Dusting off the Ole Cobwebs

Well, I competed in my first triathlon in over a month yesterday here in Lexington, KY and it was a blast. It was a lot different than what I'm used to. I'm usually traveling to a race that is at least an Olympic distance and it usually takes up my whole weekend. But the Tri for Sight offers me a great opportunity to break up the monotony of training and get in a solid effort for a shorter triathlon while staying at my own house. This means I have to hang up my "distance" legs and find my "sprint" legs. Unfortunately, I was unable to find them, in 2 of the 3 sports. My run training has been going really well the past few weeks and I felt pretty solid on the run yesterday but that also might have had something to do with the weather. It was a cool 52 degrees when the race started yesterday.

I got in a solid week of training this past week and was a little tired going into the race but I knew that Augusta and Clearwater are the two "big" races left for the year. Ben and Dana (his girlfriend) traveled to Lexington for the race on Saturday so we all had a nice lunch and dinner while watching the Cats take down the dirty Cards in football. Casey, Ben, and I all woke up on Sunday to get everything ready for the race and to travel down to the transition area (which is less than 1 mile from my house). I racked my bike in transition, got everything set, helped Casey set up her transition area, and we were ready to race.

I was number 101 so I was first in the water for the time trial start. Annie Fryman was swimmer number 2 (a girl that I coached last year) and then Casey was number 3. I knew that I had to swim fast enough not to get passed by either of these two fast swimmers.

I got out of the water where I started and had a quick T1 and was out on the bike. The bike was pretty uneventful even though it was a different course from last year. I could really feel my "dead legs" during the 2nd half of the bike which was coming back into town and is mostly uphill. I stayed within my zone and made it back to T2 still maintaining the lead. I had an average T2 (had trouble getting my new shoes on fast) and was out onto the run. It is so nice to have cooler temps to run in. I went through 2 miles in 10:50 and realized that I haven't ran that fast in a triathlon in a long time. On the way back, I had a little digestion problems, but nothing too serious. I just slowed a little and made it across the finish line in a decent time. I ended up running 22:10 for a legit 4 mile course which was nice considering some of my recent triathlon run splits. I loved the Brooks T6 racer. They were light and fast and helped me run as fast as I did.

A few minutes later, my brother crossed the finish line and ended up 2nd overall. He also ran in the T6 racers, so I'm sure it was no coincidence. I put on a little clothing since it was a little chilly, and jogged back out on the run course to cheer for Casey. She came through a lot faster than she expected and finish in an hour and 50 minutes which was 10 minutes faster than her goal time. This was her first triathlon and she finished FIRST in her AG and 6th overall.

Overall it was a great day and always a pleasure to compete in such a great event. Beth Atnip does a great job with this race and puts a lot of effort into the event (even after she put on IM Louisville 1 week ago). Congrats to my bro and to Casey for racing well. And to George Van Meter for winning his AG at IM Louisville and getting a slot to Kona.

Up Next: Augusta 70.3.

P.s. I was going to race a 10k this weekend in London, Ky for a chance at winning $10,000, but it was canceled because they didn't have enough people signed up for the race. This race offered $30,000 of prize money to the top 3 male and females but less than 100 people had signed up for it so I guess they couldn't cover the cost of putting on the race. It has been delayed until 2011. I guess that is what happens when you don't put a lot of effort into advertising.

Tony