1 mile run/ 13 mile bike/ 5K run
May 14, 2011
Race morning started off early. I got up at 4:45 am, got dressed and had a cup of coffee while I watched a little t.v. I headed out the door at 5:45 am and got to Siesta Beach just after 6am. They had people directing cars into lanes and parking spots for this race. It made parking much easier than previous races at this location without help. I got a great spot just one row over from the bike racks. I sat in my car for about 10 minutes drinking my coffee before deciding to head over to check on my bike, get my chip and see if I could trade my shirt. So happy I could trade in the medium sized shirt they gave me at packet pickup on the day before. It was skin tight! The large is still a little snug, but much better fit. While setting up stuff next to my bike, a guy came over and started touching my bike and checking it out. I asked him if I could help him with something and he tells me that I had been missing an end cap (?) and that he was just checking that one had been placed in the handle bars. Wow! Never noticed the race officials being so official at the past races before! I then headed back to my car to finish off my coffee, eat my cliff bar and check the internet on my phone for another 20 minutes. A little after 7 am, I made a trip to the bathrooms and then sat on a bench on the beach to watch some of the triathletes start their waves. The duathlon participants were not scheduled to start until 8:05 am. I finally headed over to the waterfront were I had to wait until 8:20 to get going. We were all ready to go!
The tide was almost at high tide, so there was very little hard packed sand to run on. The run went by quick and before I knew it I was running into the transition area.
1 mile run (really only .9) - 6:28!!
I got on my bike pretty quick and got out on the road after dodging a few people who were slow getting their bikes moving. I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to pass here, so I held back until we were on the main road. I was very worried about the officials DQing me for some violation! The ride always stresses me out. I worry about getting a flat tire and then missing out on the rest of the race. I saw 3 people in the first couple of miles walking their bikes back! I managed to keep up a pretty good pace on the ride. Passed a lot of people and I was also passed by a lot of people. The ride went by very fast and before I knew it I was turning into the parking lot and headed for the transition once again. I had a little trouble racking my bike, but finally managed to shove it in and then grab a drink of water, put on my visor and head out.
Transition and Bike - 47:37
I wasn’t feeling to great right off. It was HOT. I loved the little bit we had in the shade before heading on to the beach. The beach was brutal. Tide was all the way up at this point. There were many spots were we had to run to the left to run around a large area of water. Some people just ran through it, which was a straight shot down the beach. I added distance on by running around the water. The turnaround was tricky. Two people just ahead of me passed the small sign. They turned to look at it again just as I came up to it. We all stopped and looked at it again and wondered if we do turn there (the Olympic distance runners ran past the sign). We turned and headed back. There was a water station just after we turned around, so I asked to make sure we had done the right thing. They should have had a volunteer there! I struggled big time on this run. I slowed down a lot in the last mile. I did run through a couple areas of water because I didn’t want to use the energy to go around them anymore! I was so happy to see the area where we turn and start to run off the beach. At the “200 meters to finish” sign I passed 2 women and then just a few yards before the finish I passed a guy!
I stuck around for a while to see how I placed. I hadn’t been able to tell before the race who might be in the Athena category with me. I ended up placing first! If I had stayed in my regular age group, I would have taken 4th. I was 4 minutes behind the 1st woman.
Transition and 5K – 28:15 (the 5K must have been very short. I spent up to a minute in the transition and there is no way I ran this fast!)
Finish: 1:22:18
Garmin shows a total distance of 16.36 miles ( did not hit the split buttons between run/bike/run)
Total distance should have been 17.1 miles (not including running through transitions)
May 28th, 2011
