I've done this Fort De Soto tri in the past. About 6 years ago, I did the Olympic Tri and came in first..and last. LOL. It's a small race, but they give out AG awards, so most people get a place in the older age groups.
The swim is a beach entry and a swim parallel to the beach and out with a very long run to transition. I loved the swim. Swimming in salt water is so much easier, and there were few waves. I passed many people on my way to the finish, both in my own wave and the wave ahead of us. 400 yds isn't a lot of time to pass folks. We had a time trial entry, so the first 100 yds were relatively crowd-free, but I rapidly caught up to the beginners doing breaststroke and struggling and on to others swimming well but slowly. The transition run is through sand and across a pebbly tarmac that my feet won't hold up to these days. My foot neuropathy makes my feet very sensitive, so I had to leave flip-flops at the swim exit and pick them up on my way across the sand. I took a bit long on the transition. The bike is a long flat loop inside the park which is closed to traffic during the race, so it's very safe. There are some headwinds to deal with that slowed me to 14.5-15 MPH a couple of times, but I was spinning well at 16-19 mph through much of the race. I passed a lot of people on the bike as well, only a few passed me. That's unusual. I was happy with how I rode; wished I could keep the power going on the headwinds but I'm still coming back from the last two years I think. I still get a bit dizzy when I lift weights if I don't keep it slow and rest well between sets. I rode 12 miles on Thursday, and I felt good afterward, but still was pretty tired that night. Recovery takes longer than it used to. Total race time 51 minutes. Swim 8:50 by my Garmin but they had 9:25 for me. 5:36 transition 36:18 bike. Total
I was happy I had signed up for the Aquabike and not the Triathlon, though. I did not have to run after I racked my bike. I changed into flip-flops, put on my hat and walked to the finish line. I got some water and race food, some free sunglasses, and a coozy and finally meandered over to the race results, where I was listed as 1st place! I was very pleased about this.
I had met a woman pre-race who apparently sought me out. She was the only other person in my race in my age group. I didn't know this at the time. She chatted with me a bit, said she was from Sarasota and that she hadn't been training much. She told me she had tried to check my race results on Athlinks to see how competitive I was. HMMM. She was frustrated because I had made my results private....I do the same thing in real competitive races where I want to qualify for something, but I hadn't even thought about it for this race. This race is not a qualifier; in fact, it had very few race officials, if any. A lot of drafting and blocking on the ride was happening. Anyway, she told me she was "VERY COMPETITIVE" and tried to get me to predict my times for her. I told her I had no idea I was a cancer survivor and that I was here to enjoy the race. She started her swim after me, and I never saw her again until after the race.
We were all standing around chatting and waiting for the awards ceremony, and she sidled up to me. She told me that there was a "glitch" in the timing, and she had gone to the official's desk and had them use her Garmin time for her race results. When they announced the awards, she was in first place, and I had been moved to second.
I briefly thought about objecting to this outcome, but then I thought, I don't really care. If she needs to be first and she had to manipulate her way to that, then fine. Alternatively, those results could be accurate...I have no idea. Why create drama on a lovely day? There is no damage to me, I still did my race and enjoyed the day, met some friends, made some new ones, and enjoyed being outside that morning. Aside from a flurry of mosquito bites while I waited to check in...I had a blast. I loved the swim, I loved the ride, and got two medals...what could be better? I went down to the beach and did another quick swim for recovery. Plus, I'm 1:30 hours from the beach on either coast, so anytime I get to be in salt water, I take the opportunity!
I had driven over from Winter Haven that morning, started at 4 AM, and arrived at 5:30AM, and I had to get back because I'd left Scooter behind. I got home at about 11:30 AM, I stopped for a breakfast sandwich because I was starving. I had thought I would get home for a meal, but I got too hungry and figured I needed the nutrition for recovery.
I walked with Scooter for a few miles that afternoon and rested for the remainder of the day.
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| Me, Linda and Susan post race |
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