Miami Man Race Report
Hello Miami! I was so excited to race, I haven’t had a
race since Ironman Kalmar in August and couldn’t wait to hit a start line…well
technically I did the marathon as part of Challenge Penticton a week later but
that race started in T2. Training had
been a challenge with the move from Scotland to Denver and dealing with
elevation but I was confident I could have a descent result, for no other
reason than I wanted it ;)
The race set up - You swim in a lake, just
barely wet suit legal (I’ll take all the help I can get!), then a fairly
uninteresting bike ride going out and doing 2 loops, before heading back
in. Followed by the fun part – the
run! You get to run around the Miami Zoo
through animal exhibits and baffled tourists visiting the zoo (debatable which
were more interesting to observe!)
Now racing with Team MaccaX and Chris
McCormack had some benefits. Instead of
having to head down to the race transition the day before to rack my bike we
had a truck pick them up and rack them for us, feeling VIP. I was next to Macca’s S-Works, hoping that
some speed would rub off on mine!
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| Stiletto dressed in black next to Macca's S works |
Race Morning
Ok this is pretty hot and humid already,
this should be interesting. Scotland
never got above 65 degrees all summer so racing in humid high 80’s was going to
be a challenge. The locals looked at me
funny complaining about the hot weather, nothing compared to what they get
during the summer!
Usual fun getting set up, checking, double
checking, rechecking, checking my list again, to make sure I had everything in
transition. You would swear this was my
first race. I was almost giddy with
anticipation, I just wanted to go out and smash myself! (no wonder people thing
triathletes are insane) Its been too long since I’ve hit that point where everything
is screaming at you to stop but you win that battle against your head and push
through what you thought possible.
Swim – 41:20
That final few seconds as they count down,
I just repeat to myself stay calm, no more panic attacks in the water. My usual warm up of putting in my head in the
water to blow bubbles and try to lower my HR from the bazillion miles an hour
it shoots up to when I put on a wet suit.
GO GO GO!!! We’re off. I tried to
use some of the techniques that I learned in the MaccaX camp and and board
short (swim off the hip) of people near me.
This worked pretty well, but unfortunately the people I swam off of were
about as good at sighting as I am…so I ended up swimming a fair bit extra. On the bright side it was my fastest pace per
100m I’ve swam, so if I can stay on track I have the ability to PR.
Bike – 2:33:25
Here is where I knew it wasn’t going to be
my day. My plan for the bike was to
start at the low end of my ½ Iron distance watts and build to the top of what I
should be able to hold in the first half hour, then hold it. Usually I ride the whole race at the low end,
this time I wanted to push a bit more.
Well that didn’t really happen… I started
off and felt pretty flat. I was working
a lot harder than I should be to hold the low end of Half Iron Watts, and HR
was about 20 beats high. I fought to
hold the low end, I tried to increase and there was just nothing there, legs
didn’t respond. So I figured ok, I’ll
hold it here and then at least I’ll have lots left for the run. First half I avg’d 23 mph, then it started
going downhill. I was working my ass off
and the watts were going lower…and lower…soon I was in my recovery zone of
watts, but HR was still zone 3…I was hydrating like crazy until mile 28 and
then the last aid station around mile 43 they didn’t have any water, just
sports drink, I should have taken the sports drink for hydration but I had
already taken in more calories than I had before in a half!
My power went so low I averaged lower watts
overall than I held in Ironman in August when I was out there for over 5.5
hours, I could barely hold that for the 2:33 I was out on the bike!
Brush it off, time for the run. I should have tons left because I was at
Ironman intensity on the bike!
Run – My slowest run in a Half yet 1:53:45
Get off the bike, determined to go out
there and at least have a good run.
Pain. Now I’ve had this bike
about 3 weeks, and one bike fit well this race made it clear the fit wasn’t
quite right. My hip flexors were locked
up and I couldn’t seem to extend my legs back, so a fast turn over shuffle it
was. First aid station I stopped and
chugged down 3 cups of water, I was feeling the lack of water the last half of
the bike.
I have to say though it was pretty
entertaining watching the expressions and comments of the Zoo tourists as all
of these crazy triathletes run around them!
Every aid station I poured water over my
head, ice down my pants and top (I sounded like a cocktail with the ice
jingling around in my bra…could have used a few cocktails). I wasn’t feeling so good, but I did get a
lift every few miles. There was such a
big group of Team MaccaX out there I got excited every time I saw someone, and
cheered them on or a thumbs up as we went by each other or saw people on the
out and backs it was very uplifting on a tough day.
I was so happy to be nearing the end of the
run, the last 4 miles I had started shivering and getting goosebumps, the
beginning of heat exhaustion. Something
I’ve had some bad run ins with as a kid and should have recognised.
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| So happy to be a few 100m from the finish! |
Race Finish – 5:12 – about 20 minutes
slower than I was planning on…
BUT I made it across the line upright,
feeling like a super star with team MaccaX cheering me on through the finishing
shoot.
Result 1st in AG, 4th
Female...missed 3rd by 6 seconds...
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| Finished! Serious bling for finisher medals |
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| Stuffed Zoo animals and Power Bars for the win! |
It was a tough day out there, I was pretty
confident that I could win the race going into it. It’s funny how expectations can cause you to
miss out on the positives in something. I didn’t realize until a week later
it’s the first time I’ve won my AG in a Half.
Because I wanted the win, I overlooked that, definitely taught me to
slow down and appreciate what I have accomplished.
I’m not sure if it was the heat, the timing
of going up and coming down from elevation, or dehydration but it just wasn’t
my race. However the support of the team
during and after the race made it a memorable one. Plus there was the after party to look
forward to!
The night ended with a few beers and war
stories of the race.
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| Big Group ride with the team and Macca |
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| Great background for some transition practise |
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| Promo work for Team MaccaX |
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| A ridiculous amount of podium finishes for the Team! |
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| My wicked room mate and new manager Heather! |
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| Love this team, beers at the finish! |
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