After a fitful sleep, waking hourly, afraid that I'd sleep through the alarm, I was relieved when 4:45 finally arrived and I was able to get up. Breakfast was Cheerios with Chocolate Honey Milk, a combination that although I probably wouldn't complain about on any other day, was one that I had to choke down on race morning. Getting dressed took no time at all, and then I wrestled my short layers into two french braids, mostly so that my hair wouldn't stick out every which way through my bicycle helmet - not a good look, as I've learned from experience. Since my Garmin had no battery life, I needed neither the heart rate monitor or the watch - I'd be racing "naked" and was extremely worried about my pacing.
After kissing Yarden goodbye, I headed to transition, got body-marked (with my new age - 40!) and hunted down the bike techs who would lend me a pump for some last minute tire inflation. Elimination (sorry) clearly wasn't happening pre-race, so I barefoot jogged over to the Cuban Cafe, for some of their great cafe con leche (con MUCHO azucar!), then picked up my wetsuit and conditioner, and headed over to the swim start.
Although the USAT Refs declared that the water temps were 75 degrees, and thus the swim was wetsuit legal, the water felt much warmer than that to me - easily over 78 degrees. Still, it was nice to be able to take a warm up swim to the first buoy and back as a way to calm my nerves. Unlike Saturday, Sunday's ocean was virtual glass, as though inviting us to race it 's waters. Pretty soon, we were called out of the ocean for the pre-race talk, including a reminder that due to construction the bike route had been modified. After a relatively decent rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, the pros were off, and then, wave after wave of age groupers. As a 35+ year old female, I was in the last wave, with the other purple caps, and grateful that at least in this race the 40+ year old males weren't going to be coming up behind us, chasing us down.
The water, as I said, felt glorious, and I quickly settled into my stroke - nice and easy, my breath - every three strokes, and sighting - each time I breathed on my right. I felt good in the water, stretched out each stroke, and passed pink caps, red caps, blue caps and yellow caps. There were also some purple caps hanging with me. Occasionally I hopped onto a set of feet and drafted off them for a while. Although it was easy, I had no urgency to push myself harder, and was just glad that I didn't feel a moment's panic. Pretty soon, it was time to turn right towards shore after that 6th buoy, and I swam in until my hands scraped bottom.
Then T1- starting stripping my wetsuit off on my run to transition, located my rack and bike with ease, chatting up the girl racked next to me for a few seconds as I dried my feet, slipped on bike shoes, helmet, and sunglasses, then grabbed my bike and ran to the bike out.
As soon as I got on the bike, I started spinning what I hoped was 90 or so RPM, and then started taking in fluid. Though not feeling dehydrated, the salty ocean water was a bit overwhelming, and I wanted to flush the taste of it out of my mouth. Pretty soon, we were going over the first bridge. Unfortunately, I miscalculated my gear shifting, then shifted the front and back gears too fast... I was spinning without going anywhere-my chain popped off. Before I new it, I was down with my bike. No biggie in terms of fixing the chain, though I courteously waited for the group of cyclist climbing to pass, so that I could get on with the bike leg.
All those long training rides we've done recently really helped in terms of leg fatigue - the cycling felt effortless, and I was worried that I wasn't going as fast as I could/should be. I knew the run would be miserable no matter what, so I wasn't worried about saving my legs for that, but didn't want to exhaust myself too early in the race. It turned out I could have respected the signals my body was sending me without doubting them. Following the race, I had no soreness at all - could have easily done another tri the next day.
The entire bike, I was riding with men - I didn't think I had gone that fast and wondered where the women were. At one point, one of those guys took a turn to widely, flew over his handlebars, and landed in a scary twisted position. I was shaken watching it, and hope he's okay. Pretty soon the bike was over, and it was time for the run. I was feeling pretty good, though my legs had the usual bike-to-run wobbles, and got out of T2 pretty quickly (cap, running shoes and fluid)
As last year, the run is where you feel the full effects of the Miami heat. I tried the running cap this year in order to protect my head/keep it cool, but it had the negative effect of not allowing me to dump water on my head at the aid stations. I'll be playing with it, and with visors in the future to see what works best for me.
And what can I say about the run? It was hard on my legs. It was all I could do to keep running/jogging the entire time and not slow down to a walk, however tempted I was to do so. At one point, I asked a spectator for the time, and realized that I was much slower than I hoped to be, and picked up the pace so I'd get to the finish in time to watch Yarden in the 100 yard Tot Trot that she would be racing at 10:00. At the half-way point it was time to pick up my pace, and I kept increasing it (or at least effort) through the end.
After finishing and getting my medal, and (more importantly) a cold towel and some Zico, I found Yarden at the starting line for the Tot Trot, and after we waved at each other, I got to cheer her on during her race. The intensely competitive look on her face was something to behold! I hope she learns to embrace that part of herself, as she clearly flourishes in a competitive environment.
As for my results, I didn't get them until I was at the airport. Here they are:
GALIT EINY #896
NEW YORK, NY Age: 40 Gender: F
| Distance | Intermediate |
| Clock Time | 02:54:06 |
| Overall Place | 419 / 775 |
| Gender Place | 95 / 209 |
| Division Place | 20 / 43 |
| Swim | 00:38:02 |
| Trans1 | 00:02:34 |
| Bike | 01:14:53 |
| Trans2 | 00:02:18 |
| Run | 00:56:17 |
| Swimrank | 410 |
| Bikerank | 465 |
| Mph | 19.9 |
| Runrank | 467 |
| Pace | 00:09:04 |
29 seconds slower than last year, almost all of it in the swim, where I lost 3 minutes off of last year's time (gaining it back on the bike). I was pretty disappointed in myself, but decided to approach this race as a learning experience:
1. It's a stupid idea to skip multiple workouts;
2. Listen to your body. If it's telling you to push harder, it's because you can;
3. Having kids at race weekends takes a lot of planning and managing expectations beforehand;
4. Bike fitness is hugely important, but that doesn't mean the swim can go out the window;
5. This new age group is even faster than the last! Good thing I'll be sitting in it for the next 5 years.
Coming back with these results, has reinforced and renewed my commitment to my training.
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