Escape To Miami Triathlon Recap

September 28, 2014

I have never done a race quite like Escape.  And granted, its not like I have done a bunch of huge races, but Escape to Miami marked my 18th triathlon.  This race, at nearly 2500 entrants, in the sprint and Olympic distances, was H-U-G-E.  This was also my first triathlon that wasn't put on by Multirace, which made things a little more nerve-wracking for me.

Because this is a big race, its complicated.  You have to pick up your packet early and drop off your bike the day before.  In downtown Miami.  *Yay*  This means a logistical nightmare when both you and your spouse are doing the race and you have two little people.  Thankfully we have awesome friends who make it possible to do these things.  (Monica, you rock!)

The bikes, all locked and loaded in the truck.  

See that little island out there?  Yup, that's Escape Island.  We get to swim from there to where the picture was taken. NOT in a straight line. :-)  

But it was fun to get to hang out on a beautiful, windy day with my incredible family 

Race morning started a TWO AM.  TWO AM.  That's early even by triathlete standards.  I finally figured out that if I get up early the day before the race, I will have no problem sleeping the night before the race.  I usually have major issues sleeping on race right. Really glad I tested this on this race because BOY did getting a good night's sleep keep me from wigging out at TWO AM.

Set up my stuff under the bike, and was thankful the guy next to me didn't show because the bikes were packed in TIGHT TIGHT TIGHT.   Made the first in many, many errors in this less than perfect race when I accidentally stuck my index finger in the spoke of my front tire while checking it.  Awesome.  So throbbing finger and I went to find our crew (Brad, our friend Julie, Chris, and Alfredo, the vet among us who had done this race at least 7 times). 

We were supposed to board the ferry at 4am.  Yes, board ferry. Jump off ferry. Swim the rest of the way to island.  Yes, we pay to do this!

 Really though, this aspect of the race was so cool.  It was weird to jump off a boat in the dark.  We sat on the island and chit chatted, hung out, and just generally had a good time.  Watched the sun rise.  I freaked out more than a little, but it was awesome.  And then there wasn't any more time to think, because our wave started.

My swim was slow.  #2 on the long list of things that could have gone better on this race happened, and I got stung by jellyfish under my arms and in my top. Fun times.  It started raining 3/4 of the way through the swim, HARD, which was disorientating.

I felt like my swim lasted forever, and was glad when it was over.  I promptly forgot the go stick for my bia in transition, so I didn't get to track my bike with my GPS. It ended up being no big thing--the bike was a blast, lovely weather and pretty views.  My front derailleur was apparently out of adjustment, because I couldn't shift.  Thank goodness the bridges were small.  This was only Karma's second race, but I was again blown away by the differences on this bike.  24.8 miles was lovely, and I got off the bike feeling great.  I even managed to chik a few of the guys on tri bikes in the turns--I love tight turns, its fun to come off of them quickly.  Had so much fun on the ride.

T2 was a mess, I had to find the go stick for my bia and was so focused on that i almost forgot to take off my cycling gloves. It was HOT by now, and the run was a shadeless wasteland of South Florida humidity.  The best part of the run was the cool towels they gave us at the sprint turn around.   It's times like this that I really appreciate the Galloway method, which kept me from getting overheated in pretty brutal conditions.  I saw lots of familiar faces on the run, and felt good despite the heat.  I love the camaraderie of triathlon--since no one runs with music, you end up making friends.  I shared my water with an older gentleman who was overheated in the last few miles, ran in to my friend Jeanette and chatted with her for a bit.  The last mile came and went quickly.

When it was over, both the older gentleman and my friend Jeanette said GO FOR IT in terms of 70.3.  Both of them have done that distance before.  So when I came home, I upgraded, and freaked.
Stats:    Swim  00:45:46     03:04 min/100m
               T1    00:02:29
            Bike    01:28:21       16.88 mi/hr
              T2     00:02:32
            Run      01:23:08      13:23 min/mi
            Total :  03:42:14

Brad did great too, even though it endlessly annoys me that he was under-trained and finished a good 12 minutes ahead of me

By a complete freak thing, I ended up placing.  There were only a few women in our division though. I don't get WHY there are not more Athenas--I have a hard time believing there are only a handful of women over 165lbs who chose to do Triathlon. They do divide based on age (over 39 and under 39), but I wonder if there is a stigma against racing as an Athena.  I don't care, though, I'll do it anyway--I like to own that I'm not your typical picture of a triathlete--you don't have to be a size 2 or 4 to enjoy this sport. Medal was pretty cool. 

Really enjoyed this race.  I probably wouldn't do it again, because the logistics were just a bit too much, but jumping off the ferry was by far my favorite part. 

No rest for the weary though--Key Biscayne Half Marathon/first 20 mile run was due the following week.