Race Report: North Country Olympic Triathlon 2010 (or Uphill, Both Ways)

The North Country Triathlon takes place in Hauge, NY on the shores of beautiful Lake George. The race includes a sprint and an Olympic distance. This was our first Olympic distance race of the year. I left work early on Friday afternoon and we made the four and a half hour drive North to Lake George. Last year we did the Lake George Triathlon and I was really looking forward to returning to this beautiful place.
We checked into our hotel in Lake George and then drove 20 miles North to Hauge, NY to pick up our race packets and partake in the free pasta dinner for all racers (bonus!). We had read about "the hill" in the pre-race materials and emails so after dinner we decided to drive the bike course to check out the hill. I think I would classify it more like a mountain. Three miles of this:

and this...

After checking out the hill mountain I made Sam stop at the grocery store so I could get some Benadryl and hope for some sleep (I wish I was kidding). We headed back to the hotel, drank a beer at the bar and were in bed by 9:30. At 4:58 the alarm sounded and were up and out of bed. The sun was starting to rise as we packed up the car.

We arrived at the race site just after 6am and staked out a good spot in transition. The views there are so amazing.

The water was cool but not freezing. My guess is the temperature was around 68 degrees. Most people were wearing wetsuits but some of the locals thought the water was down right balmy and opted to go sans neoprene. I had a chance to get in a good warm up prerace and tried to put my mountain fears aside.

Swim: .9 miles*, 37:53, 18/138 overall, 3/36 females, 1/7 age group
To sum up the swim in two words - choppy & long. The water was very choppy. After looking at the pictures I took before the race it was clearly choppy but for some reason I didn't really notice this until I was swimming in the middle of it. The fact that we were swimming along the shore, instead of out and back, seemed to make this worse since it was pushing you to the side instead of forward/back. It kind of felt like swimming up a waterfall.

*What is interesting is that I compared last years fastest swim to this year and the fastest swim this year was a full seven minutes slower. So, between the rough water and possibly long course it was a tough swim. Also, the male who won first place last year and second place this year was a full 4 minutes slower this year.

Logistically I think there were a few other things wrong with the swim course. First, the buoys were very small. They were hard to see from shore and nearly impossible to see while swimming with the waves. The conditions were similar at the Lake George Triathlon last year but they had nice big buoys that were easier to see. Plus, the first and last buoys were orange (same color and swim caps) and the middle buoys were yellow (same color as the kayaks). Finally, the sprint waves went after the Olympic so on my way back I got caught in pack of slow, yet violent, sprinters. My shin was hit pretty hard and I have a good sized bruise to show for it. This was the most contact I've had yet in an open water swim (is it wrong that I've had more contact in the pool?).

Can you see the buoys? Me neither.

T1: 2:19; 85/138 overall, 19/36 females, 3/7 age group

I took  an extra few seconds here to try to get my breath and regain my composure after the rough swim.

Bike: 26.5 miles, 1:49:08, 109/138 overall, 21/36 females, 3/7 age group

Oh the bike.... This was by far the most challenging ride I have ever done. The first 10 miles are rolling hills. Then miles 10-13 are climbing a mountain, okay maybe not a mountain, but a giant f*ing hill that feels like it will never end. Miles 13-16 are a terrifying three mile descent with amazing views. I hit 35mph here. I was worried about this descent before the race but I was so tired at this point that it didn't freak me out too much. Then, 10 more miles of rollers back to transition. I honestly felt like the entire race was uphill (except the 3 mile descent). I know that technically if you start and end at the same place you must do an equal amount of climbing and descending, however this course was sneaky and only went up, up, up.

T2: 1:27; 69/138 overall, 21/36 females, 3/7 age group
Changed shoes, grabbed my hat, race belt and some Sport Beans and hit the road. Most people were done with the sprint by now so transition was a bit crowded with people milling about.

Run: 6.2 miles, 59:15, 102/138 overall, 20/36 females, 3/7 age group

I was feeling dead at the start of the run. The run was an out and back and it was also all uphill (I don't know how they did it either). I was worried I would going to need to do some walking, which would be the first time I've walked in a race. I was also starving so I hate a few of my sport beans but I also tried to ration them a bit. There were aid stations every mile and I grabbed either Gatorade or water at every station. Around mile five I passed two people who had passed me much earlier which was a good feeling. For the last half mile I tried to really pick up the pace and power through. I was tired and hungry and I just wanted it to be over.

Final Time: 3:23:54

Overall: 93 of 138

Females: 14 of 36

Age Group (F25-29): 3 of 7

This race was all about personal achievement for me. My goal was to get my bike up that hill without walking, descend without crying and run without walking. I met all my goals and I am so proud that I was able to finish this race. On Friday night I honestly considered seeing if I could switch from the Olympic to the sprint, but I'm so glad that I stuck with it and beat the mountain.

 

{excellent jersey knit t-shirt}

Pros:

- Great volunteers and community support

- Free pre-race pasta dinner

- Goody bag with coffee and Gu Chomps, awesome jersey knit t-shirt, unique finisher medal

- Pizza and drinks post race (even for slow people like me!)

- Breathtaking views

Cons:

- Hills, hills ad more hills.
- Tiny swim buoys & caps the same color as buoys
- Score-This! timing chips with their painful zip ties (left scars last year); this year I remember and brought my own ankle strap.

After the race we indulged in (veggie)burgers, cheese curds and root beer floats at A&W.

On Sunday Sam challenged me to a mini golf rematch so we stopped at the Pirates Cove golf course on our way out of town.

 

Sam won...

 I lost...

 

Next up is the 3 Mile Steelman Open Water Swim on July 11th!