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.  

Miami Man Ramblings

Miami Man is almost here.  THREE short days until my first non-sprint triathlon.  I waiver between being scared to death, excited, and nervous. Part of me wants to just get this over with so I can go back to having a training life, rather than being stuck in the continuous recovery/preparation phase that has governed my life for the past 6 weeks.  Because TRAINING is the only real break I get from my every day.

 I'm doing the international distance.  Its more than twice what I've done so far this year, but approximately half of a Half Iron Distance . . . 0.6mi swim/22 mi bike/6.6 mi run.

So to break it down . . . first comes the swim.  .6 mile lake swim.  And can I just say HOLY CRAP, it looks long on paper.  

Goal for the swim . . . not die.  Really, that's all I'm going for.  A goal is under 25 minutes, B goal is 30.  But not drowning (or needing to hold on to a freaking lifeguard) would be acceptable as well.

 The bike . . . 22 miles in the Redlands (agricultural district) . . . flat, crappy roads with nothing to block the wind.  Wind tends to be out of the ENE, so it could be a rough ride back.  It was blowing 25 mph earlier in the week (which was freaking me out) but has calmed down. Hope it stays that way.

Goal for the bike . . . hard to say because it depends on the wind.  I'd like to negative split the out and back.  A goal is 18mph+, B goal is 17.  But I really haven't ever tried to keep that pace for 22 miles, so we'll see.  I will just have to pretend my favorite riding partners are pulling me the whole way. Any time I feel like quitting I'll definitely be thinking of Rosie and Sus.

The RUN . . . the whole reason I picked to do my first mid-distance Tri at THIS particular race is because loops make me want to scream.  I hate loops with a passion.  This 6.6 mile run should be pretty cool though, since its through the zoo.  I have spent a bazillion hours at this zoo, so I know it like the back of my hand.  This SHOULD be handy when it comes to knowing where I'm at and how much further to go.

I KNOW KNOW KNOW the run is going to be the hardest part for me.  I have a tendency to spin more on the bike racing than I do when I train. Which means my legs are dead for the run.  I haven't bricked enough in training, I KNOW it.  So, in an effort to not suck on the run, I'm dedicating miles . . . so corniness ensues NOW. . .

Mile 1 - My kiddos, who motivated me to START my fitness journey and keep me moving.
Mile 2 - My hubby, who will be waiting for me at the finish (thanks to an awesome friend) . . . he used to think I was crazy for doing this stuff but I'm slowly pulling him over to the dark side
Mile 3 - My Tough Chik Sisters, who motivate me and move me and never fail to support each other
Mile 4 - Every single woman out there who ever thought she couldn't do something.  Who felt like she was too fat, too slow, to weak . . .I have to post this now because its been in the back of my head all week.

Mile 5 - A few very special friends who are going through a REALLY, REALLY crappy year.   They know who they are. 
Mile 6 - My gym peeps, Cherokee, Peggy, Carmen, Abbey, Lourdes, Dawn. . . really too many to list them all; and my forever running bud Jess, who will be racing her own 13.1 at the same time; my good friend Julie who has always given me something to aspire to in mothering and in speed, and who has been recovering from an injury for a large chunk of the year :-)
That last 0.6 .  .  myself.  This race closes out the competitive year for me, as well as my tri season.  And it WAS a season.  6 sprint triathlons since March.   This will be my 12th event in 11 months.  Something I would never have considered possible a few years ago.  This has been a break through year for me and I want it to end on a high note. 

A goal for the run is a 10:30 pace but that may be pushing it.  I'd really like to be under an 11 minute mile as a B goal, but it really depends on how the bike goes.

A goal is to be done under 3 hours.  B goal is to (once again) simply NOT DIE.

And eep, I think I'm now officially really freaked out, having put all of that in writing.   Have an amazing long weekend, friends!