Tri For Sight Race Report

Today I competed in the Susan Bradley-Cox Tri for Sight here in Lexington, KY. I have won this race in the past, but I have also finished 2nd to my good friend, and training partner David Kuendig, who was also racing this year. I woke up at 4:35 am and drank some coffee and ate my good ole banana and peanut butter sandwich for breakfast. Coffee is a must on racing mornings. And, I live only 2 miles from the transition area, so I just rode my bike to the race from my apartment.

The race consisted of an 800 meter swim (in a pool), 18 mile bike, and a 4 mile run.

I was seeded 4th in the swim and would enter the water 30 seconds behind the leader. Each swimmer had 10 between them and the other swimmers, as this was a time trial start. I felt extremely comfortable during the swim and went through the 400 m mark under 5 minutes, which is pretty fast for me. I wasn't making up ground on the UK swimmer and Dave, but I had already passed the guy who started right in front of me. I was hurting a little towards the end of the swim, but I finished in just over 10 minutes. My last 800m swim I ever did was in 10:46. My official time was 10:16 but that included a little run from the pool to the chip timing mat.

I passed the UK swimmer in the first mile of the bike and was aiming for Dave. I was feeling good, but I felt like I wasn't making up ground on Dave. I had ridden almost 6 - 7 miles and still didn't see him. I was hammering hard since it was only 18 miles, and was fortunate enough to see Dave about a mile before the turn around. I passed him about a mile after the turn around and there was no looking back. I finished the bike in 44:10 (for 18.4 miles, 24.9 mph avg.). I was hoping to break 44 minutes but I was satisfied with the effort.

I took off onto the run in first place, and I felt like Dave was close behind. I felt horrible for the first mile but then I settled into pace and finished the run feeling strong. I realized about 2 miles into the run that Dave wasn't close. I finished the 4 miles in 21:44.

The finishing time was 1:19:00, a new course record, breaking Dave's old record. I'll make sure to let him know several times this week, haha. Now back to training for Clearwater. I've got a rest day tomorrow, an easy day on Tuesday, then a hard five days of training before another recovery day. Thanks for reading.

Tony

Results link:
http://www.besttimescct.com/results/Sight08.txt