Miami Man International - TriathlonOlympic

Well - let me first say I don't really like swimming and it's not my strong suit by any means. And this was my first open water swim. I had set my goals of 20m best case and 25m worst case thinking that the wetsuit would help me swim faster. I might have made my second goal if I had not wasted time swimming to the wrong buoy and swam into (literally) another buoy. But I was happy with finishing and not drowning. I wasn't really tired at the end but glad to be done. Really like the sleeveless wetsuit.

I made a mental turnaround in the pool recently so I hope that will carryover to next year's training. I really need to get over my I suck at swimming attitude and get more time in the pool.

The time may look really long and it was but the run from the beach to transition was pretty long. And the bike in/out was a long, long, long way from my bike rack. Plus this was my first time taking off a wetsuit. So yes it took more time that usual but there were good reasons for it.

Nothing other than more practice and more events.

The course was dead flat but strong head and crosswinds on most parts especially the return. My goals were bottom 18mph and top 20mph so I was happy w/ my bike. The wind was tough and I worked pretty hard to fight through some parts. Course was pretty good - some vehicle traffic on certain roads and not always the friendliest of drivers. Volunteers and cops were great. I backed off the peddaling on the last mile to rest up the legs. Great finish in the park with lots of fans cheering on the road side.

Need to keep getting more time on the bike. With a half and full marathon this ywear, I was much more run focused in my training. Started last year around 15-16 mph for bike averages. Now I'm holding steady at 18mph. Next year - 20!

Pretty good - ran most of the way but walked a bit. It was a long way back to my rack and didn't want to get my HR zooming before the run start. Had to put socks on for the run b/c I got a small blister on my toe from the bike shoes. First time I've had that happen.

Nothing

Fun run (if there is such a thing). Course was flat and windless. The early half had a brief run through the park then out to the zoo parking lots. The last half was mostly through the zoo with lots of animals to see. I saw elephants, gorillas, rhinos, baboons, huge birds, and a few others that I can't remember.

I started off with my typical short quick shuffle until my leg muscles relaxed and I was able to get a longer, faster stride. I drank Accerade along the way and dumped water on my face twice. Ate one banana Hammergel with some water around mile 2. It was yummy! LOL It's amazing what tastes good when you are hungry. This was my best part of the day. My goals were to be between 9m miles and 9m30 miles. So I accomplished that and was pleased that I could have kept going.

Keep working on bricks to get the legs transitioning better and faster off the bike. Add some interval training to help build speed. I want 8ish min. miles next year.

Sat down for a few minutes to catch my breath and drank some fluids. Not too interested in eating.


Today - my swim, the wind on the bike and the long transition area.

My finish time wasn't great and I was below 50% for overall females (finished 92 out of 186) but I was happy with myself after a long year and lots of events. I'm thrilled with my progress. Two years ago, I set a new year's resolution to complete a triathlon - I did 2 sprints. This year, one of my resolutions was to complete a half marathon. I did the Shamrock Half in March and the Baltimore Marathon in Oct. I also completed 2 sprint tri, 1 sprint dualthlon, 1 international tri, 2 tri relays and a half dozen other road races from 5K to 12K. I got faster each race and had only one truly disappointing performance.

Most importantly I stayed healthy, had fun and am looking forward to next year when I want to tackle a HIM.


Excellent race - great organization, volunteers and stuff. Had fun and would highly recommend the race to anyone looking for one last race of the season. Just stay an extra night to hit South Beach before heading home.