Tri It On - A Triathlete's Diary : May 2015

Practice swim before the Navesink-or-swim distance event on May 24, 2015 in Rumson, NJ.

This is the 10th year that Split Second Racing has hosted a distance swim event in the Navesink River at Rumson, NJ, starting at Victory Park (a location, incidentally, featured in the Kevin Smith movie Chasing Amy).

There are two distance options: 1.2 miles and 2.4 miles. Though time results are posted, this is not a competition per se; there are no awards, though there are finishers' medals.

SIZE OF EVENT
The event is starting to outgrow what it can accommodate. If it gets bigger next year, changes will be needed to ensure safety. While I like this swim because it is one of the few all swimming events in the area, I may sit it out if it increases in size in 2016.

According to the 2015 results page, 218 people swam the 2.4 miler (82 of them women), and 361 individuals swam the 1.2 miler (184 being women, and 18 individuals swimming in pairs in the "buddy heat"). So 579 people swam overall up from 446 last year (an almost 30% increase). Based on the emails we received in advance, many people sign up just before or on day of the event, probably as people are keeping an eye on the weather and conditions.

It is interesting to me that this event shows such strong growth in size if only because the Red Bank Triathlon, also organized by Split Second, has dwindled in size to where it was cancelled this year, and part of the problem at Red Bank Tri seemed to be the swim portion, which took place only a few miles north in the same Navesink River. I suspect that part of this dichotomy comes from the fact that Victory Park in Rumson, with its sandy beach, is a much more pleasant spot from which to enter the water than Red Bank, which has no beach and lots of muck that is worse at low tide.

Me and my friend and multisport teammate, Julia, bundled up on the cold
morning before Navesink-or-swim.

Open water swim practices are often hosted at this location during triathlon season, so another part of the appeal for this race is that it's possible to swim the course several times beforehand to get a feel for the distance.

In 2014 I swam the 2.4 mile distance (you do one lap, run up on the beach and over the timing mat, then head out for the second lap) because I was coming off a strong masters swimming season during the preceding months and felt up for it. This year I opted for 1.2, though I am certain I could have done the longer course. Mainly I wanted to stick to the same wave as my friend and carpool buddy, Julia, and because I needed to get home in time for a late morning commitment.

TIMING OF WAVES
This points up an issue with the event: the longer distance starts later than the short course by about a half hour and naturally takes longer to complete. Participants in that group must set aside a much longer portion of their day for the event. I understand not wanting the short course swimmers to get run over by the, perhaps stronger, long course swimmers, but it still seems counterintuitive. At most tris the longer course swimmers start first.

Clearly it's tricky to get the exact timing and waves sorted out in the optimal order, but it seems like it should go long course first and separated at two or three minute intervals by age group. This is basic stuff.

There is also a "buddy heat" which allows swimmers to swim with a friend at the back of the pack if they prefer (remember, this is not a race and some people like moving to the back of the line to reduce pressure). It's a welcoming race, so that is nice.

THE COURSE
The course itself is fairly well marked and straight forward with plenty of lifeguards and support staff on the water. Buoys stay to your right at all times, you swim a kind of S curve out to a sandbar at the mid point, then turn around, swimming straight toward the bridge and then hooking right at the very end to swim into the finish. The water is briny and visibility fairly low. Also, visibility after the turn at the halfway point was hampered by the fact that the sun was at an angle that made buoys hard to pick out even for experienced swimmers (I discussed this with several friends who are veteran distance swimmers and we were all in agreement on the point).

CONTACT
I have never entered the water in such a large wave of swimmers (184 women swam the 1.2) at any event, and the result was there was more physical contact in the water than I have ever experienced. There was no way to get out of the way. I am not easily daunted in the water, and usually enjoy jockeying for position toward the front (I find going out fast helps me boost my pace overall), but at this race it was just painful.

I was elbowed in the back of the head, kicked endlessly, shoved to the side, swum over, yelled at because I was in someone's way (who stops to yell at another swimmer??) and a portion of one of my toes was gouged out by some enthusiastic swimmer's fingernail. That hurt, but I was in race mode and ignored it. I only discovered after the finish that I'd been bleeding the whole time and the blood was still flowing from my toe. A few days of band-aids and neosporin and I was fine, but it was a pretty significant injury for a noncompetitive event.

If the event gets even bigger next year, the directors are going to have to figure out how to stagger the swimming groups, because injury is inevitable at this size, and for less experienced swimmers, getting hurt in the water may put them off distance swimming altogether.

SWAG

Besides being annoyed, as ever, by the women's group being assigned pink race caps, the swag for the race wasn't bad. They gave out both long and short sleeved versions of the event T-shirt, and the colors (periwinkle and gold) are nice. It was a cool morning, so having the long sleeved shirt to slip into after taking off my wetsuit was great. The race medals were also in blue and gold, with a wide ribbon. These were much better than the small ones from last year.

Other notes:

Given the number of people who have to pick up packets or sign up on the day of the event, things proceeded relatively smoothly, with organized and fast moving rows set up on the basketball court above the beach.
Having the times posted quickly and put in easy view is nice for those who want to get a feel for how they did.
Water and air temperatures can vary widely from year to year, but this year it was pretty cold to wait to start. The 2.4 people must have been frozen by their entry time. I went with sleeveless wetsuit. I probably would have been happier in full sleeves.
There is a current in the river. Both in 2014 and 2015 we were swimming with the current for on the first half of the course. This can be a positive, negative or neutral depending on your goals and preferences.
Parking is on the street and there's not much of it. Many of the streets are one way. You have to arrive early to find a decent spot.

I'm a "Taste Agent" for Skratch Labs this year.
Their hydration mix is key to my participation
in triathlon and multisport.
I wouldn't have applied for sponsorship if
I didn't believe in their products.
Check them out online.

Jason Butch -- olympic winner of Six Flags Triathlon 2015 --
racking his bike before the race. Setting up with the view
of the roller coasters is one of the cool things about this race.

Backstory

Great visuals for set up.

This year Split Second racing cancelled the Red Bank Triathlon (probably after the low turn out and mucky/dangerous water conditions last year -- you'll remember the winner, a masters swim teammate of mine named Jason Butch, cut his foot on a razor clam during water entry and later had to go to the ER for a tetanus shot). Instead, they moved the Six Flags Tri onto the third Sunday in May to take Red Bank's place.

For me, shifting Six Flags back in the schedule leaves me with a gap in the end of August, but I did it anyway, because I need a season opener.

I had a lot of fondness for Red Bank, because it was my very first tri back in 2013. Still, I see why the director made the choice to axe it.

RACE OVERVIEW

The Swim

That towel was just for wiping my face after
the swim. Everyone had black beards of goo.
Not cool.

The water quality was a factor last August, and even though the water in the man-made lake in the theme park was colder in May, it was still scudgy and gross. Nothing else to say about it. It is not good to swim in. The only good thing about the swim course is that, for inexperienced or nervous swimmers, you can almost always touch the bottom, and there are no waves.

It has to be one of my least favorite tri swims ever.

The other quirk that Six Flags is known for is an exceptionally long slog from the water exit back to transition. This year it was shortened somewhat by moving the transition area a little closer to the water, but it was still much further away than for most courses. Furthermore, moving transition they put it on really hard, huge gravel. For the stronger cyclists, who often run barefoot with their bikes out of transition and their shoes already clipped in, that was absolutely not an option.

The Bike

Coming out of transition onto the bike course, there are enormous potholes in the parking lot. You really have to be paying attention to avoid them.

The bike course is scenic but hilly. I was glad I didn't kill myself on those hills on the first half of the sprint course, because I wouldn't have had any legs left for the run. This isn't a course where it would be easy to set a PR or post a high bike mile per hour average.

Having the race in May instead of August, however, made the cycle was less hot and less buggy. Those were good things, especially for me since this was the race where I biked through a huge cloud of gnats last year and I got one in my eye. I was blinded and tearing for the last three miles and pulling bug limbs out of my eye even on the run. No fun. This year was bug free.

The Run

The run course is flat and fun. It winds through a scenic trail for a while (some people commented that they wished it had be clearer that it was partly trail running and not paved surface), then cuts through several of the park's ride areas and then circles through the safari area where you can see baboons near the end. I like the baboons a lot. They've seen it all.

Other notes

You know it was a small race if a mid-packer like me gets
a trophy. Still, it's always nice to feel special.

Not many ladies showed up -- so I got an AG second place in the sprint even though I was exactly mid pack.
This is supposed to be a good spectator race, but I can't comment as I had no spectator with me.
You get a discount park ticket as part of your race fee, but there isn't much place to shower off all that nasty lake goo (I saw was a single black hose with ten people trying to use it and no soap), so, if you decide to stay and enjoy the theme park after the tri, you will probably be on the rides smelling and feeling pretty funky.
There was NO bottled water at the end. They put out dixie cups of water, but there were none of the typical barrels of cold water bottles you see at every race. This was a huge and unwelcome surprise. I ran part of the run with a first timer who was struggling, trying to help her out and encourage her; after she told me to go on ahead I knew I'd stick around at the finish to give her a bottle of water and a congrats. Instead I was only able to hand her a tiny paper cup with a spoonful of water in it. Even the lamest local 5k charity race has bottled water (I know because I have directed a couple), so this situation was just strange. There were bananas and maybe one other food item I forget, but no real post race food spread for all the participants. It felt chintzy.
My masters swim teammate, Jason Butch, won the olympic distance. He's a great competitor and also one of the most humble people around, as is another top finisher, Rob Fisch, who is also in masters swim with me (confession: I didn't go consistently this past winter). They both chatted with me before race start. They're never too cool to chat with a mid-pack lady just doing the sprint. Neither of them is obsessed with talking about gear (Rob's wet suit was moldy and falling apart but he just laughed it off). Neither of them ever brags about their training schedules (and I happen to know they both hit 5,000 in the pool at every masters swim practice). They embody the best parts of the sport of triathlon: they are there because it's fun and hard, not because they have big egos.

I didn't have my sponsor kit for Skratch Labs for this race, but I will for every other race this year. :)

Tri It On - A Triathlete's Diary

Sunday, May 24, 2015

EVENT REPORT - Navesink-or-Swim Distance Swim