Miami Man International - TriathlonOlympic

This was the part I have dreaded for 3 weeks. My last lake swim I had panic after the first 100 meters and it was a horrible swim. This was 3 times as long and I was a little nervous. I just wanted to get through the swim and then enjoy the rest of the race.

It was a pretty big wave of 150+ so I decided to just wait for the group to get going and casually wade out and start. I did a polo swim for about 50 yards and then started my stroke. I made the turn at the first buoy feeling pretty good. I doubled up on my stroke speed just to get my breathing nice and even and then settled in to a nice stroke. Once that happened, it was like being in the pool. I had a great sub 2 min. per 100 swim and felt like I could have easily done the 2nd loop for the HIM distance. I was really happy this went so good. For me, it was the most important part of the race to get through and I got through it with a pace faster than my typical training pace.

Nothing!

It was a LONG way from the lake to T1. I was so psyched about my swim performance that I really didn't make it a point to blow through the first T. I just wanted to enjoy the rest of the day. Stopped in a grassy area outside of T to get wetsuit off which was not so bad. Made my way to the bike, drank a gatorade, ate a gel and hit the road.

In the future I could make it an effort to speed up the T times, but I hate spiking my HR in T.

I did not beat my PR for a bike leg, I SHATTERED it. My previous PR was a tad over 18mph for a 10 mile leg. Today was 19.5 for a 22 mile leg. I felt good on the ride, hydrated enough and took in a gel at mile 15. It seemed that for most of the leg I had the road to myself. I passed a few people and was passed by a few, but rarely ran into any traffic. On the final turn onto the last 3 mile stretch, I hit a crater in the street that was so jarring I had to check and re-check to make sure my front rim did not snap. The final .5 mile I dropped into a low gear and flew by as many people as I could to get to T2. It was a great bike leg, way beyond anything I could have hoped for.

Nothing.

My rack was as far back from the bike exit as one could get (almost) so it took awhile to get there. Once there, I strapped on a hydration belt, my race number and visor and took off.

Not much.

On my way out of T2 I felt some nasty chaffing under my arms so I dropped my skin suit to my waist which made me feel cooler. My plan was to do the same 5/1 run/walk that I did last week. The first half mile I felt a little cramped in my torso from being aero for an hour. By mile 1 I noticed I was splitting in the high 11's for mile times. I had never run this far after such a long bike leg and did not know what to expect or how my body would respond. By mile 2 I still felt OK and was still doing my 5/1 strategy. By mile 3 I was struggling to keep my splits under 12 mins. and my legs started to hurt. By mile 4 it really became a struggle. My 5/1 strategy became a 4/1 strategy. My legs and feet hurt like hell and I felt like I was jogging in place. The last 2.5 miles were brutal. First, because I was so fatigued it seemed like the miles were longer than miles, especially the last 1.5. I remember getting pissed when I would turn a corner and not see the mile 5 marker, "Where the F is mile 5?" I remember hoping to myself that maybe the RD forgot to put up a mile 5 marker and I would turn the next corner to see mile 6. I did turn the next corner but it was only mile 5. From mile 5 it was run a little, walk a little pretty much to the finish. By then, my 5/1 or 4/1 became jog a couple hundred yards, walk a couple hundred. My legs felt like stone and I was in "just finish" mode. Occassionally I would run by some spectators who would cheer me on and I would find the umph to make in another hundred or so.

The last .5 I could hear the announcer in the distance. I was passed by a race volunteer on a mountain bike clearing the way for the first HIM finisher who proceeded to blow by me at a 6 min. mile clip. He finished in under 4 hours! Anyway, the last .5 was more like 2 miles. It had to be because it seemed like forever to get there. When I finally made it to the chute, I jogged through the finish. I was an Olympic distance triathlete!

I need to train more bricks with a 10K leg to get used to this distance after a long bike leg.

Met up with Zilla and little Mac. It hurt to even walk. My feet were killing me and my legs were made of cement. We gathered up my stuff in T and headed out of there.


The run, but I pretty much knew it would be.


I was thrilled with my swim and bike. I entered the race thinking that a 3 hour time would be great and I basically hit that. This race was a qualifier for the long course National Championships so the field was really strong. Had my run even been my average 10:30 split, I still would have finished BOP despite the PR on bike and the good swim. Overall, I was really pleased with the race and have a clear direction for off-season training (running!).