July 19, 2008

The Heat is On

Today was another scorcher in NYC hitting 95 degrees by noon. That was just as I was finishing my third mini-workout of the day, a quick 15 minute run. My coach wouldn't have to worry about me cheating today - I was definitely not going to do one second more than 15 minutes. I had a hard time keeping my pace up and if the heat continues, I should expect a similar pace tomorrow. Prior to running, I did a short ride to check all my gears and loosen my legs up. I got to try out my new helmet and what a difference it made! It's so light that I couldn't even tell I was wearing it after a few minutes.

I weighed myself prior to the ride and then after the run and was down .8 pounds. My body comp scale said I was hydrated, but based on the amount of sweating and weight loss, the word for tomorrow is hydration. I'm already having flashbacks to the Chicago Marathon last year. It will be around 75 and 80% humidity when I start the race at 6:29 a.m. Suddenly a dip in the Hudson sounds kind of refreshing!

I started the morning with a 15 minute swim. In my final check of my swim bag, I realized my member ID was missing. I looked everywhere and couldn't find it. Luckily I still had my guest pass and the security guy recognized me so I was able to get in without too much hassle, but I was really late. I had exactly 15 minutes so I did a short warm-up, a comfortable quarter of a mile and a short cool down. I felt great in the water and I'm looking forward to the swim tomorrow.

After a quick trip to get a new pool ID, it was time to drop my bike in transition. I went a little later to lessen the time my bike was sitting out in the fluctuating temperatures, but it didn't help with avoiding the heat. I'm in the transition with a lengthy barefoot run from the swim exit, but I figure the adrenaline will kick in and make it tolerable. I racked my bike, let some air out of the tires and counted the number of racks I was from the exit. I then met up with Michelle, another person I met through Beginner Triathlete. She did the race last year and has given me a lot of great tips along the way.

Before heading out, I snapped a few shots before the madness really begins. Bike drop is open until 9 p.m. tonight and there were still hundreds of empty spots on the racks.


It turns out I'm not the only one who thinks a dip in the Hudson will be refreshing.


Everyone always talks about this really steep, technical turn and hill on the way out of transition. I wandered around trying to figure out the course and saw this sign laying on the ground, which confirmed which hill it was. It really wasn't that bad, it's just steep and narrow so I imagine it can be tricky with the crowds.


All I have left to do now is pack up my transition bag, which will involve checking and re-checking the contents approximately 100 times. I'll probably even get out of bed at some point and check again. I'm actually not nervous yet, but imagine it will kick in when my alarm goes off at 3 a.m. I'm planning to get to transition really early so I have time to deal with any surprises. If there are no surprises, I'll walk the mile to Swim Start slowly and take it all in. You only get one first big race and this is mine. I plan to enjoy every moment of it.

Swimming
Distance - 700 yards (.4 miles)
Time - 15:00

Biking (3 short rides combined)
Distance - 11.2 miles
Time - 43:55

Running
Distance - 1.71 miles
Time - 15:00

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