FA Carly Cooper-Johnson South Beach RR

2nd in AG!

April 1, 2012 Nautica South Beach Olympic Triathlon

The Nautica South Beach race was my first destination triathlon.  I had more anxiety about how to get the Shiv and all my gear to Florida than I did about the race.  After comparing the options for shipping, I decided that bringing the bike on the plane would be the best option.  I was traveling on American Airlines.  Their policy is that a bike case weighing less than 70 lbs and measuring less than 65 dimensional inches is charged a flat rate of $150 each way.  I owe a ton of thanks to Doug Cory for assisting me in this key step in preparing for a destination triathlon.  He not only provided me a Team Bikeway shipping case but he also taught me the proper way to take apart and put together the bike. 

Race Day

5:00 am:  My alarm goes off and I hopped right out of bed.  I was pretty psyched that I got 7 hours of sleep with only one interruption.  I had arranged to meet my friend Kate (who was competing as an amateur elite) at 5:30 so I had to hustle.  My diet has been low/no gluten so for breakfast I had a bowl of cream of rice and a cup of coffee. Got dressed, grabbed my bike and tri bag, and I was out the door.  Getting to the event was a breeze since transition was right across the street from my hotel.   

5:45 am: The temperature was already humid and in the low 70’s.  Kate and I walked into transition and headed right to our spots.  I had my tires pumped the day before so they were all set.  My transition spot was probably the best I’ve ever had in a race. The port-a-johns were right on the other side of the netting and provided a great landmark to identify my bike rack location after the swim and bike.  Also, my bike rack was in the main aisle between transition entrance and exit, which meant I didn’t have to run down any secondary aisles.  Since I was the first one to the rack, I got the spot right on the end; sweet!!!  While setting up in the transition area, the race directors had announced that the swim was wetsuit legal and water temps were 75 degrees. Luckily, I had brought my sleeveless wetsuit and speed suit just to be safe.

6:15 am: Everything was all set and transition closed at 6:30.  I grabbed my wetsuit, cap and goggles and met Kate to make the 9 block walk to the swim start.  On the way, we observed the remnants from South Beach’s nightlife engaging in “PDA” throughout the park!

6:45 am: Taking deep breaths at this point!!  The swim was my biggest fear.  During my practice swim on Saturday the strong current was  going against the course and the waves were typical for an ocean.  Once I got to the water I was pleased to find that while I would still be racing against the current, the ocean was close to a sheet of glass as I’ve ever seen.  Also, the water temperature felt warmer than the stated 75 degrees.  However, it was also quite dark and I was starting to worry that I wouldn’t be able to see the buoys with my tinted goggles.  I took a practice swim; first swimming the fist drill, then opening up into a long strong stroke.  Kate was in the first wave at 6:50, racing elite.  I was in the 5^th wave with the 34 and under and clydesdales/athena's.

6:57 am:  Horn goes off and I run into the water.  I started swimming as soon as my upper legs were in the water and did a couple dolphin dives to look to see where I was going and to gain speed.  It wasn’t long until I reached the first buoy.  I tried to look for feet from someone going my pace but it was hard.  I couldn’t find the right pair of feet!  I was on the right of the course and the current kept bringing me closer to shore.  I just kept my eye on the next buoy and stayed in my own little lane which was not smart.  Every once in a while I would go around someone, but for the most part everyone was on my left. I was breathing to my left, making sure that I was getting blown to shore and other swimmers were close by.  The water was beautiful.  I could see the bottom the entire time.  Every buoy that I passed I was hoping it was the last and we could make the right turn to the finish but it seemed to take forever.  

Finally, we made the turn in and I pushed the last 100 yards into shore.  I looked at my Garmin 910 when I got out and it read 31 minutes.  Oh no, that was slow for a swim of that distance.  As it turns out, after downloading the report on garmin connect, the swim was 1.19 miles.  That means either it was a long swim course, or, with all my zigzagging, I made the course two-tenths of a mile longer than it was supposed to be.  

Rockin' it on the SHIV!

Regardless, it was time to hustle.  I had my watch set to multisport with transition so I hit lap as I crossed over the mat.  By the way, I LOVE using the garmin 910 for all my data!  I ran to my spot, where I struggled getting my wetsuit off.  The race organizers wanted us to use a race-provided plastic strap to secure our timing chip to our wrist.  Kate’s sister had competed in this same race the year before and recalled this plastic strap digging into her ankle.  Luckily, I had 2 velcro straps in my bag, and was able to share one with Kate.  The velcro strap was not uncomfortable and there was no risk of it breaking during the race.  Unfortunately, team member Chris LaTuso had his strap pop off.  Thinking on his feet, Chris yelled out his number and that he lost his chip at every timing mat; very smart!

7:30ish: Off on the bike; yay!! I was so excited to race Shiv.  I had no idea what place I was in after the long swim, all I knew was that it was time to chase down some women.  I was passing men and maybe one or two women which still had me worried.  I was going back and forth with a 52 year old man on a Cervelo P4.  It was nice cruising on the flats and I felt like I was flying.  I would check my heart rate periodically and it was in the low to mid 160’s on flats (on the couple climbs up the bridges it went up a bit) which was at a half iron heart rate.  I felt really good and was having lots of fun.  I can’t help but think I should have been pushing it more. My speed was great and I figured I’d crank it on the run. 

During the ride, I took 2 electrolyte pills and drank coconut water (my favorite drink that weekend besides Sangria).  At the half-way mark I took a gel.  In hindsight, I should have consumed another gel, or at least had a higher calorie drink.  Nutrition during races continues to be one of my weaknesses. 

Back to the race… next thing I knew I was at mile 21 and a guy on a shiv passed me. Now it was time to crank it and follow this shiv back to transition.  So I pushed the last couple miles (while still taking a second to wave to the camera guy).  I was having so much fun riding Shiv in the beautiful, warm weather, and at that time I felt like I could ride a 112 mile ironman course. I loved every minute of it.

Team Member/Sponsor Chris Latuso and I

8:35 ish:  The bike to run transition was much smoother.  I got all my run gear on and grabbed a poland spring bottle, about half full, which I tossed shortly into the run.  I was right behind teammate, Chris, as I was running out of transition.  It always make me happy to see some black and yellow on the course.  I was feeling great.  I looked down at my garmin and my pace was a 6:58, which was way too fast.  Coach had my pacing for the first couple miles at a 7:30- 8:00 minute mile.  I figured I would keep it at a comfortable 7:20.  I had no idea how the heat would effect me, since I was not accustomed to running in it.  We were very luck to have had a mild winter. Despite the heat, the run was beautiful.  We had the beach on one side and some gorgeous hotels on the other. Most of the run was on the boardwalk, which got slippery at the water stations.  The boardwalk was only about 10 feet wide, with runners going in both directions.  It became especially frustrating with the amount of non-competitiors who were also biking or running on the boardwalk.  I only wish the race organizer had closed access to the boardwalk during the race. 

The last mile came and I could start to feel the heat and the strong sun blazing down.  At this point, it had to be in the mid 80’s.  I pushed it as much as I could.  I made the turn onto the beach and only had .2 miles to go.  This was the best part, the crowd lining the netting and the announcer calling my name, “Carly Johnson from Yorktown Heights, New York.”  I cheered crossing the finish line.  That was probably the best I’ve felt ever crossing a finish line.  I looked at my watch and saw that I had a PR for that distance by 2 minutes, even after my elongated swim.  I was in my glory, not only for the race I just completed but for the season I have I ahead of me.  It didn’t matter what place I came, in my heart I had already won.  

The results were posted and I had come in second in age, 24^th female with a time of 2:25.


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Congrats Carly! Way to represent Team Bikeway.com down in South Beach!