HAVANA NA NA NA

Spanish immersion triathlon 2 of 3 is done and it was an amazing trip. My wife, daughter, and I went down for a 9 day trip to Cuba to take in the culture, interact with the wonderful Cuban people, and participate in the 2024 Havana Triathlon.

As it turns out, sporting competition is one of the limited number of reasons to visit Cuba legally. We also were able to see a lot of friends and show Sofia the Havana that Emily (and to a much lesser extent) that I know and love. 

The race was the most surreal, unusual, crazy experience I have had in 25 years of racing. It was everything you'd expect a Cuban race to be. But I absolutely loved it and frankly can't wait to go back again next year. 

Sure, the race logistics were a bit unclear, wrong, miscommunicated, and confusing. We arrived to pick up the packet on Friday (note to self, just pick it up day before) and got some resistance. We stayed close to the Marina just before the race to make logistics easier (note to self, just stay closer to Hotel Nationale next time regardless of pre-race instructions). Sure, the race results times seemed to be randomly incorrect. But the placements seemed accurate and I managed to get 10th OA and 1ST AG (my first top AG placement for an international race). We met so many wonderful people at the race and the Cuban people have solidified a place in my heart as being some of the best, friendlies, and kindest people on the planet.

I was stretching and waiting for the start at the Marina when the elite women were finishing the swim and saw Gwen Jorgenson towards the lead of the pack. Later, I would see her at the Hotel Nationale preparing to accept her first place award and was lucky enough to snap some photos with her and my daughter. Just a really cool moment that I was glad to capture with Sofia. 

None of the actual times seem accurate on the website BUT I can say that my swimming was close to mid season form. My transitions were mostly good. My run was about average for me (mid 6:30s). My bike though... First off, I did get lost for about a minute. I was leading what turned out to be the third wave of triathletes and there was no one or police ahead of me. My GPS didn't work (a big thanks to Garmin for blocking maps in Cuba) and I made a bad call. I quickly recovered and finished back in the top placement of that group of cyclists (I had no idea there was another 2 groups of racers ahead of me but I did suspect I wasn't overall first). Also, I decided to try to turn my road bike into a tri bike. I don't think i was generating as much power as usual. Also, the potholes and "technical" challenges on Cuban streets, it was a learning experience. Just use my road bike like a road bike. PLUS, I really felt like I've already lost race conditioning despite all my huge bike training. You just can't train for race pace bike (or at least I can't). I get better and faster as the year gets on. I was somewhere in the 18mph range I think if my estimations are correct which is just terrible. Road conditions were bad and hey, at least I didnt flat. Probably should see what kind of drop off the pros saw;)

January and February races down for 2024. Next up I have Azalea next weekend and that's it for the rest of March. The longest stretch for months without races (not too bad). I wonder how my bike goes next weekend? I'll have my tri bike and a race under my belt within 2 weeks. Let's see if that makes any difference.