Montauk, NY
October 1, 2011
Final race of the NECTC 2011 season!
750M SWIM --- 17Mi BIKE --- 5km RUN
Intro
We took the drive to Montauk early on Friday because it takes so long to get to the tip of Long Island! After a couple years experience with this race and traveling there, I’m so glad I was able to get there early in Nick’s car with Matt.
Last year the drive up was horrible and I was angry the whole time because I forgot my Powertap computer and I had been swimming all week. I wasn’t a happy camper. This year I was rested and ready to go!
We got there a little after noon and went for a bike ride as soon as we got our stuff into the rooms. We did the bike course loop since it’s so short and it was interesting to ride it on a nice beautiful sunny day! Haha because the only other two times I’ve ridden it, it was cold and dark and rainy. It was super windy, but we pace lined it with the people there: Nicole, Jamie, Evan, Nick, Matt, and myself. Fun stuff.
When we got back, a few people wanted to plunge into the ocean for a swim. I, however, wanted to just lay out on the beach, in the sun, with my two piece on. And I did just that! It was so beautiful and warm out.
After we cleaned up, we picked up our packets from the race site and headed over to Luigi’s for some more pre-race Italian food!
Prerace
The transition area this year was no longer in the grass field, much to everyone’s delight. No more nasty, muddy transition areas. We got up super early and biked to the race site in the pitch black darkness with our stuff. After we dropped that off, a few of us took the bike up and down the hill on the main road a few times (there were street lights on the main road) and went for a short jog to get the legs moving. This race is so short and fast that warm-up was crucial!
I got SUPER nervous before the race and couldn’t wait to just sprint and be done with in an hour!!!!
Swim= 10:32 – 1st fastest female swim split in NECTC
Last year’s swim time was a terrible 13:31 due to the little off-course racing we did in the lead pack. So the 3 minute time difference was probably mostly due to that. However, one of the biggest differences about this race compared to the previous 2 years was that they split the NECTC wave into a men and women wave. There’s some USAT rule that limits the number of people in a wave, so they had to split it up and it was a huuuuuuuuuge benefit for the girls. Every time we have an NECTC mass swim start, the girls get pummeled by the guys and have to fight their way to start the swim. It was totally an advantage for me because I got out ahead right at the start and started passing some guys at the 2nd buoy even. I didn’t get lost this year and I had a great transition to my stuff.
T1= 1:25
Bike=0:28:20– 1st fastest female bike split in NECTC
Average power = 197
Average speed = 22.37
Bike HR Avg = 185
Last year I went a 29:52, so I had a minute and a half improvement! It was a pretty tough ride with the blowing winds and wet roads. I had some extra motivation kick in during the one big hill because I saw Joe off to the side fixing a flat and I saw Evan at the bottom walking his bike after a flat. I was so disheartened for them, but it made me want to push it harder and fight for the points that we were going to struggle losing without them. I saw Luke, Nick, and Matt at the turnaround and I eventually passed Matt like he was standing still and I yelled at him to go faster… little did I know that he was going so slow because he had gotten a flat and was vicariously riding on his rear wheel rim for 70% of the race! Crazy!!!! But when we looked at the points later, we realized that had he not done that, the guys might not have finished in such good standing!
I killed the hill on the way back to transition and had perfect timing getting my shoes off at the end.
First ever flying dismount!!! Haha I wish I had a photo to prove it. Good thing we all practice the day before during our warm-up ride!
T2= 1:02
Run = 20:23
Run pace = 6:34 min/mile
Run HR Avg = 189
This race totally was not a true 5K. It never is, never was. This was the first time I ran this course with a watch, and Mr. Garmin said it was 2.86 from the first water station right out of transition to the Finish line. I missed about 20 seconds of the race because that 2.86 miles took me 20:05 on the watch. My HR average was ridiculous and I can’t believe I kept it that high for 20 straight minutes.
Run split from last year was a 21:14, so I had quite a significant improvement for such a short race!
Very fun, very fast, and very nerve-wracking! I had some lady come around on a mountain bike when we turned down the home stretch of the run to jump in front and lead me. I hadn’t looked behind me the whole time yet, so I asked her if she could see any girls behind me and she said no! I was so stoked that I sprinted as fast as I could to that finish line and I was absolutely bewildered that I was going to win!!!
Overall time = 1:01:40
1st overall female in NECTC and the entire race of age group women
After all the hard work, it all paid off. I was so happy!!!!!!!!!
I’m delighted to announce that I walked away with the Overall Female Point Leader for the season and Jamie came in third!!! Domination!!!! Even with only 1 race scoring, Nicole finished 22nd! Our top 3 guys were Joe in 8th, Nick in 11th, and Luke in 12th for the overall Male Scores. Fantastic finishes amongst all those fast Army and UVM guys!
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| 2nd PLACE FOR OUR TINY TECH SCHOOL!! YEAHH!!!!! |
Here we come Tuscaloosa!!!!!! Nationals is going to be off the hook!!!!!
If you want to read the team race report written by the lovely Aaron Perelman, CLICK HERE to get to our Stevens Tri website!
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| Hotel view after the race :) |
The next day we volunteered as a team at the Mightyman Half Ironman and Marc and I took a pit-stop at a seafood place called The Lobster Roll as we exited Montauk for the drive home : )
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| mmmmmmm Fish&Chips and Pumpkin Lobster Crab Bisque |
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