I Practice What I Preach: Clash Miami-Great Mind, Body Not So Much
I just returned from Clash Miami, part of the Clash Endurance series that is held at motor speedways in Florida, where I raced in the Sprint on Saturday and what I called the Olympic + (6 miles longer bike, 2 miles longer run) on Sunday. In a nutshell, my mind was in its best place ever for racing, my body was decidedly “meh,” my performances were mixed, and my results were very good.
First, some backstory. I chose these races because I am focusing most of this season on “A” races (two Nationals and a Worlds) but didn’t want to wait till June for USAT Multisport Nationals in Omaha to really test myself. I knew there would be some good triathletes in Miami and I also knew the conditions, namely, the heat and humidity, would be challenging and good preparation for the summer heat of Nebraska.
I have had a great winter of training. I stayed healthy except for one week when I inexplicably sustained a pulled groin muscle. But I only missed two run workouts before I was back at it. My focus this off-season has been on heavy weight training and long rides with lots of climbing to build my power, making significant technical changes in my swim stroke thanks to Effortless Swimming, FORM smart swim goggles, and eo SwimBETTER technology and data, and increasing (or at least not slowing down) my running speed with weekly trips to the track.
Entering the Clash Miami races I was feeling healthy and fit (at least for this early in the race season). Though of course I wanted to get a good result in the races, my main goals were to have solid swims, keep my power #s up on the bike, and have good legs on the runs. Mentally, I wanted to race feeling positive and motivated to push myself.
SPRINT
Pre-race
I woke up Saturday morning really excited to race. Given what I do for a living, you wouldn’t think that
would be a problem for me. But I’m a human being before I’m a mental coach, so I have my bad moments. I have a history of asking myself what the heck I was doing there (a surprisingly common thought among even pro triathletes!) But Saturday I was feeling confident, relaxed, and focused, despite the air temperature hovering around 85 degrees at 7:30am.
The only wrench in the machinery was that, with a water temperature of 78.6 degrees, wetsuits were allowed. I was bummed because I wouldn’t be able to use my new deboer Fjord 3.0 wetsuit which was lightning fast in the pool compared to a swimsuit and even a Roka Maverick. I had brought a swimskin, but had never used it, so decided it wasn’t a good idea to try something new (even though I was one of the few competitors not to have one). But I stuck to my pre-race routine and felt ready to go at the start of the race.
Swim
I had no grand aspirations for the swim, my weakest event. I just wanted to continue to work on my new technique (a work in progress), keep a steady pace, and maintain a good attitude from start to finish (historically, not an easy task for an “adult-onset” swimmer like me). I felt good throughout, came out of the water, and headed to T1 feeling strong.
T1
I take particular pride in my transitions and have beaten faster guys in races because I routinely am one of the fastest in my age group in T1 and T2. I ran hard from the water to the transition area and quickly moved to the bike. One miscue was that I missed my flying mount out of T2 (I flew over and missed the saddle) but was quickly on my way.
Bike
The 12-mile ride was absolutely flat, but with quite a few 90-degree and 180-degree turns. My goal was to push hard rather than just spinning. I had hoped to show some good power given my leg work in the off-season, but I was running about 30 watts under where I was in my first two races of 2023. I still averaged close to 21mph and I felt like I was pushing decently, but the #s weren’t there. I felt like I fueled and hydrated well and came off the bike with good legs, including nailing my flying dismount.
T2
Nothing uneventful here as I quickly put on my running shoes, hat, and number belt and headed out for the run.
Run
The 5K run was around the racetrack and it was hot, but the heat didn’t bother me too much. I maintained a good stride and, though my pace was quite a bit slower than usual, and I began to get a hamstring cramp in the last ¼ mile, I was able to run through it and finish strong.
Effort & Result
I felt good about my effort, having stayed motivated, positive, and focused from start to finish. I finished 2nd in my age group, beaten by my 2022 and soon-to-be 2024 USAT Multisport National Championships Mixed Relay teammate, Ron Gierut (he is so strong!). Even without a swimskin, I was pretty close to Ron on the swim, beat him in T1 and T2, got my butt kicked by him on the bike, and, gratifyingly, beat him on the run. The trophies were really cute, little NASCAR helmets!
Olympic +
After the race on Saturday, I watched some of the pros race the PTO T100 race (very inspiring). Then, I got back to my Airbnb, put on my Firefly recovery devices, and just laid in bed all afternoon. I was tired, but my legs felt fine. Given the extreme heat, my goal for Sunday was to swim (1 mile) and bike (30 miles) conservatively, and just get through the 8-mile run around the race track in temperatures close to 100 degrees.
Pre-race
Here’s where things got interesting. I arrived at the race venue at 6am (or so I thought), but the parking lot seemed pretty quiet. I went for a short warm-up ride and then, as I was getting ready to head to transition, I checked my phone and the clock read 7:05am, not 6:05. I had forgotten that I was supposed to “spring forward.” My first thought was that, with the transition area closing at 7:15, I was probably not going to be able to race. But I got on my bike and raced to the transition, hurriedly laid out my transition thanks to the forbearance of the officials who gave me a few extra minutes, arrived at the swim start in plenty of time. I was actually pretty impressed by how cool, calm, and collected I was given the circumstances and the clear opportunity to totally freak out.
Swim
Same as yesterday, I focused on good technique, pushing hard, and staying positive.
T1
Because of the race distance, I felt no need to sprint from the swim to T1; rather, I just ran at a steady pace and focused on settling my breathing down and nailing my transition (which I did including executing my flying mount this time).
Bike
Because of the heat, I was completely focused on riding at a comfortable pace, keeping my breathing easy and legs burn free, and fueling and hydrating consistently; mission accomplished there. The problem was that my wattage was beyond pathetic. Yet, I didn’t feel like I could push any harder. So, I just cruised along in preparation for the run.
T2
Totally solid, nothing to report.
Run
Having begun to cramp at about 3 miles of the run yesterday, my only goal was to not cramp on this 8-mile run. I kept my stride short and held myself back. It was darned hot to say the least. I wasn’t dying at all during the run; rather, just in a state of persistent moderate discomfort. My pace was far slower than usual. I do my 10-plus mile runs at home with my dog at a faster pace than I ran in Miami. But I kept a positive attitude and ticked off the miles until the finish was in sight and I put in a little kick. I was just happy to have made it.
Effort & Result
I feel good about my effort. The conditions were pretty bad, but I kept a good attitude and plugged along to the end. As for my result, I again finished 2nd behind Ron Geirut, but this time he truly crushed me. Last year, I was so focused on Sprint, Super-sprint, and Mixed Relay until late summer that I never got my Olympic-distance stamina up to speed and it showed at USAT Nationals and the World Championships. My goal with my off-season training was to build a better base that would enable me to go faster longer. Clash Miami painfully demonstrated that I have a long way to go to be competitive at the Olympic distance.
In sum, my mind won both days, my body did pretty well in the Sprint, but struggled in the Oly+. Three months till Multisport Nationals. I have work to do!
miles longer run) on Sunday. In a nutshell, my mind was in its best place ever for racing, my body was decidedly “meh,” my performances were mixed, and my results were very good.
really test myself. I knew there would be some good triathletes in Miami and I also knew the conditions, namely, the heat and humidity, would be challenging and good preparation for the summer heat of Nebraska.
significant technical changes in my swim stroke thanks to Effortless Swimming, FORM smart swim goggles, and eo SwimBETTER technology and data, and increasing (or at least not slowing down) my running speed with weekly trips to the track.
Though of course I wanted to get a good result in the races, my main goals were to have solid swims, keep my power #s up on the bike, and have good legs on the runs. Mentally, I wanted to race feeling positive and motivated to push myself.
lightning fast in the pool compared to a swimsuit and even a Roka Maverick. I had brought a swimskin, but had never used it, so decided it wasn’t a good idea to try something new (even though I was one of the few competitors not to have one). But I stuck to my pre-race routine and felt ready to go at the start of the race.
(historically, not an easy task for an “adult-onset” swimmer like me). I felt good throughout, came out of the water, and headed to T1 feeling strong.
the fastest in my age group in T1 and T2. I ran hard from the water to the transition area and quickly moved to the bike. One miscue was that I missed my flying mount out of T2 (I flew over and missed the saddle) but was quickly on my way.
close to 21mph and I felt like I was pushing decently, but the #s weren’t there. I felt like I fueled and hydrated well and came off the bike with good legs, including nailing my flying dismount.
a good stride and, though my pace was quite a bit slower than usual, and I began to get a hamstring cramp in the last ¼ mile, I was able to run through it and finish strong.
conservatively, and just get through the 8-mile run around the race track in temperatures close to 100 degrees.
