Triple Race Week!

Triple Race Week!

This past week was a heavy race week that included three training races. On Tuesday I participated in a cycling training crit at Lake Louisa State Park. This was my first true cycling race and I really enjoyed it. There was a four person breakaway in the cat 4/5 race that I couldn't grab on to quick enough but I came first out of the main pack for a 5th place overall.

Then on Thursday at the same venue (Lake Louisa) was a sprint triathlon put on by the National Training Center in Clermont. This was the first of a six race series that they are hosting through this spring and summer. Due to a lack of rain recently the water level was pretty low and the swim and involved a combination of running and dolphin diving for the bulk of it. As always my place out of the water wasn't ideal but I covered a lot of ground in T1 and on the bike. After a nice ride with some rolling hills around the park it was into T2 in 5th place. After some course confusion I had dropped to sixth but was able to regain it out on the run course. Overall a very well organized race, its always nice to get something like this in the middle of the week.

On Saturday I took a trip down to Temple Terrace for a reverse triathlon that proved to be a lot of fun. It was interesting to try and figure out the best method for transitions when going in reverse. Socks end up being okay in a race like this since it only take a second to take them off, I actually ended up taking them off on the bike before dismount. The race started with a two-loop run around some fields, I ran shoulder to shoulder with another person for basically the entire run and we had a bit of a sprint finish to the timing mats into T1 for the best run split of the day. I entered T1 first by only a second and was first onto the bike. There was a nice wind which made the two-loop course real slow one way and then pretty fast coming back. I held my lead on the bike and saw a decent amount of people on the second loop but had no real idea the kind of lead I had. Then came the interesting transition, shoes and socks off on the bike, into T2, goggles on and into the water. I was about halfway through the swim (and feeling like a sack of potatoes after that ride/run) before the pack started arriving. I finished in first place overall. It was a great race held by the local girl scout troup and it was fun to mix things up and go backwards for once. I wouldn't want to make a habit of feeling like that for the swim, but thats not to say I'd never do one again. Next race will be May 12th when I'll be in Sarasota racing the FIT International Triathlon.

Spring Fling Sprint Triathlon

Yesterday was the 2nd race in the Epic Sports Marketing 2012 Sprint Triathlon Series at Moss Park in Orlando. There was an added level of comfort showing up and knowing that I had raced the course before. I woke up around 5 AM to get ready and make sure I had everything and arrived at the course to set up my transition. The first time I was here it was pouring the whole race so anything less would be considered good weather, but it was nice out. I rode by bike around to check everything one last time, did a bit of a warm-up jog, and put on my wetsuit.

The swim course was a bit longer then last time by about 100M or so I would guess I was in the middle pack getting out of the swim after a fairly good swim. A bit of congestion at the turns but thats usual. I have really increased my swim volume lately and definatly saw a difference in how I felt entering T1. Once on the bike course I started making up lost time averaging around 24.0. I took in a gel and a bottle of gatoraid. At about mile marker 8 I passed someone who didn't give up and rode my wheel til the end of the bike course, so much for no drafting, but otherwise it was a good ride and I felt good. I had the 3rd fastest bike split of the day, 30:17 for a 20km (17 seconds faster then last time).

I came off the bike and was told there were ten people ahead of me entering T2. I passed one or two people in T2 and saw a pack of two turning the first corner on the run course. I set my sights on catching the first two people knowing it'd put me in seventh. Once I did I made a firm pass I started running my own race following my garmin for pace. I always have the same spot of pain to pull through after the first ten minutes of running but once I make it through that I tend to be fine, this was the same today. At this point I really picked up the pace for a few minutes and then I saw another person up ahead finally. We ran shoulder to shoulder for a bit and then I made a solid pass and created a gap coming up to the last quarter mile. I entered the shoot more then enough of a gap to secure my placement and no sight of anyone infront of me. I found out after that one of the people in front of me had been in the duathlon so I had finished 5th place overall in the race. I feel good about it just gotta work on my swim a little more in the upcoming weeks.

Now its time to take a little break from racing and come back even faster in a few weeks.