2015 Wyckoff Triathlon

Transition with balloons

This is an abbreviated  race report . a few weekends back I took part in the 2015 edition (33rd Annual)  Wyckoff/Franklin Lakes  triathlon.  This race is somewhere between a sprint and   Olympic distance race. Its a  800m swim, 17 mile bike and 5 mile run. Weather was nice overcast and mid to high 60’s .

SWIM (800 meters)

My age group swim start (me on far left)

Swim started pretty uneventful, I went in a little Braveheart style, screaming and running into the water, I find this works as a beach start allows you to run in and dolphin dive creating some separation between you and the rest of the pack. This worked out well with very little contact at the race start, this year the lifeguards had their paddle boats strewn all over the race course , at times blocking visibility to the first buoy. Arriving at the left turn buoy I inadvertently took the inside line, and was promptly thrashed and kicked as I made the turn..  racing for the second bouy the sun poked its rays outside the clouds, but having swum here last week it was just a matter of aiming for the tree line that made sighting much easier. The swim back was pretty uneventful, lots of folks from earlier waves, strewn all around, but after reaching the sand I popped out and then the 250m run to the timing mat. I was already sucking wind at this point and felt exhausted.

BIKE (17 miles)

Nearing end of Bike ride (me right rider)

T1 , Tyr 3 wetsuit came off fast, and on went the cycling shoes and helmet. This would be my first race with my “new” Specialized Shiv tri bike. Still need to work on my bike mounts, right after the timing mat I struggled for a good 45+ seconds just trying to clip in.. WTF.. From there  it was onto the course. This year there were a lot of age groupers with some speedy bikes, normally only a few folks pass me , this year more than that.  I just didn’t have the legs to really crank out a good bike performance. Also the crappy Fuelselage (Shiv integrated hydration bladder) was a complete fail, I wasn’t able to suck any water out of the hose, so  I did all 17 miles without fluids. Although I seemed to get a little faster towards then end of the ride, it was not enough I  was about 3 minutes slower than last year.

RUN (5 Miles)

Two age groupers fighting to the finish

After T2, I grabbed my shoes and knew I was not on any sort of record pace, plus I was extremely thirsty and hoping for a water station near mile, one, but no such luck all the aid stations this year came after mile 3.. I trudged along, although there were a few moments of sub 7:30’s not really enough  consistent strong running to make it worthwhile.. Run course was the same as last year, so it was climbing from miles 2-4 then downhill mile 4.. with the finish line in sight I just wrapped up the run with a whimper..

RESULTS

Finishing up my race, better luck next year

My poorest showing at this race in the last few years.. only my transitions improved.. just need to run better, and become more in-tune with my new ride..

Well better luck to me next year.