Several months of training & racing culminated to peak for the NYC Triathlon -- my first olympic distance race that attracted over 3000 triathletes from 49 states (apparently, there are no triathletes in west virginia) and 50 countries. It was about a year ago that I decided to work towards a triathlon and on July 18, 2010, was the day I was going to achieve those goals. I was now 15 lbs lighter, learned how to swim (sort of), and got in the best shape of my life.

Race day started at 3:30 AM as I had to prepare my transition area by 5:45 AM. After I prepared my transition, I had two hours before my wave at 7:51 AM -- the third to last wave. I used this time to use the restroom (and almost threw up due to it’s nastiness), run through a mental checklist, and watch the pros, elite, and age-groupers stream down the Hudson.

Watching early swimmers

The Starting Line

Triathletes waiting for their waves

My Fans

Last minute adjustments

So, how do I look?!

HEY YOU GUYSSSS!!

SWIM

Prior to this day, I haven’t been able to swim continuously for 400 meters in the pool. And oddly enough, I wasn’t nervous about swimming 1500 meters in the Hudson River. The strong current coupled with several race officials in kayaks and the adrenaline of the moment was enough for me to feel confident that I can finish the swim. Unlike the bike and run legs, my expectations for the swim was to simply finish safely and conservatively.

Twenty minutes prior to kick-off, I slipped on my wetsuit and was ready to go.

Seriously struggling to put on my wetsuit.

Due to my inexperience, I decided against an in-water start and let the pack go before I jumped in (there wasn’t any room for me anyways). The announcer mentioned the current was in our favor this year. When the pros went, the current was at .5 knots. By 7:51 AM, it was three times faster at 1.5 knots!

Lining up!

WOMPPPPPPP!!! The horn sounded and I refused the temptation to cannonball into the Hudson, instead opting to plop into the water.

LOOK MOM! I'm swimming!

My girlfriend and her mum nervously looking on...

SOMEONE HELP ME!!!

JUST KIDDING!

The race was on and I stuck to my plan — swim extremely slow for the first 300 meters. I realized at this point, I was alone in the back of the pack but I didn’t care. I had my rhythm and stuck to it. Before you know, I was catching up to a handful of swimmers that went out too fast. To my surprise, the Hudson was quite clean and preferred drinking from the Hudson than any salt water beach in NY.

Focused on breathing, I continued and attempted to sight often. I could tell I was swimming zig-zag along the course but I didn’t care. Mid-way through the swim, I was caught by the next wave and jockeyed for position. I had my left eye knocked by an elbow and a bit of water got in. I stayed calm yet aggressive, and continued with my swim. The swim felt like an eternity but soon enough, I saw the end of the course! Hearing the piercing yelp cheers from my girlfriend motivated me to finish strong.

I can see the finish line! And caught up with a few (ok, more like one person) from the wave in front of me...

The water was shallow a hundred meters from the finish line as I was scooping up muck on every stroke. In the pre-race briefing, they warned us that if we stood up -- we wouldn’t be able to walk through the muck and swam until I was helped by the volunteers.

HIGH FIVE! Damn you're diesel

As soon as I got up, I felt dizzy but quickly composed myself and was on my to T1. I was a bit surprised that I just swam 1500m in the Hudson without getting hypoxic, without stopping, and had so much energy to spare.

Where am I? ....Who am I?!

My finish time was 22:58 (1:22 pace), which was 2867th fastest out of 3476. Obviously, swim is my weakness and something to work on for next year but in normal circumstances, 1:22 pace is quite good! And in the pool I average 2:20 so you can see how strong the current was.

T1

Transition 1 was straight forward and went smoothly until I tried to put on my HR strap. The strap needed adjustment and decided not to use it to avoid further delay. Out and about, the first thing we encountered was a short steep hill. I made a pass on the left side and was on my way to the WestSide Highway.

BIKE

The bike started with a short climb. See:

Overall the course was moderately hilly -- rolling hills coupled with a few steady climbs averaging only 8-10 mph. I didn’t feel the course was more difficult than say four laps around central park. On one descent, I reached 40 mph and could’ve gone faster but there were a few bottlenecks along the ride. I must’ve passed hundreds of cyclists and knew I had good legs to go faster but decided to save my legs for the run.

The bike leg was for the most part, uneventful. You had a few people illegally drafting, few people that didn’t know the meaning of  ”On your left”, and water bottles along the road to avoid. At one instance, a support van was driving in the middle lane and ran over a bottle which shot out in front of a few cyclists in front of me. It could’ve been disastrous but luckily everyone avoided it.

Hydration-wise, I was ok. I have an extremely high sweat rate and did I mention it was around 90-95 degrees with high humidity? I finished two 20 oz bottles and two gels a bit early by mile 16-17 and knew the run would be challenging. One of the challenges of sweating profusely is the sweat can get in your eyes, burn, and distract you from the task at hand. My brother Larry lent me his Halo sweatband and decided to give it a try. It channels your sweat to the side of your face and honestly, it absolutely worked! There was only a few times the sweat got in my eyes and helped out tremendously. I kept it on for the run as well.

The views on the west side highway were beautiful. How often can you say you biked on the west side highway? It felt exclusively vip status to have that opportunity.

My goal was to finish in 1:20 and finished in 1:14:25 (20 mph), good for 332nd fastest out of 3476.

T2

One thing I forgot to do is to remove my feet from the shoes to save a few extra seconds into T2. Other than that, it went according to plan. Since I was in need of more fluids, I decided to use my dorky fuel belt. I kept it in transition as a “just in case” item. In normal conditions, especially in an Olympic distance race it usually isn’t necessary. But at 95 degrees, it wasn’t normal conditions! I knew the course had water at every mile but preferred the convenience of drinking when I felt like it.

RUN

I started the run pouring water onto myself and sat 10 seconds underneath a shower. The great thing about a later wave time is the crowds thin out and can easily spot your friends & family. I felt strong heading into Central Park and maintained a 7:30 pace but was short lived.

My Fans waiting for me on 72nd street (...what's taking him so long?!?)

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s my friend Alex Paul! Visit him over here! (but make sure you come back )

Shortly after, I arrived. (clapping starts now)

HIGH FIVE! Again...

But like a thief in the night, I was gone!

Asian Ass Shot (AAS)

Throughout the run, I was well hydrated and cool -- I don’t think the heat affected my performance too much. The problem I faced on the run were the hills and the amount of energy it required for me to continue to push forward. Still, it was a decent run and passed several runners on my way to the finish line. Run finished in 52:51 (8:31/mile)

At the end of the run, we were given finisher’s medal, ice cold towel, and water which was exactly what I needed to cool-down. Of course, I had to finish in style -- throwing up the asian peaces!

PEACES!! PEACES!!

My goal of finishing an olympic triathlon beating Sanjay Gupta and Mike Woods is complete! Here are my results:

Final time: 2:36:30 (641/3472)

Time to head home, ice bath, and eat.

That's Nida! Who took most of the photos. Thanks Nida!

Thanks Katie, Katie’s Mum, Nida, Larry, Tom for coming out to support me. I appreciate it !