Clare L. Deming

I finally found a little free time and am just catching up on some writing, so I thought I’d do a couple of belated race reports first. I raced in the New Jersey State Triathlon for the second time back on July 22, in the sprint distance event. I had participated in the same event last year, so this was the first time I’ve had a chance to compare my performance on the same event from one year to the next.

Finisher medals from this event are huge!

This event consisted of a 500-meter swim, an 11.5-mile bike course, and a 3.1-mile run. The race was well-run and I had no trouble getting my race packet, finding parking, and setting up in transition. I’m starting to feel a little more accustomed to how this triathlon thing works and I think that’s helping with my pre-race sleep, although I’m still not a morning person.

Much of the race was identical to last year. My goals were to be faster in each discipline, but also in my transitions. I had hoped to fit in more specific training, but a sudden change in my work schedule made that impossible. I had only done a few short bike rides, a few 2-mile runs, and one swim session in the pool since Eagleman 6 weeks earlier.

The water that morning was super warm – 88 degrees Fahrenheit – but I was still cold until the very end. My lack of swimming leading up to race day was apparent when I felt rather winded on the final inbound leg. Oh well, the bike was next and that is where I’m strongest.

Transition set up

For T1, I only threw on my helmet, glasses, and cycling shoes, skipping out on socks, gloves, drying my feet, water, or a snack. This worked well and I was quickly out on the bike course. This was much as I remembered it, with several turns and a nearly flat course. Police directed traffic at intersections, and cones separated the athletes from traffic. I passed a lot of people, but that was how 2016 also went, and fit with my expected swim slow–bike pretty fast–run really slow pattern.

Finally I returned to transition and had to leave my bike behind for the final section of the race. I swapped out cycling shoes for running shoes, still with no socks, and exchanged my helmet for a visor, ditching the sunglasses, but also picking up my race belt and number.

I don’t think that the air temperature was as hot as last year, but I still felt like I struggled on the run. I had hoped to run under 30 minutes for the course, but couldn’t quite do it. I still finished about 5 minutes faster than last year, so I was happy overall. And the no-sock technique helped my transitions, but I did get blisters on my feet in the last mile of the run. Fortunately they were not as epic as those from Eagleman.

See all my race reports here.