Miami 70.3 Expo

Ready or not, here goes nothing!

Derek and I made it to Miami this afternoon a little after 1:00pm. We met up with my family and headed right to the race expo to check-in and drop off our bikes.

The expo was outside and packed. Coming from Augusta, I was surprised how many booths there were or how many people were in attendance. This is definitely a bigger race and you could feel the pre-race excitement in the air as you walked around.

Group shot!

Our friend Amber will be completing Miami tomorrow as her first 70.3! She’s been training her little heart out and I know she’s going to be great.

Registration was quick and efficient. We got our number at one station, picked up our waivers at another, handed them off to another station, and finally picked up our chip, bib, and cap at the last.

I was a little nervous when I saw the yellow shirts from the far side of the room, but as we moved closer – and got a good look at them – I thought they were cute. The yellow is actually really nice and the fit is a perfect women’s cut (not boxy, not too tight/big – just right).

We stopped to study the course for a bit. From what I’ve read, my top concerns should be: the current during the swim (I was told to add at least 10 minutes to my predicted time because of the rough current), the wind during the bike (we’ll be facing 15 mph gusts on the bike – ugh), and the bridges on the run (bridges = Florida hills). eekkk. And while those should be my concerns, I’m also excited to be swimming in the gorgeous ocean, riding my bike through the heart of Miami (should be a nice change up from the trails I’m used to), and the opportunity to see my support crew multiple times through the run.

I’m also very excited to be one of the first groups in the water. That means I’ll have a 1.5 hr lead on all of the cut-off times just in case something goes wrong.

I was starving at this point and needed lunch. A cute food truck had set-up shop just outside the expo and was calling my name.

I ordered the bison burger with swiss cheese and sweet potato fries. It was good, but I ate the burger way too fast and got a tummy ache.

After lunch we took our bikes to transition.

I have an awesome spot in the first row, it should be easy to locate when everything feels turned around during transitions.

I’m also right next to Kelly and 20 spots from Amber.

We decided to sneak a peek at the swim course.

While we were there, we saw a handful of dolphins playing in the water. I hope they stick around and decide to come back to play tomorrow!

We headed back to the hotel and spent the afternoon relaxing by the pool and watching the Georgia Bulldogs kick some serious Gator tail! We kept dinner low-key by eating at the restaurant in the hotel.

I stuffed my face with bread

And pizza.

My favorite pre-race tradition.

The nerves have definitely kicked in. My bike is in transition and my gear has been prepped, now all I need to do is wake up and race!

You can follow us tomorrow on ironmanmiami.com search for bib #275!

Good night!