Ft. Desoto Triathlon

This past weekend was the Publix Family Fitness Weekend at Ft. Desoto Park near St. Pete's Beach. A while back Joey had decided that this would be a good weekend for a visit to Florida and that we should do a triathlon. Ft. Desoto was the most promising race so we thought we'd give it a shot. I didn't need to do this race - I've already done 4 tris this season and am doing an olympic distance tri, the HOT, this Sunday, August 26 - but I haven't done a race with Joey since last year's HOT. I figured what the heck? After all, it's only a 400m swim, 11 mile bike, and a 5K run. Let's do it!

I was super excited for the weekend. The race didn't have much to do with it. I was mostly looking forward to seeing Joey, and going to the beach - even if it was just overnight.

Joey arrived Wednesday night. Thursday was mellow - we slept in, watched a little tv, Joey did some work, I chilled out, we met my friend Barry for our regular Thursday run, then it was off to the gym for the cold therapy pool and the hot tub. Very nice! We had a lovely dinner out at Cabana Cove complete with fried plantains for an appetizer and $3.00 mojitos. Yummy!

Friday we headed out to St. Pete's Beach. We picked up our race packets, checked in to our hotel, and drove to the race site. Since it was a sprint distance race, we weren't too concerned about checking the course. Mostly we just wanted to know what the drive time was from the hotel to the race site. I do like to see how far the swim is from the transition area, since I have been dealing with Plantar Fasciitis for nearly 9 months and doing anything barefoot is hard. Everything looked fine at the race site including a large circle at the end of the road for the bike turnaround ie no slowing down on the turnaround-wohoo! We headed back to the hotel to scope out some restaurants for dinner.

I have mixed feelings about our hotel - technically a motel. I decided to look for a place in Pass-a-Grille, which is the historic part of St. Pete's Beach. On my last trip to St. Pete's I remembered that area just feeling much more comfortable than the more resorty area. Room rates in St. Pete's are pretty expensive, but most places have rooms with kitchens. Our motel only rents rooms with kitchens for 3-day reservations, but they were the only place that had late check out - 2pm - which was perfect since Joey was considering doing the openwater swim after the tri. The room was clean but small. Since it was only one night, who cares? Not having a kitchen was a bummer especially considering that Joey usually eats leftover spaghetti for pre-race breakfast and I eat my usual eggs, oatmeal, oj, and coffee. I figured since it was a sprint race that we would both make do. I was pretty conflicted about the lack of kitchen vs the late checkout and almost changed the reservations 3 or 4 times before the weekend. I'm still not sure I made the right choice.

Saturday morning was the typical race morning - get up at 5am, get dressed, load the bikes on the car, and head out. Since there was no kitchen, we were on the road quickly. I had a Starbucks frappacino beverage, oj, a couple of powdered sugar donuts, and a banana for breakfast - no I'm not kidding. The breakfast of champions it wasn't. Since I had a good dinner, I wasn't too concerned - other than feeling a little nauseous. We set up our transition area - I racked next to Joey which meant I only had to deal with the possibility of the other person next to me screwing with my stuff - and headed off to the beach.

My goal for this race was to average 18mph or faster on the bike, keep my run below 30 minutes, and finish in under 1:20. I only met the first goal. I thought I was under 1:20 but I must have stopped my watch accidentally during T1 so the time was off. I'm pretty bummed about that because I wasn't really pushing on the run. I kept zoning out and slowing down, but according to my watch I was going to make my overall time goal so who cares. If I had been running the way I should have I would have met all my goals. Oh well!

Here are the high points of the race:

• I had a solid swim
• I was able to jog barefoot between transitions - the PF is definitely getting better
• I averaged 18+mph on the bike
• Since my feet didn't hurt during T1, I decided to leave my shoes on the bike and dismount barefoot coming into T2
• Passing people on the bike turnaround - it's a huge, wide circle, why are you hitting your brakes?

Overall it was a decent race - a nice tune up for the olympic distance coming up. Joey had a solid race - a bit of a rough swim that involved him getting kicked in the face and puking, a decent ride considering the rough swim and not being on his own bike, and a good run. Oh, did I mention he broke his toe earlier in the week and did the race any way? Way to go, Joey!

My coach had put a 30 minute post-race run on my schedule, since I am in marathon training mode. Joey was still feeling a bit yucky and was trying to decide about doing the openwater swim at noon. I told him not to worry about running with me, that he should get some food and water and sit in the shade. It was so hot on my run so I'm sure that was the right thing for him. After my run, I got some food and beverage, and Joey and I volunteered to help with the kids race - a duathlon. It was so much fun cheering on the kids and keeping them on the course. They were so cute!

By this point, Joey was feeling much better and decided he would like to do the openwater swim. No problem! I changed into my swimsuit. There was no way I was going to hang around on the beach in my disgusting tri clothes. While Joey was swimming, I hung out in the water. It was really hot on the beach. The water wasn't much cooler, but it was better than nothing. Joey had a really good swim complete with dolphins hanging out just to the side of the course. Very cool! I was really proud of him for sucking it up and getting back in the water after his yucky swim that morning.

We headed back to the hotel for some very much needed showers and our well-deserved post race meal. We decided to eat at the Brass Monkey, a pub- style restaurant next to our hotel. Now it could just be that I was super hungry but I'm going to say that this meal was the high point of the trip. Don't get me wrong - the race was fun, but this food was yummy! I opened the menu from the back, was glancing at the entrees some of which had names like Chicken Chesapeake and Assawoman flounder. Are the owners from Maryland? Assawoman Bay is a body of water near Ocean City. It's a fairly obscure reference. I turned to the front of the menu and sure enough, the owners were in the restaurant business in Maryland for 18 years. Instead of my traditional post-race burger, I opted for a crabcake sandwich. Joey and I shared an order of wings seasoned with Old Bay. Awesome food, excellent service, and the company of my best friend - darn close to a perfect afternoon!

After lunch, it was home to Gainesville. It was an uneventful drive and we were home by 6pm. Brian was happy to see us. After unloading the car and doing some laundry, we headed out to the Swamp Restaurant for dinner and drinks. I was acting as designated driver so the boys could indulge themselves. We had a good time!

Overall, it was a fun weekend!