Escape Fort De Soto - What a beautiful place!
I know I should have written this yesterday but yesterday was the last day my grandparents were here so today is the day.
I've always heard that the races at Ft. De Soto are popular and I can tell you why....the place is beautiful. I never really understood the geography of these little chain islands or who actually claims them so I'm guessing this is south-west of St. Petersburg/Tampa but not part of them. (If that's wrong correct me) We stayed the night at a Ramada Inn in St. Pete about 15 miles away. Sleeping in a hotel with your grandparents is fine until your grandmother kicks in sawing logs thankfully she didn't actually wake me up with all the ruckus until 4-4:30 am so I got a few hours in.
Breakfast - Its rare I mention a prerace breakfast because my pre-race breakfast is typically a Zone bar but the folks wanted to hit the Denny's across the street from the hotel so I figured Id give it a whirl ate a veggie-omelet with egg beaters and english muffin. I figure almost 3 hours before the event it'll digest.
Pre Race - I love staying so close to a race site... no rushing around plenty of time to relax and get everything in order do some light stretching and even take a few shots of the sunrise. I'm one of those people that can't stand to be late and/or disorganized because I never settle in and the whole day feels chaotic so I love to give myself plenty of time. Unfortunately to get this time you gotta spend money for a hotel and that's the hard part. Anyone that knows me will tell you I'm, to be polite, frugal. All right I'm a cheap skate. I got better things to spend my money on than a one night stand for triathlon :)
Swim - My first salt water swim of the year pretty uneventful didn't take long to remember how much the taste of salt water can make you sick to your stomach ...I still treat the swim as a means to an end in terms of race strategy could obviously be faster but I just don't give it that much weight in terms of overall training...18 minutes on a half mile ..... good enough. 15th of 36 in AG and roughly 4 minutes off Top 4 places in AG.
Bike - Went well I found a few times I thought I was pushing too hard so would ease up to save for the run. Had a hard time avoiding drafting when you put 700+ people on a 10 mile course drafting is extremely hard to avoid I feel bad for anyone assessed a penalty for it .... seems unfair really especially when you have people with inconsistent speeds one minute they're blowing by you the next you're blowing by them then you're in that mode of do I pass this guy/girl again or do I just give them the three bike lengths so I don't have to give 3 minutes for the draft constantly jockeying for position.
Run - I knew from the minute I left transition something wasn't right I felt bloated and sloggish. There are a few factors to why this is ...#1. My grandmothers home cooked meals. #2. That breakfast I normally wouldn't have had. #3. Started my first creatine cycle on Friday and its got a front load. So I've been doing 1 serving 4 times a day which ends up being 128 extra carbs a day. (Will be glad when this part is over its killing me).
Aside from the bloated feelings the run was actually a neat course....at about a mile and a half or so in you run up the stairs of the Fort and then back down the opposite side to do the remainder of the run on the beach and sand. I'm not sure if it was the steps or the sand running but the tendonitis in my left knee flared up again...there was just nothing good about my personal performance in that run so it was tough for me I was getting passed by people left and right and that typically doesn't happen. Nothing felt right it happens.
Transitions - One thing that never ceases to amaze me is how much transition times can play a role in your overall. In fact the difference between my time and several of the guys that were behind me could have been made up if they had had better transitions....what I don't understand is that this is usually the case I typically turn out shorter transitions than others in my AG .... What is everybody doing in there?! Baking a cake? Never underestimate the importance of being a minimalist especially at the sprint distance.
Overall - 1:18:45 8th of 36 in my age group 179 of 725ish overall:
Swim: 18:57
T1: 3:14
Bike: 26:25
T2: 1:19
Run 28:52
Post race we spent some time wandering around the fort and taking pictures.....this place really is beautiful can't believe I've never been here before. There is another race here on August 6th called Top Gun...I'll be there!
Well the time has come and my grandparents have gone. Now I'm REALLY on my own. I told my grandmother after my race that I had a terrible run and her food is killing me (I have no self discipline when it comes to my families home cooked meals) and that no one wants her to stay more than me and no one wants her to go more than me. Of course if I had the choice of them staying and just giving up triathlon completely I would always take my family first.
Enough rambling for now .....don't I ever shut up?!
I've always heard that the races at Ft. De Soto are popular and I can tell you why....the place is beautiful. I never really understood the geography of these little chain islands or who actually claims them so I'm guessing this is south-west of St. Petersburg/Tampa but not part of them. (If that's wrong correct me) We stayed the night at a Ramada Inn in St. Pete about 15 miles away. Sleeping in a hotel with your grandparents is fine until your grandmother kicks in sawing logs thankfully she didn't actually wake me up with all the ruckus until 4-4:30 am so I got a few hours in.
Breakfast - Its rare I mention a prerace breakfast because my pre-race breakfast is typically a Zone bar but the folks wanted to hit the Denny's across the street from the hotel so I figured Id give it a whirl ate a veggie-omelet with egg beaters and english muffin. I figure almost 3 hours before the event it'll digest.Pre Race - I love staying so close to a race site... no rushing around plenty of time to relax and get everything in order do some light stretching and even take a few shots of the sunrise. I'm one of those people that can't stand to be late and/or disorganized because I never settle in and the whole day feels chaotic so I love to give myself plenty of time. Unfortunately to get this time you gotta spend money for a hotel and that's the hard part. Anyone that knows me will tell you I'm, to be polite, frugal. All right I'm a cheap skate. I got better things to spend my money on than a one night stand for triathlon :)
Swim - My first salt water swim of the year pretty uneventful didn't take long to remember how much the taste of salt water can make you sick to your stomach ...I still treat the swim as a means to an end in terms of race strategy could obviously be faster but I just don't give it that much weight in terms of overall training...18 minutes on a half mile ..... good enough. 15th of 36 in AG and roughly 4 minutes off Top 4 places in AG.
Bike - Went well I found a few times I thought I was pushing too hard so would ease up to save for the run. Had a hard time avoiding drafting when you put 700+ people on a 10 mile course drafting is extremely hard to avoid I feel bad for anyone assessed a penalty for it .... seems unfair really especially when you have people with inconsistent speeds one minute they're blowing by you the next you're blowing by them then you're in that mode of do I pass this guy/girl again or do I just give them the three bike lengths so I don't have to give 3 minutes for the draft constantly jockeying for position.
Run - I knew from the minute I left transition something wasn't right I felt bloated and sloggish. There are a few factors to why this is ...#1. My grandmothers home cooked meals. #2. That breakfast I normally wouldn't have had. #3. Started my first creatine cycle on Friday and its got a front load. So I've been doing 1 serving 4 times a day which ends up being 128 extra carbs a day. (Will be glad when this part is over its killing me).
Aside from the bloated feelings the run was actually a neat course....at about a mile and a half or so in you run up the stairs of the Fort and then back down the opposite side to do the remainder of the run on the beach and sand. I'm not sure if it was the steps or the sand running but the tendonitis in my left knee flared up again...there was just nothing good about my personal performance in that run so it was tough for me I was getting passed by people left and right and that typically doesn't happen. Nothing felt right it happens.
Transitions - One thing that never ceases to amaze me is how much transition times can play a role in your overall. In fact the difference between my time and several of the guys that were behind me could have been made up if they had had better transitions....what I don't understand is that this is usually the case I typically turn out shorter transitions than others in my AG .... What is everybody doing in there?! Baking a cake? Never underestimate the importance of being a minimalist especially at the sprint distance.
Overall - 1:18:45 8th of 36 in my age group 179 of 725ish overall:
Swim: 18:57
T1: 3:14
Bike: 26:25
T2: 1:19
Run 28:52
Post race we spent some time wandering around the fort and taking pictures.....this place really is beautiful can't believe I've never been here before. There is another race here on August 6th called Top Gun...I'll be there!Grandparents left today
Well the time has come and my grandparents have gone. Now I'm REALLY on my own. I told my grandmother after my race that I had a terrible run and her food is killing me (I have no self discipline when it comes to my families home cooked meals) and that no one wants her to stay more than me and no one wants her to go more than me. Of course if I had the choice of them staying and just giving up triathlon completely I would always take my family first.
Enough rambling for now .....don't I ever shut up?!
posted by Migofast at
9:56 AM
5 Comments:
All that family fun, food and good times any match for a triathlon?? ;) Sounds like a great way to wrap up your time with them..snoring and all! Racing and to keep racing..that's what'll keep you going...
great job!
I think nothing beats Grandma's cooking, My granny would always feed us so well that we wouldn't eat for hte rest of the day LOL
Great effort on the race :)
Em:)
at least you got her hom cooking. I had to beg them to come to my house for an hour and you had her for almost 3 weeks. I got one cooked meal from her and I cooked her one..soo unfair, but as always...Your the Favorite haha
at least you got her hom cooking. I had to beg them to come to my house for an hour and you had her for almost 3 weeks. I got one cooked meal from her and I cooked her one..soo unfair, but as always...Your the Favorite haha
I'm envious of those times especially you're bike time- riding with quadzilla must have helped. Good job!
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