Wow! This year’s New York City Triathlon kicked my butt! I came in second to Jordan Jones, who had a breakthrough performance and crushed the field. This is my seventh podium for 2012! I’m still looking to have one of those outstanding races, but I’m really happy with how consistent my performances have been this year.
The river this year was moving really fast. We finished the swim portion in about 11 minutes. Normally I’m not too excited about short swims, but the Hudson River is a little nasty so nobody is asking to go back in. Getting onto West Side Highway for the run I was able to drop the rest of the lead pack. I thought I was doing well until about 25km into the 40km bike course. My legs started talking back. I hit a wall and the fuses just blew. Jordan Jones caught me at 30km and I had no gas to try to hang with him. I finished the bike 45 seconds down hoping I could catch back on in the run.
Now, Jordan Jones isn’t a huge name yet in Triathlon, but he’s a former Division I runner who is learning quickly how to ride a bike as well as anyone. I held the gap for the first 4 miles of the run, but couldn’t close any time. I hit the last hill in Central Park with a big gap over 3rd and my legs finally gave in. I cruised it in as quickly as I could, but was solidly in second with jello for legs. My splits were comparable to last year’s if you take out the faster swim. I was 20 seconds faster on the bike than a year ago, and just 10 seconds off the former bike course record. Jones had the fastest bike split that’s ever been posted on this course by 90 seconds. My run was 30 seconds slower than last year’s, and Jones managed to run a minute faster than me by the end. So my race was solid, but I have some work to do before I see Jones again!