Florabama MulletMan Triathlon - Race Report

Ahh, the familiarity, the festivities, the food, the fun! This is just about my favorite race, because I just have so much darn fun. This year was no exception, though it seems this race offers a different dynamic each year depending on who's around, how we/I feel & the wind. Amazing how little things affect the overall outcome of the day....

Swim -
There was an odd surf break this year. Course is out 100yd, down 200 yd, in 100yd. Fairly straightforward. Last year because of the wonky weather/waves/rip tides they cut the swim massively & basically made it optional. I was one of only a few that went around the buoys. This year had a GREAT forecast - middle of the night Friday the wind was supposed to swing around & be offshore, making it a glass surface. Glass may be a bit over-stated, but it wasn't too bad. The first break was out just past our line, decent if you kept an eye on it, entertaining when/if you didn't. I got rolled a couple of times but nothing major. Main break was just a few yards offshore, so it was fairly easy to cruise in with the current, as long as you kept an eye on the break & didn't get slammed to the sand (read: my warm-up swim, depositing sand where there shouldn't ever be sand present). Fairly uneventful, though a bit more pushing than I'm used to here. No worries, I swing with the best of them. I was top 13 overall on the swim, top 3 chicks outta the water, dominated the age group. (1/4mi Swim - 8:32)

T1 - the usual cluster of sand, rocks, pain & cussing. As always, I could be quicker. I could also be much slower. Moment of brilliance: squirting off my feet with the extra water bottle I had. No need for buckets/pails, just one more bottle & enough sense to make sure I don't use the one with the energy drink. (2:06)

Bike -
First race with the aero helmet...(read: charity silent auction dare-devil antics gone bad). Gotta say, having my ears covered isn't such a bad deal. Maybe increases the focus a bit. Race wheels with the trispoke bump were a bit annoying, maybe worse than normal & not entirely straight - not sure, but when you can only hear what's right in front of & below you, it's annoying. That wonderfully promised wind wasn't quite as promised, it was slightly out of the northeast, but only had a noticeable affect for about 2-3min after the turnaround. No noticeable push or drag otherwise. Had a great ride up the bridge - dropped people all over! And of course, this tank goes downhill quickly...THE singular advantage to being VP of the chubby girls running club - biking downhill! I think I topped out in the upper 30's on speed.

Didn't have the aero bottle on the bike...neglected to remember where I put the rubber bands AND the velcro to hold the bastard down. So I went old-school with the regular bottle behind the seat. NO worries, eh? Except that gulping down liquid in mass quantities while in the fetal position pumping one's legs into one's stomach (a la pistons) does NOT make for good digestion. Add in some hard effort & hard breathing & the scene is ripe for regurgitation, yes? Yes...let's just say I brought a new meaning to "I just threw up in my mouth a little." NO worries, most of it stayed down, the rest of it decorated pavement. It was just liquid anyway & a sprint race. Note to self: find bleeping velcro & bands - one band is in purse/on gearshift in car...idiot.

Another note: getting a haircut the day before a race might not be a great idea. Either that, or the tiny little pigtails sticking out might have a drawback on the aerodynamics of the helmet. Whatever, it makes for a smile & a funny shadow. I'm not too worried about it.

I whipped out a PR on this bike course by a few minutes. Felt pretty good outside of the liquid rejection thing, position on bike wasn't uncomfortable, legs were steady but getting tired at end. (17mi bike - 50:13, 3 AG, 6 Female, 59 overall)

T2 - Oh, if I were just a quicker person. I will say I like coming back to an empty rack. The downside is there's no weight holding it up - I almost sent it all flying. No worries, I even remembered to take off my helmet - which in turn ripped off my sunglasses. (At least I discovered why they wouldn't sit straight on my face - they were tucked around a strap!) Grab the number & the visor, put on a shoe or two (opting to, once again despite my own intelligence otherwise, neglect socks - thinking that washing trick really did a great thing) & away I went. Note that I did tuck the gel I had into my shorts - I had every intention of actually eating it at that point. I can still (as always) gain some time here...(1:47)

Run - Forget the gel, forget the breathing, forget the hydration. Just. Keep. Running. Determined to pound out a good time I was pushing pretty hard right off the gravel. Ran by a cheering section/gauntlet - C's recruiting new friends & the parents on the other side of the road & quickly reached my "pain threshhold of running". Having learned last year in July on a track in Indiana that no, in fact, running hard won't kill me - I was quite determined to pound out a decent (for me) run. First mile hurt a bit, struggled with my breathing some & just pushing up against where my body wants to slow down. I did grab some water at the aid stations - I figured not capturing as much water as I could on that bike combined with having a microwave on my head was having an effect on my hydration levels. I also figured that, despite I thought was a quick swim & a great bike, an extra minute or so at my run pace wouldn't kill me. So I grabbed some water, walked a smidge & pushed back up the pace as soon as I could. Prob. ~ 30sec walking at 2 aid stations. (The third station is less than a mile from the finish - I grabbed the little cup on the run, splashed about half in the direction of my mouth - a.k.a. up my nose - & the other half down my chest. I'm not sure how much of either was intentional...) I hurt quite a bit but pushed my limits a bit. Got chicked once but very much deserved it - she was tiny, flying & running harder than I was. Just a solid, consistent run effort all the way to the line. Not much gas for a finishing kick - ok.
(4mi Run - 35:15, 167 overall - slow, but it was 8:38s!!!!)

Overall - 2nd age group, 75th overall, 7th chick, 1:37:51, I'm counting it as a PR, in 2005 the race was 2mi shorter (bike) & I was right at 3:00 slower than that. It was about ~:25 on the swim, about 1:00 on the bike & just over 2:00 faster on the run. I think the 2005 numbers include transition though...so that's clearly where I'm slower. Which, ok, my feet are a bit more sensitive. Maybe I just need to get the lead outta my ass.

Either way...we then proceeded to have a blast. The typical post-race of hanging out with some of the family, a couple of friends new to the scene & the other Indiana crew that heads out. Acquired a rockin' set of Klipsch earbuds, slurped down a few Whackers of the Bush, cashed out on a reserved cabana-dealy for a bit & strolled on the beach awhile. I've got to say...it was a fan-freaking-tastic way to spend a day. Great way to start 2010.