Checking in with Becky Lavelle

MINNEAPOLIS – July 11th
It was fun to go 'home' again and race on familiar territory with my family & friends cheering me on. We lucked out with perfect weather this year... sunny, low humidity and a light breeze. I got off to a great start by staying on the feet of the 2 leaders on the swim so I was on the bike in third. I worked my way into second for most of the ride, but was passed toward the end so I went into T2 in third. I was hoping to feel a bit better on the bike and run but just found it hard to get into a comfortable rhythm. I pushed through and finished in third. I was still really happy to get on the podium and earn some valuable points for the Toyota Cup Series.

NYC – July 26th
New York City is a fun place to race, but logistically it can be a nightmare. I still don’t know how the race directors manage to pull it off! My mom joined me on this trip and it was really nice to have her there for support. We woke up to pouring rain but it managed to stop just before I had to ride the 2 miles or so from the middle of Times Square to transition by the Hudson River at 4:30am! The rain stayed at bay for the whole race but it made for very humid conditions and wet roads. The swim here is a point to point ‘with’ the current so my 13 minute 1.5k swim was not really a world record ;), but I did manage to come out of the swim first and after the long (almost ½ mile) run to T1 I was on the bike in a close second. I felt strong along the rolling hills of the West Side Hwy and I was able to take the lead about halfway through the ride entering T2 about :20 ahead of the next woman. I took the run out pretty fast and just tried to maintain my speed through the hilly Central Park loop. Unfortunately I was passed at mile 1, but I held on for 2nd place and was really pleased with it! I am now tied for first in the Life Time Fitness Series… next stop in the Series is Chicago on August 30th.

Before that I have a couple of other races planned… Folsom Pro Challenge on August 9th and Lake Stevens 70.3 on August 16th.

I also made an interesting discovery last week. After the race in Mpls I knew something just wasn’t right with the way my new bike was set up. I had never felt so tense and uncomfortable racing on both the bike and run leg of a race (I felt the same way at Alcatraz) . I just felt like I was having to put forth much more effort than I normally do and my legs ached the entire time. I’ve been trying all season to get my new bike set up to match my set up from last year and I finally found the problem… the saddle on my new bike is set an inch further back than my old bike! This makes a huge difference in terms of power output and the fatigue it can cause. I was amazed at how much better I felt in NYC racing on my old bike again (it was the first race this year on my old bike). I am going to get everything dialed in now the way it should be and hopefully be on my new custom painted frame in the right set up. J

Thank you again for your support!
All the best,
Becky