Florida 70.3

What an experience. If the saying holds that you learn the most from your defeats, this was a good learning experience. Everything leading up to the race went perfectly, I felt rested, my stomach was behaving, and logistics couldn't be smoother at the race venue.

5:30am - I get to transition and rack my bike, #26. We even had our own porta-jon with big orange tape on the front door spelling "PRO". Every bike on the rack was nice, I mean really nice. Only 2 other athletes, not including me, didn't have a disc wheel. Once everything was set up and I had checked my gears and pedals I went for a warm-up run. It's different running through the crowd with the "P" on your calf and tattooed numbers on your arms. I don't even know if this is true, but when I was warming up I felt like all eyes were on me. When I was an age-grouper I was mesmerized by the pro athletes. Now that I was a pro I felt I had to set a good example. I had to warm-up properly and act like I was in the zone and focused (even though I was going out of my mind with nervous energy). I got back from the run and sipped on my Powerade.

At 6:15am transition officially closed and all athletes were told to make their way to the swim start. The water temperature was measured at 74F which is wetsuit legal. I found a park bench where other age-group athletes were changing and started putting my wetsuit on. It was already warm and humid out so I wanted to spend as little time as possible in my wetsuit before I could get in the water. I got to the beach and helped another pro zip up, and they zipped my suit. At 6:30 we were allowed to start warming-up in the water. I ate my last gel, finished my water bottle and hopped into the alligator infested Lake Eva. They say there are not alligators, but how could they possibly know.

6:45am - It's still pitch black out. There a hint in the horizon that the sun might come up, but the race is supposed to start at 6:50am and I can't see the second buoy. It doesn't help that the humidity is making my goggles fog up. Everyone makes their way to the "deep" water start line. It was only 4 feet deep. The sun started rising with 2 minutes to go as the Star Spangled Banner echoed across the lake. It was a really cool moment. As the announcer sang the national anthem and the sun lit the sky with more colours than I can describe, I the thought of the work I had put in over the last 4 years, the hours of training, the early morning swims, the 6 hour rides on weekends, the hours spent on the indoor trainer and treadmill in the winter; it all paid off. I was here. What a perfect moment.

Swim start a few waves after the Pro start at 6:50 am

The gun went off and I started sprinting. At first I assumed I would be dropped by everyone and have to swim alone, but to my surprise I was swimming with a pack of 10 or so others for the first 500 meters. By the first turn buoy I was overheating in my wetsuit. There is no way wetsuits should be legal if the water is this warm. My breathing turned into gasping for each breath, my heart-rate started racing and I felt dizzy. I tried to stay calm and follow the feet in front of me, but I could barely see through my fogged goggles and I started to fall off pace. I stopped kicking and just focused on relaxing and getting my heart-rate back down. On the last 500 meter stretch into shore I saw a group of 3 or 4 ahead of me so pushed to catch them.

I reached the beach a few meters behind them and started running up the sand to transition. The path is lined with spectators and other athletes cheering me on, so I have to run. Even though my heart-rate is spiked, I can't breath, I'm struggling to get out of my wetsuit, and I'm dizzy, I keep running - 250 meters uphill to my bike.

You can't see it, but I'm struggling haaaard to breath and take off my suit and run all at the same time

In past races, the first section of the bike is when I settle into a pace and focus on getting my legs underneath me before I start to push. This was different. I tried to follow the pro ahead of me, but I couldn't catch up. He wasn't getting any further, but no matter how hard I pedaled I couldn't real him in. After 15 miles of my chest exploding and my legs screaming I eased off. The pace was relentless and I was riding alone. I knew there were others behind me that I could wait for and then hopefully ride with them. At mile 18, two athletes flew by me like I was standing still. I couldn't believe their pace. I pushed up to speed and tried to pace with them but could only hang on for 2 more miles before I decided that this pace would kill me. I watched them pedal away and felt my motivation drop. I was in my first pro race and I was completely outmatched. I finished the swim in one of my slowest times, and couldn't ride with anyone else on the bike. I didn't think there was anyone else behind me and I felt my heart sink to my feet.

Suddenly another rider went by, then another. I felt a second (or third) wind and paced up to them. This didn't seem impossible. I was riding at their pace and I wasn't dying...yet. I was riding the edge to hang on but this was my last chance and I wasn't going to miss it. I hung on for the next 15 miles and for some reason decided to pass. I was getting a lot of look-backs from them as if they expected me to do some of the leading, so that's what I did. I don't know why because I didn't feel I could pedal any faster. We kept taking turns in the lead staying as draft legal as we could and astonishingly I broke away with 5 miles to go. I felt like I had a second wind, or I was just really excited it was going to be over soon.

Tied my fastest ever bike split of 2:19, but most of this ride was solo so I feel this deserves some cred

I arrived at transition with one other athlete, but I knew the two I was riding with earlier were close behind. I usually have fast transitions and I was able to get out of transitions with a couple second lead. Legs felt pretty sore but nothing I hadn't felt before, so I pushed the first few minutes. The sun was directly above now and temperature was climbing fast. I hit the 1st mile marker and no one had passed me yet. First aid station and still feeling ok, then the first hill at mile two and the wheels literally fell off the bus. My back and hamstrings were suddenly on fire and I was running slower than I could have walked. I tried to stretch but the pain wouldn't go away. Shortly after I was passed by both of the other pros I was riding with. The pain was unbearable and there was no way I could grit my teeth and ignore it to try and follow them. I watched them go, along with any aspirations to have a good run split.

Once the hills were over at mile 3 I tried to just run between aid stations and get in salt and water to stop the cramping. I'm not used to the heat and I most definitely didn't drink enough on the bike, now I'm paying for it. The first lap felt like an eternity. I returned to the hills for a second time and the same thing, extreme hamstring cramping. How could this be happening! I wanted to quit, I gave up 3 or 4 times in my head and just started walking. I wanted to cry, I hated that I had screwed up, I didn't understand why this was happening when my race prep had been so good. It took a few minutes to get passed the pain and determination took over. I've never quit anything before, and I'm not going to start today. RUN! Run even if it kills you.

I was totally committed, even if it came to this.

I ran the entire 3rd loop and even up the hills. I couldn't believe the pain but I knew I would never forgive myself if I didn't give it everything. This is pain training now. I crossed the line in 4 hours 25 minutes, which to most people is excellent, but I wanted to be under 4:20. Disappointed in the time, but not the effort, I stumbled away from the line supported by one of the volunteers. I felt like collapsing and my legs were screaming. I went to the ice bucket and put handful after handful of ice down my suit to numb my hamstrings. I heard someone yell out my name and looked up to see my homestay hosts standing at the fence waving at me.

I suddenly forgot all of the pain and felt an extremely humbled. The family that took me as their guest for the week had come out to watch my entire race. I didn't even know they were there but I was so happy to see them. I can't possibly thank them enough for being there and supporting me. We took some pictures and I gave them a breakdown of how I felt.

In the end, it was a great day and I learned a lot. I know I need to drink more when it's hot and I'm sure my coach will decipher more lessons for me. Florida 70.3 is an excellent track and I recommend it to anyone looking for a challenging early season race to test their fitness. The town is great, the people are great, and the food is great. I can't find anything to complain about.

#1 Homestay host and me. Thank you Kluytenaar family for an excellent week!