Late Arriving and Iced In A Very Hot Race: ITU World Cup Sarasota

March 8th, 2018
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We hope you enjoy this experience!

Thus far in my ITU career, I have raced in Sarasota, FL, the most. Since its inception since 2013 and now as a World Cup, too. I like the race venue and I have close friends who live in St. Petersburg. This year I decided to fly out on the same day of the mandatory athlete briefing with a scheduled arrival two hours before the briefing started. I was flying into Fort Myers, Frontier Airlines’ inaugural flight from Colorado Springs. Normally, the athlete briefing is the day before the race. However, since the women were racing a day before the men, we all performed the briefing together and the men lost that convenience of flying in a day later.

One of the first

One of the first

The problem with being late or missing an athlete briefing is that you can forfeit your starting position or be removed from the starting list. My starting positon was 46th out of 51, so it was not be that big of a deal for me to be moved to 51st position if I were late. When I landed in Ft. Myers and grabbed my bike bag, I found out that my car rental company did not shuttle from the airport, and was left to ride share to the car rental.

A Lei Greeting...

A Lei Greeting…

When I arrived, I was third in line. The staff was not proficient at their jobs so I got the car forty five minutes later and a tank on empty. I complained a little so they took the car to get it filled up. When they returned, I soon found out that they had only filled it up an eighth of a tank.  Time wasted. Nevertheless, I had to get to the meeting with only an hour left so decided to just cut my losses and head out.

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Wisdom goes a long way

UUKJ0804 Low and behold, I ended up missing the meeting. Since I had informed the race referee that I probably was going to miss it, I was not removed from the starting list, but instead moved to last position in the starting line up. So I thought anyway.  Due to hurricane Irma that had blindsided Florida and the hot and humid conditions, the water had been contaminated and high levels of algae flourished. As a result the triathlon was turned into a duathlon.  When I was told that, you should have seen my smile. That was short lived and my smile turned upside down later that night.

Same weekend as the Army 10 Miler. I made the front cover.

Same weekend as the Army 10 Miler. I made the front cover.

After settling in to my home share and eating dinner, I received an email from the race director. Due to the format of the race changing, the penalty also changed too. Instead of being last on the start list, I had to serve a fifteen second timeout in the penalty box after the first run. Given the severity of a time penalty, I decided to go to the woman’s race the next day to contest the penalty. In short, I sat down with the head race referee, who informed me that other athletes had already contested the same issue. The panel decided that the penalty would stay as a fifteen second time out. Nothing I could do further, so I planned my race accordingly.

There will always be some drama.

There will always be some drama.

Additionally, I knew it was going to be hot and humid. I watched the women struggle during their race with a little over a quarter not able to finish and everyone out of the top eleven had raced so slow they did not qualify for any points. To prepare for the heat, I went to the grocery store and got a lunch box and some ice packs to grab during T2 to stuff in my race jersey. When it is really hot, those who can keep their core body temperature down, have a better chance of not fatiguing as fast.

Always be positive. Don't let bad thoughts cloud your mind.

Always be positive. Don’t let bad thoughts cloud your mind.

When I arrived onsite at the athlete’s lounge, it was in just enough time to get in a short warm up, set up my transition and head to the starting line. I typically like to minimize my exposure to the heat even if I feel rushed to get to the starting line. After all the athletes finished checking in, a group of referees entered the tent and told us all to gather around. We were informed that due to the current high temperatures and results of the women the previous day, our international duathlon was going to be shortened to a sprint duathlon for safety reasons and the start was going to be delayed by 40 minutes.

It's heating up.

It’s heating up.

I packed my chest with ice, found a chair and literally chilled out until it was time head over to the start position and start my warm up. Because the distance was shortened, the penalty changed from 15 seconds to 10 seconds. I’ll take what I can get. Due to heat conditions, I did a short warmup, probably too short I soon discovered.

This park gets bigger and better each year!

This park gets bigger and better each year!

I had a starting position of 46 out of 51 so I was one of the last guys to line up. The starting line was not wide so we were five deep. Not only was I going to have to start 5 meters behind almost everyone else, I was going to have to serve a ten second penalty.  I probably look ridiculous with a flag bandana (not to be mistaken for a banana hammock) and a protruding chest. All of which was to pack in ice to keep my brain and heart cooled as much as possible.

Duathlon Start

Duathlon Start

In the future though, I will probably not put so much ice. I probably had about 5 lbs. of ice and I noticed it when the gun went off.  Not only did I fail to do a proper warm up, (I could tell because my heart was pounding more than usual) I also had to deal with a large pack of ice moving around in my uniform every step I took. The run was no joke. The pace put me on edge, doing my best not to lose contact with the pack as it started to stretch out.

Ready, Set, Go!

Ready, Set, Go!

As we approached T1, I was not where I wanted to be. I should have placed myself at the front of the group but I was toward the end.  Serving the ten second penalty was going to be costly.  I entered the penalty box and slowly watched all the competitors enter transition and get ready to run out with their bikes.  Let me tell you, ten seconds seems like an eternity. When my time was up, I sprinted as fast as I could to get to my bike. The last of the competitors were almost out of transition when I got to my bike. I was able to be smooth enough to exit with a handful of them but the main pack was fifteen seconds ahead which is a lot in this type of race.

The watch tower.

The watch tower.

Throughout the first five minutes of jumping onto the bike, a group of five formed a small bike pack and pursued the main pack up the road. We only had a short amount of time to catch them before they started to work better together and move at a quicker pace.  We needed to make contact with them before three quarters of the first bike loop was completed because that was where the tail wind picked up.

Three slow bikes...see how they bike.

Three slow bikes…see how they bike.

We did not close the distance in time and had to wait until the tail wind ended to start making gains again. Going through transition to head for our second loop, there were a couple of tight corners.  I’ve still not mastered my biking handling skills and had to break a couple of times losing the wheel of two cyclist ahead of me. This was a costly mistake for me and those behind me. Because neither of us could close the gap, the stronger two riders rode away and our pace slowed. We road as hard as we could but we were weak in numbers. I hoped as I always do that I could run myself into thirtieth and kept myself within the time cut off for points.

And my race weekend has set.

My chances were fading.

When I entered T2 to head out for my second run, I grabbed my ice packs and headed out. I fumbled around with one, dropping my gel. I had a couple referees staring at me so I returned to pick it up because I did not want another penalty. The heat was nerving and it effected each athlete differently.  I could tell I was closing the distance but a 5k is not long enough to catch a group 4 mins ahead, especially when there are a lot of good runners in an ITU World Cup.

As soon as I crossed the finish line, I was already thinking about the beach.

As soon as I crossed the finish line, I was already thinking about the beach.

I ended up crossing the finish line in 33rd position. If I had not had a penalty or got dropped from my small bike group, I would at least be in 30th and who knows how much better.  Small mistakes matter in the need for speed sport. There is no need to sabotage yourself before you even start the race.

Surf's up dude.

Surf’s up dude.

I am a true believer in eating and promoting a plant-based diet for maximum nutrition, performance, and recovery. Furthermore, I encourage the pursuit of living life and searching and holding onto quality relationships—be true to yourself and live life with others. Revel in the journey, not just in the destination. I’m pleased to be apart of the club team US Military Endurance Sports and race in The Escape Triathlon Series this year. I would only be half the athlete and man if it were not for the wisdom of my coaches and mentors, Tim Crowley and Louis Tharp and all my family, friends and supporters, like Vasa and Sabble Water Optics. Go chase your dreams too!