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August 04, 2005
Coming home to Florida to cool off?
It seems absurd to be saying that, but that is what I was thinking Tuesday afternoon when I left New Jersey to head back to Florida. After wrapping up a successful TriAmerica race in Louisville on Sunday, I jumped on a plane and flew up to the Jersey Shore to work on the Danskin Women's Triathlon we direct next month. Getting off the plane shortly after midnight I could feel a slight chill in the air. I thought to myself this is going to be great! We lucked out in Louisville because the big heat wave that had blanketed the much of the country pushed out of Kentucky the day after we arrived in town. In fact it was cool enough in the mornings that I had wished I would have brought a windbreaker or long sleeve shirt along with me on the trip. The thought of packing either one of those items never crossed my mind when I was packing for the trip.
My trip to New Jersey would take me to Sandy Hook National Park, the venue for the Danskin race. This thin strip of land juts out into New York Harbor from the northern most tip of New Jersey. The New York skyline looms on the horizon. This would be my final site visit before next month's race. I had two objectives for this trip, the first was to meet with the Coast Guard and the new commanding officer at the Sandy Hook Station, and to meet with the National Park Service about a couple of changes in the venue layout.
My Coast Guard meeting went great. We actually stage a portion of the race on the base, the swim and the transitions. Last year spectators were not allowed access on the base so the race was not as spectator friendly as I wanted it to be. That was going to be one of my main items of discussion at the meeting. Because last year's race was relatively glitch free, the Coast Guard signed off on spectator access in select areas. All I need to make it happen is another 1,200 feet of steel barricades and a fence company to open up a section of chain link fence. What is cool is that after watching last year's race, six ladies from the base have decided to race this year including Donna, the outgoing Commanding Officer.
My meeting with the National Park Service also went well. They allowed us to move the finish line 500 feet to the south, allowing us to utilize the parade grounds for the post race activities. This more than doubles the space we have available and is much more scenic. There are dozens of historic buildings on Sandy Hook including the oldest operating lighthouse in the U.S.
Once my meetings were wrapped up I had a couple of hours to kill before it was time to head to the airport. I decided I had to squeeze a run in. I originally wanted to run along the beach at sunrise, but I just could not get myself out of bed in time Tuesday morning. I guess my energy level was still low following TriAmerica Louisville. It was now 1:00pm, and although it did not feel that hot out because of the low humidty, the temperature was pushing 90. My goal was was to squeeze in a 60 minute run, 30 out and 30 back. About a mile into my run I started to have a melt down. My pace was about 2 minutes slower than my usual average training pace per mile. I just figured it was because the past week had been so intense and I was still running under sleep deficit. I opted to turnaround a few minutes early and do the Sandy Hook Shuffle back to my car. When I arrive I head straight to the showers at the beach pavillion. The water is ice cold and refreshing. I must have stayed under the shower for at least 10 minutes. I was now reenergized znd ready for my trip back home. While driving back to the airport I notice that the outside air temperature displayed on the dashboard was 99! A couple of times it even jumped to 100. At first I thought it may just be a fluke because I'm driving on the NJ Parkway in full sun, but then I hear the radio jock say the current temperature is 98.
Now I feel much better about my melt down on the Sandy Hook Trail. Northerners always complain about the southern heat, well here is one southerner complaining about the northern heat. Florida seems cool by comparison....
Posted by Fred at August 4, 2005 07:42 AM | More in: Triathlon
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Comments
Fred,
I'm participating in that Danskin Tri in Sandy Hook. My first ever! Can you help me find some info about what the course is like? Flat, hilly, how deep's the water, is the ride a loop or linear, etc. Can't seem to find anything specific about it on the Danskin site. Am also looking for some info about the tranisitions - will my cycling and running shoes, goggles, be safe during other phases, etc. Can you help direct me? Thanks!
claudia
Posted by: Claudia at August 9, 2005 09:27 AM