During my trip to Colorado in January to get my USAT Level 1 Coaching Certification, my coach threw out the idea to travel to San Juan 70.3 in March. I kind of laughed off the idea because of how early it was, and I really am not a fan of flying to races. I later decided to go ahead and give it a shot as it was during my GF's spring break so we could have a little getaway.
I left on Tuesday March 15th from Lexington at 6:30am. We had a connection in Charlotte before we headed south. We landed in San Juan, Puerto Rico around 2pm. Luckily, I had no problems with my flights or luggage and grabbed a taxi to our hotel. We stayed at the Conrad Hotel which was really nice. We did not have an ocean view room, but we were staying there at a discounted rate thanks to Ironman so I can't complain. We mostly hung out by the pool for the remainder of the day and I went out for a little shake out jog before dinner. We tried the hotel restaurant and it was very good, but a little pricey. I did get a side item of fried plantains which was amazing.
The next day I woke up and went for a run, grabbed a little breakfast, then hit the pool. We sat out for a while before checking out the swim course. It just so happened to be attached to our hotel so we only had to walk about 100 meters from our hotel to the starting line for San Juan 70.3. We swam in the lagoon and had a blast. We were told there were Manatees in the water so we kept our eyes open but unfortunately didn't see them. They are very gentle creatures so we knew not to worry about them. We grabbed a little lunch, hit the pool again, and I took off for a bike ride later in the evening. This was an experience. The roads in downtown San Juan are in terrible condition with lots of pot holes. And it was also rush hour so I managed to make it 18 miles over a span of 1 hr and 15 minutes. This wasn't the "loosen up" ride I was expecting so I called it a day. I was scared of getting a flat tire the whole time as I was on my race wheels and I was either stopped at a light or sprinting for my life away from traffic, haha.
We hit up a local Puerto Rican restaurant that evening and it was delicious. I had a stuffed plantain w/ shredded flank steak which is called a Mofongo. And I had to try the local beer of Medalla, which is just a light beer. Nothing too special.
Thursday was more of the same just without the bike ride. We were enjoying the warm weather and taking in a little sun. I had to go up to the room in the middle of the day so I could watch the Cats take on Princeton. We had a much closer game than expected but pulled out the victory in the final seconds. We ate at a local pizza place for dinner and it was very good. Friday I had my usual day before a race day as I had to attend the Pro meeting, get in some short workouts, check in my bike, pick up my packet, and try to rest as much as possible. I managed to swim everyday in the lagoon and Casey swam each and every time with me. We did a little snorkeling without the snorkels after our swim on Thursday which was kind of fun.
Saturday I raced, and then after the race had my feet attended to as my shoes cut my feet up pretty good. This was not the shoes fault as I did not straighten out the tongue of my shoe so it was folded over. I hurried from the medical tent back to the hotel to watch the Cats take on W. Virginia at 12:15pm. I made it back to the room just in time.
After the game I picked up my bike, took it apart, and went down to the pool to relax some. That evening we took a taxi into Old San Juan, ate at "Raices" which was very good (I got another Mofongo, only with chicken this time). We then walked up to the Fort El Morro, to check it out. We couldn't get many good photos as it was already dark but it was extremely nice. We were overlooking the ocean, enjoying the ocean breeze, and checking out some really old Forts that were built by the Spanish (I think?).
We made it back to the hotel and I finished packing my bike before hitting the sack. I did manage to go for a shake out run Sunday morning before my flight and I ran past a bar at 6:45am and it was still bumpin' from the past night. The music was still going and it was still PACKED with people. I thought that was kind of funny as I have never seen a bar still full at close to 7am on Sunday morning.
All in all, it was a great trip. I got to enjoy 80+ degree temps for several days in a row and it was sunny the whole time. I got to race against some of the fastest guys in the World including the reigning Ironman World Champ. I may post some pics that my GF took in the next day or two.
Thanks for reading.
Tony
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