Pulling It Off: The MIT Report

The week before the Miami International Triathlon, I knew I was behind the 8 ball in training. I had gotten my wife's cold and was unable to train at all for about 10 days. I had decided to cram for my preparation. My workouts the week before the event were as follows: Saturday, a weak 10K run, Sunday, a 25 mile ride; Monday, rest; Tuesday, a 25 mile ride; Wednesday, a 10K run; Thursday a 30 minute pool swim, and Friday, a 5K treadmill speed workout. I hoped this was enough to allow me to finish.

Conditions at the Expo, bike drop and number pick-up at the Miami Marine Stadium site did not look promising. While the swim takes place in a somewhat protected bay, the surf looked pretty choppy. It was also pretty windy along Key Biscayne. This should have been enough to scare me off, but just being on the site of a triathlon transition area got me excited about the sport again.

Long story short: on race day, I felt crappy on the swim, not having done an open water swim with a wetsuit in over a month. It was pretty windy on Rickenbacker Causeway making the bike difficult. End result: a PR in 2:58. Why? Because I didn't cramp up and break down in the run. This may be due in part to this being my first Olympic distance race using the tri bike and this saved my quads for the run. Another possibility is the cooler temperatures kept me from dehydrating and cramping. I suspect it's a little of both. In any event, I was able to cram for this event and finish. It may not be an impressive time for other triathletes, but I was previously frustrated in my inability to break the 3 hour mark at this distance. As I always say: any day you get a PR is a great day. Thus, I give myself an A- for the event. The A for the PR; the minus for the poor swim and the fact that I know I can do better on the bike.

Hopefully, I'll be able to pull off the same cramming stunt for the Paris Marathon in a little less than a month. Time to ramp up the running. My buddy Wayne, whose 3 marathons over a 6 week Trampathon Abroad I'm joining for the Paris portion, left Anchorage yesterday to visit his mom in New Jersey. Tomorrow, he is off to Rome. Best of luck in Sunday's Rome Marathon Wayne. See you in a little over 3 weeks.