Race Report: I am a MiamiMan!

November 9, 2008

Larry & Penny Thompson Park/Miami Metro Zoo

International Distance Triathlon

.6 mile swim, 22 mile bike, 6.6 mile run

Finish Time: 2:42:07

Age Group: 10/29

Gender: 51/185

Overall: 201/422

Pre-Race (Friday): What an experience! When I awoke on Friday morning to make the trip over to Miami, I wasn't even sure if I was going to race on Sunday. My cold had become debilitating on Thursday to the point where I slept for most of the day while my amazing husband packed an entire RV for our trip.

We arrived at Larry and Penny Thompson park on late Friday afternoon. We had asked Sondra & Jeff to come to the event with us and we were also hosting Julie who would be completing the 1/2 iron distance on Sunday. All of us set out on our bikes to survey the swim start and bike transition. What a beautiful setting for an event! Larry & Penny Thompson Park backs up to the Miami Metro Zoo and both settings would be used during triathlon on Sunday. During our survey, my daredevil husband managed to wreck his mountain bike to the point where we needed to purchase a new front rim and tire, so once that happened, we all headed back to the RV for dinner and some much needed sleep.

Pre-Race (Saturday): Julie, Sondra and I woke early on Saturday morning in order to put in a quick 5 or 6 mile bike ride (just to move through our gears) and a very short 1 mile run to turn the legs over. I still had a definite frog in my throat, but was starting to feel better overall. The race was on! The entire gang then moved to the Expo for packet pick-up and shopping. MultiRace runs a first class event! We were corralled through the packet pick-up area without any obstacles, body marked and then sent on our way. Julie and I did a bit of swimming in the lake before attending a video stroke analysis with Miami's Total Immersion 'Stroke Doctor'. Talk about a neat experience! The analysis was done using only our 'surface stroke', but I learned that I need to relax my arms during recovery phase more. Too rigid! Good to know! After we finished up with the swim, we went back to the RV, picked up our bikes, racked them at transition and then surveyed the entire bike course by car.

Race morning (Sunday): My Saturday evening sleep was awesome and despite the fact that the frog was still in my throat on Sunday and I coughed a bit, I felt well. Julie was completing the half-iron distance and left the RV to make her way to transition about 1/2 hour ahead of me. By the time I arrived at transition (which was a 1 mile walk away), the place was PACKED! I had two panic attacks when I arrived. The first occurred when I heard someone say that they were closing transition at 7AM (it was now 6:50)! Thankfully, that didn't happen. The second occurred when I realized that I had forgotten my aerobottle straw extender. Ack! Sondra, who I owe my life to at this point, ended up running back to the RV to get me 'her' extender.

I joined my husband and Jeff on the banks of the lake to watch the half-iron waves go off. We were actually able to spot Julie in the water and got some awesome pictures of her.

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0.6 mile freshwater lake swim (wetsuit legal)

Chip time: 20:37

Age group placement: 5/29

I made my way to the beach about 15 minutes before my wave was to go off. Took a moment to swim a few strokes in the 'wading area', adjusted my wet suit and then lined up with everyone else in my wave. The start came quickly and with one dolphin dive, I was off! My first international distance event had begun!

The lake was crystal clear! Beautiful! The start was easy. The bumping and boxed-in feeling were fairly heavy until the third bouy (first half of course). My pace for the swim varied from easy to moderate. I have been having some stomach issues following my practice swims for the past 2 weeks. It could be due to my cold (inner ear thing, perhaps?) and I didn't want to chance getting out of this swim all nauseated. So, I took it fairly easy.... just watching the bottom on the lake and thinking about relaxing during my arm recovery like the Stroke Doctor said. I'm pretty much 'meh' about the time; however, race day consensus among athletes was that the swim was long. I'd have to agree based on my TT and past race performance times; however, If I had been pushing myself properly, I'm sure I could have shaved another minute or two off of my time. On the other hand, I exited the water feeling good. That's probably more important.

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Transition 1

Chip time: 4:12

The run from the beach to the transition area was long. My De Soto T1 wetsuit speedvest and speedtube come off super easy, so I bypassed the wetsuit strippers. I felt really good coming out of the water. Didn't notice any nausea at all. Perfect! Once I was back to transition, I began to panic. Sondra and the gang were supposed to meet me there to toss me her straw extender. They were nowhere to be found! Turns out, they thought that I was still in the water! I peeled off my wetsuit bottoms, put on my socks and cycling shoes... and then she appeared! Sondra tossed me her straw. No officials around... no penalty... and I could drink! I strapped my helmet on and was off. The bike exit was nearly as long as the swim run-up. Damn, where is the end?

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22 mile bike

Chip time: 1:07:43

Average speed: 19.4 mph

Age group placement: 4/29

The bike was a 22 mile out and back loop around residential and rural areas surrounding the park. I had been warned by the folks at BeginnerTriathlete.com that spots on the course (especially the 11 miles back to transition) were windy... and they were. Taking that into consideration, I am super stoked about my time. The fastest female bike split for the day was just over 1 hour, so I have a lot to be proud of where the bike is concerned. I did way more passing than getting passed. The wind was a challenge on the home stretch, but I'm fairly lucky in the fact that where I live, it's so open that there is always some wind blowing. Good practice... all the time! Not too much to say about the bike other than that I had no flats, felt well and finished an entire Aerobottle of InfinIT. Mount and dismount went fairly seamlessly. I did nothing fancy. Just an amateur (and safe) mount/dismount.

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Transition 2

Chip time: 2:41

When I arrived back to my transition spot, I got a wee bit excited b/c I noticed that I was the third bike back on my age group rack. Holy crap... was I working my way towards an AG placement??? I quickly switched shoes and threw on my race belt and visor while I was running out of T1. I saw Scott, Sondra and Jeff and they told me that I was doing terrific! I shouted back to them that I felt great... and I truly did!

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6.6 mile run through Miami Metro Zoo

Time: 1:06:54

Average run pace: 10:08 min/mile

Age group placement: 17/29 (ack!)

I ran the first mile at what felt like a comfortable pace for me... one that I thought I could hold. My legs felt good; the hard brick training had paid off. For the first 3 miles I averaged between an 8:45 and 9:30 pace. I felt great. I wasn't breathing hard like so many other runners around me and I even passed a few people during the first 3 or 4 miles. I took in an Accel-Gel at mile 3 and some water and oranges along the way. I remember thinking to myself that all I wanted to do was hold that 9:30 pace for the entire distance. Then came THE WALL! I have never experienced this phenomenon before and good Lord, I don't want to feel it ever again. Right around the end of mile 4 I noticed that my pace had slowed to a 10:15 average. My mile 5 average slipped further to 10:34... and then I lost it completely on mile 6 where I ended up walking three times and averaging an 11:58 pace. I was so miserable at this point that I completely missed the huge African elephants... which I heard later were just gorgeous!

I 'be-bopped' the last 0.6 miles to the finish and had to force myself not to stop and walk again. Yep, trying to save face here, but my legs just weren't turning over properly. I was done! I watched at least 5 or 6 girls from my age group run past me during that last mile and my heart sank lower and lower with each passing one. I was hurting both physically and mentally. How in the world could I have felt so damn good for the first 3 to 4 miles of that run leg and then just completely fall apart during miles 5 and 6? What went wrong? I suppose this "wall" is the same thing as "bonking" right? Could it have been caused by the remnants of my cold? Poor nutrition in the days/weeks before the race or bad nutrition during the race? Could it be that I was under prepared... or could it just be that I suck at running? Any in site/feedback on this "wall" stuff would be appreciated bloggie friends! I have a lot of reading up to do on this "wall."

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Finish: 2:42:07

Age group: 10/29

Gender: 51/185

Overall: 201/422

I crossed the finish line happy to be done, but completely bummed about my run. I noticed every single 30 to 34 year-old age grouper go by me during that last mile and a half. It was heartbreaking. I held the 4th and 5th fastest splits in my AG during the swim and bike legs... and the 17th 'fastest' split during the run. Just plain out wonky and lopsided! I received my finisher's medal and found Scott, Sondra and Jeff... who were all so gloriously happy for me. I love them all so much and if it hadn't been for them, I'm not sure I would have picked myself up out of my post-race funk as easily.

We sat on the grass for a while and searched for Julie who was getting ready to begin her 2nd run lap for the 1/2 iron distance. When we finally spotted her she yelled out something about being DQ and we all freaked out a bit! Julie is a seasoned (and very talented) triathlete. What in the world could she have gotten DQ for? Anyway, when she finished she informed us that she wasn't DQ but that she had gone slightly off course at one point because the markers weren't very clear. She ended up just backtracking to make sure that she covered the appropriate distance. Honesty. A lot of people probably wouldn't have done that. Julie had a great finish! She finished 6/38 in her age group and 21/229 in her gender. This is all coming off a 2nd place overall female win at the Great Floridian (iron distance) just 2 weeks ago. Julie is a freakin' phenomenal athlete!

Sleep came easy for me that evening. Sondra, Jeff and Julie all took off before 3:30PM for the trip home and Scott and I settled down in the RV around 8PM. I watched a bit of TV and reflected on the ups and downs on the day before finally falling off to sleep.

As we were leaving the campground on Monday morning, I said to Scott, "vengeance is mine next year."

Pictures and post-race reflections to come soon!

Thanks to everyone for your support!