Ironman 70.3 Miami - A Weekend Full of Firsts

This past weekend was a weekend full of firsts for me.  It started with travelling to Miami, on my own, with my bike, to race at Ironman 70.3 Miami, where the swim was in the Ocean, and I was racing as an Ironman Pro Athlete.  

P is for Pro, no age this time.

 Ever since I've had my kids, I've not been a fan of flying.  I realize that is silly, as flying is one of the safest modes of transportation and much safer than driving, however, with young kids I wonder what would happen to them if I didn't make it back?   I'm also afraid of the mysterious monsters of the deep.  Yes, that includes the lakes.  This summer I didn't want to dive in Otisco Lake in New York because it was full of 5 ft long Muskies, can you imagine what I was thinking may be in the dark waters at the Bayfront Park in Miami.  Over the last year I've been learning more about my bike, however, I have a great team at County Cycle, in Beamsville, Ontario that take care of my Devinci and I rely on them a lot to keep her in good shape.  So flying to Miami with my bike in a bike box, partially disassembled with no teammates to help me put her back together was causing me a bit of anxiety as well. On top of this, I decided to race as a Pro Triathlete in a field of amazingly fast women not fully sure of what to expect of them or myself.

And a pool was found with help
from new friend Gus.

Hello Key Biscayne and Florida Coconut 

A friend of mine from University and an amazing triathlete, Amanda Stevens, recommended a bike shop she'd used before to assemble her bike.  So I gave them a call and worked it out that I'd bring my bike directly from the airport to the bike shop.  After a super smooth flight to Miami from Toronto, I grabbed a cab and went directly to South Miami Bike Shop. The owner, Jean, met me as I brought ALL my bags into the shop, I sat down on a stool, took a big breath and felt like I was at home; comfortable in the bike shop.  The people there were amazing, helpful, and super social!  While I was there so many people came in to chat, the shop is an amazing and positive place to be.  They arranged for me to get a ride back to the hotel, with friend Gus, who took me on a tour of the bike routes around the area, and also found me a pool to swim in the next day! Jean met me for a bike ride at Key Biscayne, as they knew I was on my own, and gave me some helpful advice about staying safe in downtown Miami. I do tend to be overly friendly and very trusting and that has the potential to lead to bad situations, or  so I've been told.  They even came to support me at the race;  the South Miami Bike Shop helped make this trip a really great one; not only have I found my bike shop for when I travel to Florida, I've found some great new friends.  

THE RACE EXPERIENCE

Sunday morning at 4:30 am my alarm went off.  I rolled out of bed, put on my race gear, ate breakfast, and walked over to the transition to make sure my bike was ready to go.  While in transition,  fellow Canadian, Miranda Tomenson, was racked next to me.  It was nice to have a familiar someone to talk with, we stuck together until the race started.  

THE SWIM

Me (pink cap) and Leanda Cave

We were informed at the pro meeting the day before that the good news was there were no jellyfish, yeah!, the bad news was there would be no swim warm up.  However, Sunday morning they did allow a short warm up period, for the pro athletes, in the water before the cannon went off for the first wave.   So we jumped off the dock into the very salty ocean, no sea creatures appeared out of the depths to eat us, and did a in water warm up.   Two minutes before the female pro wave start we all began to jostle for our positions, and when the race started I received the biggest shock of the race.  As an age group athlete I was used to swimming through waves of people, as generally I started an hour behind the pros.  I thought swimming through the men was tough as sometimes they would swim off course, or I'd have to swim between people, that seems like a piece of cake now.  Nothing is like swimming with a group of people who are swimming for their livelihood. I'd injured my shoulder two weeks ago and knew it would be tough for me to get out in front early; I was lacking power.  It's an aggressive arena, no holds barred kinda swimming.  There was a point during the swim I actually said to myself, "what am I doing?  I'm in way over my head".  But I calmed myself down, settled in and continued on.  This was an amazing opportunity to finish, not one to give up on.  Finally the swim was complete, and time to transition out onto the road.

THE BIKE

The bike is not yet a strong area for me.  Looking at the other women, I can see where my legs are lacking strength, but it's not something that can't be improved with a little winter weight lifting and lots of power trainer sessions.  My coach told me not to worry about the others and just go race my own race, so that is what I did.  I watched as the other girls passed, admiring their  strength on the bike. My shoulder was aching throughout the ride and I had to leave the aero position multiple times to bring some relief from the pain, however, I held my own and enjoyed the twists and turns out and back into downtown Miami.   My transitions, although not quite where they need to be, were much better than they have ever been thus far.  I threw on my runners and race belt and headed out on the final leg of the race.

THE RUN

The run course was fantastic!  It was certainly a challenge!  We ran over grass, through sand under a bridge, and then over the causeway 4 times!  It was an out and back double loop, and whoever tells you the run will be flat in Miami, slap them!  Going up the causeway was not an easy task the fourth time around, it's a fairly big incline and makes you work.  The first 15km of the run I was moving; I felt great until I hit the turn around aid station with 5km to go, then the piano hit.  I knew with only a relatively short distance to go  I could manage to hold myself somewhat together, however it was a painfully slow finish to what was almost my fastest run.  I still ran a 1:35.04 half marathon which was faster than I thought, and I'm very happy with that.  My time was also within the 12% of the overall winner which qualifies me to compete again next year as a pro!

SUMMARY

Had I come to Ironman 70.3 Miami as an age group athlete, I would have won my age group and qualified for Ironman 70.3 World Championships for 2017.  However, I did not go as an age group athlete this time.  I choose to go as a Pro; I wouldn't change that decision if given the opportunity.  There was no prize cheque for me and I don't get an automatic qualifying spot to World's. What I did get was an opportunity of a life time, a chance to race pro, to meet some incredible people, make new friends, learn that I can go to these events on my own, if I need to, and be okay. The sea monsters didn't get me, my bike made it to and from Florida just fine, and really I was never alone.  My family, coach, teammates, and new found friends provided amazing support throughout the weekend.  It's okay to be afraid of new experiences, of all the 'firsts', it's not okay to let fear keep us from those experiences.