FA Tony Tanzi- March Madness RR

March 25^th, 2012: I circled this date about 4 months ago when I began to plan out my season.  Being one of the first multisport events of the year and its location in Central Park the race has a history of selling out all of its 650 spots.  This year was no different.  I felt this race would be a good kick off into the season as I timed it to be after I finished my first training block.

Race Day


4:45am: Alarm goes off, wake up, load car, eat, and out the door at 5:15am for the hour car ride into NYC.  The weather called for an 80% chance of rain and about 40-50 degree temps, luckily the rain had appeared to be holding off at this point.

6:15am: Parked along the curb outside of Central Park and decided to pump my tired while I was at my car so I didn’t have to bring my pump with me.  After a quick tire onto my bike I go for a quick 5 min ride to the boathouse where the transition area and race start/finish are located.  Competitor instructions stated that the transition area was going to open at 6:15 but I guess they were running a little behind and the gates didn’t open til about 6:45.  

6:45am: You were instructed to know your race number prior to getting your timing chip so you can put your bike at your rack to avoid congestion in the lines.  My transition spot was located right in the middle of the parking lot which wasn’t a great spot nor was it the worst spot…checked in, got my race number tag, timing chip…time to get my transition spot set up and get warming up, race is scheduled to start at 7:30

7:00am: I head out for a short 1-2mile warm up, at this time I was still undecided as to the number of layers I was going to be wearing, temps were around 40 but once you get moving on your bike it feels much cooler.  

7:20am: Race shoes on, jersey zipped, arm warmers on and its time to go to the start.  I left my warm ups on because I was unsure if the race was actually going to start on time.   I continued to do some last minute warming up at the start and then ditched the warm ups…..only to hear the announcement that everyone had to report back to transition for pre race announcements…. After that was all said and done, it was time to race…Finally at 7:47am!

I didn’t have any specific race plan, was just going to go with the flow and see how I felt.

This race is advertised as a 2 mile run, 12 mile bike, and 2 mile run…2 miles or more like 2.28? (Thanks Garmin)

Run 1: (2.28mi, 12:33, 5:30/mile) 

A group of about 5-6 of us broke away right from the start, the first mile is mostly downhill so I just cruised along and didn’t try to drop anyone.  

Mile 1: 5:37.  After mile one we had a little more of a gradual downhill until the turn around where we were going to have to head straight back to transition (mostly uphill) I decided to push the pace a little to try to separate the lead pack on the way back to transition…

Mile 2: 5:29.  Myself and one other athlete gained a little separation in the next mile and with the remaining .28 I continued to pick the pace up and ran a 5:17 pace for that last piece…I entered transition in first place with second place a step behind…

Into transition we went…

T1:  I somehow managed to lose 17 seconds in T1!?! Anyway bike helmet and shoes on and onto the bike I went…

Bike:  (12.03mi, 30:52, 23.4mph avg)

I got onto my bike in second place and now had some time to make up.  Off I went with 12 miles of a hard effort.  I passed the first place athlete about 2 miles into the bike and from there on I was in first place.  The lead car lead me through the first lap of the bike (2-6mile loops) and the second lap I was on my own.  The second lap was much more crowded with athletes as well as the public individuals going about their weekend workouts.  I stayed consistent throughout the whole bike leg and entered T2 in first place with about a 1minute gap on second place.

(My watch took a split every 5 miles, I probably should have changed it to 6 for this race)

T2 was much better than T1, bike on the rack, helmet off, shoes on and out and running I went.

Run 2: (2.28mi, 13:05, 5:44/mile)

Out of T2 I looked back and didn’t see anyone into transition yet.  I found my legs pretty quickly despite a cramp in my calf which went away after the first initial hill.  Down to the turnaround I took a look at my watch so I could see how much of a gap I had on second place… about 1 minute 10 second lead at the turn around.  I picked it up on the way back through the second mile and then hammered it home to the finish creating a 1 minute 30 second gap.  13:05 officially on the second run (Didn’t hit the button on my watch for a couple seconds after)

Thankfully the rain held off minus a few drops here and there.

Overall I was pleased with my first place finish in my season opener and am looking to build off this performance into the upcoming season!

Official results:

http://nytc.org/results_full.cfm?ID=195

Thanks for reading!

Tony Tanzi