The Bassman Half Distance Tri

I knew that after these months of training I would need to test my progress. I also knew that the best way to do that would be to sign up for half distance races. A couple of months ago, I did some investigating and found a few options. As the weeks have gone by, I've narrowed down my options based on what's feasible and relatively easy in terms of travel.

Last week, I determined that the first of these would be the Bassman Triathlon at Bass River State Park in Tuckerton, NJ. It's not terribly accessible in terms of public transportation, but it is relatively close and soon. Unfortunately, it's also very expensive (as most half distance races tend to be). It took me the whole week to finally decide that I needed to do it. I mean, I already knew I needed to do it, but it took a lot of convincing to finally register.

So what have I gotten myself into? Well, the term "half distance" refers to the distance of a half Ironman. This means a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, followed by a half marathon. And actually, I think the distances here are a liiiittle different. Bike looks like it's 58 and run is 13.2.

This is a map of the two-loop swim course:

It's described as being "calm and clear" and temperatures are typically in the mid-sixties. I'll be wearing a wetsuit for this one.

Bike course:

I'm seeing some definition there on the altitude map. This worries me.

Run course:

The run is the least of my worries. I know as long as I can make it to the start of the run, I'll be able to slog my way through it. It's just making any cutoffs so that I can get there. This is what I'm most worried about, as I encountered this issue at my first half Iron attempt a couple of years ago.

So here it is. My first big test.