Race Report: Jerseyman Sprint Triathlon - AquaVelo

Every race you do serves a purpose. Sometimes it's your "A" race of the year, others it's to support a good cause, and other times it is a good excuse to go get breakfast with your friends. No matter what the race is about for you, you are there for a reason.

On May 17, 2014 I raced the Jerseyman Sprint Distance Triathlon at Spruce Run Park in Clinton, NJ. When I signed up for this race in early January the goal for this race was to simple go out and race hard while shaking out the racing cobwebs before Eagleman 70.3 and Ironman Coure' d'Alane, both in June. And breakfast ... don't forget breakfast.

Unfortunately, if you've been following this blog for a while you know this season hasn't started the way it was planned. Since signing up for this race I've torn a meniscus, had surgery to repair said meniscus, and haven't run in three months. As a result, IMCDA isn't going to happen and Eagleman will be a planned DNF swim/bike training session.

Since nothing was going to plan so far in 2014 I simply changed the plan here as well. Once I was cleared to swim and bike by the surgeon, I contacted the race director who allowed me to change divisions and race in the AquaVelo division (aka the injured guy division). After months of limited training and no racing, just getting back out there to see what I had became the new plan. Being back on the bike and in the pool for less than three weeks left me with no time goals whatsoever.

Race morning turned out to be an almost ideal weather day. At the start of the race it was sunny and 53 degrees. The air was warming. The lake was around 62 degrees.

After taking a quick dip with Em in the lake I lined up with the first wave (Elites and AquaVelo). After the national anthem we were all ready to roll ... except for the swim safety crew who decided it was time to have a quick meeting. Eventually they jumped on their kayaks and into position. About 10 minutes late, the gun went off and into the water we went.

Overall my swim was fine, but the first few hundred meters kinda sucked. After warming back up again during the delay, the cold water tightened my chest a bit. Past race experience told me this was normal and I just kept swimming, knowing it would go away. What I couldn't believe, however, was what was happening in front of me.

Normally in a small race like this I end up swimming alone. This happens not because I'm a great swimmer or a horrible swimmer. Quite the contrary, I'm just fast enough to get out in front of the slower swimmers but not fast enough to find the feet of the "real" swimmers, so swimming seemed normal. There were, however, two surprises.

First, what I saw in front of me was an unorganized mess. The elite wave was swimming all over the place with no real organization. It looked familiar, don't get me wrong, I just didn't expect to see this with an elite wave of athletes. The second thing that caught me off guard was when I caught up to two swimmers at the end of the 1/2 mile swim. Again, this is an elite wave I'm with and this is a short swim. If you have the ability to put space between us you should be able to not slow down and let me catch you before we exit the water.

Moral of the story: even elite racers can be a bit of a mess during the swim.

Official Swim Time - 13:39 (0.60 mile)  Garmin Swim Time - 12:20 (0.50 mile)

Out of the water and up to transition. My time was horribly slow ... partially justified. What was justified is the reality of having to walk, not run, the transition. With a longish trek from the lake to the bikes I could only move so fast. What can't be justified is the amount of time it took to remove my wetsuit. Between the rust of not racing and the huge timing chip on my leg it felt like forever. While grace is not my strong suit, me rolling around on the ground trying to get this rubber suit off my leg must have been comical.

Official T1 Time - 1:52 Garmin T1 Time - 3:11

Finally, onto the bike. The plan here was to ride hard, pass as many people as I could while trying to not get passed from behind. Over the first nine miles I did just that, taking out 6 or 7 people, some of whom were racing in the duathlon, the rest of which were racing the triathlon. At mile nine there was a nice one mile climb that separated me from everyone I would pass on the day. By the time I reached the top I could see no one in front of me and no one behind me. I was still racing, but now I was racing alone, with 8 people in front of me and the rest of the race behind. For the next 10 miles or so I rode alone, concentrating on pushing my pace and not missing any of the well marked turns. Last thing I wanted to do was end up in Trenton.

Around mile 19 I was passed by an age grouper racing with a 46 on his calf. With his wave starting three minutes behind mine, dude obviously could push a pedal. From here on in he was in front of me, but still in sight. Honestly the happiest part of my day was finding out I could hang close to him, especially after I later found out he is more of a timetrialist than a triathlete. So while my bike wasn't all there, it wasn't so bad either.

Official Bike Time - 24 miles in 1:06:10 Garmin Bike Spit - 1:06:11

After completing the bike I walked over, handed in my timing chip, got my medal and, for the first time ever, was the first person in line for the post-race refreshments.

Overall - 1st out of 11 in the AquaVelo Division - 1:21:40

After having a very different winter than originally planned, it was nice to get back out and race again. Being able to push again felt good. And the breakfast at the Country Griddle did not disappoint!!! The girls all placed in AG25-29 - Cassie 1st, Katie 2nd, Emily 3rd - and the Philippe raced well with an outstanding effort the run.

This is a race I have done before and plan on doing again. The timing at the start of the triathlon season makes Jerseyman the perfect race to shake the cobwebs off, race hard, and get any mistakes out of the system. Race Director Ray Campeau has done a nice job here with a fun course to race, a great post-race food spread, more than enough toilet paper for the port-o-johns (this is a HUGE deal), and nice awards. And because it is on a Saturday morning, there is same day packet pickup!!! For me, that's another huge win.

Next up: a planed DNF (will swim and bike but no run) at Eagleman 70.3 on June 8, 2014 in Cambridge, MD.

Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon