SuperSeal Triathlon Race Report
April 11, 2010
www.superfrogtriathlon.com
This weekend, I was in San Diego competing in the SuperSeal Triathlon. It was my first race of the year and a great opportunity to get a feel for how training is going and what I need to do to be ready for the rest of the season. It was a successful weekend with a second place finish and a solid first race.
I flew out to San Diego and met up with Mr. Charlie Clark and our host for the weekend, Tony Yeager. Tony is in training to become a Navy Seal and was gracious enough to show me around the base and the Seal Training grounds. It was amazing to see the level of training and dedication involved with the Seals! The rest of the weekend was spent adjusting to the time change, getting ready to race and enjoying the beautiful city of Coronado.
Race morning started out with the ½ Ironman Superfrog race before the Olympic Distance Superseal 2 hours later. I watched the Superfrog racers take off, drank my EFS Drink and pre-race, and warmed up. It’d been almost 5 months since the last time I put on the BlueSeventy wetsuit, but when I did, I knew it was time to go! The race started with a smooth bay swim. I felt strong throughout and came out with about a thirty second lead and feeling fresh. It’s nice to have my swim fitness where it needs to be thanks to my training with the Dayton Raiders!
After a ¼ mile run to transition, I hopped on the bike and took off looking to increase my lead. The course was fast and flat and I saw my lead move to over a minute after the first of two loops. I felt strong and comfortable on the Veritas bike and ISM saddle despite the relatively windy conditions… Until I was passed like I was standing still by the eventual winner, Michi Weiss. A former Olympian in Mountain biking with the 3rd fastest bike split at Kona last year, Weiss came out of nowhere and was quickly out of sight! I must have had a decent lead out of the swim to stay in front of him for the first half of the bike! I put my head down and pushed hard into T2 trying to give chase.
I felt pretty good heading out on the run despite heavy legs. The run was with the wind for the first half, but on dirt trails. I fought to establish a rhythm and hoped to get a glimpse of the leader. By the half-way point, I was bummed to see that I was down by 4 minutes, but happy to see that I also had a 2 minute lead on the 3rd place racer. Turning into the wind, I kept up my turnover and finished the race solidly with a time of 1:54.
The race was a great tune-up for the season and I will be working over the next few weeks to sharpen up and develop a bit more top end speed. Next up is St. Anthony’s down in Florida. Thank you to everyone for a great race and to my great sponsors for helping the season get off on the right foot: Newton Running, Kiwami Triathlon, First Endurance Nutrition, ISM Saddles, Veritas Bicycles, ESS Eye Pro, and Great Clips Salons. Pictures from the trip will be posted on the website shortly. While on the site, please be sure to click on the Blazeman logo on the main page to find out more about ALS and to donate to the Blazeman cause!
Eric Limkemann
www.ericlimkemanntriathlon.com
www.twitter.com/ericlimkemann
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