Race Recap: New Jersey State Triathlon

Disclaimer: I received free entry to New Jersey State Triathlon as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!



Since my trend this year has been tackling new challenges I couldn't pass up the opportunity to race my first triathlon. When Bibrave asked for Pro's to ace this weekend, I was all in! What made this opportunity even more sweeter was that I opted in for the Double Down Challenge, running the Triathlon Sprint on Saturday and Olympic Triathlon on Sunday. #ChallengeAccepted

After training for a Spartan race in April, transitioning to training for a triathlon would be different. I have to be honest that I didn't follow a strict training plan but I did my best with the time that I had. I made sure to get in a swim each week and paired my bike rides with my long runs.

About the Race

The New Jersey Triathlon is a super popular race, with its reputation I needed to tackle it. It's been voted as one of the top 5 triathlons in the nation and has sold out every year since they started.

The race took place at Mercer Park in West Windsor NJ. The park was spacious and offered a lot of shade. The course also offers a mainly flat course, which was nice to hear for a first timer.

Race Weekend

The park was very well maintained and had a great setup. The event area was staged around the expo tent. Not many vendors at the expo but good quality vendors. I had no issues with picking up my packets. I was excited to see that I had orange swim caps, Bibrave orange too. The swim caps designated what wave you were in. Nowhere could I find which order the waves were released nor what my cap color meant. This was explained by the MC at the beginning of the race. Apparently the waves are determined by age groups.

The transition area was initially intimidating for a first time triathlete but very easy to navigate. I didn't have any problems getting that setup.

A practice area swimming was setup on the other side of the pier from the race start. This was awesome not only to warm up but to get a feel for the water. We were graced with high 80 degree water.

The Race

Surprisingly I was able to catch 8 hours of sleep both night before the race. The weather was not agreeable, we had a severe heat wave with temperatures in the high 90's with over 100 feels like. I remember putting my bike on my bike rack at 4:30am and it was already 80 degrees out.

Getting to the park was very easy from my hotel and once on the park ground there were volunteers ushering you where to park. I know about the concept of comparative reality, not comparing yourself to other people because your lives are so different. But DAMN were there some sexy bikes that people had that you could only get jealous over.

On the way to the transition area they stopped you to write your bib number with marker on your arms and your age on you calf. I thought that was pretty cool. I know it is standard procedure for a triathlon but knowing someone's age was interesting. When you saw someone fly by you on a bike that was in their 50's or 60's it was pretty inspiring. Shows you what hard work can amount to.

Transition was organized into rows based on your bib number. Since I have nothing to base my setup with, I think I did an okay job.

The swim was the funnest segment and the most challenging for me. It was fun because it was an open water swim rather than a pool, where I usually train. The buoys were very big and marked the path well. I was a little taken back by how vicious the other swimmers were. They were pretty aggressive when trying to pass you, and I understand that there isn't much visibility. But plowing past you was fun, now when they mistakenly grabbed my legs. But all of this i believe is typical with the swim.

They had us wear a tracker around our ankle which we had to make sure we ran over the designed timing pads to not only let race management know that I was in transition which stops your clock, but also to let them know what you are not still out in the water.

Running with bike in hand out to the road was something that I felt very clumsy at. I don't feel like anyone ever trains to run with their bike. Then we were off onto the bike segment. The course was pretty flat with minor gradient changes. There was one hill in the ladder part of the bike course that wasn't too steep but it felt like a long climb.

Back into the transition area with our bikes, I set it back in the stand and then was off to the run. The run felt much harder on Sunday for the olympic but that's to be expected. The run route was mostly covered in shade which was SO nice because it was hot at that point of the day. The one aid station on each day was during the run. It was stocked with water, Nuun (praise the lord), honey stinger gel, and cold wash cloths. Everything you needed for a strong finish.

The Finish Chute and After Party

Coming around that final corner was so incredible. On saturday it was because I completed my first triathlon, and on Sunday it was because I completed the double down challenge. Right after you got your medal there were cold shower which felt amazing, and afterwards Team Nuun was there handing out tablets for you water bottles.

At the food tent there was more water, Philly Pretzels (like OMG it's the best thing after finishing a race, salt and carbs), bagels, oranges, and bananas. They also had soda which felt weird to me. The beer garden had your choice of Land Shark or Michelob Ultra.

The announcer was pretty great calling out the finishers as they crossed the finish line and even made a point to say that I was running for Bibrave. I love a good shout out! A DJ was playing all the best tracks, so it was pretty enjoyable.

My overall thoughts of this race are extremely high! I would definitely do this race again and hope for cooler weather next year haha. Racing with my fellow Bibrave Pro's Brenda and Bill made the race even more fun too.

For more details about my thoughts on the race you can read my review here!