St. Croix 70.3
This was a fun race I would recommend to anyone looking for a challenge and the experience of playing in paradise
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I got there on Tuesday just to vacation a bit and test myself on the hills before the race. I did a snorkel thing at Buck Island (swimming deer) and then came back to set up my bike. Went to a bioluminescent knack at night. Next day did a practice ride on the beast. Definitely recommend this. It is not that bad if you have trained on hills and stay on the lower sides (19 versus 26%) of the hill. No one likes 26% and you don't want to do it because you didn't figure out how to avoid it during the race. Next day swam the practice swim and signed in... then shopped and ate.... this is a vacation you know! Tested out the bike a bit for final details. Swam a bit the next day and chilled.
Race day: stayed at King Christian Hotel across from transition. That is the way to do it! Swim was wonderful. Loved it! Some people had issues with "box jelly fish" which is not as bad as the one in Australia but still sent some to the hospital. My friend got stung on the wrist and said it is nothing like a regular jellyfish sting and it swelled quite a bit. Nasty! (think Diane Nyad swim from Cuba...) I think slipping besides a bunch of larger folks really helped me avoid these... The bike was truly fun!. I love hills and although I was anxious about the beast, it was very manageable. I got a small leak in the rear tire on the way up the hill and had to change the tire after cresting. By then my extra tube had bounced out (probably due to the same pot hole that caused the flat) and my park tool tire lever was soft and wouldn't lift off my tire. I had to borrow someone's Pedro levers. (tape extra tubes to bike) The rest of the ride was challenging. A lot of 10, 12, 14 % grade with some sharp turns... Lost some nutrition on the bumps and a water bottle went flying. Thank goodness I had extra stuff in my SPI belt!. Heat was not terrible... I took some Sport Legs and Salt Stick but the cloud cover really made the difference. Stayed in Zone 2 before the beast and 3 after... who knows what it was on the beast...but not over 5. You should not do this ride without some idea what your power is. Heart rate is a worthless measure due to the heat (I was running in the mid to high 150's which is over my usual although I didn't feel it) The run was really nice. A bunch of off road soft stuff and only a couple of hills that were short. It rained the last 4 miles so I didn't need to stop for ice or water. My pace was good due to the EN training of saving it for the run. I was an hour faster than my competitor and it was almost entirely due to the run. (the flat really screwed up my bike split as I had been about 9th and I fell quite a bit back, but true to the teaching, I stayed in the box and at the end of the day crushed the competition 
so again, thanks for the coaching! I was a minute slower on the swim, two minutes faster on the bike, two minutes faster due to transitions and an hour faster due to the run... and that was my first race after bunion surgery! (listen to your coaches and follow the 4 keys)
Note: I had torn my speed suit before the race. A sweet lady from the hotel repaired it for me! (really nice people!!!)
Note two: I forgot to take off the speed suit when leaving T1... ended up taking it off after changing my flat. (I was sitting down anyway, so what the heck!)
Note three: get Pedro's tire levers, practice changing flats, use my Scicon soft case for this bike... The new Felt bikes have too much stuff in the cockpit to take it apart and put it together again...I stripped the heads on three screws and had to go to a machine shop to get it fixed so I could pack it.
Comments
Did you take the slot to Australia? If so, good luck there, but either way - CONGRATULATIONS!
Some day may go. Though wished they had the few kona slots still.
I think St. Croix stands on its own for fun. I try really hard to not do something because it leads to something else although of course I love going to Kona!...and competing for that.... but this race, because it does not lead to Kona is more fantastic! Small volume of participants, individualized attention by the race director/officials et al... It's all a matter of being somewhere that you want to go in the first place.... Thus I will not be racing Houston again (only went there cause it was close to home, twice! Yuck!) and I doubt I'll race in someplace like Omaha, Nebraska....
It is nice and warm, and pretty and vacation worthy ... and challenging. I think you would like it!
special skills since doing this race: I am learning how to change my tires much more quickly
adversity creates wisdom....
3500 points.
Nice seeing you at CapTex tri/bike-run/run/nothing event this weekend!
good to see you as well, Scott! are you coming back next year?