Ironman Princeton: my thoughts

Triathlon Forum
1

Finished it yesterday although my run was dogged by cramps. Couple of things on the race.

  1. Swim was fine but it took 4 q-tips until i can get the brown muck out of each of my ears when i got home
  2. Overheard someone say “Did you see all the waterbugs by the swim” during T1. glad it was after the swim
  3. Road quality the first and last 6 miles sucked. The pavement was crappy. And the bike was 57.5miles
  4. The crowd support and volunteers were the best. All the kids handing out drinks at the aid station were very encouraging
  5. Weather cooperated. Was overcast and cool most of the time. Fortunate to finish before the sun came out and got too hot.

Around mile 41.5, i’m cruising along at 22mph. This mini-peloton of 8 guys fly by me at 26 or so. All clearly violating draft rules. About 1 minute later, hear the sound of colliding carbon fiber. 2 guys went down. They didn’t seem too hurt but i didn’t look long enough to assess. Volunteers were there and started to attend to them. Privately, i was thinking “This would not have happened if you weren’t team time trialing”

Congrats to all that finished

2

Definitely horrible pavement. I feel it was more than the first and last 6 miles but they were the worst. Never saw so many people flat in a race. I got lucky. There was one little bridge that looked like someone dumped a garbage bag full of water bottles and blown tubes on it. Only saw one group of four guys drafting go by. Saw one official and penalty tent was empty. No problems with brown muck in my ears and didn’t see any bugs. Run was ok kind of a weird course but great volunteers. Overall race was well run, good job with traffic control. Not sure I would go back and try my luck again on that bike course unless roads were improved and some of the like 40 turns involved were removed.

3

Yes, good observations. Many potholes to be avoided. New Jersey roads are spotty at best. However, about 70% of the roads were stunning. Lots of drafting, which didn’t seem to engender any penalties. Also, a lot of young males don’t understand the rules for passing. They will come whizzing by in between someone else passing, very close, and pass on the right. Why is this so hard for males to understand? Some of the bike course was very narrow, and with awful roads. Bad time to pass, but they did. Lots of flat tires, and I saw a guy hit a water bottle and go down. Ouchee! One guy on the run was very bloody with a bad elbow and shoulder. Several guys with road rash.

The run was very weird. I’d re-work it for next year. Bike was about 57.2 miles, per my Garmin.

Swim was long by my Garmin. Almost 1.4 miles. I finished first in my age group in the swim but was astonished it took so long. Water quality in Lake Mercer is among the worst of any venue. Only the now deceased IM NY had it beat. Oh, IM Louisville is pretty awful too…

The race was well-run by the staff and volunteers. Kudos to them for putting on an awesome first time effort. With some tweaks, this will be one of the go to races for the area.

Oh, I hope they get a better parking plan in place for next year. My daughter and son-in-law came for the finish only but couldn’t get in and police were unhelpful.

Other than blowing out my right gastroc (you know, the loud bang and the feeling you’ve been shot in the calf?) and having to walk the last 9 miles, I enjoyed the race.

I do find it hard to say I enjoyed something in NJ, but I DID!

-Robert

4

I agree parts of the roads sucked and I saw that area with all the ejected bottles. Crazy. The frequent turns were what most annoyed me but on the positive side, it kept me in aero 100% of the rest of the time, which never happens. I had 57.something too. That end just kept NOT arriving over the final 2 or 3 miles.

I liked the run. Flat, fast and closed off to traffic for nearly all of it. And somewhat scenic. The bike had some scenic parts to when I looked up.

I wasn’t bothered by the water though I had a hard time at the start for some reason. Glad to hear it was long because I really nailed the bulk of it (3/4 I’d say) and was hoping to get out a little sooner.

I’d go back. I had a nice big ol’ PR.

I did see SEVERAL guys and gals with bloodied up FACES from some nasty crashes. One guy looked like he lost all the skin on his arm and shoulder and back on one side. Looked like he finished though. A guy and a woman I saw getting their bikes looked like they were on the losing end of a nasty boxing match.

Congrats to everyone who was out there!

ETA: yeah the traffic in SUCKED. I was getting there nice and early and still waited in that long single lane road (what a mile or so long) for 20 min at 5am.

5

Yes, good observations. Many potholes to be avoided. New Jersey roads are spotty at best. However, about 70% of the roads were stunning. Lots of drafting, which didn’t seem to engender any penalties. Also, a lot of young males don’t understand the rules for passing. They will come whizzing by in between someone else passing, very close, and pass on the right. Why is this so hard for males to understand? Some of the bike course was very narrow, and with awful roads. Bad time to pass, but they did. Lots of flat tires, and I saw a guy hit a water bottle and go down. Ouchee! One guy on the run was very bloody with a bad elbow and shoulder. Several guys with road rash.

The run was very weird. I’d re-work it for next year. Bike was about 57.2 miles, per my Garmin.

Swim was long by my Garmin. Almost 1.4 miles. I finished first in my age group in the swim but was astonished it took so long. Water quality in Lake Mercer is among the worst of any venue. Only the now deceased IM NY had it beat. Oh, IM Louisville is pretty awful too…

The race was well-run by the staff and volunteers. Kudos to them for putting on an awesome first time effort. With some tweaks, this will be one of the go to races for the area.

Oh, I hope they get a better parking plan in place for next year. My daughter and son-in-law came for the finish only but couldn’t get in and police were unhelpful.

Other than blowing out my right gastroc (you know, the loud bang and the feeling you’ve been shot in the calf?) and having to walk the last 9 miles, I enjoyed the race.

I do find it hard to say I enjoyed something in NJ, but I DID!

-Robert

I’ve done nothing but ride on NJ roads, here in central NJ (including some of the roads used in the course yesterday), from April until now. Many thousands of miles. Total flat tires: zero.

Maybe you should swim straighter? The top pros came out in about 24 minutes. If the swim was really 350yds long, they’d be doing close to 20:00 for a half ironman swim…yet they don’t. A training partner of mine did about 29:00, and there’s no way he could do a 25:00 for 1.2mi. What AG are you in?

Give it a rest with the Lake Mercer bashing. Do you know of any unusual number of racers who have gotten ill in the history of the NJ Triathlon? I haven’t gotten any ill effects from the eight or so editions in that swim. Nor have I ever come out of the water covered in anything except water. Since you think this race could become a “go-to” event around here, and they can’t swim anywhere but Lake Mercer, I guess you don’t think the water quality is an issue at all.

Sorry to hear about your calf injury.

6

First 70.3, though it sounds like it was longer than 70.3 (haven’t looked at my computers yet and added it up).
I felt like I had a decent swim though my time doesn’t reflect it, water was murky with visibility at about arm length. Didn’t notice any water bugs.
I have definitely ridden on worse roads, but for what is supposed to be a “top notch” production I feel they could have laid out the course to be more racer friendly, less turns and smoother roads. I am sure there are many bureaucratic hoops to jump through to put a race like this together, and not all towns are going to be cooperative. Overall though I enjoyed the bike course. Saw plenty of carnage along the way, people, bikes, bottles, complete hydration mounts etc. Personally I feel a lot of that is due to lack of concentration and being to aggressive in the wrong area’s.
Crowd and Volunteer support was amazing. The Aid stations were were so inspiring, I couldn’t wait to get to each one. My run crashed, fighting cramps immediately, and had to walk each station, just couldn’t get the legs to shake out until mile 12. Overall the run course would get a C+, I feel in a park that size it could have been laid out a little better, it’s probably just me but I can’t stand two loop courses, but I know for support and spectators it works better.
Unfortunately the weather decided to turn humid and muggy for one day, at least there was no sun during my segment, though the air was so thick it was difficult to breath with 98% humidity, plus fighting a head and chest cold.
This race has potential to be one of the East Coast’s go to 70.3 races, plenty of accommodations, strategically located for convenient travel through major hubs etc etc…
I learned my first long course lesson yesterday, (well one of many)…“have a designated driver for the way home”, driving home post race hurts :slight_smile:
Congratulations to all the Finishers!!

7

I’m local and this was my first 70.3.

Swim was fine. I liked the start placement as opposed to NJState which is in the same lake. It set us up for a pretty straight shot to the turn buoy. Water clarity isn’t great but out of other local tri’s I think the quality is among the best I’ve had.

I know and rode the bike course plenty of times prior to race day and it is what it is. Saw a lot of flats, bottles and a handful of road rashed riders. I was in wave 18 and had a ton of traffic for the ride. Had to brake for turns way more than I would have liked to.

The run had a lot of turns and uneven paths my ankles took a beating.

Overall I enjoyed the race and finished well. Being local I’ll be back next year but would like to see a few tweaks to the course.

8

I’m local and this was my first 70.3.

Swim was fine. I liked the start placement as opposed to NJState which is in the same lake. It set us up for a pretty straight shot to the turn buoy.

I don’t remember in the NJ Triathlon anything but a straight line from the start to the first turn buoy at the far end. Did I miss something? I’ve done it every year (sometimes Olympic, sometimes Sprint).

9

My run crashed, fighting cramps immediately, and had to walk each station, just couldn’t get the legs to shake out until mile 12. Overall the run course would get a C+, I feel in a park that size it could have been laid out a little better, it’s probably just me but I can’t stand two loop courses, but I know for support and spectators it works better.

While I liked the run course overall (hey, it’s flat) I really disliked the narrow/congested section of out and back where I had to basically run into the uneven lumpy grass to pass all the jogger/walkers. Usually I prefer the grass but that was an ankle killer. That section hampered things for me. Not the fault of any of the racers, most walkers were off to the side but I was going faster than most so that section sucked with all the dodging and swerving. But it was scenic.

10

I guess I am in the minority that I kind to of liked the run. As for the roads and in NJ in general after last winter you have to pay attention to what’s ahead.

Had a nasty saddle sore and was more than ready to dismount at 56 but the extra 1.5 was no big deal to me.

Definitely will be back next year. I am too local to miss it.

11

Nice rebuttal!

Flats are due to a combination of poor road service, poor bike handling, poor PSI + tire/ wheel choice & bad luck. There is a lot to be done to mitigate a couple of these factors.

Water is ok. i wouldn’t swim in it regularly, but it’s my 4th race in the lake & I’ve never had any issues and the same is true for all others I know (N~100).

The overall bike course was nice, I don’t mind the turns, as I think it helps break up packs. I didn’t see any drafting, but I was in a very late wave. I did have to ask a lot of athletes to move to the right or not ride 3 abreast. Blocking was the biggest offense I witnessed, partly due to road conditions, but more frequently due to participants’ inability to follow the rules.

Other observations For the Run - the course was nice, it was a little congested on some of the running paths which had traffic in both directions.

Volunteers and fan support were top notch. Possibly the best organized race i’ve done, barring 70.3 WC.

12

I also got about 57.5 miles on the bike. This was also noted by many people who did pre-race rides. Kind of annoying that the official is 56, as my official average pace was way lower than what I got from my garmin. Pavement was bad, but having done Timberman a month ago, seemed much better than the start/end of that ride.

Most humorous moment was first time across the RR tracks, spectators/volunteers were lining up all the ejected water bottles on the curb - looked like the dorm room wall in college with the large number lined up there.

Thought the run was ok, but weird running though the college campus with relatively narrow paths and the two-way part was no good - I became good close friends with the bush hanging over when I ran out of space at one point.

Agree crowd and volunteers were awesome, plenty of water stops along the run, but seems like they could have distributed better.

Biggest complaint - parking to get out. It literally took me 1 hour to get out of the parking lot, and this was at 3pm. Having the run course go across the exit meant a lot of holding cars for later runners, plus only one way out, with 1 exit lane, made this a disaster. On the flip side, it was faster to get in in the morning than it was with NJ State, and this race had way more people.

13

It was announced at the pre-race meeting that the bike distance was 57.5 miles, due to permitting issues with the towns involved.

14

I’m local and this was my first 70.3.

Swim was fine. I liked the start placement as opposed to NJState which is in the same lake. It set us up for a pretty straight shot to the turn buoy.

I don’t remember in the NJ Triathlon anything but a straight line from the start to the first turn buoy at the far end. Did I miss something? I’ve done it every year (sometimes Olympic, sometimes Sprint).

Not a big deal just liked it better. For reference heres the two courses

http://www.cgiracing.com/Portals/4/njswim%20course%202012.pdf

http://www.ironman.com/~/media/53f61b36cf78425192c14a00519985af/princeton%20swim%202014%20tbt.pdf

15

I’m local and this was my first 70.3.

Swim was fine. I liked the start placement as opposed to NJState which is in the same lake. It set us up for a pretty straight shot to the turn buoy.

I don’t remember in the NJ Triathlon anything but a straight line from the start to the first turn buoy at the far end. Did I miss something? I’ve done it every year (sometimes Olympic, sometimes Sprint).

Not a big deal just liked it better. For reference heres the two courses

http://www.cgiracing.com/...%20course%202012.pdf

http://www.ironman.com/~/media/53f61b36cf78425192c14a00519985af/princeton%20swim%202014%20tbt.pdf

Thanks! I have no recollection of hitting a turn buoy; it must have been a rather slight turn.

16

It was announced at the pre-race meeting that the bike distance was 57.5 miles, due to permitting issues with the towns involved.

Crap, so it wasn’t my 6th 70.3 afterall :frowning:

Also, what’s a “pre-race meeting”?
.

17

I also have generally positive thoughts on the race. Thought swim was fine and definitely did not feel long. Bike course did have way more turns than most I have seen and was indeed a bit long as others have posted. Pavement not great in spots. I was in a relatively early wave (45-49) and saw very little drafting. In fact, I think it was one of the cleanest races I have seen. I was playing leapfrog with a couple other guys out there for a spell and it was clear that there was a conscious effort to stay legal by those in the area of similar abilities. Can’t speak for what developed later in the race.

Had a bit of an an issue on the run. As I said I was in an early wave so did not have much company on bike or the run and I missed a turn on the run at around mile 5…volunteers were there but directing the pack of runners heading in the other direction and no one said anything to me… after I got back on track and came through a second time there was a placard with an arrow on it blocking the way I went the first time …wound up going off course and ran over 15 miles total by the time I figured out where I went wrong and backtracked. 2 other people I talked to had a similar issue (both were called back by volunteers though). My fault for not knowing the course but I think it was poorly marked in that spot.

However, overall a well organized race. I liked the fact that there was plenty of parking right by transition/finish area (although getting out after the race was a bit of a chore). Aid stations were plentiful and enthusiastically staffed.

Will be back (if only to see if I can run the correct course)

18

Pre-Race:
Registration was the usual straight-forward process. Expo was ehh, but not the reason I do the sport.
Couldn’t have been happier about parking. Parked, set up transition, walked 2 minutes back to my car to chill for an hour before the race.

Swim:
No issues with the water.
Liked that we had to swim out to the start line to get a warmup in.
Felt like it was a “slow” swim - swam 28:xx, thought I was capable of a bit faster then that (60" or so?), but came out right where I expected to - top 6AG. Didn’t measure long, got 1.25 on my garmin (error margin +/- 0.05mi seems reasonable).

Bike:
2nd fastest amateur bike split of the day, faster than 1/2 the pros.
Road through Hamilton was the worst part, but I knew it would be bad, and had planned accordingly - grab 2 bottles through every station, plan for stuff to get ejected throughout the day. Double sided sticky tape on my down-tube aero-bottle.
If our AG (25-29) had gone off earlier in the day, I could have gone 1-2’ faster – with all those turns, the course favors competent bike handlers - which I am - instead, I had to sit up and soft-pedal/brake for all the clowns in front of me that don’t know how to hold speed through a turn.
Didn’t see any drafting - the turns really helped with that.
Most of the roads out on the loop were fantastic.
As with everyone else, I got an extra 1.5mi. But everyone else did it too, so whatever.

Run:
Good run course for my race tactics/strategies/strengths.
Aid station kids were energetic, albeit sometimes really quiet about what was where.
Liked the twists and turns, made it much more manageable, but also seemed to make it a bit slower of a course.
As someone else mentioned, the out/back section on the walk-way was a little tight, particularly on my second loop.
Didn’t have to run on roads a lot, which was nice. Had lots of chances to check behind you.
Last mile “up” the road took FOREVER. And that’s where urbantriathlete overtook me for the AG win - somewhere around 12.85mi. womp womp (h/t Jesse Thomas)

Post:
Food was pretty weak.
Just got the race photos, they are terrible. 2 finish line photos. 2 pics of someone else on the bike. A bunch of swim pictures with multiple people in the background.

All in all:
definitely doing this course again.

19

First 70.3 but I’ve raced this area a few times now.

I have no issue with Mercer Lake - it’s kept clean and constantly tested by the students at the CC that we ran through. It was cooler on this race day than any other time I’ve been in so I was grateful there.

I think all that can be said about the bike course has been said. Though I hope people enjoyed seeing the horses and nice countryside between dodging rough road.

I think the run was laid out for maximum shade and I was grateful for it despite the overcast skies.

Two complaints:

  1. That Red Bull DJ blasting music definitely got my head pounding on the second loop. I love a little music but techno remixes of Billy Joel songs knocked the smile off my face fast.

  2. I wish Bike Transition was closer to the finish. Between that and no one directing traffic out of the parking areas it made for a very slow wrap up to a long day.

Overall it was a very good race, loved the locals that came out to cheer, the finish chute was pure energy and the volunteers couldn’t be thanked enough for making it a safe and enjoyable race day.

20

Great time, great race, my one complaint was how crowded the bike racks were. Got back to T2 and had to spend 2 minutes just making room for my bike to fit. Never had that problem in any other race, would have expected more from WTC. Oh, another compliant, the food sucks. I’m usually not interested in food for several hours after a long distance endurance event, yesterday was the exception, was really hungry but nothing worth eating. Been to local sprints with a spread fit for a king. Again, WTC let me down with regards to post race food, guess they wanted the local food vendors to make some money.