Monday, July 19, 2010

I Found Some Carrots!

This morning I raced in the Nautica NYC Triathlon and had quite the rewarding result, finishing 7th in a star studded field!


Coming off a mediocre performance last weekend in Minneapolis, I was determined to take advantage of the swim that favored the weaker swimmers due to the positive current in the Hudson River.

The night before, my fiancee told me to swim harder than I ever have, and I did just that! Due to the slight wind and the various boats passing by, it made for tough, choppy conditions.

I quickly found myself in a full-on fight against the Hudson River! Pounding through wakes, I noticed I was actually passing other swimmers! In my post-race analysis, I realized that this type of swim called for A LOT of aggression and if one wasn't ready for that, then it was a bad day for them!

I exited the swim in 12th (out of 16) and quickly picked off 3 other racers on the half-mile run to T1. During the bike, I was able to pass two more competitors, but then subsequently got passed by 4 other riders. I headed into T2 in 11th and was determined to catch at least one competitor to get that coveted top-10 finish!

Sure enough, within the first mile I had moved into 10th, but I wasn't finished! By the time I had reached the 5-mile marker, I was sitting pretty in 8th and could see 7th place about 150 yards ahead of me! I dug deep, hit the up-hills hard, and secured 7th with a little less than a quarter-mile to go!


I crossed the tape in 1:54:15, roughly 1:25 out of the top 5. In all, I had an awesome swim, an OK bike, and a good run. I was really pleased with my performance and I think it was a good recovery from my result the weekend prior.

Up next will be another ITU race in Canada on the 22nd of August, followed by a second Alcatraz triathlon on the 29th.

Thank you all for the support during my 11 day trip, I truly appreciate it!

Results can be found here: http://onlineraceresults.com/race/view_race.php?race_id=15111#racetop

Talk soon!

-HH

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