I want to start out with a couple thanks. First a big thanks to Gear West for getting my bike back into perfect form. After my bike crash I had some damage to the cockpit/aero bar on my bike and needed a new one. Changing this out involved rewiring my brakes and shifters which is not a small task! My bike was back in perfect form just before NYC, thanks guys! A second thanks goes to my college friend Emma for letting Patrick and I crash/move in to her place in NYC. Her apartment was only about a mile from the start of the race which was incredibly convenient. Thank you Emma!
I’m going to try changing up my race reporting we’ll see how it goes. Here’s my thoughts on the race:
Swim
- 5:50 am start time made for an early morning but nice to beat the heat as much as possible!
Swim start. - Dive start – I loved this! You don’t have to be good at running/dolphin diving in the water.
- Pulled my cap a little too far over my goggles and couldn’t see to well, oops, lesson #1.
- Followed some feet in front of me while I tried to fix my goggles.
- The person I was following cut hard out towards the middle of the river, I stayed near shore. She disappeared quickly and I finally realized, the current is much better away from shore , lesson #2.
- Ugh, of all things I made this big mistake on the swim, lost about 30 seconds here, 3 girls ahead of me.
T1
- T1 wouldn’t normally have it’s own section but this was an over 3 minute run (700-800 feet) from the river to transition. Bare foot, ouch!
- Of course a fast runner passed me running to transition.
Bike
- The course was a closed course, mostly on highway roads, about half that was newly paved.
- Set out to catch any girl in sight, by the turn around I had passed 3 and only Lauren Goss and Alicia Kaye were in front of me.
- The leading men passed me with a couple miles to go (there was an equalizer the men took off about 12 minutes after the women).
- Random people were cheering my name while I was riding, how cool is that!? (you’ll find out shortly who that was…)
- I had a solid ride, getting closer to where I should be, third fastest ride of the day just behind Lauren.
Run
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Approaching the finish line. Heading out on the run there was a bit of an uphill climb but there was Minnesota local Terrence Lee cheering for me – thank you! It’s always motivating to have someone rooting for you.
- Running the half mile to central park was probably the flattest part of the day.
- It was getting really hot and humid, probably the hottest race to date this year, and the sun was out. (They actually shortened the race later in the day because the heat was so bad.)
- Central Park was awesome, so many people were out cheering.
- Hills, hills, hills, I don’t mind hills too much but there were a lot.
- Thankful for the trees to block some sun.
- I got passed around mile 3.6 and then again with about a half mile to go (ugh)!
Results
- Overall a great day racing, I’m happy with my 5th overall.
- Upset a bit with myself for my mistake in the river, but I guess I now know for next year!
- Happy my bike felt a lot closer to what I’m capable of. Had more solid workouts heading into this race so hoping to continue building on that after a rough June.
- My run was my fastest 10K split of the year and was by far the hardest course with many hills and heat. St. Anthony and Philly were pretty pancake flat, they were hot but I think NYC was worse, so I’ll take that improvement!
- I successfully put my bike back together with some help the first time and solo when I got home. It’s always a process but it gets easier every time.
Check out the race results. View more photos.
Heather Lendway 