The 2009 Nautica South Beach Traithlon Race Report

It is amazing what a difference a year of training can make.

As you may or may not recall, a year ago I was broken into the sport of triathlon-ing at the first-ever Nautica South Beach triathlon. Having owned a bike only slightly longer than a month, I was understandably a bit slow in my first go round. Though I was competing in the Fat Boy, or “Clydesdale” division at the time, I still was somewhere near the back of the middle of the pack. Which suited me just fine, I just wanted to finish.

IT’S AMAZING THE DIFFERENCE A BLACK EYE AND CONCUSSION CAN MAKE

But somewhere between last year’s finish line and this year’s packet pickup on Saturday afternoon, I grew up a little. I did longer races, first an Olympic-distance race (.9 mile swim, 26 mile bike, 6 mile run) over essentially the same course as the Nautica in June. Then, in July, I started a race in Tampa and crashed my bike about a mile into that part of the race. The ensuing concussion cost me the memory of about a week of my life, but the black eye and road rash were inexplicably popular with the ladies. Silver lining right? Then in November I completed the Miami Man Half-Iron triathlon, swimming 1.2 miles, biking 56 and finishing with a half marathon. So I decided to sign up for the full Ironman in November 2009. You are all invited to attend.

This years’ Nautica race was my first race of the season where I was to become an Ironman. I was at the peak of training for another half-Ironman in Orlando this May, and so I felt like this race shouldn’t be nearly as taxing as it was in 2008. Hell, I was so relaxed I decided to go to FIU Law School Prom the night before, complete with an open bar and that essential pre-race meal that is churrasco with chimichurri. And while I wasn’t exactly boozing it up as I would have normally at an event where I don’t have to pay for liquor, I still didn’t make it home until nearly 1 a.m.

WOULD IT KILL THEM TO START A RACE AT NOON?

As I was the year before, I was awoken at 5 by a text message from my hair stylist Tony telling me he was on his way out to the Beach for the race.  We usually set up our bikes in the transition area (this is where you put on your appropriate attire for each discipline) and then warm up together before starting a race.

As I rolled my bike up into the transition area at Lummus Park on 5th Street, there were, as always, the groups of people still out from the night before, drunkenly looking at the triathletes and eating pizza as we chowed down on PowerBars. I have been in both shoes and I’ll tell you, being out from the night before is a hell of a lot more fun.

The race had gotten larger, as a race this short tends to attract a lot of people who had never tried a triathlon before.  It was funny seeing all the first timers wander around the transition area, not quite knowing where they were supposed to put their bikes and asking race volunteers for directions. It was funny, because I knew that was exactly how funny I must have looked a year earlier.

HEY, AREN’T YOU BEYONCE?!

After warming up and setting up my bike and running clothes for transition, it was time to adjourn to the stage on the sand for the pre-race meeting and national anthem. The meeting was essentially to tell everyone the course, and then Michelle Williams, one of the members of Destiny’s Child NOT named Beyonce, gave a stirring rendition of The Star Spangled Banner. I suggested to Tony we go up to her afterwards and tell her we loved her in Austin Powers, or better still ask her how she felt about Jay-Z giving Rhianna Herpes. Though we thought better of it. We were entertained enough by her telling the crowd how she really wished she could compete in the race, but didn’t know how to swim. The jokes were so easy, nobody bothered to make them.

SIZING UP THE SIZABLE COMPETITION

Being in the Fat Boy division, I was in the 8th wave of swimmers to start, each wave hitting the water 5 minutes after the one before it. Meaning I had a solid 35 minutes to stand around and look at the other fat guys getting ready to start with me, as well as the 6’6” swimmers who weigh over 200 pounds and decide to compete in this division because they have a better chance of placing than they do with their age groups. I still don’t think that’s fair for us fat boys, but the rules are the rules.

IT HELPS WHEN YOU SWIM IN A STRAIGHT LINE

The swim started and I ran into the ocean at full speed. The year before, the mass of flailing elbows, legs and fists intimidated me into a state of panic where I refused to swim with my head below the water. But not this year. Once I got my space I managed to swim on a direct line with the course buoys, thus ensuring I swam the absolute shortest distance I had to. I also noticed my stroke was strong, and that given this was only a half-mile swim through an unusually calm Atlantic shoreline, I could go a little harder than I usually did during training. At one point I looked up and noticed the only people swimming around me were the slower swimmers from the previous wave. I had made up 5 minutes and was somewhere near the front of my division’s pack.

I got out of the water in about 17 minutes, which is not blazing, but put me in about 7th place among the fat boys. The problem with swimming, though, is that it’s hard to catch your breath when you are done. So instead of hustling through to pick up my bike, I took a leisurely stroll through Lummus Park and didn’t get back on the course on my bike for nearly 6 minutes. This is pretty slow, for those who are unaware.

CRUSHING THE CAUSEWAYS

But whatever time I had missed in that transition, I made up for on the bike. As I approached the first of 8 bridge climbs that the 18-mile course had in store, I passed six or seven other riders. None of them, unfortunately, were in my division. I got to the bottom of the first bridge and dropped down into my tuck position on the bike, hammering my way across the MacArthur causeway. I have never spent less time looking at the view of downtown. The only thing I was looking for was the telltale “CLY” marked on the left calf of any cyclist in front of me, denoting that he too was a Clydesdale, and therefore someone I needed to make sure I would pass. I passed four of them during the bike portion, and got back to transition to the run with only three bicycles on the Clydesdale rack. This meant only three people in my division had gotten in ahead of me, and I was probably not far from actually placing.

YEAH, I DEFINITELY STILL DO NOT RUN WELL

But the more things change, the more they stay the same. Last year I came to the realization that I did not run well, and again in 2009 the point was driven home. As I started out along the South Beach boardwalk, I managed to pass a few of the slower racers from waves which started ahead of me, but was dismayed as a few of the cyclists I had blown by back on the Julia Tuttle came trotting past me around 18th Street.

To make matters worse, the run course had been limited by construction on the new boardwalk, and was no longer a simple down and back. So about half a mile after the turnaround, you had to run out onto the unforgiving hard-packed sand and do a .8-mile loop.

Initially, I had thought that this hard-pack would be a welcomed change from the concrete and make the run a little easier. What I forgot is that sand tends to get hot, and when there’s no shade and you’re running on hat sand, the heat can get a little unforgiving. About half way through the loop, a guy whose physique can only be described as remarkably similar to Terrell Owens’ came running up next to me. I assumed he was in an elite division, and let him pass.  And then I saw the “CLY” on his calf. Like a fool I thought I could try and keep up with Terrell for a while, not realizing that a 6’4” guy with no body fat might run a little better than me. I made it half a mile and used up a lot more energy than I probably should have before he finally pulled ahead. 

A GOOD RACE, A BETTER HAIRCUT

Fortunately, this run was a short one and I made it to the finish line 10 minutes faster than I had in 2008. And in 8th place in my division, a marked improvement over my ranking the year before.

I called Tony to see about getting in for my traditional post-race haircut (he cuts hair on the sand after the race), and he told me he was putting his stuff away in his car. So I waited, and waited, and waited some more until about 45 minutes after I’d finished, and even done a perfunctory shower on the boardwalk, he showed up. He was elated. He was also baked out of his mind, which I guess is as good a way as any to celebrate a solid race. He had beaten me by about 4 minutes, so I had no room to ridicule his post-race activities.I should mandate he do this before every haircut I get, as this was one of the best haircuts he’s ever given me. And this time he didn’t even have a mirror. But intoxicated haircuts aside, I still enjoyed this race exponentially more, knowing what I was doing, and having more confidence in what my body could achieve. I’ll definitely be back for the 3rd annual Nautica South Beach Triathlon next April, and this time I’ll be back as an Ironman.

Related Links: • 2008 Nautica South Beach (Pictures) Related Categories: Miami: Local News, About the Author: Matt Meltzer is a featured columnist at Miami Beach 411. See more articles by Matt Meltzer. See more articles by Matt Meltzer Was This Post Helpful? Please Share It With Others! Tweet

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