Indiatlantic Triathlon

I had so much fun at Pinappleman Triathlon that I last minute registered for Indiatlantic Triathlon just three weeks later. And of course, I convinced Tammy to join me.

One of my favorite things about this race is the number of people that participate. It truly is your local, small town race. Maxing out at 300 people, you get plenty of space and time to set up your transition. Not to mention you get to practically park at the start/finish line for ease of unloading the car. This is also the race that is my fastest sprint time. So once I got set up, I was ready to race!

Recently, sharks have been all over the news. Shark spotting, sharks washing up on shore, and more importantly shark attacks. Including several on the Florida coast. Although I do most of my races in Florida, most of the swims are either in lakes or in the inter coastal (although it is the Ocean, it seems less scary since there is land on both sides). As I was standing on shore, I just kept saying, 'swim fast and the sharks won't get you.' In hindsight, that probably wasn't the best thing that I could have done. Sharks were on my mind and I was not in a good spot. About a third of the way I encountered a jelly fish. And you would have thought I was getting attacked by a shark. With the wrong mind set and the sudden sting, I freaked out. I ended up having to swim to a kayak, hold on, and cry it out. And by cry it out, I mean hysterically bawled my eyes out, while the volunteer didn't know what to do, other than continuously ask me if I want to quit. Well, no, I'm not quitting, I just needed to focus and get my act together. After taking forever to finish the rest of the swim, I got my head in the right place and was able to focus on another strong bike.

The bike goes over two Florida hills or causeways as non-Floridians call them. And since I was training in DC for the last couple of months, I was actually pretty ready to tackle them on. About 2 miles in to the course I hit my first one and raced up it. I passed some people and that gave me the boost I needed to push hard for a strong bike.

On to the run, I was on a mission. I know had a horribly slow swim, a solid bike, and was on to my bet with Tammy. I can never beat her overall but I'd been doing a lot of running (and she was still recovering from her back surgery), so we made a bet on the run - whoever ran the fastest was to be served a post race beer. And although the beer was free, bragging rights were on the line. Again, I figured that I would either run hard till I passed out or till I crossed that finish line. So I ran, I ran hard, and I finished before I passed out.

Seeing the results at the finish was a little heartbreaking for me. Yes! I beat Tammy on the run. But I took 4th in my age group. And I was only off by less than a minute. I was second fastest in T1, T2, and the run; and 3rd on the bike. But last on the swim. So after taking a second to pout, I realized the big races of the year had yet to come. So I drank my glorious, bragging rights beer and cheered on Tammy's podium finish.

Training Day

With my first half ironman just over 3 months away, I wanted to get in a few back to back triathlons to fully go through the motions of quickly transitioning. Somehow I ended up with 3 triathlons in the month of June. Sounds like fun, right? I thought so until I got to the third one.  The night before I headed to the coast to grab dinner with a few friends and crash on their couch before the Indiatlantic Boardwalk Triathlon. I showed up with my bike, my gear, and a 'meh' attitude. I was really just not feeling like racing. After talking it over with them that night, I decided to take the pressure off of myself and go into this a merely a training day. Simply show up, be a good sport, and have a good time. Time didn't matter otherwise.

Woke up in the best of moods and was excited to get an ocean swim in that morning. Believe it or not, this would be the first time I did an ocean swim (of course, I couldn't stop thinking about sharks). Got transition set up in flash, met some new friends, saw some old ones, and just calmly waited for my wave. And like that, I was up. This might have the one and only time I didn't tear up before a race.  It was nice to be out there as a training day instead of focusing on a PR.  Did a few jumping jacks to get the blood pumping and I was off.

No rush in the water, so I let the really fast girls jump ahead, took my time, and then jumped in with enthusiasm.  As I rounded the first corner, things could not have been going any better. I felt strong with my stroke, calm and collected, and focused on a nice smooth swim. Before I knew it, I was already turning the second buoy and heading back to shore. Finished the last little bit of the swim and popped out of the water. I thought my watch was wrong, because I just killed that swim. Heck, I could PR this race...and yup, all of a sudden, I was racing.

On to the bike I went. I was on a runner's high on the bike (is there a such thing as a triathlete's high? It just doesn't sound right), climbing the bridges with fiery, cruising the straight-aways and talking to every person I rode with.  I love having those moments that remind me why I love this sport. Why I choose to get up before the sun on the weekends to workout. Why I spend more money that I care to admit on racing gear (so I can obviously look good doing it). And why I continue to push myself to be better and do better.

On to the run. I had a great pace going and knew that I was on my way to a PR. That made the run that much more fun. I tried to channel my Pinappleman run. Run hard, run fast, run fun.

I crossed the finish line at 1:29:55. Which not only was a PR, but was the first time I've ever broken the 1:30 mark. And not to mention a nearly 10 minute PR from a race the year before that had 3 less miles.  I could not have been more ecstatic to see that in a year, I went 3 miles further in 10 less minutes. This will be one of those races that I remember for a long time.

And that is what I think makes the idea of Competers and Completers so powerful. It is all about what you can do, how you treat other competitors, and with what kind of attitude you cross the finish line.

Beach Running World Championships

This run started with poor nutrition, little sleep, and a sour attitude but that is certainly very opposite of how it ended. I have contemplated how to detail my lack-luster run through my blog and kept coming back to the same concept.  It wasn't my time that mattered, it wasn't my finish that mattered; it was my attitude and the experience I had along the way that mattered.

By the time I got to the first mile marker, my attitude had already greatly improved.  I mean the race was right along the shoreline and the sun was rising...how could you be in a bad mood when the world's beauty surrounds you and good health has allowed you to make another race regardless of lack or sleep or nutrition. Not only was I staying strong in my running pace, but the music was just right for the morning.  I tend to get caught up in my thoughts and music and the miles pass pretty easily.  Before I knew it 3 miles had passed and I was feeling really good...that is until the music died.  I knew very quickly that I had to focus on something else if I was going to keep running for the next 10 miles.

By this point there were many 10Kers that had started heading back to the finish line on this out and back race, so I played cheerleader for them and they were generally grateful (not to mention my encouragement is typically pretty entertaining and funny so I was cracking myself up). It wasn't too much further that the really strong half marathoners were now heading in the direction of the finish line, so my hilarious cheering continued.  Both time and miles passed quickly, but by the time I got to the turn around and then made it to the 8 mile mark in this very small race, there were very few runners heading in the opposite direction to cheer on.  Time to refocus my energy again; I noticed a runner using the Galloway method and we were playing a tag. I would be leading, he'd catch me; he'd be leading, I'd catch him.  I actually pulled out a great mile pace just pushing myself not to let him win.  But if you know me, you know...I'll eventually start a conversation with you.

Turns out this Galloway runner was a really interesting person and I actually joined his run-walk-run method to hear all about him "giving life the middle finger one more time," his actual words.  Scott was out running with his daughter who was training for a marathon in January and he wanted to support her pursuit of this goal.  We became instant friends and he revealed to me that he had not only had a kidney and a lung removed, he survived cancer once before and was about to start chemo again.  What a bad-ass!  I was so intrigued with his spirit and his drive and decided to run/walk the rest of the race with him.  We had 5 miles to become BFF's and it really changed my attitude from the beginning of the day.  In fact, I haven't been able to stop thinking about him since that day.  I find the world to be filled with so many wonderful people and when you couple this with an over zealous and friendly person, you find it isn't difficult to meet them.  So I present to you my new blog chronicling all the people I am fortunate to meet...drum roll please, "*My New Best Friend."

*My New  Best Friend is in the very early stages and is still being developed, but I promise great stories to come.