Amica New London 19.7 Race Report

On July 25th I raced at the Amica 19.7 held at Ocean Beach New London.  This race was part of a new nationwide series put on by Amica that runs standard length sprint races, with half mile swims, 16.1 mile bikes and 3.1 mile runs.  The race was well run and felt like a much higher profile event, despite the short distance.

 

Slept exceptionally poorly for the first time this year the night before and was very concerned about being able to race on nearly no sleep.  However, Rico had decided to come up and spectate to it was time to suit up and hope for the best. 

 

A shot of the pre race “coaches meeting” with Rico on the way to the water.  Note the wet boardwalk.

Further discussions regarding the swim:

Started in the first wave after the elites.  Started again on the side I felt lined up best with the buoys, in the 3rd row or so.  That’s me right in the center of the picture breathing to the right. 

Was keeping a steady pace on the swim, which was 340 yards out, 200 across and 340 back in.  In the 200 yard section, I got stung by a jellyfish on the hand.  Wasn’t quite as bad as I was thinking it might be – kind of felt like a mild bee sting.  Given the number of jellyfish I saw in the water I considered myself lucky to only get stung once.

 

Turning toward shore, I hugged the buoys while many people went really wide.  That me right next to the top of the large buoy, making a black upside down V.

Closer shot near shore:

Exited the water, well ahead of my forecasted pace.  I’m swimming about 10-15 sec/100 yards faster with the wetsuit (and in a race) then in the pool.  Came out of the water in 14:22 for the half mile which put my top 1/4 of the field overall.  Not my best performance and I didn’t feel like it was my strongest swim in a race.  I need to smooth out my sighting strokes to gain a little time.

Up across the beach to T1 and I fumbled with my shoe and locating my gel packet.  Rico shot a video of T1 which showed that something that simple cost me 15 seconds.  However, looking at the video I also noticed many people running with their wetsuit fully zipped into T1 and just beginning to undo it at their bike.  I have mine down to my waist by then, so maybe a wash overall.

 

Then right after the timing mat at the T1 exit, I slipped on that wet boardwalk.  The combination of bike cleats and and wet wood doesn’t work.  No damage to the bike but ended up with a pretty banged up knee.

 

The bike course was pretty technical with lots of turns.  However, it was also very scenic with some stretches right along the shore.  It had a few rollers and also a half mile long hill that was steep enough to require my easiest gear.  I was caught off guard a little by how lumpy the course was – I was expecting a little flatter right at the coast.  I kept a pretty steady effort and again finished in about the top half of my age group and top quarter of the overall field.  Time for the 16 miles was 47:23.

 

Here are some nice shots cranking towards T2:

Then it was on to the run.  I started off quickly, as usual, out of transition and worked to bring my pace to a sustainable level.  Was still running quick by the support crew:

Just after this I ran into my usual demons at the 3/4 mile mark.  This time I was able to keep running through the cramp, taking some comfort in knowing that it is usual pretty temporary.  I was then settled in at my 8:30ish type pace.  Just after the turn onto the road along the ocean at the 1.4 mile mark, I was passed by the girl pictured below.  She didn’t fly by me, so I tied to up my pace.  I looked at my watch, and she was running a very consistent 7:50 pace.  I find it much easier to run using someone else to pace, so I tagged along behind her.  I was also thinking I hadn’t seen another women on course, so perhaps I could out sprint her and prevent being “chicked”.  As she ran out of gas with about 1/3 of a mile to go, I passed her back and kept going.

 

The finish line was on the boardwalk, now thankfully much drier, right along the beach.  Here’s the finish sequence:

Thanks to the pacing, this was my best run in a triathlon with a 8:05 pace for the 5k which put my top 1/3 overall and again around top half of my age group.  Was really happy with the run and need to keep pushing to see how fast I can really go – particularly in these shorter races.

 

After the finish it was time for a visit with New London’s finest to get my knee cleaned out and bandaged up:

 

My finish put me 10/20 in my age group and 63/293 overall.  Considering the lack of sleep I was pleased, particularly with my run.  I don’t think I had my best swim and bike though, but they weren’t bad by any means.  Interestingly, this is the 3rd triathlon in a row where I finished in exactly the top 22% overall (the others being Hockomock and Webster). 

 

Thanks to Rico for making the trip up and particularly for driving to the race.  That was awesome.  And as always thanks to my photographer and #1 fan for coming out to support.

 

Final stats:

	Time	Distance	Pace	AG Place	%	Overall Place	%
# Entries				20		293
Swim	14:22	1/2 mile	1:39/100 yd	9	45%	71	24%
T1	2:17			11	55%	80	27%
Bike	47:23	16.1 miles	20.4 mph	10	50%	67	23%
T2	1:00			11	55%	102	35%
Run	25:16	3.1 miles	8:05/mile	11	55%	97	33%
Total	1:30:16			10	50%	63	22%