Escape to Miami Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

I started way back standing near shore since I wasn't in a hurry and the waves bouncing me around made me queasy. I just wanted to finish, so bouy to bouy became my goal. The wind pushed the top of the water at odds with the current, so I felt like a cork. When I put my head down for freestyle, I felt queasy because the waves rolled me from the side. So I did breaststroke for relief. Ended up in a pattern of about 12 strokes free/12+ breast. At the finish it was really hard to hit the mat because the wind and current were pushing us so far right. But I got there, and not too close to the cutoff!

Not much I can do except avoid the ocean. Tides and winds and currents will be there. Despite the poor performance relative to how I do in a lake, I was pleased that I didn't get so seasick that I had to stop. I was able to chant Dorrie from Nemo (Just keep swimming) and that's what I did.

Not bad, saw my rack partner. They had me with the older men because they had originally put me in the computer as a guy. That was kinda fun - no competition to worry about!

Nothing, I'm about as fast as I can be at this until I learn how to put on shoes on the bike.

I passed my sister just before we hit the causeway. I just could NOT get into a good pace with the cross winds. I'm not a fan of bridges to begin with, and coming out between two skyscrapers to hit a bridge/hill with a 25mph cross wind/gusts trying to blow my nice light bike (and me) over just was HARD and SCARY. After the first twitchy almost fall over, I was too conservative for the rest of the ride. Seeing a woman down on the way back didn't help me either. I rode like a wussy. I didn't mind the hills tho' they were slow going. Saw several people walking up. Couldn't talk myself into speeding down in case another side gust blew me over the bridge. It was disappointing to say the least. Not the course, me.

Suck it up and ride like I mean it. This is a RACE after all.

DH and DS were right at the dismount line so I ended up saying howdy and coming to a complete stop before hopping off and running into transition. I was all the way at the back, so it would be nice to learn to get those shoes off on the bike so I could have run barefoot and faster. But not much to be gained by that. It was getting pretty warm by now, but I was so happy to be off the bike I couldn't wait for the run. What a change from my other races where I wished I could bike forever!

Work on getting feet out of shoes on the bike.

At this point, I was running with Beverly who I rode the last part of the bike with. My sister met her at the Bahamas tri in September. She's great. She kept saying she was tired because it was her 5th race in 4 weeks, including an HIM! Not bad for a 57yrold, and very inspiring for me! It was funny to watch all the rich people in fancy cars sitting in a long line while we took up one of the lanes! I walked a bit off and on, but didn't feel too bad. At one point I got concerned because of all the salt on my clothes, which I had been trained was a sign of electrolyte depletion. So I took some. Didn't figure out til after the race that it was from the salt water - doh! Since this was an out and back I got to see my sister and slipped her a Jolly Rancher again. She was near the back. She does not run. It was hot but there were plenty of water stops. I honestly didn't feel too tired, mostly excited that I was actually going to finish an Olympic distance triathlon. My smile kept getting bigger and bigger. The volunteers and police were so great. Coming into the finish I saw DS and DH and DS ran with me a little bit towards the chute. WAHOOO!

Mmmmm, push a little harder. I think Beverly's repeating how tired she was rubbed off on me. I wasn't sure how much I could do and my #1 goal was the finish line so I was a bit more conservative.

Got my big old medal and some water, grabbed a bagel and some fig newtons, and headed back to where DS and DH had found a nice shady spot to wait for my sister. She came waddling in with SERIOUS saddle sores/rash between her legs. Looked like a cowboy - so we cheered her in. Then we all went off and got showers, and found the MOST DELICIOUS hole in the wall mexican place oh manna from heaven with a beer and a nap on the drive home (thanks DH). AHHHHHH...


Well, the main thing was the wind (and my fear of it on the bike). The other thing was that, since it was my first Oly, I had no idea of my ability to complete it, so I held back. I'm really looking forward to another one next year where I can push and see what I can do.


This race was done so well, and was so much fun! I would do it again in a minute, even tho' it was really hard. The organizers do an amazing job, and the city really worked with them. They closed the channel during the swim and all the yachts had to wait for us. And we had 2 lanes of 3 blocked on MAJOR causeways on a weekend morning for goodness sakes! The other cool thing is the venue, downtown and in a park - DS and DH had a great time, too, so I didn't have to worry about them 'sacrificing' for me. It was just a great race, I recommend it to anyone wanting a fun challenge!