{"id":133,"date":"2010-04-13T03:34:59","date_gmt":"2010-04-13T08:34:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tomheller.com\/?p=133"},"modified":"2010-04-13T03:34:59","modified_gmt":"2010-04-13T08:34:59","slug":"south-beach-triathlon-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tomheller.com\/?p=133","title":{"rendered":"South Beach Triathlon Recap"},"content":{"rendered":"

I completed the 3rd annual Nautica South Beach Triathlon<\/a> this past Sunday. \u00a0This is the first time that they had both a “classic” distance and an olympic distance. \u00a0I completed the latter in 3 hours 30 minutes. \u00a0Despite all of my training in the past year, I still came out slow. \u00a0The swim took about 40 minutes. \u00a0The bike leg took me 1 hour and 26 minutes. \u00a0And the run (walk) cost me 1 hour 17 minutes. \u00a0I should also point out that it was Natalie Morales’ idea to have an olympic distance tri. \u00a0That’s the same Natalie from NBC’s Today show. \u00a0BTW, she beat my time by about 38 minutes.<\/p>\n

Having slept only about 2.5-3 hours, I was really tired when I got up at 4:15 a.m. \u00a0The race was to start at 7 a.m., but parking near the transition area is tough to find if you get there after 6. \u00a0I did manage to get a spot in a parking garage just a couple of blocks away.<\/p>\n

The weather was nice. \u00a0With mostly cloudy skies, a temperature of 70F, and light winds, it looked like the rain would hold off.<\/p>\n

The first near-tragic accident of the morning took place in transition. \u00a0I heard a commotion a few feet away and looked up to see a girl holding her head. \u00a0Apparently a coconut had fallen from the palm tree above her bicycle and hit her on the head. \u00a0It must have grazed her. \u00a0I looked up to find no palm trees or coconuts above our heads.<\/p>\n

The water temperature was 76F – this made the event wetsuit-legal for those that wanted to wear them. \u00a0My wetsuit was in the car, and after much deliberation, I decided to go back and get it.<\/p>\n

7:00 a.m. at the start. \u00a0The first wave went out. \u00a0My wave was next at 7:03 a.m. \u00a0The waves were at least 3-4 feet. \u00a0I ran into the surf and tried to swim, but kept getting pummeled by waves. \u00a0It didn’t take long to get to the first buoy, where we would take a right turn. \u00a0I thought the official said we had to swim past six more buoys, but I didn’t see six. \u00a0Swimming in a straight line South was very difficult. \u00a0I kept sliding down the back side of waves, or inhaling ocean water as I turned to the left. \u00a0Eventually, I started breathing only on my right side. \u00a0After what seemed like only 20 minutes to me, I could no longer see any more buoys. \u00a0Looking at shore, I saw what appeared to be a finish chute, but thought it was way too soon. \u00a0The more i looked at the beach, the more I realized that it was indeed the finish. \u00a0So, I turned right and swam to shore.<\/p>\n

T1: \u00a0I spent less than one and a half minutes in transition, despite having to remove my wetsuit. \u00a0 Although, now that I think about it, I removed the top half on the run to transition, nearly falling into the sand dunes while doing it.<\/p>\n

Bike: \u00a0I exited T1 onto Ocean drive and got onto my bike. \u00a0I had practiced this at least, so it was nice and easy. \u00a0There was a lot of traffic on the streets. \u00a0The police were letting cars go through intersections, and I really had \u00a0to watch it here. \u00a0Going up and over the MacArthur and Julia Tuttle causeways was easy in 1st or second gear. \u00a0I wanted to spin instead of muscle, my way up. \u00a0There seemed to be a lot of newbies on the course, or at least people that didn’t understand that they needed to stay in the lane. \u00a0Because of this, I was blocked a few times. \u00a0One guy even passed me on the right side. \u00a0I guess he’s a cycling guy, not a triathlon guy.<\/p>\n

As I came down to the last half mile on the bike, I started to remove my feet from my shoes. \u00a0It was then that the Garmin Forerunner 305, which was around my handlebar, decided to come off and it hit the street with a loud smack! \u00a0Crap! \u00a0I can’t lost that $300 piece of equipment. \u00a0So I veered off the course and stopped. \u00a0I managed to get my left foot unclipped, but not the right, and wham! \u00a0I hit the pavement. \u00a0Now I was pissed because I’ve done this long enough to not be falling over. \u00a0Plus, I knew that several people saw me and that’s embarrassing. \u00a0I did manage to find the Garmin and get back on the bike, with my feet out of the shoes. \u00a0Coming to the dismount line, I hopped off the bike as I had practiced so many times before and it seemed quite effortless to me. \u00a0At least I got something right.<\/p>\n

T2: \u00a0I really hate the long straws on my hydration system. \u00a0It makes racking and un-racking my bike difficult. \u00a0For the most part, T2 was okay, though it did take me four minutes.<\/p>\n

Run: \u00a0My heart is pumping now – about 171 BPM. \u00a0I try to slow down so that I’m in a lower heart rate range. \u00a0I am also finding that I have gas or bloating or intestinal distress on the left side, so I start walking. \u00a0About half of the run was just walking. \u00a0Plus, I kept getting pissed watching the “classic” participants running by me like they were so quick. \u00a0They only swam half of what I did and biked just over half of what I did. \u00a0I kept reminding myself of this because it made me feel better to know that I wasn’t that far behind.<\/p>\n

Overall it was a great day. \u00a0I need to find a way to get more sleep and have less intestinal problems. \u00a0At least I can say I had a nice race with Chris Lieto, Chris McCormack (they both did the classic distance, which I still don’t understand), Natalie Morales, and more. \u00a0 The really nice thing is that Miami is just a three hour drive and has great weather, food, etc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nautica South Beach Triathlon Recap<\/p>\n

Read more ›<\/a><\/div>\n

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