Miami 70.3 Recap...finally !

I thought : why not end the season in Miami Beach ?!? You know, to drink a fresh margarita, by the beach, is by far one of the best ways to celebrate the end of the triathlon season and the beginning of winter. Ah, but I still had a goal to achieve… Miami 70.3 !

 BEFORE THE RACE 

The race was on Sunday the 27th so I arrived on Wednesday the 23^rd to get used to South Florida heat. With a couple of friends, I rented a cozy, but small apartment on South Beach. I had to sleep on the coach. Between my friends, only Steve was also racing.

 

On Thursday, Steve and I went training and I got nervous about the swim. I realised we were going to swim in salty water and that I was drinking way too much of it. Actually, that must be the reason why I don’t have hydration issues during my races even though I clearly don’t hydrate as much as I should be. But that won’t work with salty water. So, I tested different breathing ways to drink less water.

The day before the race, Steve and I had to bring our bikes to the transition zone. It is about 3 o’clock when we start to pump our tires. Mines aren’t easy, because most pumps don’t fit the extension. So, I take off the extension and try to pump, but break the inner tube. I own sew-up tires. Sew-up tires that were completely new. Actually, they rode exactly 94km. So, I learnt that when you break the inner tube of a sew-up tire, your tire is dead. After a short panic moment, Steve reassures me, he has two sets of racing wheels. Yeah ! Saved ! We install his wheels on my bike and we are about to go when we find out Steve has a flat tire. I couldn’t believe it ! No worries, we have a plan. Our other friend had his road bike with training wheels. So, we take one of his to go to the transition zone where we will buy new tubes to fix Steve’s flat tire. Then, tomorrow morning, we will change the wheels again.

 

Back to the apartment with the new tubes, we find out they don’t fit on Steve’s wheel. Seriously !?! It starting to get late and my nervosity is going up. Finally, after dinner, we take our friend’s car to the nearest bike shop where we sort it all out. Thanks to that guy who saved ma race!

 RÉSUMÉ DE MA COMPÉTITION 

As usual, I brought Quebec maple syrup for my traditional race morning breakfast : french toasts. At 5:45, we are on our way to the race site where I firstly have to change my front wheel. Luckily Steve is there with me to keep me on track, because my stomach is grueling from nervosity. I simply knew the field was going to be stronger than in the past races.

Goals on a perfect day :

Swim : 30min (I include transitions time in this swimming time)

Bike: 2h30

Run : 1h30

Position : Top 10 women overall

We only get 5 minutes of swim warm up before the start. Personally, I like to do a good 15 to 20 minutes swim for warm up, so it annoys me. In fact, it amplifies my nervosity since I have nothing to do but to look at the other pro women and wait.

The water is warm, about 28 Celsius degrees. I get to do a few strokes before the men starts. Ours is 2 minutes later. The lifeguards are shouting to the men because they don’t stay between the two buoys. Seriously, at the gun shot, they are about 10 meters in front of the starting “line”. To us, the women, the lifeguards said : “You Women are more mature than those men, right ?”. No. Well, a bit. We are about 3 to 4 meters in front of the starting line at the gun shot. You try to stay bewtween the buoys, but there’s always one person who is unrespectful and try to steal the start. So, you ask yourself : “Should I respect the rules and lose the start or follow the others ?” Since there aren’t any false start penalties (I think there should be), the brightest choice is to follow.

7h27 : we are on our way ! After about 20 meters, I realise I’m not at the right place. All the fastest girls seem to be on my left, too far. So, I miss the train. I don’t know who the fastest swimmers in the fields are yet. I tried to analyse most of my rivals the night before, but when you get the official starting list less than 12 hours before the race, it’s hard to find the time.  

After 400m, I’m behind two girls. Normally, I would stay there, but I wasn’t satisfied with the pace. So, I decide to pass them even though I know they are going to stay in my feet. But, weighting the pros and cons, it’s my best option.

Therefore, for what’s left of the swim, I try to keep up with the cadence. When you’re behind, you shut your brain and just follow the pace, but when you’re in front, you have keep pushing forward if you want to stay as close as possible to the first women.

I drink a lot of slaty water, but not as much as a few days before. Thanks to my new breathing technique. However, my throat dries out. I start criticizing the organisation for not having an aid stations at the end of the swim. Well, surprise, there is an aid station with lots of water cups. Yeah ! They should write it down somewhere. Anyway, wish fulfilled !

My transition is perfect. I kill the girls that got out of the water with me. It’s a small victory because I know they will get me on the bike soon or later. Actually, two out of the three that swam with me finished the race in second and third. When they passed me on the bike, I felt like a tourist.

I am a tourist. I am riding through Miami. Flat course. Hot weather. I try to stay with the women train in the first 10 km, but I am clearly not strong enough. Therefore, I ride alone until about 40 km where 3-4 women caught me. One of them had to take a penalty at the turn around. Four minutes for drafting ! My thoughts at that moment : “Yahou, one out, which means more points for me !” Sometimes, our competitive soul is just too strong. Actually,

a few miles later, it rings again because there is a girl on the side of the road who looks to have strings cramps.

About strings cramps, I was not far from this situation either. We still have more than 15 miles to ride when my strings and gluteals start to hurt. I try to mix my positions on the bike, but there aren’t many options. The best one was to stand up with the forearms still on the aerobars.

In general, on the bike, we either had the wind in front or in the back, rarely from the sides. For this reason, I wished I had a full wheel. Lots of the women had one.

Finally, transition two ! Again, I have an excellent transition. Beside, I’m pissing myself laughing when the girl next to me sits down to put her socks and shoes on. Pathetic ! More chances for me !

Unlike the legend, the run course is NOT dead flat in Miami. We have two loops in which there is a bridge to climb twice. Therefore, we have to climb it 4 times. Not only the climb is hard and long (400m), but since it’s on a bridge, we have no water and the sun is strong. It is HOT. Temperature according to the weather forecast is 37 Celsius degrees, but really, it feels like 45. I feel like my shoes are going to melt.

Back to the action… I find the first miles really hard for two reasons. First, I can’t eat. I have a gel, ready to be eaten, but the thought of it makes me sick. I try to drink as much Perform as I can, but they don’t seem to have much of it at the aid stations. Even when I ask for Perform, I get water. Second, the first climb is terribly painful. It’s funny to say, but I felt like my legs didn’t have a proper warm up. Flexibility and cadence aren’t there. Finally, the drop that follows fix everything. I end up taking my gel and feeling quite well.

Since the course is an out-and-back, it’s pleasant to be able to see our opponents. I ran with the head dandling a bit on the side because of it. I was calculating time and distance between the others and I. When I saw the first woman, I had not even run 2 miles. She had more than 5. This is depressing.

I know I have to eat at least another gel, but the heat gives me no appetite. I have no trouble drinking 4 to 5 glasses of water or Perform at each aid station, but the gel, I can’t. So, I pray. I know it’s not the wisest decision. But my intuition tells me it’s the best today. I fear digestion cramps like the one I had in Muskoka and at Montreal cross-country.

I regretted my decision in the last two kilometers. It is pretty much at the same I pass by my friend Steve, which gives me a little power boost. Unluckily for him, while I’m finishing, he is only starting his half marathon.

Yes, Francine, I smiled to the photographs. I even give them a few THUMBS UP, but I don’t have any proof.

At the finish line, Francis and all are waiting for me. My legs are hurting badly and my head is spinning. Therefore, I take the Muscle Milk and head down to the massage tables. My strings and psoas are so bad that the guy work on them exclusively. Bad call ! On Monday, I looked like an idiot going down or up the stairs. My quads have still not fully recovered.

Since I was racing as a professionnel athlete, I had a VIP pass which gave me access to a much better lunch and, to everyone’s envy, an open bar. However, I didn’t enjoy this privilege as much as I wished because I didn’t feel like having a “rhum and coke” by myself nor with Matt Reed.

AFTER THE RACE

I had two days left in Miami after the race to enjoy the beach. Sadly, my student life killed the party. I didn’t have the chance to have my margarita by the beach. Instead, I had to drink it during a team meeting on Skype. Doh !

MY MATHS MOMENT… STATISTICS !

Swim: 28:45 

T1: 1:31

Bike: 2:35:05 

T2: 1:01

Run: 1:29:48

Total Time : 4:36:10

Position : 10th overall, from 18 PRO Women

Facts: 

• Like at 70.3 Muskoka, the first woman finished 33 minutes ahead of me.

• After Helle Frederickson, I had the fastest transitions. 

• Amber Ferreira was at 70.3 Mont-Tremblant and she finished 4th. In Miami, she finishes 7th with more than 12 minutes over me compared to Mont-Tremblant where she put me over 25 minutes.

• I only failed my bike goal of 2 :30.