St Anthony's Triathlon has been known as one of the most prestigious events held in Florida. I had the opportunity to compete, both as an individual, and as a teammate on a co-ed (mixed) relay team.
On Saturday, April 29, I competed in the Meek & the Mighty- a super sprint reverse triathlon designed for kids & novice adults. In that event, I was able to move from 2nd to 1st place and won the run leg of the event but hitting the first transition. I left transition in 3rd to 5th place & hammered on the bike to eventually beat out a fifteen year old female (event winner) to win the bike leg. I immediately dropped to 2nd in transition & then I had to tackle my weakest event- the swim. Everybody knows that I "can't" swim but for those who didn't know, my performance proved it. I struggled to survive the final leg, holding on to the swim lines periodically like most of Muhammad Ali's opponents to the ring ropes. My perserverence allowed me to complete the event & at the same, inspire some of the spectators. Many an athlete stopped me to say they were impressed with the run & bike but more importantly, the swim. However, the admiration was not because of the performance but rather because I did not give up, even though it was apparent that I was not a swimmer. My efforts paid off in two ways: #1 I received the finisher's medal, exclusive to those who do not quit & #2 the time was good enough to place third in my age group.
On Sunday, the main event occurred- the Olympic distance triathlon. This consists of a 1.5 K swim, followed by a 40 K bike & finally, the 10 K run. Since I am aquatically challenged, I recruited the help of a female swimmer (she swam for Triple Teem co-ed relay & helped the team win the S. Fl. triathlon series & Key Biscayne trilogy series last year) and a female cyclist (currently a part of the Du Tri Harder duathlon relay) to form a tri co-ed relay for this event under the same name as the latter. That day was particularly rough, especially the ocean. Our swimmer struggled but succeeded to finish & pass on to the cyclist. The cyclist & myself, in turn, had to deal with the wind. When my turn came up, I was able to do the thing I love to do & can do the best-run. I was able to pass over 300 tired people that were exhausted from having done the 2 prior activities; I always tell fellow athletes not to worry about me passing because I coming out fresh. At the end, our team was short of placing in the top ten co-ed by 2 minutes. However, I am proud of all the efforts of those teammates and I feel we, the team, faired well by placing 11th out 30 teams!
The biggest disappointment, besides the team not winning, was the handling of results. #1 they (race officials) were late to post any results, even though the event was chip timed. #2 no relay results were ever posted #3 extreme run around trying to get the relay results at the race site, just to determine if we placed; we waited over 2 hours just to find out we didn't.
I am back with my normal tri team, Triple Teem, this weekend. C U @ the races!
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