Confessions of a Beginner: Hudson Valley Triathlon

July 24, 2011

Located in Kingston, the Hudson Valley Tri was pretty local for me. The Saturday before the race, I headed up to Ulster Landing Park with my friend Steph, a volleyball player for Marist, to pick up my packet and scout the course. Boy, am I glad I followed my own advice. Not only was the park a little hard to get to (Steph asked me at one point “where the HECK are we?” and even though I was following the directions, I didn't quite know myself), but the course had some LARGE hills. The worst of these hills headed from transition to the entrance of the park, where the bike and run courses were. Now, experienced triathletes might think that I am exaggerating but for someone who spends most of her time on a regularly flat river, any hill is scary. I was glad I drove the course the day before (and was glad to have company, so thanks to Steph for coming on that mini road-trip with me! If you’re local, come support the Marist volleyball team this fall…they’re awesome!)

I was surprised to wake up the morning of the race to clouds. After a super intense heat wave (with a heat index up to 112 degrees), the break from the sun was a relief. As I set up my transition area, it started to drizzle. I innovatively covered my sneakers and bike shoes with the plastic bag that my race numbers came in – not that it mattered once I started racing!

Swim warm up

Swim start!

My swim was great. Normally swimming is my strongest leg of the tri even if I do poorly, but this swim felt really good. While some of you might be grossed out about swimming in the Hudson, it was not bad. It’s definitely a little weedier than I like (I am an open-water wuss…I hate vegetation). The buoys were really easy to sight and I got to the front of the pack enough so that it wasn’t crowded. I hit my pace easily and just went for it because I knew I was going to need to get ahead to make up for my shoddy biking skills. I was the first woman out of the water and had the 6th fastest swim of the day. Then the hard part started.

T1 is super easy when you don’t wear a wetsuit (it’s not a secret strategy, I just don’t own one) and I hopped on the bike and was up that massive hill. I have no idea how the people who transition into their shoes while riding their bike handled that, I would have fallen for SURE. I didn’t have my bike in the lowest gear, so I had to change gears going up the hill but thankfully nothing happened. I made it up and headed out the park entrance to tackle the 18 mile bike.

Ready to tackle that hill!

So despite my amazing advice for preparing for a race, I did not prepare myself for this bike. Even a semi- prepared racer would have biked at least 18 miles in one ride. A semi-prepared racer might have biked a loop of the course to get used to it. A semi-prepared racer would have spent more than 5 days all summer on the bike. I’d have to say that I was completely unprepared. I have this crippling fear of biking in traffic (so novice, I know) and because of this, I rarely take my bike out. I knew that I had the fitness to complete an 18 mile bike, but there wouldn’t be any kind of competitive goals.

But it wasn’t so bad. The course was two nine-mile loops. There was only one tough, winding hill that I was fairly unprepared for, but other than that it was fine, just slow going. I am more comfortable riding in a harder gear with more power than riding in an easier gear and moving my legs more (which is what you need to be able to do to climb hills). I have been told this is a function of the fact that I am a rower, but this is one thing that I need to work on before I race next time.

I biked into transition and had a moment of panic: where was my race belt with my number on it? The race website had said that anyone running in or out of transition without the number on would be given a two-minute penalty – not what I needed. I frantically searched around the area but I knew that I had put the belt on before the bike and it must have fallen off. Bikeway members Carleen and Justin called out to me to leave it and just yell out my number as I crossed the finish line, so I followed their advice and ran out of transition. As I headed up that giant hill again, a race official grabbed me and handed me my number! I have no idea where he had gotten it, but I guess it must have fallen off somehow. I was stoked: no penalty for me!

A surprising number of people walked up the hill but one of my race goals was to run the whole time. On that hill it might have seemed like I was running in slow-motion but I never stopped running! The run was an out and back, which I like because you can encourage people. Since I had my last article on my mind, I almost tried to adopt the Iron Girl philosophy of saying something positive to anyone who passed me or who I passed. I think some people were definitely confused by this (mostly the guys). For me, triathlons are a way to cross train for rowing and to keep me from getting bored with a lack of competition in the summer, so I’m not a cutthroat competitor. It was worth it to take the time to cheer for people, especially all the Bikeway guys who were headed back as I was headed out. 

All smiles because I'm thinking about going to the diner!

I ran down the giant hill to a finish line with Bikeway members and my parents cheering for me. That’s one of the best parts about finishing behind everyone: you get the most cheers! Overall, I thought NY Tri did a good job running the race: the courses were well marked, the volunteers were encouraging, there were enough safety precautions taken and since it was a smaller race, almost everyone got awards. I ended up first in my age group….out of one – not too many people in the women’s 18-24 age group in most of the races I’ve done – but I was 5^th overall. Not too shabby for a slow biker like me. 

Team Bikeway and our hardware!

I do have some people to thank: my parents, for driving all the way to Kingston for an early start, Steph, for driving the course with me the day before (a job that would have been much less fun without company) and all the Bikeway members, especially Carleen. I’m pretty sure that Carleen cheered for me like she would have cheered for a family member and it definitely made my race a lot better. Even the guys who were super competitive racers took five seconds to yell “Go Bikeway!” when they zoomed by me. And that really means a lot!