NJ STATE TRIATHLON

July 20th 2014. Up and out by 4:45am. Headed to Mercer County Park with my parents, my awesome supporters who wake up at terrible hours to travel with me and help me with all my gear.

I got to the race and went into transition to find a little NJ state flag on my bike spot to represent the state champion. The age group state champions had theirs too! It played a nice role in marking my bike so I didn't have to look as hard for my spot when flying in and out of transition!

The water was 77.5 degrees on race day, making it wetsuit legal. So it apparently dropped 2+ degrees from the day before when they had the sprint triathlon.... Into my wetsuit and into the swim. Was out of the water in 23 minutes and change. Not bad but still want to improve that time. The swim was hot, almost too hot for a wetsuit but I was still ok. Into T1 and out shortly after. Onto the bike my legs felt dead for the first loop so dead that I was getting super mad at myself for being so slow! FINALLY onto the second loop of the bike and my legs felt much better so I hammered away. Averaged just over 22mph on the bike and into T2. Out quickly and onto the run. I felt the best I have in a long long time on the run. I had something left in the tank after the bike and that's a great feeling when you have a 10K to run left to go. I averaged 6:22 miles, over 10 seconds faster per mile than last year but I still have some work to do. I finished 3rd place overall but being the first NJ resident I was still able to claim the title of NJ State Triathlon Champion.

Thanks to XTERRA Wetsuits and PowerBar for helping me power my way to the finish and walk away with the NJ State Triathlon Champion Title.

Next stop: Chicago!

Until then....back to training.

War at the Shore Triathlon

Rewind to Friday July 11th AKA 7-11, free slurpee day....which I unfortunately did not make it to....By anywhoo.

With the help of the Tri Devils I put together a triathlon transition clinic for Friday night at Thompson park. The clinic included PoweBar product tasting as well since one of my sponsors is PowerBar. Their products are awesome and so I decided to share some of my favorite bars with everyone!

During the clinic I taught a bunch of skill sets that are great to have come race day. Even the smallest change to your transition area and setup can make quite a few seconds difference in the end and maybe a place difference among competitors. I was able to teach some basic skills along with more advanced. The goal was to learn the skill and then it must be practiced to become super efficient at it, just like most other things we learn. However some people used a few of the new techniques on race day two days later and their times showed the difference! 

"Thank you for the clinic. I compared my results to my Long Branch race last year (so same set up) and my combined transitions were 30% (or 47 seconds) faster." Sean Casey

Great job Sean! I have to give you the MOST IMPROVED athlete!

Fast forward to Sunday morning....
Up at 5am and out the door shortly after to head to the race and get set up in transition. I found a good spot for my bike next to a landmark so I knew where my bike was when I came out of the water. I ran to warm up after everything was set and then headed down to the start at 6:50ish am. The women started a few minutes after the men. The water was brutally cold for this time of year....last Sunday read 47 degrees....it warmed up a bit into the 60s but it was still cold and my hands were numb while warming up a few minutes before the start.

Off we go after the men (4 or 5 minutes), I dolphin dove in because the water was shallow and it immediately boosted me to the front and into a nice lead. Left around the first buoy and then the second and straight in. First one out of the water by a good margin (which NEVER happens for me, like ever...) into transition and out in 55 seconds, onto the bike and I began passing some of the guys. I wound up averaging 22mph which is great for me so I am very happy with that bike. Into T2 and out in under 30 seconds. Onto the run my legs took a little too long to get themselves together but I was able to run a few guys down and get my legs under me for the second half. I managed to average 6:12 miles but thats still not where I want and need to be. I will get there in time and I now know what I need to focus a little more attention on. 

The Jersey Shore Triathlon

Pre Race Routine: Everyone always talks about what they do the night before a race to prepare....My pre race routine is pretty simple, eat a good dinner: chicken, fish (personal fave) salad, pasta, whatever is on the menu at the Dorgan household and then either a bowl of ice cream or milkshake. I used to do the whole, eat pasta before a race thing but it never did make a difference in my racing so I just eat a healthy meal...and ice cream.... In moderation.  Fact is, I race better when I consume it the night before a race. I know it works for me. Do what works for you...or give ice cream a try!
Now lets get into race morning and the race itself....
Up at 4:30 am to be out the door at 5am. Right on schedule I head to Asbury Park. As I am approaching a light I look to my left to see a guy standing by the crosswalk with a towel around his neck wearing an old school sweatsuit, no big deal. The light turns red, I slow down to a stop...He starts walking towards me. GREAT. Adrenaline pumping he goes towards the back of my car, "ok he's walking around me to get to the other side." NOPE. Next thing I know he's at my window. I make a quick decision and go through the red light....No idea what he wanted at 5:20 am but wasn't about to roll down the window and find out. I calm back down and start mental prep work for the race during the rest of the drive.
I arrived in transition, set my bike up next to a landmark so I knew exactly where it was and warmed up. Down to the beach for the start and the ocean pumping out some medium sized waves that lacked power. Perfect swimming conditions for me having grown up at the beach body surfing. The Olympic distance started first and then the mens sprint wave with us starting 3 minutes later. I swam out, turned at the buoy and body surfed my way back in. I dolphin dove when it became inefficient to swim but still too deep to run. Out of the swim in the lead and into T1. Flawless transition in 51 seconds, wetsuit off and bike gear on, out onto the bike. As I hop on my right shoe came loose from its rubber band and hit the ground popping off into the road. I had to stop, dismount and go get it. Unfortunate but not the end of the world. Back on the bike and into a head wind on the way down and a tailwind on the way back, two loops of that and I hopped off having had a solid ride averaging just about 21mph (20.9 to be exact). Into T2 and out in just over 30 seconds. Out onto the run, I was feeling pretty good. I picked off a bunch of guys who were ahead of me on the bike. As I ran past some geese I got a very serious hiss which I translated as "stay away from my babies," which I happily did. I didn't have the best run but it was a solid effort and I finished in 19:18.
During the run I made up some serious time on the leader... my brother! He put a 5 minute lead on me on the bike, a gap a little too big for me to make up during a 5k but I came within 1 minute 40 seconds by the end. Congrats to Sean for winning his first triathlon ever! I wound up being second overall and 1st female.
A little sibling rivalry...I'm coming for you Sean! All in fun of course.
All in all it was a great day, a great confidence booster and fast transitions which I am very happy with. Ending the day with the fastest swim, T1, T2 and run overall; I am pretty happy with the results but then again never satisfied.
Big shout to XTERRA Wetsuits and PowerBar for the support and products I need to succeed! Wearing their names on my suit is an absolute pleasure!