speedvegan

Time 1:15:26 | Gender 9/70 | Age Group 2/6

Done and happy !

Geoff and I drove down to Miami on Saturday to pick up my packet and then met some friends at the raw food market. I had a bunch of coconut water and other raw goodies. Then for dinner, I made Vegan Yum Yum’s Creamy Sweet Potato Bake. It was absolutely perfect.

After an excellent night’s sleep, we packed up all my race gear, plus Luka, and headed down to Miami again. We arrived about an hour before the race officially started. I made my way to transition where two of the other athletes sharing rack space with me had already set up. That’s when my blood started boiling. In general, I love triathletes, but some can be a bit inconsiderate at times. Clearly, sharing a small bike rack with 9 of your most competitive non-friends is not an ideal situation. But how much space does a bike really need ? And, do you seriously HAVE to bring half your house with you to a SPRINT triathlon ? Come on ! Then there’s the guy who arrives 5 minutes before transition closes and moves (read: throws) everyone else’s “crap” around to make room for his. I’m sorry but my equipment is expensive, I’ve worked really hard for it and I actually take good care of it. Also, I always make sure that I’m taking up the least amount of space possible in the rack so I don’t really appreciate having my stuff “moved” around.

Sigh.

With that said, I felt good today and I did, eventually, have a good race.

SWIM | .25mi | 11:44

This was my best swim yet. Granted, not the fastest but I really felt like I was one with the water. I didn’t freak out at all despite the upset in transition which kinda got my heart rate going. I walked in slowly, dove in and freestyled my way around the buoys and on to the exit without much of a fuss. It’s hard to believe just this time last year I was a complete spaz in the water. I feel like I’m slowly making progress. I’m also getting better at sighting so I don’t “create my own course” anymore. This will be most helpful in my next HIM since the swim course is quite technical and last year I ended up adding about 400 meters to it. I haven’t hired a swim coach yet but I am considering a few options. There are so many in South Florida !

T1 | 2:12

BIKE | 12.4mi | 34:22

I had a totally different experience on the bike today. The last couple of training rides certainly bought me some the confidence I needed to start appreciating the benefits of my recent Retul fitting. My time was better than I expected given how I’ve been feeling on the bike and especially since the course included one of the biggest bridges in South Florida at the turn around point – two big climbs back to back. I think I will get stronger with time, but today’s ride was good and has put me back in a good mental space.

T2 | 1:28

RUN | 3.1mi | 25:42

Not my strongest run, but faster than last year’s. I wasn’t wearing a watch which is how I like to pace myself during sprint triathlons. I had to go by how I was feeling which was pretty crappy to begin with. I was actually apologizing because of my heavy breathing / panting. I didn’t find my breath until after the first mile. The whole time, I felt like I was crawling but my body wouldn’t respond to any “mind over matter” attempts to go faster. I finished well spent. I may have been able to run longer, but definitely not faster.

Overall, I feel like I had a good race. Sure, I wish I could have gone harder on the run, but I beat my goal time of 1:17. That and a good bike split are enough to make me happy today.