Harryman 2014: Our First Triathlon

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Harryman Triathlon – Harriman State Park, New York - May 17, 2014 (Olympic distance)




We trained entirely on our own for our very first triathlon. However, nothing could prepare us for how cold that lake water was! Sheesh! I believe the official temperature on race day was 54º!

Luckily, Harryman offered a race clinic the weekend before. Zach & I were the only ones to show up, which was surprising, but we were grateful because it gave us 1:1 time with each of the coaches…and we had lots of questions! We biked the course loop with them and were unpleasantly surprised by the 2 mile hill at the end of the bike loop (which we’d do 2x on race day). You go bombing down this huge hill – clocking-in around 35mph, and then hit a really sharp U-turn and immediately begin to climb. Bottom line: enjoy the joy ride while it lasts, but make sure you are in a LOW gear and be ready to WORK by the time you get around that turn!

Anyway, we had perfect weather on race day. My Mom came to cheer us on….pom-poms and all! (you think I’m kidding….) We both finished in one piece. Zach & I debriefed afterwards. We both agreed that the pain in our legs going immediately to running after biking, is something like neither of us had experienced before. We had done mini bricks (bike-runs) in our training, but definitely not enough. Lesson learned.

Other moments we’d like to remember:

  • Triathlon will wipe away any preconceived notions you have about people and their athletic ability. We were passed by people who were older, shorter, bigger. It doesn’t matter. You have to put in the training.
  • Zach had the pleasure of being close to a dude who decided it was a great idea to sing while biking up the monstrous hill. I was laughing my butt off when he told me about this, but I can also appreciate that it’s rather obnoxious when you’re just trying to breathe & pedal, and this guy acts like he doesn’t have a care in the world.
  • Katie raced on a 21-pound hybrid bike. Without clips.
  • Despite 3+ hours of racing, we were not hungry at all after the race. Completely unexpected. In fact, we were both nauseous when we tried to eat.

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