took 1:37:12. I didn’t want to go too fast since it can be dangerous riding in the rain, and I did the run in 48:16, a 7:47 pace! I finished 13th out of 49 in my division, 271st woman out of 1049.

Flyers Kathy S and Scott M also competed, and finished strong.  Click here for their results.

I want to thank all of my family, friends, and colleagues who made donations to the charity, the Catalog for Giving of NYC. I did the triathlon today to raise money for this charity where every penny goes towards after school programs to support disadvantaged kids in New York City. I was very happy for the nap portion of my day today! Two days in a row of racing and I needed a good brunch followed by a long nap! Again, thanks to all my friends who came out to cheer for me and to all of you for your generous donations for The Catalog For Giving!

-Andrea K.