I grew up in Brigantine, NJ, which is a small island community right next to Atlantic City, NJ. Well, it was a small island community when I was growing up. But much has changed in Brigantine, and it bustles and hustles in the summer more now than ever. As a young teen, I would head to the city dock on 26th Street and watch the Brigantine Triathlon each August. I had always wanted to participate, as many of my friends did when we were younger. But, I didn’t swim then. With my recent foray into swimming and triathlon this season, I was able finally to take part in my hometown event.
The race, held this year on Saturday, August 1, includes a 1/4 mile bay swim, 11 mile bike and a 4 mile run. To be perfectly honest, a few days ago I began to regret my decision to participate in this race. I’m at the end of Base 2 training for my “A” priority race – the Bassman, which is a half ironman (October 4). The Brig Tri was getting in the way of a week of heavy hours on the bike and running. (In fact, after the race, I had to complete a 22 mile bike ride.) I’m beginning to understand what Joe Friel means when he writes in the Triathlete’s Training Bible that we need to pick our “c” priority races very carefully. Lesson learned.
Despite these concerns, I still wanted to do this triathlon – it was a holdover from my youth. And, I had already paid the $80 registration fee (with proceeds benefiting the recreation programs in the city–good cause!). One advantage of racing is that it’s a great way to work in quality speedwork – even if the distances are shorter than what I normally do. I had used the same technique last year, racing 5Ks as speedwork in preparation for the marathon. When using the 5K races as speedwork, it’s important to do at least a 1 mile warmup before the race, and then at least a 1 mile cool down after the race. Using races for speedwork was a tip I picked up from Eric Shrading, a local southern NJ runner and triathlete, who performs consistently well in area events (often winning or placing 2nd overall), and who has particpated in many marathons and half and full ironman races throughout the years. He’s the kind of guy you listen to, you know?
So, I showed up on race morning, ready to treat the event as just another day of training. I picked up my packet and got bodymarked. I was wearing my transition backpack because I wasn’t sure where to put it in the transition area yet. The guys that were doing the body marking actually made fun of my bag. I found that a bit curious. Sure, it was full of stuff, but hadn’t they ever seen a transition bag before? Triathlons are not exactly “gear-light” events. I didn’t particularly like being mocked by the volunteers prior to the race start, but I wasn’t going to let it bother me.
After grabbing my race items, I walked to the transition area. A few other atheletes were there already, and I stopped to chat with one who had a Cervelo bike. Since John and I are looking to purchase tri bikes, we find it useful to talk to owners of various types to see how they like their set up. The man I spoke with had done an ironman, as well as a few halves. In addition to information about his bike, he shared a few key training and racing tips. Gotta love the collective intelligence of the tri community – I haven’t met someone yet that hasn’t been willing to share their wisdom. Continuing to make my way to my spot, I ran into a few people I knew from town, chatted with them as well. A young woman that I take spin classes with from time to time was participating in her first triathlon. Go, Megan!
It was a nice leisurely morning. Maybe I’m starting to get used racing, as my nerves were not as bad as they normally are.
I set up my transition area, trying a few different configurations until I found the set up I liked best. With a sprint, quick transitions are really important, and given my limited experience, I was still working toward improving them. And, I think that I have – but there is always room for improvement. I also think that configuring and reconfirguring my space is a way for me to do something with the extra energy I have on race mornings. Whatever the cause, it’s become part of my pre-race ritual. After getting my space situated, I headed down to the water to do a swim warmup. Because the swim can be nerve wracking for me, I like to get in the water and get used to it. I find that this calms my nerves since I tend to be most apprehensive about the “unknown.” When I know what a course looks like, feels like, I am much more confident and ready to race. I imagine I’m not the only person who feels this way.
By 7:45 a.m., it was time for the pre-race meeting and we got the low down on the course, the rules, and so on. Then, the waves began. I was in the fourth wave: females 30-39. There were quite a few waves – 10 or 12 I think – to account for the narrow channel through which the swim must pass. Each wave was 3 minutes apart. Despite this spacing, the swim was still a free-for-all. There were arms, elbows, feet EVERYWHERE. I managed to get out in probably the first 1/3 of my wave, and eventually caught up with the wave in front of me. Unfortunately, I veered a little bit off course because my goggles were a bit squirrely (I really need new ones!) I probably lost about 1 minute or so with the course correction. Dang. Despite all the people, I was happy that I kept focused and didn’t get scared or lose my stroke rhythm. I practiced keeping one hand out in front to prevent getting walloped in the head with someone’s foot. (At Lake Placid IM, we saw a guy who needed stitches after getting out of the water, so I’ve learned how important it is to protect yourself in the water.) According to the official results, I finished the swim in 8:51. I attribute the poor time to veering off course because I think was swimming with strong effort. I was hoping for a swim in the high 7s or low 8s. Oh well.
Time for the bike. I wanted to average around 20 miles per hour on the bike, but only averaged 19.7 according to the official results. While my bike klonopin times are inching faster, I’d like to see more improvement by now. I’m thinking that I will need to introduce more than just yoga into my routine for strength training. Even though I’m 9 weeks out from my priority A race, I think adding strength training 1 day of week will benefit me at this point. Nothing too crazy – just some basic whole body strength training, with attention on the core as well.
A major problem I had with the bike course was the number of turns. With my limited experience, I’m not 100% adept at hugging turns. I’ve improved, but I still need to slow down to feel safe as I turn. I guess safety should always come before speed. Additionally, I could feel the work of previous days of training weighing heavy in my legs. I had completed a 50 mile bike ride on Wednesday, and a 17 mile run on Thursday. So, by Saturday morning, my legs were decidedly not fresh like the morning dew, to say the least. I don’t like to make excuses, but this was a C-priority race, and tapering is an important part of ensuring top racing form. I was not in top racing form. Enough said.
Compared with other triathlons we’ve done this year, the Brigantine bike course was not particularly scenic–at all. It coasted through the island, which has become grossly overbuilt with large houses on small lots. So, if you were looking for a real estate tour, the bike course was great. If you like open spaces, and scenic passages, the bike course was boring. Suffice to say I have a bias for the open spaces.
I had a decent run, averaging 7:34 mph. This pace is a fast one for me, and based on my garmin forerunner stats, I had negative splits in the run. This style of progressive running is typical for me as I tend to get stronger the longer I run – especially so in a triathlon. I think my potential for this length of race is probably closer to 7:15 or 7:20, but I’ll take the 7:34 – especially given the heat, which was already into the 80s by 9 a.m. One of the great features of the run were the cooling showers that the race director spaced strategically throughout the course. And, at one point in the run, there were two young boys standing at the end of their lawn with a hose. They were asking runners if they wanted a shot – I said, “Absolutely!” The cool water felt wonderful. That moment was probably the best in the race. The boys laughed, and I moved on feeling refreshed. Win-win.
Volunteers offered water about every mile on the run course. Perfect. I took more water than normal given the heat, and I was sweating!
My official finishing time for the event was 1 hour 16 minutes and 37 seconds. Not great, but good for a training race that came at the end of several weeks of long and hard training in Base 2. I guess every race can’t be our best – and I feel like my race form is far from peak right now. At this point in my training, I probably should feel a little beat up (just a little…) with 9 weeks to go until my half ironman.
Despite my sluggishness, my stats relative to the field weren’t too shabby. Age group: 2 out of 27. All females: 16 out of 219. Overall: 126 out of 584. Not to shabby, I guess.
Following the race, we headed over to the ballfields, where the post-race food and awards ceremony would be. At this time, it was about 10 a.m. The race had hired a caterer to put together the post-race food, which was a barbecue. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with the set up. The only options were processed hamburgers, hot dogs or pulled pork sandwiches. No side dishes of any type, no fruit, and no water until around 10:45 a.m. And, spectators had to pay $8 ($4 for kids) if they wanted any of the food. Yikes! I didn’t like the fact that spectators had to pay at all, but to make them pay $8 was ridiculous – especially for the options.
I didn’t eat the food because I knew I still had to do a bike ride, and I didn’t think it would be optimum fuel. Truth be told, it’s not optimum recovery food, either. Sorry to be a critic, but I want to be honest. IMHO: Skip on the caterer, whip up some community involvement (which I know is high in Brigantine) and make some homemade vittles that are more nutritious. (I LOVED this aspect of the Sunset Lake Tri in Bridgeton.) Please, make sure there’s some fruit and a vegetarian option as well. And, if a spectator wants a scoop of pasta salad, what’s the harm in generating some good will? I know you can’t feed everyone, but how many people will make hogs of themselves with the post race food at a small community event like this one?
Results were not posted at the ballfields until 11 a.m., at which point I realized I had gotten 2nd in my age group. Yay! We waited for almost another hour before the awards ceremony finally got started. While I appreciate that the race director wanted to wait until everyone had finished, according to the website, the course officially closed at 11 a.m. I feel like there needs to be a balance between waiting for finishers and respecting the time of those who have already finished–in some cases 2 or 3 hours prior.
Overall, I would rate my Brigantine Triathlon experience a D+.
The best part was the hectic swim, which might sound odd. But, I need to practice being in the water with a lot of thrashing, so this was a good experience for dealing with one of my limiters. Of course, the positive energy of other athletes is a great benefit of going to any race – this race was not an exception to being in the heart of a great community. And, I won’t forget the two young boys with the hose – they were awesome! Along with those two, there were plenty of spectators along the entire course.
The negatives: a lackluster bike and run course with limited scenery, a bike course with too many turns, and a poor post-race milieu. I was disappointed, but perhaps that’s because after so many years, I had built up too many expectations.
To be fair, I think the triathlon is a great one for first timers. It’s a very flat course, with short distances. The swim might be a little challenging for those who are uncomfortable swimming around other people, but given the short distance, it’s quite manageable. And, the spectator-friendly layout offers motivation to keep on going.
