Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude: Bone Island Tri Race Report

The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places. 

~Ernest Hemingway 

Ahhh how predictable - quoting Jimmy Buffett and Ernest Hemingway in a race report for an event in Key West.  Seriously, it was too perfect and so fitting, I couldn't help myself.  Last week started out insane between work and other crazy things life tends to throw at you (I will spare you the details), but ended in such a great way.

I knew some friends from CT were doing the race, and since I had never been to the Florida Keys, it seemed like an easy decision.  This was my first race since Ironman Florida, and to be honest, my training and diet have been inconsistent at best (Sound familiar? This is a common theme for me). So, I went into the race with modest expectations, and figured it was my first race of 2014. The drive down from Miami was simply beautiful, and we took some time to check out some of what the Keys have to offer.

Of course we had to go to
the Southernmost Point

As they say: The Lower the Latitude, the Better the Attitude!

    

Goofing around

The swim start was a point-to-point swim that began at Smathers Beach and finished at Higgs Beach. The sun was coming up as we arrived, and I was so thankful it had warmed up - the day before was much windier.  I was cold during the swim, and it seemed long.  It was a beautiful swim course - the water was so clear, I was checking out the coral and sea life the entire time.  I never looked at the distance on my watch (until after the race), but when I saw my swim split I thought something was up - it was about 6-8 minutes slower than I've ever gone for that distance.  Oh well - figured I'd hop on the bike and see what that had in store for me.

        

The bike course was out and back on US 1.  The roads were pretty rough, and also open to traffic. I had to pay close attention to the road to avoid debris, rough patches, potholes, etc. but there were also some amazing views from US 1.  The turnaround was at Middle Torch Key, and because the roads were open you actually had to dismount and wait for the police to stop the traffic so the bikers could go.  It took ~3 minutes, and before I knew it I was heading back.  

It is always a relief for me to be off the bike and on the run course. The run course was two loops of the same distance then a third, shorter loop to finish.  The run was along a sea wall with ocean views for almost the entire time.  What made it even better is the multiple loops provided for more opportunities to see friends out there on the course.  I never have any issues running, but for some reason the balls of my feet were killing me from mile 1.  I tried to just block it out and run, and thankfully I was able to do that.  Other than that, I felt pretty good and felt even better after crossing the finish line.  

Coming in from the bike course

Finish - nothing like running on sand!

It was so wonderful to have the opportunity to see friends from CT.  I think for a small town in CT, we represented quite well, walking away with 1st Place Male AG, 2nd Place Female Master and 3rd Place Female AG awards. 

Finishers!

3rd Place AG-16th Overall-PR

In terms of the actual race and race organization:  this is only the second year they have done this race. Were there some areas for improvement, certainly (aid stations, rough bike course, not sure the local community was aware as they should be that this was going on, etc.), but my hat's off to these guys - logistically, the Keys are not an easy place to organize a half and full distance race.

Looking ahead, I have the Miami Half-Marathon on Sunday (hopefully the feet will make a speedy recovery), and hopefully I'll be on track for Ironman 70.3 Puerto Rico.