2012 NYC Triathlon - Swim

Hey everyone!  I'm back from NYC!  I can't believe the race has come & gone already.  It was a great day for a race, not too hot & definitely cooler than it has been the past few weeks.

The day started off yesterday - when I went into the city to pickup my race number.  We had to go to the Hilton for the mandatory race meeting.  & let me just say, this was the most well organized race I have ever raced.  The meeting went over everything we needed to know for all parts of the race.  & lets face it, NYC is a big place, with no time for nonsense.  So having a really great race director & organization was huge.  I can't say I have had the same experience for the other two big triathlons I have done.  

After all the hubbub at the Hilton, I was denied my guilty pleasure of walking a few blocks to 57th Street to visit Chanel.  Chanello!  Blasphemy!  We settled for Starbucks instead & we were off to rack my bike. 

A bit of confusion later (due to my not paying attention to which transition area I needed to go to) I get my bike situated & we were back to Hoboken for dinner!  I have to say it took us about 4 hours in the city & this girl was tired!  But being tired & sleeping don't always go hand in hand around here - so I probably got about 2 hours of sleep last night.  

My bike was in the yellow transition area, which opened at 4 am & closed at 5:15 am.  Well, that means this Jersey girl had to hike it back through the tunnel at 4 am.  Yep.  4 am.  Hats off to my BFF Mike who takes me everywhere & never complains.  He dumped me off at the corner of 79th Street at 4:17 am & was back to NJ for sleep.  Next year, I think staying at a midtown hotel may work more in my favor.  But it was convenient, even though I think we spent $36 at the Lincoln Tunnel for tolls.  You're welcome Port Authority!

I got myself situated in the transition area, which included finding my bike in the dark & hoping it was still there - it was!  Then I had to try to remember, in my half awake unconsciousness what I needed to bring with me to the swim start & what I needed to put in the Jet Blue bag for the finish.  No losing my sneakers like last year in San Francisco.

I got my age (not 40!) on my leg & then I was stuck trying to put on the tri-tats.  Now usually, when you race a triathlon, someone with a sharpie marker illegibly scribbles your race number on your arm & hand.  Well, NYC is not just any race, so they have tattoos.  Cool, right?  Yeah, no.  At 5 pm I still have 2 large 2275 numbers on my left & right arm.  I must have greasy hands because the hand tattoo was off about 1 hour into the race.

I had until 5:15 to get out of the transition area & I remembered everything.  I almost still can't believe it.  A mile walk to the start & we were ready.  My group volunteer was super nice & really helpful.  NYC gave all the swim volunteers a card with the swim order of all the age groupers.  I know this seems really silly, but it was huge!  He knew exactly who was in the water & when we were up next.  After waiting for a 1/2 an hour - the 40-44 (I'M 39 DAMN IT!) women were next. 

Down the gangplank we go to the swim barge & we had the option to jump or sit.  I was about to sit, so I could easily slide into the Hudson until I saw about 10 dead fish floating by the barge.  Um...pass.  Looks like a jump start!  The Hudson is much more saltier than I expected, but it has a quick current.  I think I did a mile in about 21 minutes.  Not bad considering I'm usually at about 37 minutes for 1.2 miles.  But besides the fast current, there is a lot of debris in the water.  Not fun.  At about the 900 m mark I got smacked in the face with a stick.  It was about 4' long.  Then I notice I am a bit to the left, kinda by the wall that hold back Riverside Park.  I look up & a kayaker is yelling to us, move away from the debris, move right & the current is faster.  Wish I had heard this about 2 minutes earlier - as no sooner were the words - move right out of his mouth, that I got smacked in the head with a dead fish.  & it stunk!  Lovely.  At least I wasn't the only one.  After the race I found a few other ladies talking about their dead fish experiences as well.   Only in NY!  I should be thanking my lucky stars it wasn't a body.

That was the swim portion.  The best part was the end, where I was greeted by hot firefighters yanking the ladies out of the water!  Now someone in NY is thinking!!!   I'll write more about the bike tomorrow!  Need to go rest my weary feet.  :)