I went into this race without any real expectations. I just wanted to have a good race without any hiccups that caused me too much pain, i.e. a flat tire!
I do think that everything you do 48 - 72 hours before a race really matter to how you perform. Most importantly, what you eat, how you sleep, and what activities you do. I think what I did the few days before the race were perfectly played out and helped set me up for a great race.
Friday
Workout - Swim: 1900m:
200 SWIM - PERFECT STROKE
200 PULL W/ BUOY - REACH AND SHOULDER DRIVE
200 PULL W/ PADDLES - CATCH, PUSH AND PULL
200 PULL W/ 1 PADDLE ONLY (100 ON EACH HAND) - HAND SPEED
200 SWIM W/ FINS - PERFECT STROKE
200 SWIM W/ FINS AND PADDLES - PULL IT ALL TOGETHER
ALL 'FAST SETS' ARE EQUAL WORK TO REST RATIO AND W/ PREFECT STROKE
25Y SPRINT X 4
50Y SPRINT X 2
100Y SPRINT X 1
50Y SPRINT X 2
25Y SPRINT X 4
200M EASY WARM DOWN - NON FREESTYLE
Daniel and I took our friends out for dinner and a movie as a thank you for watching Mila while we were out last weekend. Dinner was plank salmon, mashed sweet potatoes, mixed vegetables, and pumpkin beer from Tampa Bay Brewing Co. The movie was Thor 3D. Pretty awesome movie. We were in bed by 11:30. Score!
Saturday morning I got up around 7:30 AM (which means a full 8 hours of sleep. Score again!), finished packing my stuff for the weekend and ate breakfast. Breakfast was Lower Sugar oatmeal, with half scoop of vanilla protein, 4oz water, and 4 oz of almond milk. I left around 9:00 AM to meet up with Jon, Nat, Bryan, and a few others for a Pre-Race tune up workout that ended up being a 9 mile bike ride, 10 min run, and finished with a 20 min open water swim. We picked up our packets, grabbed lunch at Sharkey's, dropped off our bikes and then headed to our hotel, The Ramada. Lunch was a no sauce pizza with brie cheese, pear slices, and chicken. Before going to our hotel, we stopped at a Publix and I got a yo-yo cookie, a bottle of Gatorade, 2 bottles of Vitamin Water, and a banana.
I got in my room around 2:30 PM, put all of my stuff down and decided to paint my nails and play on the internet for a little bit. I was trying to keep myself awake until meeting up for dinner at 5:30, but it didn't happen. I laid down at about 4:00 and slept until 5 when it was time to meet Jon and Bryan. We went to this place called Made In Italy and met up with 9 other people. I got the pasta special that was just pasta with very little sauce, shrimp, mushrooms, and basil. I did eat about 4 or 5 slices of bread as well. It was just enough. Not too much, but enough to fill me up through the night.
Went back to the hotel, got all of my stuff together (sorry, I don't have a picture), enjoyed half of my yo-yo cookie and got ready for bed.
Gear:
Swim - TYR special ops googles, assigned swim cap, Xterra Vortex sleeveless wetsuit
Bike - LG Tri Lite bike shoes, Nike dri-fit socks, Lazer Tardiz aero helmet with my race number on it, Profile Design Aero HC bottle that sits between the bars (not the one that hangs). I just bought this bottle and I love it. I love my other Profile Design Aero bottle that hangs between my bars, but this one I don't need anything to besides the rubber bands to hold it in place. My aero bars are close enough that it can just sit right in between. It's also great that it doesn't splash water all over the place.
Run - K-Swiss Kwicky Blade Light, Nike sun visor, iFitness race belt with my bib attached to it
Race attire - Zoot tri shorts, Nike Combat sports bra, Hawk Racing tri singlet
Nutrition:
Pre-race - whole wheat bagel and Smart Balance Omega-3 peanut butter, 1/2 banana, Muscletech Nano Vapor pre-workout (1 serving). The pre-workout is new for me. I had only tried it one other time the past Thursday. I didn't have any issues with it so I decided to use it for this race. I was using Assault but leaves a nasty taste in my mouth and you have to drink 8 - 12 oz of water with each serving which is actually a pretty big scoop. The Nano Vapor is just a little bit that is mixed with 4 oz and you can down it fast and easy. And, no nasty after taste and very little tingle which I also don't like in a pre-workout.
I got up at 4:00 AM to eat the bagel and pb, then went back to bed until 5:00. I did this so that my stomach would go ahead and start working and I could get any GI issues out of the way earlier. I read somewhere that the optimal time to eat before a big event is 3 to 4 hours before the event. 4:00 AM would put me at 3 hours. I ate the 1/2 banana about 45 minutes before race start and took the pre-workout 25 minutes before race start at 7:15.
Bike - Funny story. I fixed a bottle with 2 scoops of Infinit mix (196 calories) and a squirt of MiO Energy, added ice to make it cold, and left it in my transition bag! I thankfully had put two gels in my bento box. I took one at about 5 miles into the bike and prayed that I could make it to the first aid station without needing to take the other gel. I knew I was going to be living off of gels and Gatorade the rest of the race and I didn't want to take any more than I had to. I did make it to the first aid station without needing the other gel. I grabbed a Gatorade, bottle of water to re-fill my front bottle and was thanking my lucky stars that I was able to get the Gatorade. So, my nutrition for the bike was a bottle of Lemon Lime Gatorade and 3 Powerbar gels (2 that I grabbed from the aid stations) and a Gu gel that I had already stuck in my bento box. I only drank 3/4 of the Gatorade. So, I think all of that comes to around (total guestimate here) 550 calories, maybe 3 grams of fat, 150 - 175 grams of carbs and probably the same amount of sugar!
Run - I had 3 gels (1 Gu, 1 Powerbar, and 1 Clif Double Shot) in my race belt. I ended up grabbing another one Powerbar gel on the course as well as 2 cups of coke, 2 cups of Gatorade, and at least one cup of water at almost every aid station except the very last one.
The Race:
Swim
The race went pretty smooth. The beginning of the swim is always the most stressful for obvious reasons. I tried to practice drafting, but doing that causes you to get hit a lot more. I was able to stay on course pretty well. I did take in 2 or 3 big gulps of sea water. Yuck! But, I survived the swim with minimum chafing that didn't bother me at all during the rest of the race and didn't sting too bad when I got in the shower.
Swim results - 34:48, 9th a/g, 26th Female
Bike
The bike was challenging. A lot of out and backs and therefore a lot of slowing down and turning around. There was some wind, as always, but you were never going against it for too long. There was more side wind than anything. The aid stations were almost exactly every 15 miles stocked with water, Gatorade, and gels. Most of the roads were open to traffic, but there wasn't a lot of traffic and all of the intersections were covered with police and/or volunteers. Best thing, I didn't get a flat! I did however see Bryan around mile 50 and he did have a flat. I stopped to let him have my CO2 cartridge and then I was off.
Bike results - 2:35:27 (21.6 mph), 4th a/g, 5th Female (I was actually 3rd in my a/g and 3rd Female but they tacked on a 4 minute penalty for drafting. I didn't do this on purpose. I saw them riding next to me on the course though and thought that maybe they were marking me for drafting. I wasn't paying much attention to how closely I was riding next to a guy in front of me and I guess it was too close.)
Split
|
Time
|
Distance
|
Avg Speed
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14:26.9 | 5.00 | 20.8 |
| 2 | 13:58.1 | 5.00 | 21.5 |
| 3 | 13:15.5 | 5.00 | 22.6 |
| 4 | 14:33.2 | 5.00 | 20.6 |
| 5 | 14:29.4 | 5.00 | 20.7 |
| 6 | 13:06.9 | 5.00 | 22.9 |
| 7 | 14:56.1 | 5.00 | 20.1 |
| 8 | 14:00.2 | 5.00 | 21.4 |
| 9 | 14:24.6 | 5.00 | 20.8 |
| 10 | 12:50.3 | 5.00 | 23.4 |
| 11 | 14:36.0 | 5.00 | 20.5 |
| 12 | 1:27.1 | 0.24 | 9.9 |
Run
The run was good. A little challenging as part of it makes you go up a small incline through the park near the beach and then at the other end as you're making your way to the paved trail you have to run through some gravel and sand (mostly hard packed but enough to slow you down a little bit). There were aid stations at about every mile except from 4 - 6 and 9 -11 where I think it was more like 1.5 miles. Thankfully the sun was being covered by the clouds and there was even a little sprinkle. When I jumped off the bike I felt awesome. So, I just ran based on feeling not trying to push it but not holding myself back a lot either. I knew I would have to slow down eventually, but I would deal with that when it came. Which was around mile 3. I didn't slow down too much and was able to hold around 8:15 until mile 6. This is where I could tell I was really starting to get dehydrated. I wasn't really tired, I didn't hurt and best of all I wasn't having any GI issues. I slowed down my pace to about 9:00 min/mi for the next 3 miles and got passed by a girl, dropping me to 4th place. I just let her go and didn't let it affect me. I told myself to keep running and to walk through the aid stations to make sure that I got enough water, ice, and either coke or Gatorade. I took my last gel, a Clif Double Shot at around mile 9. I took the other 2 gels at mile 3.5 and 6. I grabbed another gel from an aid station and took that at 11. I ended up passing 3rd place right around mile 10. I saw her in front of me and couldn't believe that I had caught back up to her. But, I saw her stop and walk a little bit and I knew that she hurting. So, I kept running and sure enough I ended up passing her and finished at least a half mile ahead of her. Which is great because that 4 minute penalty made our time difference 35 seconds! Close one!
Throughout the course I kept crossing paths with Jessica, Aaron, and Fred. It was really great to see familiar faces along the course and hearing Aaron's words at the perfect time "Stay within your box". This came shortly after I got dropped to 4th place. I also saw Bryan as I was finishing up the first loop. I asked him what happened since I saw him just standing on the side cheering people on. Turns out that the CO2 didn't work. After he blew up the tire, the valve cracked and he walked/ran about 4 miles before some nice passer-byers in a golf cart picked him up and took him the rest of the way. He took it much better than I did when I got my flat at Hy-Vee. Although, this wasn't an A race for him and he didn't spend close to $1000 to get to the race, but se la vie, right? Sometimes shit happens and you just have to move on.
Run results - 1:48:39 (8:17 min/mi), 3rd a/g, 3rd Female
Split
|
Time
|
Distance
|
Avg Pace
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3:48.6 | 0.50 | 7:37 |
| 2 | 3:40.8 | 0.50 | 7:22 |
| 3 | 3:46.5 | 0.50 | 7:33 |
| 4 | 3:46.8 | 0.50 | 7:34 |
| 5 | 3:57.8 | 0.50 | 7:56 |
| 6 | 4:01.3 | 0.50 | 8:03 |
| 7 | 4:08.8 | 0.50 | 8:18 |
| 8 | 4:09.3 | 0.50 | 8:19 |
| 9 | 4:07.2 | 0.50 | 8:14 |
| 10 | 4:05.9 | 0.50 | 8:12 |
| 11 | 4:06.0 | 0.50 | 8:12 |
| 12 | 4:21.8 | 0.50 | 8:44 |
| 13 | 4:42.1 | 0.50 | 9:24 |
| 14 | 4:24.8 | 0.50 | 8:50 |
| 15 | 4:22.9 | 0.50 | 8:46 |
| 16 | 4:39.3 | 0.50 | 9:19 |
| 17 | 4:45.1 | 0.50 | 9:30 |
| 18 | 4:18.1 | 0.50 | 8:36 |
| 19 | 4:11.4 | 0.50 | 8:23 |
| 20 | 4:33.3 | 0.50 | 9:07 |
| 21 | 3:56.7 | 0.50 | 7:53 |
| 22 | 3:59.4 | 0.50 | 7:59 |
| 23 | 4:01.5 | 0.50 | 8:03 |
| 24 | 4:11.2 | 0.50 | 8:22 |
| 25 | 4:06.9 | 0.50 | 8:14 |
| 26 | 4:00.2 | 0.50 | 8:00 |
| 27 | :57.5 | 0.13 | 7:38 |
Overall - 5:07:18 (includes the 4:00 penalty), 3rd a/g, 3rd Female
1st and 2nd OA females were also in my age group and they totally kicked my butt. Even without the penalty, 2nd place was 6 minutes ahead of me and 1st place was 16 minutes ahead of me.
After the race I got to try the NormaTec Recovery boot-pants thing. Freaking awesome! Really expensive but I totally recommend anyone to try it if they are demoing at a race. I sat down, got my legs zipped up in them and chilled out for about 15 minutes. When I was done, I was instructed to stretch a little for sitting down again. So, I did. I felt as good as new. It. Was. Awesome!
Also, while I was sitting in the NormaTec Recovery System, there was a finisher next to me with his friends and family just hanging out talking to him. They were talking about beer and I chimed in with "beer is great for recovery." One of his friends asked if I wanted one and I declined saying I would grab one later. He walks away and about 5 minutes later comes back with a beer for me! I was so excited. Thank you random stranger!
After that, I headed over to transition to get my bike then head to my car to get a change of clothes and the other half of my yo-yo cookie. When I finally got to eat it the cookie was warm and gooey from sitting in my warm car. Delicious!
Rev3 gives out a bunch of stuff. The shark's took you get for finishing, the visor you get in your goody bag along with 2 Powerbar Protein Recovery bars. You also get a long sleeve shirt when you finish. Sorry, I don't have a picture for that. Everything else I got for finishing in 3rd. The blue cup with the spoon I got for being a Florida resident as part of the Regional Championship for Rev3. So, yeah. Rev3 definitely gets the award for the best awards and swag.
I definitely recommend the Rev3 to anyone looking for a non-WTC race. They are still growing and could definitely use some more support (i.e. participants) to help them stay in competition with WTC. Otherwise, we are all doomed to pay crazy race entry fees.
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