Escape to Miami Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

Let the pack get ahead of me and then just started swimming. My stroke only really came together in the last two weeks. I DID GREAT! Swam with my face in the water the whole time. Only breathed on the left, which was okay, breathed every stroke. It wasn't broke so I didn't fix it. MY SITING WAS PERFECT! Got into a few slap fests with people who kept zigzagging the course. One jerk stops after the turn to ask the ORLG WHERE THE FINISH IS! ORLG tells him to just swim to shore. So I asked the guard on the way by if I could get a latte to go. I did great. No OWS freakouts, NO PANIC! No issues with the ucky, yucky seaweed. It's too bad the boaters treak Escape Island the way they do. Looking down at the swim start, all you see is about 30 feet of ocean floor covered in beer cans. :(

I'm glad it was a slack current; even so I had to work to get through the choppy areas. It picked up after we left the protection of the island, and again about 400 yards off shore. Just kept repeating "Atlantic Dunes ... Atlantic Dunes." Still. I SWAM! And I swam well. I know that I need to work on speed and strength. But, for someone who could barely string together 400 in the pool last April, I'M SO PROUD OF ME!

Got out of the water and started walking to T1. Looked back and saw PEOPLE IN THE WATER!!! "OMG!," I yelled, "I'M NOT LAST!" Crowd laughed and yelled back: "NO! NOW GET INTO TRANSITION!" Got a hug and a kiss from Luis on my way in.

Woggly in T1, but heck! I'd just swum for 54 minutes.

I need to get more efficient in transition. Nuf said.

Took my time getting onto the course to get rid of my sea legs. Weather was great. Overcast, roads were dry. Had 700 ml of Spark and Rehydrate and a bottle of plain water. BAD: NOTHING NEW ON RACE DAY. I had a rear hydration system that I broke down and transfered to the inside of my bike. The one holding my waterbottle was bent and the bottle got stuck. I was fine with the S/R bottle. Picked up water at the exchange and chugged b4 tossing it. I made the turn and there was a Miami Police Officer who had retrieved my bottle for me! Shouted an explaination. She saluted and said "You go girl!"

Liked the course a lot. Headwind into South Beach and a tailwind for the return. The kills, I mean, hills on the first bridge came at miles 5 and 8, and 10 and 16. Slowed to 10mph with the grade. Hills on the return trip weren't as bad (relatively). But, I like hills. Saw Kenny as I was starting my second loop and he was finishing. He gave a shout when he saw that I'd made the swim cut off "GO JANICE! STAY STRONG, BABY!" Knew that I'd stay aero into the headwind and try and fly with down grades and the tail wind on the return. At the bottle exchange, they were all offering bottles. Waved them off, but yelled "City of Miami rocks and you guys are all awesome!" They went nuts! :)

I need to get more aggressive on the bike. But, with the wind and the grades, I'm pleased with my bike performance over all. Next year, I'll be stronger.

Again. The use of the word Aggressive. I need to get me some.

See above.

I was so happy! I did great going out at a good pace. I ran so much more of this course than I did at Fantasy of Flight. Saw Kenny at my mile 1/his 5. He crossed over and gave me some of his water bottle, a hug and a kiss. "See you at the finish!" I pre-planned to chug the Spark/Rehydrate after the bike, shoot for an 11 minute mile, walk the bridge and use the water stops. Which I did! I didn't over hydrate like I did at FoF. Stomach felt great! Tried to push myself, but, really? I was meeting my goals for the race.

Traffic was a mess on the causeway b/c we had two lanes. The Police were GREAT! I think they just liked yelling at the rich people who live on Hybiscus Island ... HEY! HOLD UP! THESE PEOPLE ARE RACING!!! I tried to look like I was running when they did that! Passing the Officer, asked him what time the bus would be stopping at the bus stop just ahead. "You want a bus?" YES! I want a bus! :) He laughed.

Started raining at mile 5. Thunder! The poor volunteers! I thanked them all for staying out there and I think their smiles were bigger than mine! "HEY! No problem! YOU'RE GOING TO FINISH!" Yes. I am! :)

Ran the last mile into the finish. Kenny called out my name and I put my arms up. Came under the arch and GOT MY ESCAPE FINISHERS MEDAL! I'm so happy!

Train for running. Get stronger, get more aggressive.

Found Kenny and hugged. Grabbed the gear out of the rain and went to get food. He had Gatoraid for me. Got a coke. Went back to the hotel and hustled to meet our check out time.


Need to refine my training, work on strenght, and loose some weight. So, lifestyle.


Rain limited post race. RunMiami put on an EXCELLENT Event! Staff was phenominal. THE VOLUNTEERS WERE JUST AWESOME! And major thanks to the City of Miami for the their excellent, enthusiastic and professional safety personnel!