MiamiMan Aquabike

First time doing back-to-back races!  I was awake early (in part due to terrible temperature control in our rental house), and hit the road back down to the race site.  This is the race I've been focusing my training on most of the year, ramping myself up to longer rides for the first time since Ironman.  

I felt ready but was super anxious about cutoff times.  Like super anxious, kind of like I was for Ironman.  I knew I had a good chance of qualifying for Worlds since there weren't even 16 people signed up on my age group, but in order to qualify, I'd have to finish within time limit.  

I met up with Laura, who was doing the Olympic distance, not the half (long course).  Had breakfast at the team Z tent.  Set up my transition area.  Anxious to get started.

The swim was about double what I did the day before.  We'd start at the same spot, do the same loop, but then get out and re-enter the water and do the same loop over again, finishing at the same spot we started the 2nd loop.  The current wasn't quite as bad, and I was able to settle into a good pace.  0:52:44 for the 1.2 mile swim.  Not my best, but I'm good with it, esp considering I'd done a race the day before.  

Off on the dreaded bike.  I wasn't nervous about the distance, only my pace.  I got a good start, but knew better than to be too optimistic.  Winds change all the time and it affects my speed drastically.  I decided to take what I could get as it comes, and tried to push it as much as possible while I seemed to have a tailwind, but still saving something in the legs for later.  The course was a lollipop course, about 10 miles out, and then 2 loops of 15 (or close enough for a total of 56 miles).  The point is, the cutoff time I was most concerned about was to start that 2nd loop before they closed the course.  So far, so good.

Amazingly, I was still doing OK, and waiting for that headwind to hit me, which it did.  There is a long stretch in the middle of that lollipop loop and it wasn't super exciting scenery, but I was excited that I was ahead of my predicted pace and was feeling better about that cutoff time.  Sure enough, I was not even close to missing the time when I made the left turn to start that loop again.  Phew.  Such a load off to know that I made it and now, no matter what, I would finish.  I still needed to finish within the time frame allotted, but I wasn't super worried about that.  

Soon I found myself in that long stretch again, just kept plugging away.  Then, I started smelling smoke.  As I continued on, the smell intensified and soon I was breathing it in.  There were no emergency vehicles or anything so it must have been a controlled fire somewhere, but it sure was making it hard to see and breath.  I pushed a little harder to get past that section, and soon enough I made the right turn, back on the stick of the lollipop on my way back to transition.  OMG, the headwind though!!  These last few miles were going to kill me, a sentiment that seemed to be shared with all of the other cyclists I was leap-frogging back and forth.  

Finally, I made the turn into the park and knew I was in the final mile.  3:48:16 total.  So funny to think about how anxious I'd been about cutoff times - this was close to a PR for this distance for me.  In fact, I was so much faster than I had anticipated, my friends missed my finish!  They were there for some post-race photos though before we got Xena ready for her ride back to VA (in the Team Z truck), and headed out to lunch, football and rest.

MiamiMan Aquathlon

 As soon as I stepped off the plane in Miami and was blasted with an incredible heat and humidity, I questioned my decision to a) race, and b) race 2 events in 2 days. Yikes!

Easy rental car retrieval and made my way to the rental house. I was on my own for the day as Dan was stuck in … Chicago? Charlotte? Point being, he was having a hell of a travel day and Chris wasn’t due to arrive until late. I got myself settled, did a grocer run, and found a place for a mani/pedi… cause who doesn’t get a pedicure the night before a race!  Then it was time for the team dinner and drinks and then back to the house to wait up for Chris. When he arrived we spent a couple hours catching up before heading to bed. Sounded like Dan would not arrive until the middle of the night.

The aquathlon race start was not until mid-morning, so no super early alarm clocks.  Chris opted to go with me and we made the relatively long drive to the race site (this was semi-on purpose so that we were closer to things we wanted to do after the races).  We checked in at the Team Z tent, met up with Laura and her family.  The aquathlon transition is very different from a triathlon transition with the most notable difference being the lack of bikes and racks.  Instead, we had buckets where we put everything we need.  Run shoes and socks.  Race belt.  Visor.  It felt like I was missing a ton of things, but it was the lack of all things related to biking.  I was set.  

We headed down to the water and were assured by many people (we kept asking; can't have too many sources of information) that the lake had been swept that morning and there were no alligators.  Still nervous... in the way that I wasn't really scared, but also it was south Florida and we were getting in a lake.  We hung around and took some photos and then it was time to get on with it.  

1000K swim, and I had to keep telling myself that this was race day #1 of 2 and I needed to pace accordingly.  I felt good in the water, feeling only seaweed on my skin (no wetsuits).  The water was warm but had a pretty decent current.  Chris actually caught a video of the buoys moving!  We basically did a loop of the perimeter of the lake, and I do think the current changed midway through the swim, not in our favor.  I settled into my stroke and just kept pushing through, knowing I would have the same swim, plus a little more the next day.  27:18 for the 1188.6 yards (per Garmin, so I overshot the course a bit). 

Got out of the water and ran to my transition area.  I was pretty quick putting socks on my wet feet (luckily most of the sand had come off), and then shoes, race belt, visor, and I was off.  I jogged some.  I walked some when I needed to.  Laura caught up with me with about a mile left to go, and we pep talked each other into keeping it up.  The goal was to qualify for Worlds, or at least know we did our best and didn't slack off.  It was cool finishing up with Laura after a full summer of training together.  0:44:14 for the 5K.

I knew I was on the cusp, and it would all depend on who was aging out (moving to the next age-group) and who was aging in (from the previous age-group).  As it turned out, I came in 23rd of the people who would be in my age group for 2020, so it will be a waiting game as only 16 get into the race.

Chris and I ate lunch and got all of my stuff ready for the bigger race (long distance aquabike) the next day.  I'd sent my bike down on the Team Z trailer, and unfortunately, Coach Ed had been in an accident.  Only a couple bikes were impacted, but Ed had us all go for a little test ride just to be sure.  Everything seemed fine, so I checked Xena in for the night.  Chris and I made our way back to the house and hung out with Dan (arrived sometime during the night) and Joann (arrived that morning during the race).  It's another race night, so no huge celebrations yet!

Kinetic Sprint Aquathlon

I love the later start time of the Kinetic sprint races!  A 9:16 wave start means that I can make it a day trip without waking up super super early.  So I did exactly that.  I had dropped the dogs at daycare on Saturday... they were very high energy and I was very low tolerance, so I used the quiet time to get some chores done and relax.  I started the keto diet earlier in the week and was suddenly second guessing my decision to start such a new [and drastic] diet so close to a race.... but I felt pretty OK.  I packed my bags (thanks to Laura for posting a social media pick of her outfit... it reminded me of my race belt and visor that I would have forgotten otherwise!!) and headed to bed early, ready for the 5am alarm.

That's not my bike!  My transition areas is the two small white bags, and that's it!

I slept pretty well, and while 5am is a little earlier than normal for me (dogs get me up 5:30 everyday), excitement for the race got me moving.  I grabbed my pre-packed breakfast and snacks from the refrigerator and packed them.  It's challenging to plan ahead for keto.  I hit the road and had no issues getting down to Lake Anna.  It rained off and on, but was OK when I pulled into the park.  Still, I took my umbrella as I made my way over to the Team Z tent.  The parking lot was pretty empty, and coach Ed commented that he predicted it would be a quiet race day given the weather.  I made my way over to registration and then met up with Laura to set up transition.  Most minimal transition I've ever had.  It seemed really weird to only have two small bags sitting on the ground:  one contained my socks and shoes, and the other a long sleeved shirt, race belt and visor.

When I heard that the water temp was 74 degrees, my first thought was to go without my wetsuit.  I don't hate the wetsuit, but.... one less thing.  As time went along though, hanging out with teammates, somehow I went from 100% sure I didn't want the wetsuit... to 80/20... to 50/50... and then the determination that I would wear it.  I can't even recall my reasoning.  So, on went the wetsuit, remembering to generously apply the tri-slide on my neck.  Time to walk down to the beach.  A few of us walked into the water to test it out - warm!

The aquathlon was in the final wave along with the novice athletes, aquabike and relays, quite the mix!  I found a spot towards the outside and was ready to go when they sounded the horn.  I walked in until the people in front of me started swimming, and I dove right in.  I felt good despite only having been in the pool twice so far this year (oops!).  I had to swim around a few people in the beginning and avoid some breast stroke kicks, but overall didn't feel too crowded.  I did get kicked once in the wrist... not hard, but enough to make me nervous my garmin had stopped (luckily it hadn't).  I was slower than I would have liked, but that goes with the territory when I didn't put in the pool time.

When I packed my bag, I couldn't find any ear plugs, but figured with only a 750m swim, I'd be OK. I'd completely forgotten about the ginger pills I usually take before OWS.  These omissions became painfully obvious as I came out of the water and made my way into transition.  I had that intense dizzy and light-headed feeling so I took my time.  I saw Laura and waved as she made her way out to the run.  I got my wetsuit off and my shoes on and slowly made my way to the run start, thankful there was a water station within the first 100 yards.

Still not feeling 100%, I gave myself permission to walk the first mile which was almost entirely uphill.  To be honest, it was a struggle, but as I neared the top, the dizziness went away.  It was definitely misting, but the rain wasn't too bad and I was comfortable.  I hadn't even bothered to put on my long sleeved shirt.  The run course was deserted.  I had seen one woman in front of me, but since I was walking, she'd separated from me pretty quickly.  I was surprised that Laura was the next person I saw on the out-and-back, after she'd made the turn around.  We high-fived and I realized I was half done with the run.  My 2nd mile was definitely faster than my first and I was feeling good.  The woman I had seen earlier was the only other runner I saw until the fast triathletes started catching up to me (and passing, obvi).

With about a mile left in the run, I was getting hungry.  I was pleased that my energy levels hadn't felt depleted due to the keto diet, and I am thinking the hunger I felt was because I hadn't eaten enough calories, not necessarily lack of carbs.  My last mile, which was mostly downhill, went pretty fast and soon I was coming out of the woods at the water and to the finish line!

I collected my medal, water and hand towel and made my way back to the Team Z tent.  It started raining pretty hard as I was getting my stuff out of transition.  Luckily I had brought a dry towel and clothes to change into for the drive home.  My keto diet didn't allow me to eat any of the Team Z food, so after an "after" photo with Laura and hanging out for a bit, I started making my way home.  I did have some good snacks in the car which tided me over for the long (traffic and rain-wise) drive home.  I picked up the dogs from daycare, took a shower, made some dinner and relaxed.  Glad to be back in race season!

Oh, and apparently I got an award!  3rd place Masters Female Overall! 
(don't ask how many people there were....)