Endurasport Mini

.6 mile swim/ 29 mile bike/ 10k run

• Helene Roth
• Cristi Rau-Lagos

Endurasport Race Report

by Helene Roth

The weather on Saturday was BRUTAL, it was honestly the worst conditions I have ever rode in in my LIFE!!!  I raced the mini course, which was a .6 mile swim, 29 mile bike, and 10K run.

SWIM
The swim was fabulous, water temp was about 10 degrees WARMER than the actual air temp., so it felt great!  15 minute swim for me, no complaints.  T1 was a mess because everything was soaked from the rain, but other than that pretty uneventful.  And then I entered HELL!  For those of you that know, Harriman is a challenging course on a perfect day.  Well, add freezing cold temps and down pouring rain, and it's just fabulous!!!!  I was shivering so bad going down some of the hills that I could barely hold my bike steady!  It was seriously nuts!  But like others have said, it was nice to actually look forward to the 2 mile climb for once, because that was the only time you could get some warmth to your body.  Bike time was about 1:45 total, 10 minutes faster than last year (and that was in nicer conditions), love my new P2!  :-)

Anyway, T2 was hysterical for me, because I was so cold, I couldn't feel my toes or my fingers, it literally took me like 2 minutes to unsnap my helmet strap!  My fingers just wouldn't function!  And my toes, oh my goodness!  It was like running on stumps!  Coming out of T2, I threw on my bike jacket to try to get myself warmed up, but I couldn't zipper the darn thing, so thank goodness Anna was out there cheering us on and she zipped me up like a 2 year-old kid :-)  Thank you Anna!!!

The weather got nicer on the run, and by about mile 2 or so, I could start to feel my feet again.  I cramped up severely on the run (that would be what happens when you're shivering so much on the bike that you can't even reach down to drink more than half a bottle of water over 29 miles!), and felt like crap until mile 5. Run time was like 56 minutes, HORRIBLE, but considering I didn't hydrate on the bike, not surprising.

Overall, I took 6 minutes total off of my time from last year (all on the bike!!!!)  YEAH!!!!  and took 2nd in my AG!  Not a bad day.  And, as always, it was so great to have so many teammates and club members out there racing and supporting.  It is so great to know that no matter how you feel during a race, you're not alone :-)

Harryman
by Cristi Rau-Lagos

Now that is the spirit! Come rain or shine, through hell or high water, race day means it is time to race (Swim.6mi/Bike29mi/Run 6.2mi). So I did despite the bad weather. When everyone else in the BTC group bailed except for two other women (Katie & Helene)*cough* men are the weaker sex *cough*, I contemplated choosing the warm, dry car over the cold, gusty wind and rain showers sure not only to make life miserable but dangerous on hilly, winding wet roads. Then a little voice in my head said, "Follow through! Finish what you start!!" Thanks, mom and dad, for teaching me work ethic to the point of craziness and always allowing me to go my own way. I come from a family of tough-minded folks and exited the womb with a stubborn streak stitched into my personality. Mom was a work horse and dad patted me on the back for being his 'little toughy' when I did all the stuff 'only boys' can do. I digress...

So, it was raining on race day and I dove in head first. After all, it could have been worse. When mother nature--or any form of adversity--rears her ugly head, I want to be able to say I walked past her with a smile. Yeah, I also road PAST the bike to run transition where the lead women was about a 1/4 mile into her run and was nice enough to tell me to turn around. At the traffic circle (I've made this mistake before), I followed the long course athletes into the third bike loop (There was a 1/2 Ironman race happening on the course at the same time). Oh well. I got in an extra climb on the bike and then sat down in transition to pamper my numb feet with a rub and a pair of dry socks. I have never engaged in such pleasures during a race (and do not intend to again). I usually use the switcheroo as "free speed" by bolting off the bike and into my sneakers without a second wasted.

Well, today I wasted plenty of time including the detour and break (I can't call that a transition) between the bike and run. The feet started to thaw out at about mile 3 on the run. At the turn around for the 10K, I saw the closest woman four minutes back so I was able to relax a bit going into the home stretch. Just getting out there to do this race was a huge accomplishment so it was a bonus when I finished 3rd in my age group behind two very strong athletes-- which matters because it can be pretty easy to win local races, but when All-American , and Olympic hopefuls show up, it is way more fun!

Christine Dunnery (whose name I remember from the 70.3 World Championship last year) was the first woman over the finish line. Katherine Ward (go Brooklyn!) had a narrow lead on the swim then dueled it out with Christine on the bike before falling back on the run. Robyn O'Kane, who was also sponsored by Aquaphor last year, came out of the water just before me then I passed her on the bike, but she flew--and I mean flew--by me on the run. I'm curious to see her run split.

For some reason, Endurosport did not award overall winners so the top three in each age group were the only distinctions. However, there was an elite division that no one registered under. For this season's first triathlon, I'm really happy with my fitness level. My favorite part of the day was wearing the Team Aquaphor Active.com jacket-- the perfect shield from the wind and rain. My teammate, Andrew Shore, rocked the course finishing 2nd in his division! Way to go!! Thanks to Tony, Alex & Amy for cheering on the Brooklyn crew.

Addendum: A mistake was made by the race director who handed me the 3rd place trophy instead of Tanya Mohatt. I hope they fixed the problem before the awards ceremony. I was not there because my ride was ready to leave. Last year, that happened to me so they mailed the trophy about a month later. Talk about anti-climactic walking up to the stage to receive an award only to step down empty handed.