The New Jersey State Triathlon Race Report

I finally believe in having a strong base of fitness. I know that I have not in very good shape for the New Jersey State Triathlon on Sunday. But what the hell, I can suffer through most any thing. Plus this was the race chosen for the DC Triathlon Clubs New Triathlete Program (NTP) and it was the USAT Mid Atlantic Club Championship Race. That’s a lot of stuff all rolled up into a weekend.

The bride and I left home around 9:30 on Saturday and picked up a friend who was riding to the race with us. We had a very uneventful ride to Mercer County Park in Princeton, and isn’t that the best kind of trip prior to a race? Packet pick-up went quickly as we listened to the Mandatory Prerace speech. After the race director said his piece the head USAT official started to speak. I have to say that her attitude turn a lot of people off. I realize that rules need to be reiterated and followed but there is no reason to come across as a bitch.

After we checked in at the hotel it was time to hit the Pasta Fest that the club put on. It was truly amazing to see over 200 DC Tri Club Members with all getting ready for a race. A large percentage of them were doing their first race. The energy was truly amazing. Plus the food wasn’t bad either.

We all got the race location about 0615 and I easily got set up. My wave did not go off until 8:24, but we had to be out of transition by 0715. The Head USAT official saw a guy on my rack warming up on his trainer and I thought she was going to have heart attack because he did not have his helmet on. I understand the importance of following rules, but I would not have thought to put my helmet on either. There was no need to be an ass about it. However, she seemed to get off on her status of Head Bitch.

I love swimming in warmer water. It is always much easier on my body. It took me about 250 meters to find some open water, but after that the swim was very peaceful for the most part. There was one guy, who kept was all over the place. He would bump into me and I would go to adjust and he would move the same direction I was. He just seemed to be a “messy swimmer”. I got out of the water in 33:31 which is a pretty normal time for me. However, I felt really good on the run into T1.

T1 was painless. I was in and out in 3:11 and out on the bike. I haven’t ridden much in the past month, so I was hoping to be able to average over 17 mph. The bike was a nice flat course with one big loop and two smaller loops through a college campus. Since I love the flat courses, I enjoyed this ride. I came back into the park and looked at my time, 1:18:27, for an aveage of 17.7 mph. I was pretty happy with that. Then it was into T2. My time in transition was 2:30.

Now the fun began. I started the run and felt like ass. I ducked into the first porta-john I found. I did a #1 thinking I would feel better, but alas that did not happen. I ran to the first aid station and then started walking. I was trying to burp or puke, but nothing would happen. About mile 1 my running partner joined me and she pushed me a long to about mile 2. After mile 2 I found a real bathroom and ducked in there for about five minutes of bliss. I felt so much better. I was gaining time from mile 2.5 to about mile 4.5 and then the pain came back. I walked with another member of the board for about a .25 of a mile and at mile 5 we picked it up and were able to finish strong.

I highly recommend the NJ State Triathlon. It is in a lovely setting and well run. Now just to get faster prior to the Nation’s Triathlon in September.