So what have I been up to?
Well, on May 9th I posted about race season but since then I've had to minimize my goals, the sprain is taking longer to heal than I hoped, though most people are telling me I should be glad it's healing so quickly! I did my first 5k on May 18 and ran about a 10:30 pace, but definitely felt sore. So I am aiming for one sprint triathlon per month and a few 3-5 mile races peppered in and still hope that once the wedding is over but before the honeymoon I can complete a half marathon. Here's to hoping. Fortunately, my most favorite race of the season Niantic Bay is still on the calendar.
But first I had to make sure I still liked triathlon, despite the training, the cool awards and free t-shirts, occasionally right before race season, I start to think of all the downsides - early wake-ups, pain and soreness, ugly weather, etc. - so I wanted to get in an early race and make sure I still loved it. Normally I do a triathlon over Father's Day weekend in CT but unfortunately for the second year in a row it's cancelled so we decided to the Pantanella's Flat as a Pancake Triathlon in Staten Island, I've heard about it for a few years, but never was able to go as I was usually doing the NYRR mini 10K.
My fiance and I both signed up at the last minute in a now or never approach. Here's the recap:
Pre Race
We were so late! A friend of mine was already set up and posting to Facebook before I was even out of Hoboken. The bridge was closed so we had to turn around and backtrack, we just made it and were in the parking lot when they announced transition closing. I didn't get a chance to eat breakfast and swallowed some Nuun before starting. Fortunately, I remembered everything. No chance to warm-up aside from the walk to the beach.
Swim
Well, maybe not everything! Since we signed up so late, I had to have my mom FedEx my tri suits but there was no way to send the wetsuit so I went sans wetsuit. It was COLD! But I got in anyway and pulled off a decent swim of 10:10. :) I had some trouble after the swim getting up the beach, I had the energy to run but sans sneakers in sand my ankle was pretty unstable. :(
T1
I think I stumbled around a bit not knowing the course and being freezing, I had half a mind to put on sweatpants and sit down but we put on bike shoes. 2:20
Bike
I had been worried about the 3 loop course but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, there was enough room to pass and I enjoyed watching the bridge get closer as I circled back. Time of 43 minutes, need to work on my speed but not bad considering I'd just debated a nap.It didn't hurt to keep seeing my fiance on the course and keep cheering for each other!
T2
I think here I started to get worried as my ankle had started to hurt again and I was still freezing, but I changed shoes and grabbed my baseball hat and pressed on. 2:20 again.
Run
I started out very slow, and was considering walking when my friend from the gym passed by and gave me (unbeknownst to her) a second wind, I did walk the set of stairs to the first water stop and had some water and pressed on to get to halfway, my fiance passed me at the halfway point and I told him to keep going, he had an amazing run and I finished with a 10:40 pace, not too far off my 5k time from a few weeks before. I even managed a burst of speed at the end with some cheers from the crowd. The view was great and it was - flat as a pancake.
Overall
Great race, definitely had me eager for the next one, it was nice to be done by 10am and on our way home and headed to the Farmer's Market (see my breakfast below) knowing we'd worked out that morning. The weather was beautiful and it was well-run. Maybe not my favorite t-shirt but nice to have pancakes at the end! Though I didn't eat any it's really cute, I can't eat at races until a few hours later.
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| Our bikes after the race! |
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| Chatting with a friend post race. |
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| Post race fancy pose. |
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| In the parking lost after the race. |
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| My pancake breakfast post race with fresh Farmer's market strawberries and farmer's market whip cream. |
