USAT Sprint Development Race-Clermont, Florida
This past week, I have officially begun my start to the 2010 racing season. On March 7th, I raced in Clermont, Florida in a draft-legal sprint triathlon. This race was very unique in that developmental athletes, who have not yet obtained a pro card, were permitted to race and gain experience and a feel for what draft-legal racing is all about. I have not competed in a sprint race since my first year of racing back in 2003! The race went by very quickly and I can 't complain about my result finishing up on top of the podium. The entire race was in Lake Louisa State Park and was a wetsuit legal swim, since Florida has been experiencing a colder than average winter. The swim was especially short, because we had a long run in and out of the water. The bike was four laps on a smoothly paved, flat road and the run was a two loop flat, fast course. I exited the swim just behind Sara McLarty and ended up cycling with her as well as Alicia Kaye. I felt good on the swim and bike, but needed to brush up on my transitions, as they were quite rusty! I felt strong on my run and thought about my new run form I have been working on since January. I spent the following week training in Clermont, Florida while I was preparing for the Miami Triathlon.
MIT:
Race morning began very early with a 4AM wake up and pre-race meal (peanut butter bagel with banana along with 16 oz of First Endurance EFS drink). Prior to the race I had another EFS 16oz bottle that included a scoop of First Endurance Pre -Race. My nutrition during the race consisted of one bottle (16oz) of EFS drink and that was it (simple for Olympic distance racing). I usually have two bottles, but noticed in the cooler mornings I only drink one bottle (like Dallas last year when it was 50 and raining). This race I do wish I had another bottle-so now I know at 60 degrees, I would drink two 16oz bottles of EFS!
I raced Miami back in 2008 and finished in first, so the goal was to defend the title from a couple of years ago. The water was a cool, 69 degrees, but fortunately, I had my TYR's Sayonara Swimskin. Which kept me a little warmer. I had a great swim and exited just 15 seconds back from the super star swimmers McLarty and Piersol. I had much better transitions this race and got onto my bike working hard to catch the leaders, but feeling strong on my new Fuji D - 6 with Oval concept bars! I also taped my Under Armour Bit Tech mouthpiece and felt great with my mouth guard. Unfortunately, I went slightly off course about 7 miles into the bike course and lost a little bit of time, but kept my head in it to get right back on course and back into my riding rhythm. I ended up exiting the bike about 15 seconds behind McLarty, with Peterson about 40 seconds behind me. I started off the run at a good pace; not quite sure what was going on behind me. The run was a two loop out and back, so we were able to see our competition. I noticed that I was gaining time on the other athletes and was able to back off the pace a little towards the end of the run . The faster I can recover from a race; the faster I can get back into serious training for Sydney, my first big race of the year! It was a good feeling to break the tape!
I am currently in St. Louis for a couple days and getting a chance to see the family and celebrate birthday's with my nieces (Sarah turned three on the `14th and Anna one on the 17th). I have another tough training block approaching the next couple of weeks (and an altitude adjustment since I have been away from home for six weeks!)
Also noteworthy is Sara McLarty finished 3rd and Brian Fleischmann 13th on ISM saddles.
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