Longboat Key International Triathlon - Triathlon

This swim was SHORT, there is no way I swam less than a minute per 100 yards. Last year the swim went almost the entire length of the channel, this year it only went half way.

TRAIN. This was by far my worst year of training. The sad part, with as little training as I did, my times are almost the same as last year.

My strongest leg of the race, as usual. One of the benefits of arriving early at an open rack race, end spot right by the bike exit.

Nothing.

Great ride course, pancake flat, smooth, good bike lanes, very little traffic, and only 5 total turns.

TRAIN! Felt like I was going backwards for the first 7 miles, got passed by way too many people. Really forced me to stick to my game plan and not chase riders I couldn't hang with. Finally felt like I got my cycling legs back near the turn around.

Can't say enough how much having an end slot improves transition times, no wasted movement.

Nothing.

Very disappointed in the run course this year. Almost a quarter of a mile longer than posted. No water at the exit of T2/start of run. First water station was at the 1.5 mile mark. Stations were severely understaffed. Course was not marked for the different races (Sprint & OLY). 2nd aid station only had water and one of the two volunteers was on his phone as I went by, so I had to stop and grab my drink from the table. The 3rd station (same as the 1st) ran out of water and only had red Gatorade for the second lap. Had to stop and wait for a volunteer to fill a cup at this one. For as hot as it was, I really would have liked to dump a cup of WATER over my head with over a mile left to go.

Again, TRAIN more. Although I did ramp up my run training in the weeks prior to this race, it wasn't nearly enough.

Grabbed a cold bottle of water and found some shade under an unoccupied vendor tent. Struck up a conversation with the vendor next to me with led to me landing a pair of Hoka One One's.


Obviously my lack of training leading up to this race. The other things that slowed me down were addressed in the run section comments. Longer than advertised course, lack of stocked and manned aid stations, and the heat. This race was moved up 3 weeks from it's prior date to avoid conflicting with REV3 Venice.


Unfortunately this race took a major turn for the worse after improving each of the first 3 years. They added a Sprint distance race to the program and I feel the RD was very unprepared for that. They did not put up the big tent like they have in past years which was a major draw for this race. There was also a problem with results which was very frustrating. It was Tuesday before my official results were posted. Overall I was very disappointed because this race had improved every year until now. Hopefully the RD will listen to the participants and make the needed changes to reestablish this race's reputation.