Post Eagleman 2023 Photo

Race Report: Eagleman 70.3 2023

Race Morning
Before I can go into how the day went, we must turn the clocks back 24 hours to Saturday morning. The day started out as ordinary until …. I went to grab shorts out of the suitcase. Yep, if you’re over 40 you can probably guess what happened next. One of the my worst back seizes in memory. My wife helped by giving me a back massage and also applying some Rock Tape, but even walking was not as easy as breathing. After some breakfast and bed stretching, we loaded the bikes onto the car and headed to the bike check-in. We had gotten parking that was pretty close to the expo/transition, so it was a short walk. At one of the closed side-streets I decided to test how pedaling would go and was pleasantly surprised cycling was possible. We dropped off the bikes, got dinner and prepped for Sunday.

So the alarm went off as programmed and the back was only marginally better. We got dressed, grabbed our bags & nutrition and headed to our pre-paid parking lot. Walking to transition was okay, probably not as fast as I normally stride, but relatively pain-free. It took a little bit to get down to the ground to lay out my towel, shoes (bike & run) and other stuff. And putting on the sleeveless wetsuit was not as easy as it should have been. I only had it waist-high when the announcer indicated that transition was closing.

Swim Leg
exiting the Choptank River at Ironman 70.3 EaglemanSo I made my way to the funnel of athletes with volunteers holding signs for expected swim times. I slowly advanced up to the 40 minute sign, pulled up my wetsuit so I could at least get the top secured, made sure to re-attach my timing chip, and then got my Fenix 5S ready to record. From what I remember, it had +60% battery remaining, so plenty to record this (so I thought). After the swim cannon fired for the supes to start their race, we slowly advanced forward to the Choptank River. When I go close the start arch, I heard Dave Ragsdale over the mic ask “And where is David Mioduszewski?” I happened to be on the right side of the corral near him, so I waved until he saw me. Not long after that I was at the human guardrail where everyone had to wait 5 seconds before descending the padded ramp into the water. The water had a slight chill to it throughout the whole swim, but it wasn’t the coldest I’ve been in. I kept pretty straight and close to the buoys as I went, and only 2-3 times did I have to deal with crowds, not including the turns. I did have to pause a few times to de-fog my goggles. The river was pretty murky and it tasted as such … I would recommend taping your mouth shut to prevent this as my throat was irritated afterwards. I got to the swim finish ramp, got out.

T1
Remember how I wrote that I made sure my watch was set up and it had plenty of battery? Walking up the ramp out of the river and heading to the area of wetsuit strippers I went to hit the lap button and noticed the screen was blank. “WTF?” After I got my wetsuit taken off (with a little assistance getting down and up) I walked to my bike attempting to see if it had just turned off somehow – no luck. I had set my main bag off to the side of transition so I tossed my wetsuit on top of it and sat down by my bike to clean my feet & put on my bike shoes, helmet, and glasses. Made my way to the Bike Start arch, swung my leg over my bike and started pedaling.

Bike Leg
biking Blackwater ReserveThe course is okay compared to some other races I’ve done. I can’t tell how fast or slow it is, as my watch didn’t survive the morning. But there weren’t any steep climbs, rolling hills or long descents. The course goes through some neighborhoods, along some roads and then winds through Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge before winding back to the race site. I passed some wheat fields, some more fields, some marsh land, more marsh land, fields, fields, fields. I did spot what looked to be a beaver’s apartment with a mound of tree branches & parts in the marshes. I kept myself as comfortable as I could on the bike; only towards the last few miles did I have to do a standing stretch will coasting. I did stop once for the port-o-potty at the aid station around mile 18. I think the constant pedaling helped to loosen the hips a bit to make getting off and back on the bike a bit easier. I pushed when I could, eased back when I needed to, and took advantage of a tail wind as provided. Overall the bike course was good, well marked and the aid stations seemed to be well run – although I didn’t notice any theming or decorations. After about 56 miles, the bike finish arch came into view which meant a dismount was coming up.

T2
I did have to lean the bike a bit more than normal to swing my right leg over it, but I was able to walk to my spot in transition okay. After racking my bike and getting my helmet, glasses and shoes off, I really felt the tightness standing there. It got the point where I doubted even heading out for the half marathon. But then I thought, “Just get out there.” I put on my socks and Endorphin Pro’s, grabbed my zip lock bag of nutrition, container of generic Motrin, & my race belt with the bib on it, and got out there.

Run Leg
finishing Eagleman 70.3 2023I started walking and that was okay, and kept that up until another racer came up to me whom was slowly jogging. He had a neat Zoot kit (that ended up not being available anymore), so I decided to see how jogging would go. We ended chatting for a few minutes until he had to take a rest walk; I was feeling fine so I kept it up until the first aid station almost a mile into the run. Before getting to that aid station I took off that fully dead Garmin and put in my back pocket with the nutrition bag and Motrin container. For the first loop of two I mostly jogged until each aid station, getting a cup of something (water, Gatorade, or Coke) and adding ice cubes to the 3 small pockets in my top. I only took the generic Motrins twice the first loop, so the remaining pills gave a little shaker noise in the container as I jogged. I didn’t push the pace to go what I had originally planned on running, so the 2hr half marathon was out of the question. Runners passed me, I passed walkers and slower joggers. Being two out-and-back loops I saw my wife a few times in passing (she had a better overall race than I and a PR bike split) so we got to keep tabs on each other. A couple of times my lower back would give a slight “spazz” whenever I think I leaned too much to the side or direction. Other than that, I was fine. The second loop probably went a little bit slower than the first loop (no watch nor can tell time by the sun’s angle) as the temps slowly went up and there was not much shade, but I still kept jogging as much as I could and adding ice to my pockets. There were definitely people from less humid states at the race as a few times I came upon people either hands on the knees or were being tended to by volunteers or medical staff. Eventually, I made it to the split in the run loop where instead of turning right for another loop, I got to turn left for the finish line. I did pick it up a bit here so I could pass a few runners and not have to “share” the finish arch photos. As luck would have it, I heard David Ragsdale call my name as a finisher and I gave him a wave. The race was over … for me, anyway.

Post-Race
Thus, the race was over and the finisher medal was well earned. If you put in the training and aware of what you are capable of, you can accomplish something that might seem improbable. Would I do that race again? Yeah, it was well run, had a lot of helpful volunteers and supplies, and is in a nice area.

finish line photo with flag

Race Report: Ironman Cozumel 2021

Race Morning
view from Blue Angel ResortWhat a difference nine years can make. Alarm went off as normal (5am), got dressed as normal, ate a little bread & peanut butter, drank some Monster, and wondered how long the rain was going to last. It was just a light sprinkling but knew it would probably last a while. When we went downstairs, the rain had lessened a bit, so Jess got her rented scooter started – or tried to. For some reason (possibly due to the excessive rain) it wouldn’t turn over. No big deal – we walked the 1/2 mile to one of the host hotels where I hopped on (standing room only left) a big athlete’s only bus and the driver did a half dozen point u-turn to head over to T1 at Chankanaab Park. Got to T1 and it was still not raining, but as transition was in a park, portions were quite muddy, even with the blue carpeting. Handed off my special needs bags (mini cans of Cokes in both only) and headed to my bike. Put my water bottle in the cage on the handle bar holder and two Infinit bottles in their cages (only 1 pre-filled), and then headed off. I did check that the tires were still well filled, and decided it was not needed to add air. The line for the second shuttle to the swim start moved quite well with a line of buses waiting to take us to Marina Fonatur and the swim start. I got there, and after making my way to the find the morning clothes trucks (walking through more mud and water), I then had to take off my Gasparilla jacket and footwear to add to the bag before handing it off and make my way to the starting corals.

SWIM
local wildlife at hotelI popped into the 1:10 to 1:20 coral as I wasn’t sure how my shoulder would hold up (small spill enroute to bike drop off the day before) or how the current was going. I sat down on one of the “socially distanced” stickers to save on fatigue, while waiting in the now-drizzle which lead to the naming of the pro men and pro women – they got swim warmup, we did not. When the age group rolling start began, it was still drizzling; it interestingly stopped as soon as we rounded the turn and faced the Swim Start arch. Just before the timing mat and pier, there were counters that held racers for 3 seconds each to space out everyone. Walked to the pier, started my Garmin, crossed the mat and entered the water, feet first. Probably the clearest ocean water ever – there were points where the depth looked to be over 10ft but the scuba divers were still clear. I did see fish a few times, just nothing worth reporting (saw some green fish, but no rays, turtles or Arthur Curry). The spacing out of the participants made for a less congested swim start which I liked, just catching up to groups of slower ones, which is good for morale. It didn’t feel as thought the current changed at any point during the long swim, but there definitely were some changes in temps as there were some cold “pools” felt along the way. Glad I went with the metallic titanium goggles as sighting and buoy checking was some what in the direction of the sun and the goggles did not hinder my vision; I am more of a right-side breather, but can do both sides if need be. I knew the end was near as the two thatched huts at the end of piers signified that Chankanaab was approaching. There was a scuba diver laying at the ocean floor just next to the second of two huts, there was no giant red buoy to signify the turn. But seeing volunteers on SUP boards pointing to their right made it quite obvious where to go. Made the turn and the exit stairs came up soon enough, and, even though they were a bit slick, I carefully stepped up them to the pier, hit “lap” on my watch and made my way along the carpeted walkway through the small showers (I did pass my head underneath) and went to find my bike.
Props to: Aqua Sphere Metallic Titanium Goggles, Coach Bill Troy’s M&W pool sessions

T1
Once I found my bike (thankfully didn’t have to do much hunting) I was glad that the area wasn’t too muddy. I opened the blue bike bag to get out my socks, bike shoes, FLT arm sleeves, helmet, glasses and stroopwaffles. Everything got put on, the bike was grabbed and I made my way out of Chankanaab Park to find the bike exit. I crossed the timing mat, hit “lap” again, hopped on my bike and began the long journey of Leg 2 of Ironman Cozumel.

BIKE
bike portion race photoLooking back, I was really glad that I did a few century rides leading up to this and that the course was three loops. I got about 12 miles before needing to stop for a #1 – a quick stop and then back on to continued lap #1. All three laps were, of course, more or less the same – in terms of extras, not layout. During all three laps I saw several people dealing with flats, puddles, porto-potty breaks, showers, a wipeout (only 1), puddles, some stray dogs, puddles, serene waves on one side with loud crowds on the other, puddles, minor inclines and declines, some lightning during the 3rd loop, and (guess what) puddles. Some of the puddles were shallow and small, most were a few inches deep, but the doozy was on my third loop: my feet submerged on each downstroke and it lasted a few minutes to get through. The special needs stop that I used at the mid-point was less than stellar: it seemed as though a few dozen people all decided to to stop around the same time, as there was almost no place to prop up my bike (I used a pedal to lean it against a curb) and the direction given in the guide and briefing was not present in reality. I got my bag, drank one of the mini Cokes, placed the second in my bento box and left the crowds – so many people just sitting around, chatting like it was feista. It was great to be able to stay to the right when the third loop ended and I could make my way to the parking garage of the Mega. The showers had thankfully abated after the last lightning strike/storm combo mid-way through the loop. Rolled up to the entrance, hopped off, hit “lap” again, and hopped over a median (carefully so as not to slip and fall) and made my way to my red run bag to hang up my bike.
Props to: Jim’s Bicycles, Tune Cycle & Bicycle Generation for supplies, service and advice, Infinit and Gu Stroopwaffle, TriBike Transport

T2
I could have done without the puddles in the garage, but dealt with it as puddles seemed par for the day. I was quite glad to be able to take off the soaking wet bike shoes and socks for dryer run socks and sneakers. I also decided to change out of my tri top for the American tank top and figured out a way of wrapping the Augusta towel around myself to swap the tri shorts for running shorts. I placed my gels in the pockets of my run shorts, strapped the race belt, grabbed my cap and light, and headed out for the long, last jog.

RUN
race photo from lap 1 of marathonMuch like the bike, I was glad it was three loops. It made the out-and-backs easier to manage as 6 total segments of 4.3 miles with a few aid stations between the turn-arounds. There were also fewer puddles on the run course versus the bike course, although there was a storm drain cover that was overflowing that everyone went around the entire time I was out there. One thing this race did well on the run was have large coolers that they kept filled with ice and water to chill the drinks (important later). The first loop I grabbed Gatorade bottles (chilled), but soon the flavor was too much to stomach after that. I was privy to be able to get one water “pouch” of e-Pure before subsequent aid stations were completely out of them. It was on the return trip of the second that I saw another racer filling a bottle in one of the tubs – that gave me the idea of grabbing a Gatorade from one table, completely emptying it out, only to refill it will with water and ice. During my third loop aid stations started handing out small cups with water, and had run out of Pepsi. For the first two loops I jogged until I hit an aid station – the out portion of the third loop my legs (knees, hips) needed a few extra breaks. One or two times I jogged through the station, but only when I had a bottle in hand and had already consumed a Liquid Energy. I had a gel around mile 22 and dropped the bottle in a garbage a mile or two later. Now the out-and-back can be broken into two parts: the energetic, crowd-supported area near the T2/finish that was about a mile; the quiet, sparse area with a few hotels and sporadic music and crowds. After making that last turn-around, I knew I would have the crowds and music to add fuel. I was looking forward to the drum line that was present the first two loops – they were gone by the return of my 3rd – that was a bummer. In looking at my Garmin stats for the marathon, I actually negative split the last 7 miles (from a 15 pace to sub-10). Much like the bike, it was great to be able to completely veer right for the run finish, as the first loop I didn’t notice the chalk on the ground that indicated lap versus finish and almost grabbed a flag. I pointed to the US flag a volunteer was holding, grabbed it and headed for the finisher chute. Needless to say, the only thing that could have made the finish better (besides the announcer stumbling my last name) was the man-made “hill” I had to climb to cross the finish line – it was cruel and unusual punishment after 13-1/2 hours. It was quite patriotic to wield the American flag across the finish line of a race in another country. During my first two loops I had thought to do the Tony Stark “I am Ironman” snap either at the finish (but the hill killed that) or at the official finish photo, but I didn’t spot that area. Oh, well.
Props to: Hoka Rincon, WoB Coconut Creek Run Club & Runner’s Depot Coral Springs Run Club, Gu Liquid Energy

OVERALL
finish line photo with flagThrough all of the issues, both race and otherwise, Cozumel does a good Ironman. Their airport (American Airlines in particular) was grossly understaffed for our leaving, the aid stations hadn’t accounted for the large increase of participants (2,700+ versus their normal 2k), the island’s drainage couldn’t handle the rain, the finisher shirt is cotton, the medal has stickers, and the expo did not have any official gear that I was interested in (did I miss Cozumel bike bottles?) like triathlon tops or shorts (I only saw bike gear). Speaking of the bike portion: I did see race officials each loop and I even saw participants waiting in the penalty tents. That being said, during the first 2 loops I was passed by a few groups as well as people riding side-by-side, chatting it up. The athlete guide, athlete briefing and athlete bib all warned and pledged against drafting. Now, since the bike course was 3 loops, it can be difficult for 1-2 officials to catch everything. Thus, it is on the individual to take it upon themself to either play by the rules, or use assistance with a possibility of getting called out, either by officials or other racers. But the restaurants have great food, shop keepers are friendly and accommodating (got free shots on Monday), volunteers were helpful, and the race went well for me (duh – 2-1/2 hr pr). Definitely one worth recommending for first timers and those looking to pr or get a slot for something bigger.
Props to: my wife, Cozumel, my wife, my training plan (I wrote), my wife, Dr Troy Weidlich & Calvin Hicks for fixing us on a regular basis, Blue Angel Resort for a relaxing stay and good bar/restaurant,and to Mother Nature for not killing me or my mood.

 

Race Report: HITS Naples 70.3

Well, that was different. I wouldn’t say that I was untrained for this half iron distance triathlon, being my 6th 70.3 race, but it could have better (don’t we always say that?). That being said, I did finally get under 7 hours race time.

HITS Naples puts on a decent race at a good location, but their youth is evident in several aspects. Race morning we showed up around 5:30am to Vanderbilt Beach Park and were able to get a spot in the base level of the parking garage across the street. One thing was quite obvious that morning – dense fog. How different can west coast be from east coast fog? We walk across the street with our bags to tend to our boxes. Now HITS does one thing different with its transition area locations (yeah, more than one) than most of the other races – boxes and stools for each spot rather than metal tubes set up as “A” frames. What is missing (& greatly needed) are aisle markers – not having them made it a little difficult to find the right one. After dumping our pre-made T2 run bags into large trash bins marked by race numbers, we tended to our T1 spots and got ready for the swim.

There is a bit of a walk to the ocean, but I’ve seen longer (Key West Tri 2010) and there was only a small rocky area that was avoidable (nicely pointed out by a volunteer). The beach is nice – no shells, debris or even jellies! Now remember the fog? Where as the day before we could see all of the red pyramid buoys yesterday, only 2-3 were visible in this fog. They were spaced out enough so that after passing one, the next was just visible enough to keep going, & there were volunteers out there to make sure we didn’t miss the 180° turns. There were a few flocks of pelicans that flew overhead – leading credence to the name Pelican Bay. Heading south for the counter-clockwise swim felt like there was a little bit of a current. When I made it to the second turn buoy and headed for the exit I noticed 3 things: I seemed to be going pretty straight, there were fewer swimmers at this turn & the fog had slightly thinned. Getting closer to the exit I started to notice some people walking – in the water. Turned out there was a shallow sandbar; there was still room to swim so I kept going past some walkers until I couldn’t. I popped out of the water, heard my wife just behind me (I was the only person wearing arm coolers), and we trotted to transition.

Once we found our spots (aisle markers, HITS!) the chairs helped in me cleaning some ocean junk off my feet & getting my bike shoes on. Helmet, shades, nutrition (bottle of morning-made Perpetium & a pack of Sport Beans) and TomTom watch. Heading out of transition I could feel & hear a rubbing brake – just before the mounting area I tweaked the front brake calipers and headed into the fog. Thankfully there wasn’t much wind to be an issue with effort but it might have lifted the fog earlier. As it was, we cycled east for at least 30 miles and as such the fog remained and limited visibility to about 1/4 mile. I did have no trouble seeing vultures/buzzards though! The bike course is really flat – only a few small, slight rises throughout the 56 miles. There was a good bike lane/shoulder for most of it, too, except for one stretch (miles 35-45?) with no bike lane, cars/trucks with a 55mph sign and big trailers going by. There were a couple water bottle exchanges, but not much else. I didn’t see portable bathrooms, Gatorade/Powerade bottles, or signs for the full distance athletes. I know they had to go farther before doing a 180°, but the only signs I saw were for 10 (twice), 20, 30 & 40. Coming back the fog was slightly dissipating and was pretty much gone by the time I turned into Ave Maria. Now, my normal bike computer went wonky a few weeks ago, so I wore my running watch for time: when I hopped on it was 7:45am and going over the brick paver entrance and speeding through the last mile or two, it was closing in on 11am. So a sub 3:15 bike over 56 miles was good.  And the only issue (more of an inconvenience) was I had to do some standing peddling to relieve pressure on “my seated” area. I am still on the same saddle I bought in Texas just before IMTX2011.

Next up, as in most triathlons, is the run. And in this case, it was 13.1 miles of “oi vay!” Now in previous years, the run was kept near Vanderbilt Beach – makes sense since T2 was the place as T1. But we got the pleasure of running around Ave Marie in two loops that didn’t really highlight the area. The bike ride into the area went past several communities, shopping centers, golf course and I think a horse stable. But the run course went around one lake, past a recreation center and a water park (only for residents of Ave Maria!) and then several miles of undeveloped lands. From miles 1.5 to 3.5 and back (and then again for lap 2) were completely unshaded. Even the other portions of the run course were only partially shaded by a few trees which didn’t provide much shade the later in the day that the race went on. I started out and did the first out-and-back loop fairly conservative/explorative, doing between 10 & 11 min/mile and only taking a short walk break once or twice. There were 3 aide stations along the course, which we hit going out and then back – water, ice, HEED, Hammer gels, chips, Coke, pretzels, sponges. The second loop – slightly different matter. Turn-around went past the turn for the finish and there were some spectators in the area of the finish; except for the aide stations, that was about it for non-racers on the course. The sun was out more for this loop and Mother Nature wasn’t playing – few clouds; at least the temperature was bearable. I knew the completely unshaded area would be bad, so for most of that stretch I did as a race-walk/speed walk around a 14-15 min/mile. Each aide station I hit that day I took at least one cup of water to not only sip but also pour some on my arm coolers, shoulders and head. I was a bit surprised when, for the 2nd loop, two of the stations had run out of cups, water, and/or ice. But I did hear that they had replacement on the way. I can only imagine what the full distance participants had to deal with. After getting back to the “shaded areas” I went back to a jog/short walk for the rest of the 2nd loop, and made it back to civilization and the finish area, even jogging the last mile. At least the finish was in view of the center of town with some sort of church.

HITS Naples Half Race Stats
Swim: approximately 45 minutes (with T1 included since there is no swim split)
Bike: 3:10 + 4 min T2
Run: 2:44
TOTAL: 6:43

What HITS did good:

  • nice beach location
  • transition with boxes and chairs for everyone
  • relatively flat bike and run
  • helpful and friendly volunteers

What HITS should address

  • security at transition (no one double-checked us leaving with our bikes)
  • lane numbers in T1
  • more/better timing mats
  • more than just water on the bike course (and maybe porta-potties?)
  • more covered areas at the finish
  • no USAT officials monitoring drafting on the bike course
  • pacers were on the run course (on foot and bike)
  • race photos – I didn’t see and photographers, even the finish

 

Race Report: Hutchinson Island Half Iron

First off, every race is a learning experience. No matter how many you do, no matter how long you have been racing, every race is going to be different. Even if you do the same race & venue, you physically are different, the weather could be different, dozens of factors go into a race. But when you do a race for a first time, you add more uncertainty. We had the course maps, heard from other people who had done the race previously, had even drove most of the run and bike course the day before. So we knew that the course was unshaded. But wow, when the forecast calls for cloudy skies all day and you get none of that all day, it can be rough.

Swim was a double mass start: one for the long peeps and then a later one for the short peeps (half iron or short course). We actually had to wait for the sun to rise, sometime after 7am so that the lifeguards could get the buoys placed. The ocean was not completely flat, but the waves did not go out far. We had to swim in a kind of T pattern: straight out, left turn, 180° to head south a long while until we hit the other turnaround buoy and then the other left turn buoy to take us back to the beach. But wait, I forgot the fun before and at the start: Now while the waves were only close to shore, they were pretty intense. Just standing in knee deep, my ankles were getting pounded by the shells picked up from the waves going both in & out. I should have taken that into account when the race finally started, as before I got to that first turn buoy I went to take a breath and was figuratively punched in the face by one of those strong waves. It took a good minute to recover (and several more to clear my lungs) and get my bearings, even a fellow member of Boca Raton Tri (Stefano) stopped next me and asked if I was okay. Once I got over that it was just a matter of getting to the next buoy. That proved uhhh, let’s say fun, as the current (going south) was enough to keep pushing my direction towards the shore. I think I must have done at least 1.5 miles instead of the posted 1.1 miles. And it turns out I kept some the ocean with me the rest of the day.

The bike, oh the bike. Started out okay, heading north for about 12 miles along good ol’ A1A – almost 100% flat, except for the few bridges that went over some canals. There was water bottle station at about mile 10 – remember that. The forecast was for calm to less than 5mph out of the NE for most of the morning, but it turned out to be more of a straight crosswind – it felt like a headwind going both north and then south, but a breeze going west. Unfortunately after going through the roundabout (mile 24) and turning west it lead straight to the NE Causeway bridge. And oh what a bridge it was! I think one of Royal Caribbean’s cruise ships could have fit under it, but that might be an overstatement (doubt it). Up and over the bridge and right at the bottom of the west side we had to do a right side 180° to go under the bridge and then go right back up the bridge on the other side. It was under the bridge at about mile 26 that the other water bottle station was located (thankfully), so I did a quick stop to fill my water bottle. So if you are following the math, you probably figured out that I was only halfway through the 56 mile bike when I got back to the roundabout. That meant another trip up and down A1A and the crosswinds (a bit stronger this time), and another trip with the bridge. It was almost like an unshaded Sugarloaf Mountain. The first bottle station I mentioned earlier (remember that?), was empty: no bottles, just a pair of guys in volunteer shirts sitting. Luckily the water station under the bridge still had bottles, albeit no longer chilled. I forget at what point I realized that I do not like biking. But thankfully the bike was over.

Run – wait, let’s not call it that. Let’s call it “survive 13+ miles in an almost completely unshaded foot course.” Because that was basically what it this last leg of the triathlon was. As I started out I wondered if it was smart idea: a little nausea, the high heat & humidity, and knowing that there was barely any shade. I made it to the aid station at mile 1 and then the aid station at mile 2. There I downed a bunch of ice water, a cup of coke and dumped several ice water all over.  That helped and I felt the effects within 5 minutes. Go a few miles, left turn down a side street a bit, come back to the main street but keep going, go under the A1A bridge (& finally find a bathroom), turn around, go up & over the A1A bridge, do a quick in & out of park only to go back over the bridge, do a 180° back under the bridge to thankfully start heading back to transition, only to do the out-and-back from earlier, and then finally go straight to transition. Confused? Yeah, so was I. There were mile markers, but I guess they could only afford a small handful – one for the bike course (a misplaced 20 mile sign at mile 18.5) and four for the run: miles 1, 5, 8 (on the wrong side of the road facing the wrong direction), and 12. Thankfully there were some animals that littered the courses: saw a raccoon scampering around some shrubs the first loop of the bike, lots of birds all around, some dolphins at the run bridge, and enough crabs (both dead & alive) to stock a seafood restaurant for a week. Also thankful that around mile 7 I held up a bit and stuck with another fellow Boca Tri member, Kyle and we kept ourselves sane for the rest of the race. Always easier to keep moving with someone.

So what did I learn? Never do a half or full iron distance race between March & October in the state of Florida, or southeast US – the heat (plus humidity) can be a killer. What’s next? The relay at GFT with my wife and we are sooooo glad we downgraded from the individual ultra distances. Will I do another solo half iron or longer? Probably not

Race Report: Huntington’s Disease Olympic Triathlon 2015

So according to Athlink.com I hadn’t done an Olympic/International distance triathlon since 2012. So when the Huntington’s Disease Triathlons sort fell into training for the GFT in October (maybe more on that in a later post) sign up was a gimme. Now much has changed since the last one – Escape to Miami. Even in just the run alone, I have made some big strides (pun intended).

So race morning was typical fair: got to Larry & Penny Thompson State Park just after 5am to get our race numbers and a good spot in transition. It was a little cloudy and humid, but it’s July in South Florida, that’s to be expected. After getting my shoes and stuff set up, headed to the lake right next to transition. Just before the first wave (elite) went out, one of the bouys was moved. Now I was in the third wave, so when the elites went straight instead of to the far left buoy, everyone around began to wonder. So when we crossed the start mat, we were told to go straight, cutting off the left triangle, probably eliminating 0.1 mile from the scheduled 0.7 mile swim. Water was relatively clear and neutral in temperature. Everything went well until about the last 1/4 when my goggles fogged up and I stopped quickly to clear them out, and realized I was facing 2 o’clock instead of the swim exit. Cleared the goggles, turned slightly to face the exit, and made my way out of the water and into transition. Swim time: 19:00 minutes.

After grabbing the bike stuff and leaving transition (rocky and root-filled) I made my way out of the park. It was then I noticed that my bike computer sensor was just a bit too far from the magnet to register, and I was not about to stop; although I should have because at several points the cable wacked the wheel spokes a few times. I actually stopped about 5 miles before the end to try and tighten the cable (should have checked before the race). So I basically did the bike on “perceived effort” with several times of short pushes. Heading west was into a headwind, south was pretty smooth, as was north and east. There was a brief encounter with a shower, which kept me cool and thankfully didn’t become a heavy shower or downpour. The roads were typical Miami condition: near the state park were bumpy and few dips, along with a railroad crossing, but most of the 21 mile course was decent. The road did have vehicular traffic on it, which for the most part knew how to pass cyclists, except for a caravan of three work vans. I was not far from the end when I came up them. When I got close and noticed they were slower than me, I shifted gears and checked for oncoming traffic (car and bike) I found out there were two female riders going side by side leading the caravan. So after passing them and several other cyclists (mostly sprint). I bumped my way over the roots and rocks into transition. Bike time: 1:10:37 (17.8 mph)

Got my run shoes (and socks) on, grabbed my race belt and jogged out for the run. Run went out through the paved trail and into the RV park (just like Miami Man), turn-around and then back into the paved trails, around the lake, and then loop two. Kept a steady pace throughout, only slowing a few times at aid stations for water to splash most of it on my head – the iced water felt good in the humid, mostly unshaded park. The bunny hopping on the trail during the second loop was a pleasant surprise  – joked with a guy passing me at the time if we had to race the rabbit, too.  There were some slight rolling parts and a section of roots on the course – the latter was spray marked. What was also marked was each mile, and even a spray painting at half mile points. That made it easier to know when to push it some more for the finish. Crossed the finish line to hear my name (last name butchered as usual). Hey, you’re on this site, so you know. Run time: 55:12 (9:12 min/mil)

Total: 2:28:35

For a race where all of the fees go to medical research, they put on a good event. Lots of volunteers, a bottle exchange on the Olympic bike course, several water and gatorade stations on the run. Except for the no real explanation on why the swim was changed (& possibly shortened), and they ran out of race shirts (I have enough), it is well organized race in its 24th year. Check it out for next year @ http://www.huntingtonsdiseasefl.org.