NYC Triathlon Cassie Trotter Competes

We arrived in New York at 9:00pm after driving for 7 years (6 hours) in the summer traffic for which DC and MD are notorious. The whole purpose of getting to NY on Friday was not to be as prepared mentally and physically for the race as possible, but to have plenty of time to change, drink and party before settling down into race mode.I want to have more fun things to say about the pre-race partying in the Big Apple. But, there isn't much to say. Jade Terrace had the potential, with its rooftop dance floor and Manhattan location, to be the Friday night gem, but alas, it was ghetto and there seemed to be a weight requirement that me and my crew were 50-60 pounds shy of meeting. Nevertheless, we danced the night away. Danced and drank $10 mixed beverages.

Saturday: Bike Racking and packet pickup:Brent the Tri-taxi drove up with 3 people and 5 cycles. Saturday, things seemed to be going smooth…we picked up our packets, drove to the transition area, found mediocre parking, unpacked the bikes, took them to our transition spot, racked them no problem, and headed back to the car. At the car we met up with one of the other bike owners. Her bike was in Brent's truck and she was ready to rack it – straight forward, right? Wrong. She reaches into the back of the truck only to find a new wheel in her possession…somehow her wheel (which was now several blocks away neatly racked in space 1367) ended up on my bike. Now, I'll take the blame for that mistake, but we all know that it was mostly likely something that Brent did because all problems, big or small begin with BJ. Problem gets fixed - she heads to transition, switches out our wheels and we go about the day. Club dinner on the east side and early to bed.

Race morning: Woke up tired, as usual, and as expected…rarely do I get sleep the night before. I attribute the lack of sleep to nervousness. I checked transition and all looked good so I started the mile long hike to swim start.

Swim: 18:52 (?????)In a last minute decision I decided to ditch the wetsuit and swim with the filth up against my skin. I usually try to get to the front of the line at the swim start, because it's my stronger leg and I don't want to swim over folks to get in my rhythm. This caused a major problem. As most people know the swim current in the Hudson is intense. We were asked to grab onto a rope to prevent from being swept downstream. Problem was, some of the racers were panicking and standing on the rope. With the rope deep into the river, it was impossible to hold on unless you had really long arms. I ended up letting go of the rope with about 2 minutes to go and treading water at the front. I was exhausted. To add to the intensity of struggling against the current, panicky little broads were grabbing onto my arms and shoulders to prevent themselves from being swept downstream. It was totally chaotic. When the swim finally began, I was lazy. I was tempted to stop with the arm motion and float down to swim exit. I managed to suck it up and swim, but I was lazy and distracted by the nasty taste of the Hudson. I'm supposed to be a swimmer and I take it for granted by not training for the swim – ever. I need to get my ass in the pool! Transition: There was about a half mile run to the transition and I ran pretty hard. I didn't have to remove my wetsuit (since I didn't wear one) but I did need to put on my tri top (I didn't wear it during the swim because it has pockets and I didn't need a parachute) and that took a few extra beats. It was a bit crowded getting out onto the bike, but overall it wasn't too bad.

Bike: 1:20.31 (13/230 age group) I didn't do enough pre-race recon. I had no idea what the bike course was like. I was actually surprised by the false hills and was totally discouraged when I looked at my bike computer and saw 16mph on what I thought was a flat. I generally push hard for an entire Olympic triathlon. I was pushing extra hard during the beginning of the bike though, because of the rate I was seeing on my computer. By the turn around, my legs were pretty tired. I took spinning out on the first few downhills to get my second wind. When I got the second wind, I pushed as hard as possible coming out of the downhills and tried to maintain that momentum on the flats. With the wind at my back for the last ten miles or so, the bike felt very smooth.

Transition 2:Not much exciting to say here. I took off my cleats and put on my sneaks…

Run: 45.29 (15/230 age group) Again, I wasn't sure what I was getting into but was really excited about running 6.2 miles through central park. It was nice to see and hear the cheering fans for the first mile of the run supporting the unknown racers. I paced behind a woman that I was back and forth with during the bike, and ran hard into the park. I was feeling pretty strong until around mile 2, when I could feel my pace slowing down. I got to run with a fellow tri-clubber for a half mile or so who helped me get back on pace and encouraged me to pick it up and chase down my age group. That helped a lot. I can't confirm it, because my watch wasn't working, but I think I negative split the run. Partly because of the encouragement from the mystery tri-clubber and partly because the cheering fans around mile 5.5 kept telling me finish was 'right around the corner' so I was near-sprinting for the last half mile.

Overall:2:32.189/230

Age group - Looking at my swim place, for a swimmer, I need to be higher. I'm starting to wonder if my swim leg is my strong leg. I should've been at least 2.5 minutes faster on the swim and would have been if I would just practice 2 times a week. But, its a lot easier said than done. After 17, swimming became a job and it still feels like that every time I train. But overall, I thought it was a great race. I will definitely do it again, although maybe with a wetsuit. Now that I know the course, I think my time will improve. If I'm tri-in next year, I'm definitely thereAnd of course, thanks to Brent for driving, and Chad for organizing the dinner.

Revolution Cycles Retail Event

Hey Folks!

I know you have been waiting with bated breath to hear about how Cassie and I performed at the event. Well it goes like this...They didn't really know we were coming..Yep..it seems that the person that Active confirmed the appointment with decided to quit and did not tell anyone. Ahem.....so after forging through a ton of traffic we arrived to find a tent in the parking lot serving hot dogs and cold drinks - that was

sponsored by Revolution Cycles. YIPPIE! FREE FOOD! We introduced ourselves to the manager and owner who were very accommodating and happy to see us despite the surprise visit.

We educated the staff on many of the Polar Watches features. They had no idea that it could do so much and were very grateful for our time and effort. We found that Polar does not do a lot of education of thestaff and needs to provide more advertising banners, etc in their shop. The staff commented that they would like to know a lot more about the products. Cassie and I exchanged many stories on race competition and ended up having a really nice time. The lesson learned from the event is: Life's experiences are what you make of them.

Stefan Wiesen Posts Top Age Group Results!

April 1st "March Madness" Duathlon, NYC

10th /650 Overall

Time 1:03

April 29th "St. Anthony" St. Pete, FL

10/340 Age Group

166/3000 Overall
Time 2:13

June 9th "Escape from Fort Delaware" DE

Olympic Tri

2/15 age group

15/300 Overall

Time 2:25

June 24th "Philadelphia Triathlon" Phil, PA

Olymp. Tri

8/222 Age Group

55/1600 Overall

Time 2:15

Bart Forsyth Get BIZZY Racing!!!

Virginia Run Sprint Triathlon
This is the third year I've done this race and I've made steady progress. Two years ago I finished third, last year I finished second, and this year I won. This was the first time I had ever won a triathlon, and it was a great feeling.
Here's a link to a great video with lots of Polar exposure:
http://www.beexpressive.com/varun07.html

Bassman Triathlon
This was a surprisingly tough course as the 29 mile bike had a nasty headwind. I was also surprised by the level of competition. Overall, I was happy with how I raced, finishing 10th overall (4th age), with the 2nd fastest bike split of the day.

Columbia Triathlon
This was my first year doing Columbia. It was the third race I did in four weeks and, to be honest, I felt a little burnt out before it started. I went out way to slow on the bike, but I found a groove over the last few miles and felt good on the run. As soon as it was over, this was one I wish I could have another crack at, but I had a lot of fun and finished 4th in my age group. And, of course, I'll get another crack next year.

Black Bear Triathlon
This race was tough. Right before the swim started, the race organizers told us one of the bouys became unanchored and was floating away. We were told not to swim around that one. Once I was out in the water, however, I unknowingly spotted the runaway buoy and started swimming toward it. After a minute or so, I noticed there was no one else near me and I realized I was swimming off course. But things came together on the bike. This was probably the toughest bike course I've ever rode, and I think the hills played to my strengths. With about 4 miles left on the bike, I took over first place. I felt just good enough to hold everyone off on the run and win.

Cassie Trotter Attacks Alcatraz

PRE RACE: It was my first time shipping my bike and, thanks to Carrie, I had no problems packing it or shipping it to San Francisco. Unfortunately, when I opened the case on Saturday, my bike computer was smashed and I couldn't get my left pedal back on the bike. We spent Saturday solving those minor problems (that seemed major at the time) and getting acclimated to the cold and windy San Francisco weather. Instead of getting out for a ride, we got in our rental mini van and drove the course. Driving the course instead of riding it was a smart decision... We rose early on Sunday morning, 3:45, to get to the race by 4:15 and we were amongst the first to get on the bus from transition to the boat that was drop us off in the freezing bay waters. I found that I was pretty nervous that morning mostly because there were so many steps to take before starting the race: packing a a transition bag for the beach with shoes and warm clothes for the run from the beach to the transition area; preparing a bag for the boat with everything I might need between 4:30am and the 7:00 race start; and preparing the usual transition area. By the time we loaded on the boat and set off towards Alcatraz, I had calmed down and was ready to get the show on the road.

SWIM:One of the coolest things was watching the pros start the race from the edge of the boat. Alcatraz was the first race where I was surrounded by tens of world class triathletes so I was slightly star struck. All 2000 athletes were to be loaded off the boat in only 6 minutes. Needless to say, I saw the pro's leap, which means I missed my wave start. I quickly found out that there was no order. Caps of all colors were jumping off at once. The water was freezing, but it was actually a little less shocking than I expected. Anyone that competed in the lake Anna half or sprint this April would've felt the same way. Water temperature when we leaped was 57 degrees. The water was really choppy. It was choppier than I imagined and the current was very strong (although it was working in our favor). I managed to swim over and around a gang of people and get a space to swim alone. At some point half way, someone actually came up behind me and grabbed my foot. I thought it was funny as there was no one on either side of me and the guy could've chose another course of action. It turned out to be a good thing, because when he grabbed my foot I realized I had slowed down quite a bit; not because of the cold or because I was fatigued, but because I was in auto pilot. At the pre-race talk we were given sighting guidance. We were told to sight a dome in the distance. Sighting the dome actually guided me to a beach several hundred yards past our transition area. I noticed it just in time to literally turn left and swim against the current towards shore. I noticed several other athletes doing the same thing. TRANSITION from swim to run (to bike):Transition was pretty cool. Our post swim bags were lined up by our number and volunteers were helping us find our bags. It was very organized. I took my time taking off my wetsuit and putting on my socks and shoes for the .5 mile run to the bikes. It was absolutely freezing but I couldn't feel the cold at all. Instead of putting on my long sleeve transition shirt, I ran with it in my hand.

BIKE:I got to transition and had to program my bike computer (The Polar vendor table gave me a back up computer to replace my smashed one for the race) because I didn't have the manual before I had to load on to the boat. It only took me a minute or two at transition and I was ready to go (I'm married to my bike computer, without it I would've been lost). As soon as I got on the bike, I noticed two things that would irritate me for the entire ride. 1- I didnt tighten my seat post enough and it slid a few inches down in the tube (my knees hit my chest while I was in my aerobars) and 2 - I didn't tighten my aerobars, so they were uneven. Lessons learned for my next race on the road... There was about a mile stretch to warm up before the first big climb. The climb was long, steep and scenic. It took us along the shoreline up to the golden gate bridge and through beautiful neighborhoods. There was steep downhill, following the climb and I used it to my advantage. While most people were braking a lot, I was a slight more reckless in an effort to make up for anything I lost on the climb. There was another steep climb up to the Legion of Honor, another decent to the Atlantic side of the city and a short ride through the park. A loop and we did it all over again. On the climb I was motivated by the professional leader powering through the race right after completing the infamous sand steps. I witnessed a brutal crash and made it back to transition in one piece.

RUN:Other than the sand stairs I had no idea what to expect from the 8 mile run. Again, there was a good mile or two before any type of climb. The first climb (I thought was the sand stairs) was series of steps from the beach up a hill, and for a good mile or two we ran on gravel and a path less than two feet wide (with two way traffic) through a tunnel that was 6 feet tall at the opening, pitch black inside and 5 feet at the exit. And finally, around mile four we made it to the beach. A mile loop on the beach and we hit the sand stairs. The sand stairs were actually worse than I imagined. It was virtually impossible to do anything other than take one step at a time (walking pace.) I'd read about the steps ahead of time, even about how the pros walked them, but was fully able to understand there seriousness until that moment. They were hardly stairs. It was a sand mound with logs strategically placed and hardly sturdy. The only positive was the 400 stairs only felt like 390. After the stairs my second wind kicked in and I passed several of women in my age group. I felt strong for the last three miles and picked up the pace. I was starting to slow down a bit, when I guy in a Vancouver BC jersey ran past me. I told him I was from Kamloops BC and he paced me for about a mile and half and then kicked into a gear I definitely didn't have for the last mile. It was nice to see another BC'er on the course (as it turns out there were several.) The best part of the race was having three of my best friends at the finish line cheering me on. I was so lucky to have three of my favorite people make the trip with me from DC to San Francisco. It was also awesome having another great friend, Adrienne, racing a ong side me. Things would've been very different had I gone it alone. It was also great seeing DC Tri Clubbers Lisa and Anathea. RESULTSTime: 2:57. I was surprised to have finished in the top ten of my age group (7th) and under 3 hours! I honestly didn't think I had any chance of a decent placing so I was pretty bitter that I took my sweet time in transition and on certain parts of the bike. Few less minutes and I could've place third. I'll definitely race it again