Karel has the disc wheels inside the car to put on when we arrive.
We traveled to Daytona on Thursday. We left around 7:30am and made the 7+ hour trip to Daytona. Karel drove most of the way. I drove ~2 hours through Jacksonville (where we used to live for 6 years). We had Honza (our athlete from Czech) visiting us and sharing the car ride with us. Our friends/athlete Alvi and Yannick left an hour after us. Yannick recently had surgery to fix his collarbone after a bike crash so we invited him to stay with us to enjoy a change of scenery and warmer weather.
We arrived a bit before 4pm and after unloading the car, we did a ~30 minute run. I didn't feel good running after sitting for 7 hours in the car but I really enjoyed the humidity and warm air.
Our Airbnb was amazing. A huge kitchen, backyard pool and lots of space. It was also really quiet and the beds were super comfy. We stayed ~5 miles from the Daytona Speedway. After our run, we picked up Chiptole (ordered online for quick pick up) and ate dinner at the Airbnb. Honza (and his daughter, who drove up from Miami, where she plays Volleyball in college) got some groceries while we ate.
On Friday we drove to Target (across from the Speedway) to start our recon ride. Sara, Alvi, Karel and I rode ~30 miles of the race course. The ride was pretty eventful as we were on a highway type road so cars and trucks were flying by at 80 mph. I got a flat tire after running over a nail and Alvi also got a flat tire. Nearly 2 hours later, we finally ended up (safely) back at our cars and drove back to our Airbnb (and skipped our brick run).
Here's a video explaining how Karel fixed my tire with the dyna plug and CO2 after it flatted due to a nail.
We ate some food at our Airbnb and then drove to the Speedway to pick up our packet and then do the practice swim.
I'm loving my new bike :)
The water was a chilly 63 degree. The lake is man-made and the water is controlled to prevent bacteria/algae from growing. We got into the water a little after 2pm (practice swim was 1-3pm) and we swim ~1500 meters. We couldn't swim the entire course but did several shorter loops.
We ran into an old friend from Jacksonville who is now working at the bike shop. He took this picture of us. So nice to see you Kent! In the evening, Karel fixed my wheel by installing a new tubeless tire with sealant.
On Saturday, Karel and I went for our shake out ride around the neighborhood streets. This was a familiar scene for him as this is how he used to warmup for his cycling events back in the days. We rode ~50 minutes and did a few 1/2 mile efforts on a quiet stretch of road. As soon as we started the ride, Karel realized his shifting battery was completely dead so he had to ride only in the small chain ring.
After the ride we went for a run. I felt a little better than I did on Thursday but not peppy. I ran ~10 minutes. Karel ended up running ~3 miles as he was undecided if he would wear his Nikes or his new pair - New Balance Fuel Cell (which is what I've been wearing for 4+ years). He ended up going with the New Balance.
After the run, I ate breakfast. The rest of the day was pretty chill. I watched Youtube/TV, got my bottles and gear ready (which was relatively easy compared to XTRI and Ironman events) and bottled up my energy for race day. We laid down in bed around 7pm and went to bed close to 8pm.
We woke up around 4:15am. I was excited to race. I didn't feel any nerves but rather, a lot of energy to get the race started. I had my typical pre race meal of bagel w/ PB, syrup and banana. Karel had oatmeal. It was nice having our bikes with us overnight and being able to bring them on race morning. One less thing to do on Saturday and less stress on race morning.
We arrived to the venue a little before 6am. It was an easy 15 minute drive. There was a little traffic getting through the speedway to parking. After parking and setting up our transition area, we spent the next 20 minutes stretching and getting ourselves ready for the race.
I used a small plastic bag for my flasks, sunglasses and hat to carry out of transition and to put those items on as I was running.
Race Gear:
- ROKA WOMEN'S MAVERICK X2 WETSUIT
- Rudy Project The Wing
- Bont triathlon shoes
- Compress Sport R2V2 compression sleeves
- Compress Sport Pro Racing Socks v4.0 Ultralight Run High
- ROKA R1 Goggles - Combat mirror
- New Balance Fuel Cell Elite
- Naked Running belt + 2 Nathan 10 ounce flasks
- Roka SL-1x Sunglasses (run)
- Cervelo P5
I loved seeing some familiar faces (like our athletes) as well as having Alvi, Honza and Yannick there. There was so much positive energy around us. I was really excited to get the race started.
After the race, we went back to our Airbnb to cool off in the pool and then shower.
We returned around 2:30pm for the 3pm awards. The awards were moved indoors due to an afternoon rain shower.
Here's a detailed video recap of our race:
RESULTS
