A couple weeks ago we travelled to race the St. Anthony Triathlon in St. Petersburg, FL. We had a GREAT time - the St. Anthony's Tri is really a spectacular event, with thousands of athletes from all over the world. Most compete in the Olympic, though almost the same number of athletes race the sprint distance. There's also a Kid's Tri. Overall, it's well-organized and well-staffed, the volunteers and spectators are delightful, the course is beautiful and flat, and extra bonus, racers have the option to rack their bikes in transition the day before the race! Race travel is not exactly a vacation, but I grew up in the area and much of my family still lives there. We also got married down there, and since we met in a triathlon club, we figured racing among palm trees along the waterfront is really a great way to spend your anniversary! In the end, yes it was, and we definitely want to go back and do it again.
The things that made doing this race a bit tough for us were planning around family, and logistics, specifically getting our borrowed bikes sorted. Next time, we will devote one half-day to getting everything bike-related set up, or even a full day, but have it DONE within the day. We spread that out over a couple days, and it all worked out, but it was a bit of a time-suck doing it like that. We also didn't set expectations around race-related and event time, and family time. I like checking into a race as early as possible, which meant Friday... I also would have liked to rack my bike, but you can't do that until Saturday. And we didn't know if people would want to see the race venue on Saturday. In the end we decided to check in on Friday, and not return to rack bikes until Sunday morning (the day of the race). This was fine, but if we'd had the plan ahead of time, and just stuck to it, I'd have removed a lot of mental stress. Really this was the only issue. We need to have a plan ahead of time, and follow it.
The day before the race (Saturday), the race directors had emailed that due to the conditions, the Olympic swim would be shortened to the Sprint distance, so only 750m. None of us were too upset about that. Race morning... driving down there at 4:30AM, it was WINDY. Like, the big automotive dealership flags were pointing straight out west in the wind. Shortening the swim was the right call, as the Sprint course is in a mostly protected area that finishes on a beach, but the Olympic course continues out into the bay and is exposed on the second half of the swim, then finishes in a seawall with a metal staircase out of the water. No one wants athletes getting slammed into either the seawall or the stairs and getting injured - I completely agreed with the judgement. So, we figured short swim, good flat bike with some difficulty due to the wind, and a nice run. OK, here we go. Only issue - we didn't bring throw-away shoes for the morning, so we were barefoot as we used the porta-potty and walked down to the beach. Whoops. We survived.
The Swim
There was a bit of confusion on the beach at the start. Athletes didn't know when to line up, when the start was happening, etc. The music was very loud and due to the wind, you really couldn't hear announcements - and there were multiple canon fires. I am sure they were announcing everything, but unless you were directly next to the speaker, you couldn't understand it. It would have been helpful if specifics on the swim start were emailed the night before or if everything was laid out in the Athlete guide. At this race, you line up by expected swim time and the signage for swim times was good, so you could organize yourself there pretty easily. However, relay members didn't know if they had a different start, or if they lined up with all athletes. And the actual swim start area with the mats was small and unmarked, 2 chutes each took 2 athletes, that info wasn't known until you were right up on it. There were a lot of "what's going on?" comments and questions, adding to the pre-race nerves.
All this to say, my swim actually started smoothly. I entered right with Jeremiah, which was cool. Patrick was ahead of us. Also, the water was 72 degrees, so wetsuit legal! I was glad I had mine. I wasn't going to bring it, but Patrick and J'ne convinced me otherwise. Plus, it was good for my shoulder (injured, recovered, in the last 6 weeks - first real swim using it).
It was low tide, so after crossing the timing mat, we ran the first 50 yards out, and the current was pushing south (helpful), so once you turned at the first buoy, we got a favorable push right along most of the course. Normal swim chaos, people clearly started swimming ahead of their projected swim times (or panicked) because I swam over or around quite a few athletes. Buoys were easy to see, though I wished I had COUNTED how many there were. As we neared the last buoy of the sprint course, the chop really picked up and conditions were rough, we were fighting waves and wind from the left. I had no problem, but for left-side breathers (like my husband) it was really tough. Once you turned the last buoy, you were swimming WITH the chop and the wind, and it was only another hundred yards or so to shore, but since it was low tide, you really only swam 25 and ran the last 75 yards in knee-deep water. I didn't mind this initially, but Patrick was irritated, as he'd just started feeling good in the conditions and suddenly had to stand up. And running through shallow water is honestly not easy. But everyone was in the same situation, so on we went.
T1
Running from the beach to transition was about 3/4 mile. (Had we swam the Olympic, we'd only have a couple hundred yards to run to transition.) We ran on a paved path that was well-swept, but still, it was a long time. Halfway up the path I realized that BECAUSE the swim was so short, and shortened AGAIN by the tide, I had forgotten to pee on the swim! I briefly thought about just peeing as I ran, but immediately decided I didn't want to start riding in pee-soaked shorts, so I detoured into the porta potty in transition. That cost me a couple minutes. Oh, well. Season opener, I'm not super trained, I'm ok with it.
Got to my bike, got ready and ran my bike almost all the way out of transition before figuring out I forgot my helmet, so leaned the bike on a tree, ran back to get it, ran back up to the exit and was on my way. Side note - know your number. People were yelling "662, helmet!" and I didn't realize they were talking to ME until the official turned me around. In twenty years of racing, I have NEVER not put my helmet on right away, so... Really, this was THE LONGEST TRANSITION I think I've ever had. Again, oh, well.
The Bike
Because of the wind, I thought it would be difficult, but I was surprised. Riding out toward Tropicana Field we had a push, and I knew it, but we were also going very slightly uphill (barely enough to tell). When we turned to head east and come back through downtown, the wind was rough, but we were on a downhill and, well, again, everyone was in the same situation, and it was only a few miles or so. Once we turned south, we got away from downtown pretty quickly, then we were protected from the wind by trees for almost the rest of the ride!
The bike course was beautiful. There was no traffic that early on a Sunday. People were out in their driveways cheering us on, that was fun. We rode around the Dali Museum, down along a nature preserve, all the way down to the southernmost roads in Pinellas County. I was worried that our eastward trek down there would be as hard as riding east had been at the beginning, but we were still protected. Patrick really liked riding along parts of the IndyCar Grand Prix track. About a mile from transition, we married up with the sprint distance athletes - that was fun to get more cheers and hellos. Mostly I rode hard, and I got passed by a lot of aero bikes but not a lot of others. I felt pretty good about how I was riding on my rented bike (thank you, Kafe Racer) but also, pretty conflicted. Too fast? Not fast enough? Either way it was a beautiful day and I was happy I had the chance to do that ride.
T2
Slow for me, but OK. Clearly, I was not in race mode, but I remember thinking I was REALLY enjoying the weather. I did remember to remove my helmet and leave it, before I started running!
The Run
I started the run slowly, as intended, and put my visor and race belt on as I headed out. I fished my gel out of my jersey pocket and downed it within the first mile, washed it down with a water cup at the first aid station. ~ 1.5 miles in I saw Patrick on his way to the finish - he said "Happy Anniversary" but was looking rough. It was a boost for me to see him. (I would find out later that because he swallowed a good amount of Tampa Bay on the swim, he spent the run barfing every mile or so... but he was still fast!) At my Mile 2, I felt good, by then I was settled. Saw Jeremiah during the 3rd mile, he was walking but looked like he was doing pretty well. I was feeling great. Yay, caffeine. Kids had sprinkler fountains out, so I ran through and gave high fives. The houses there on Snell Island - oh my goodness they were fancy and awesome to look at! People had garden hoses, champagne, donuts... funny, but sugar and alcohol was absolutely the last thing I wanted! It wasn't hot out, but the sun was no joke, and I was happy for the cool-down mists the fans provided.
I was even MORE happy to see the turn around. Time to GET TO THE FINISH. My Maurten Gel Caf at that point was manna from heaven. That fourth mile was ok, but I was overhydrated and really had to pee. I figured I could wait, but my body said otherwise and just peed on the go. Alrighty! This happened just as I was coming up on an aid station, so I grabbed water cups and dumped them on me to wash it away, and just carried on. Guess I can just pee on the course, after all.
Mile 5, I was pushing, and struggling, and fighting with myself, really. But I was still picking people off. I wasn't getting passed, I was passing. Go, me. That sort of kept me going, playing the "Can I catch you?" game. Even so, that last mile was TOUGH. I was doing a lot of bargaining with myself. When I had a little over a half mile left, and Patrick ran up to me and told me Tom and Heather and the kids were at the finish. OK I CAN DO THIS! And, I did. Saw Tom, Heather and the kids just before the finish chute, and it MADE MY 2024. I picked it up and ran it in. Run done, no walking, ran the whole time. Finished the run in JUST OVER one hour. Like, very barely over, darn it... But still better than 10-minute miles, so I'll take it!
The Finish + Post-Race
I really pushed at the end so was very happy to STOP immediately. I grabbed a Gatorade endurance and a water, and got a wet cow-towel cloth. We saw Jeremiah pretty immediately, which is AMAZING because we didn't make a plan and there were at least 3,000 people milling about in Vinoy Park. Connie met us, too. We called my brother and found him as well, I was SO HAPPY they were all there! Heather told me she started crying when she saw me running. Happy tears, she's a happy crier. I love this so much. Then they took off, and we headed toward Patrick's favorite part of any race, the FOOD.
They did have really great post-race food, but I did not want ANY of it right then. Because Patrick loves it all, I grabbed all of the snacks for him! I gave him my rice and beans. After a while, I did end up eating some fruit and a small slice of marginal pizza, which tasted fantastic for the salt. I had some Sun Chips, too. As we drove home, I wanted a milkshake. Like, a really good one - odd, because I never ever crave or want a milkshake. I probably haven't had one in 7 years? I didn't get one. Had a PB&J and a glass of milk at Mom's. Best sandwich I've ever had. Heather made us roast beef sandwiches for dinner, and a krab avocado sandwich - also the best sandwiches I've ever had. Had three drinks out that night. I do not recommend this. But, as my brother said, the drinks help you not feel your legs. We were sore that night. I'm honestly not sure if the drinks helped or harmed. We were SORE the next day.
Nutrition Notes
Race morning, I had a good breakfast (egg, English muffin and avocado) and drank a bottle of water prior to race start. I split a scoop of UCAN between 2 bike bottles and finished those 2 bottles on the bike + a caffeine gummy. Probably only need to finish 1 water bottle on the bike, if I'm already well-hydrated, for an Olympic in nice conditions, as I think I was obviously over-hydrated by the run. Had a UCAN gel at the start of the run, a half a Maurten regular gel somewhere on the course (either late bike or early run), and a full Maurten Gel Caf at the halfway point of the run. Felt great, no bonking, but no idea what will be good for a 70.3 if I use UCAN. [I'm testing that now during training, since I felt so good using it, and we also had a Ucan rep speak at our monthly tri club meeting.]
Not eating right after the race was a mistake, as I was pretty hungry all the rest of the day. Next time I'll have a protein shake or something easy on hand to get SOMETHING in me. And drinking that night? Three drinks is really a lot for me. Basically, we planned to go to a concert with Tom and Heather that night, which we knew was not a good idea, and now we proved that. It was nice to hang out, but we really need no plans at all for race nights going forward. Recovery is important. But other than being sore, we were fairly back to normal the next day.
Results
I came in 27/38 in my division. Fine, ish. My weakest link is biking, so that's what I'm focusing on, now. I averaged 17.4 mph. I would like to get that up to 19+, which is at least a 10% improvement. I am not as trained up since t
his was the season opener and, let's be honest, my shoulder injury mentally derailed me in many ways (post about that, to follow). But I have to say nothing hurt and I felt mostly great this whole race. It's a good starting point. That 10-minute T1 didn't do me any favors, either. Could have gone up a couple spots with T1 improvements, alone.
Swim: 14/39 - 14:47 for 750m
Bike: 29/38 - 1:25:44 for 40k, 17.4 mph
Run: 24/38 - 1:00:07 for 10k, 9:42/mile
T1: 33/38 - 10:05, 3/4 mile run, bathroom stop, go back for the bike helmet detour
T2: 20/38 - 2:38
Spectator Notes
If you can go to someone's race, DO. They will never ever forget it. Also, do some recon ahead of time, if you can. My mom found out the hard way that parking on race day would be TOUGH. As in, non-existent and she'd end up driving home, rather than seeing us. I had sent my brother and Heather a picture of us in our kits so they'd know what to look for, that definitely helped because they did spot each of us. I didn't have my phone on the course, and didn't want to go to transition to get it after the race. I'm ok with that, but we need to pick a meeting point for the spectators after we cross the finish. Luckily Jeremiah had his phone, so I could call my brother.
Overall Impression
Super favorable! I want to do this as a season opener and have everyone come for a spring break triathlon party! Loved the course, loved the actual event being along the water, marinas, beach... Even though I had a great time, I didn't love my finish place and I wish I had trained a bit more rather than treated it as the start of my training. Noted. To quote Ms. Mitchell, "I got the race I trained for." It being such a fun, well-organized event made that JUST FINE with me.
Also, a little mental prep would have gone a LONG WAY to helping me in T1. It's like after T1 I realized "Oh yeah, you're racing, Liz, GO!" And this is an A-Race for a LOT of people on the east coast. They've all been training hard for a while, and we're just getting started out here in CO. I was super happy with my swim, for the first open water swim of the year, so I'll take that win! This WAS a good kick-start for me for training. Both me and Patrick are super excited for this season.