Bike Diva

Above: the Bike Diva's duathlon awards from the 2009 race season.

Race the Troops Triathlon

On Sunday, October 2nd I competed in the 5th annual Race the Troops triathlon. The race was hosted by Multirace.com and took place at Tradewinds Park in Coconut Creek, Florida. You could do the event as either a sprint duathlon or sprint triathlon.

Sprint Triathlon

• 1/4 mile swim
• 10 mile bike
• 3 mile run

Sprint Duathlon

• 3/4 mile run
• 10 mile bike
• 3 mile run

The race took place entirely inside the park; it's really nice not having to worry about traffic while racing, especially during the bike portion of the race. The swim is a short sprint across the small man-made lake, you can see the finish line from the starting line so they don't even place buoys in the water for this race. Just swim directly across the lake back to transition area. Then it's a very short few feet to run from the swim exit to transition. A quick switch from swim to bike gear then you do 2 laps on the bike course for a total of 10 miles to end up back in the transition area. Then it's another quick switch from your bike to run gear to do 2 laps on the run course for a total of 3 miles.

At the finish line volunteers hand you your finishers medal, bottle of water and remove the timing chip from your ankle. There is a food tent for athletes at the finish line area with bagels and lots of fresh fruit. As soon as you leave the finishing chute, there is a tent and table where you can get a print out of your race results.

 

Above: Bike Diva during the run at Race the Troops triathlon. Photo by Kathie Reilly.

Broward Championship Race Series

Race the Troops was the final race in the 2011 Broward Championship Race Series. To qualify for the points series, you had to compete in at least 3 of the 6 races. I participated in 4 of the races and ended up placing 4th in the series for Women 45-49. Multirace.com awards 5 deep in age groups so I'll be getting an award for my 4th place finish in the series. You can see my individual race results weren't that spectacular, but a lot of girls in my age group only do 1 or 2 of the races so they don't qualify for the points series.

Here are the dates and results of all 4 races I competed in for the race series. I had planned on doing the triathlon in September that was part of the race series, but the swim was cancelled due to high bacterial levels in the lake at Tradewinds Park. I decided not to participate in the September race and instead went on a 3 hour kayak trip with a bunch of my friends at Riverbend Park in Jupiter.

All but one of the races listed below took place at Tradewinds Park. The Egg Hunt triathlon took place at CB Smith Park in Pembroke Pines, and was a .25 mile swim - 11 mile bike - 3.1 mile run distance. I had a bit of a panic attack during the swim at CB Smith Park thus the slow swim time.

4/03/11 - Spring Training Triathlon

• Swim = 13:41
• T1 = 1:04
• Bike = 31:32
• T2 = 1:21
• Run = 30:08
• Total time = 1:17:46
• 10th place women 45-49

4/23/11 - Egg Hunt Triathlon (CB Smith Park)

• Swim = 17:15
• T1 = 1:01
• Bike = 37:14
• T2 = 1:06
• Run = 30:35
• Total time = 1:27:11
• 6th place women 45-49

7/04/11 - Independence Day Triathlon

• Swim = 13:23
• T1 = 1:20
• Bike = 35:39
• T2 = :57
• Run = 31:23
• Total time = 1:22:43
• 13th place women 45-49

10/02 - Race the Troops Triathlon

• Swim = 12:27
• T1 = :52
• Bike = 33:09
• T2 = :52
• Run = 28:02
• Total time = 1:15:21
• 6th place women 45-49

Above: Bike Diva during the bike portion of the 2009 Miami Man half Ironman duathlon.

Bike Diva's Multisport Events

I participate in 15-22 races and sporting events per year. The events I race in include 5k, half marathons and century bike rides with my main emphasis being on duathlons and triathlons. Here is a summary of the multisport events I have competed in over the past few years. I started out racing duathlons, as I used to have an extreme water phobia, and said I would never do a triathlon. But after completing my second half Ironman distance duathlon the end of 2010, I decided I wanted to do an Ironman triathlon someday. So 2011 became the year of the triathlon as I am trying to conquer my fear of swimming.

2009

• 10 sprint duathlons
• 1 half Ironman duathlon

2010

• 11 sprint duathlons
• 1 Olympic duathlon
• 1 half Ironman duathlon

2011

• 9 sprint triathlons
• 1 Olympic triathlon
• 1 half Ironman triathlon

Above: my finishers medals and animal trophy's from the 2009 and 2010 Miami Man duathlon.

2011 Miami Man Triathlon

I participated in the half Ironman distance duathlon the past two years at Miami Man. That was a 1 mile run - 56 mile bike - 13.1 mile run event. On November 13, 6 days before my 48th birthday, I will be participating in my very first half Ironman distance triathlon at Miami Man. Instead of the 1 mile run at the beginning of the event, the triathlon has athletes doing a 1.2 mile swim.That is a very long swim for someone that just started swimming on January 3.

I am just hoping to make the swim cut off time so I can complete the event. That is my goal for this years Miami Man - to finish! I am thinking I can do it around 7 hours, which is pretty slow, but I want to eventually do an Ironman triathlon which has a 2.4 mile swim so just completing a 70.3 triathlon will be a HUGE freaking deal for me.

Above: Bike Diva and friends hamming it up while training for the Disney Marathon with Team in Training. Left to right; Lynn Smythe, Tara Delaney, Danielle Heemskerk. Photo by Karlene Morgan.

Tentative 2012 Race Schedule

I only have a few race dates that I know for certain for the 2012 race season: Bike Diva's Races. But this is the time of year I have to start sending out proposals to all my potential sponsors for 2012 so I came up with a very tentative schedule of events for 2012. The only one that I have registered for so far is the Goofy Race and a Half Challenge; I'll be doing Disney half marathon on January 7 and Disney Marathon on January 8. 39.3 miles of running in two days, who me!?! I'm the Bike Diva not the run diva - HA!

My husband and I are doing Disney with our local Team in Training chapter to help raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Here is a link to our fundraising page: http://pages.teamintraining.org/pb/wdw12/lsmythe.

Take care,
Lynn Smythe, AKA the Bike Diva