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 Swim
Comments: In my previous attempt at an open water swim in a tri I did 750M in 30 some minutes and hung onto every boat out there. This time I was going in with a bit more experience from having swam at Lake Montclair a few times over the summer but I was still pretty nervous going in. I hung out in the back to avoid the group and worked pretty well because everyone seemed to take off and leave me in the dust. I felt really good going around the first buoy and was sighting pretty well. About 500M it felt like I was out of breath and having to suck in as much oxygen as possible. I have no idea why I do this. I don't have this problem in the pool swimming 2 x 3 times this distance. It was kind of funny that at one point I did have someone doing the 1/2 iron draft off me for a bit, I think she thought better of it after awhile and I had no idea where she went. After rounding the last buoy I started to get nautious and felt like I was going to throw up in the water. I saw a lady on board and swam to her and hung on for a bit I thanked her and proceeded to burp for what seemed like 5 minutes straight. LOL, she asked me if she should take me to the shore but I said no I would be ok. I apologized to her and swam in pretty hard, for some reason I felt alot better after that. I have no idea what caused my stomach to be upset so much but I didn't have any other issues the rest of the day with it. What would you do differently?: Not sure what to do, I can swim faster in the pool without a wetsuit than I can in Open water with a wetsuit.  Transition 1
Comments: Was a really, really long run out of transition, my AG was the furthest from the bike out.  Bike
Comments: Talking to Lenora she told me that the wind would be bad on the way back in. When Sam and I drove the course the day before there wasn't a breath of wind. Of course when we have to ride it, it got nasty. On my way out I passed quite a few people and was making pretty good time. When I made the u-turn to head back to transition I could immediately feel the wind in my face and my POS new bike computer stopped working instantly... The wind seemed to be either in my face or crossing the entire way back. I ended up getting passed by a few people and went back and forth with others. I had to drop back a few times when people passed to make sure I didn't get a penalty as there were marshals all over the place. I only saw a few obvious drafters and one guy drafting off of a VW beetle. What would you do differently?: Not sure, I thought I rode the course a bit faster than this, it was kind of tough not having my speed data on the way back in, need a new bike computer. Transition 2
Comments: Long run into bike, I was surprised I was this fast.  Run
Comments: If I would have had an average run here I think I would have been very happy with my overall performance in the race. Running out of transition my legs felt awful immediately. I looked at my watch and was running a 8:35 pace and my heart rate was maxed. I slowed it down hoping that I would feel better and get things going. First mile was 9:30 and stayed there for a few miles. I did look at some of the animals for the first 1/2 of my race as we did go through the zoo Unfortunately I just never felt good on the run. My pace kept getting slower and slower and I stopped looking at the stupid animals. My wife asked me, did you see the gorillas, Giraffes, etc, I said no I missed them all. I did ask her if she saw the Gazelle, I said I couldn't remember the name, and she lauged her butt off that I was moving so slowly that I could actually read the name of the animal... After leaving the zoo the path turned to gravel/dirt/old paved road which was killing my feet and I felt miserable and just wanted the race to be over with. Crossed the finish line and just laid in the grass for a bit to recover. What would you do differently?: I think I just need to run more, hopefully training for the 1/2 and full marathons next year will help my running. Post race
Warm down: Relaxed waiting for Sam to finish. We then headed up to South Beach to party before heading home the next day. What limited your ability to perform faster: Running, not sure why I blew up so bad on the run but will just work that much harder for next year. Event comments: This was our first Olympic/International race and we both had a blast. I don't think either of us were happy with our overall time but it was still alot of fun. They had a great expo, Sam got a pair of Brooks Glycerin shoes for 56 bucks, I think I paid 115 for them at PRR 3 months ago. Tons of other stuff to see and do there as well. Very nice Schwag, running hat, shirt, water bottle, and a very nice medal. Unfortunately it is all Miami Orange and Green :) I am considering doing the 1/2 next year if I feel up to it, seems like a great place to try it. The weather is perfect for November well at least coming down from Virginia it was perfect. Last updated: 2008-05-03 12:00 AM
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United States
Multirace
80F / 27C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 240/432
Age Group = M 35-39
Age Group Rank = 30/45
(WARNING: This is going to have way too much detail that has nothing to do with the race in it, my wife asked if I should add all my bathroom stops in the report) Also, I didn't feel like spell checking...
Sam and I boarded the Auto Train in Lorton Virginia on Thursday with the bikes on the back of the car. This was going to be our first distance done greater than a sprint. Definitely an interesting experience. We were probably the youngest people in the station by about 30 years. We did get a mini-room, where you have 2 seats and at night they fold the seats down into bunk beds. Drank way too much wine at dinner, (plus Sam brought our own bottle which we had a few drinks out of before dinner) the theory was the more I drank the easier it would be to sleep on the train, plus the couple they sat us with were drinking it up so I didn't want them to have to drink alone.
Unfortunately the wine didn't help my sleeping any so I pretty much tossed and turned all night and didn't get much sleep.
The train arrived in Sanford, FL around 8:00 am the next morning and we sat around for about 45 minutes waiting for the car to get offloaded, all and all a pretty decent experience.
Then we had a 5 hour drive to Miami ahead of us, 95 there is pretty much just as boring a drive as it is here in DC. Pretty uneventful drive down, we switched off a few times so the other could nap.
Once we got past the beach area of Miami and onto Rt 1. the traffic got pretty bad, every road there seems to have at least 5 lanes and all of them have one of two types of drivers, very slow people, or those that want to drive about 90MPH which made for an interesting weekend of driving.
We had a great dinner the first night at a place called Michaels in the Design district. Slept in the next morning and headed over to the race site to check in and check out the expo. Met Leonora (Velorider62) at the expo, she was great and gave us lots of info beforehand on the course.
The next night we kept looking for someplace decent to eat but ended up at Tony Romo's because it was close and we wanted to get back to the hotel and attempt to get some sleep.
As usual didn't sleep well but got up early and headed over to the race site.
Not much, we walked a good distance from the car to the race area.