I am back in KY and not happy about it. The weather in Florida was amazing and it would have been nice to stick around for a few days to get in a solid training block before this 70.3 that is now less than 2 weeks away. I ran yesterday morning before hitting the road and it was 65 degrees at 5:15AM. When I got into Lexington at 6:30pm last night, it was 36 degrees and we drove through a little snow close to the KY/TN border which did not make either Kevin or myself happy.
Anyways, it was great to be in Florida. We left Wednesday afternoon and headed towards
Atlanta where we would be staying overnight with a friend's brother. He welcomed us with open arms and provided us with some very comfortable couches. We woke up and headed South from there. We rolled into Clermont around 4pm on Thursday and went straight to the National Training Center to get in a swim. Luckily, they had it set up for long course and the pool was outside so this was a GREAT change from the usual indoor, short course swim for me. We swam a little over 3000 meters and shared a lane with Michael Raelert (whom you may have heard of). The highlight of the swim was Kevin going to the bottom and "blossoming" Raelert. It was a little dissapointing that he gave no reaction what-so-ever. I guess he isn't used to seeing the underside (just to clarify, Kevin was not naked, he was in his speedo) of people whom he has never met. Anyways, we grabbed some dinner from Outback after the swim and stayed with an ex UK swimmer, Eric, who was gracious enough to allow us to stay with for the whole weekend. Thanks Eric.
Friday we woke up, had a little breakfast, then headed out to the race course to check it out. It was sunny and 65 and I wished I had 2 days before my race as I wanted to ride for 2+ hrs. After a nice little 45 min. bike ride, 15 min run, and then a little swim to check out the swim conditions, we were headed back to the apartment for a nap and some relaxing. I had a Pro meeting at 5:30, hit the Olive Garden with two other former UK swim and dive team members, then hit the sack for the evening.
Saturday, Kevin raced at 10:30 and I took off at 1:30. I'm not used to racing in the afternoon so I had a normal breakfast, then a small lunch at around 10:30 to insure I wouldn't feel it during the race. I got everything ready, and was ready to roll at 1:30. I got a good warmup swim in by swimming the whole swim course, but I wasn't sure how the swim would play out due to the shallow water. I was able to run for over 100 meters in the water, and then could dolphin dive for at least another 100 meters. The first buoy was only 350 meters from the shore so that would only be 150 meters of actuall swimming before making the first turn.
I made it back to the beach for the introductions and the start. The cap size of the field was 75 and we had 73 guys on the start list, with many of them being Americans who were biting at the bit to get a chance to race an ITU race, like myself. Sure this was going to be less than an hour of racing when I'm used to racing for around 4 hours, but this would be fun, right?
At 1:30, the gun went off. Just like I had thought, I ran for 100 meters or so, then started to dolphin dive for another 100 or so. I was towards the front of the pack, but the pack was really tight. We hit the first turn buoy, and I went under water. With about 60 guys all hitting 1 turn buoy at the same time, it doesn't make for an organized swim turn. I had at least 4 or 5 guys grab me and push me under (at least I could still touch bottom, right?). I lost a little bit of time at that turn but was able to fight back and get going again. I made the 2nd turn and was still sitting pretty on some feet that were in the middle off the pack. We hit the shallower water, I started to dolphin dive, and then I was running out of the water. I could see a huge pack of guys just about 10 seconds up, so I knew it was crucial for me to sprint up the beach and have a fast transition. I did so, but fumbled with my helmet a little (I don't like it that much but it was my only road helmet) and was off. I came out of T1 (probably had my best bike mount of my life) and was sitting behind about 7 - 8 guys as we started the bike segment. Unfortunately, there was a 10 - 15 sec. gap in front of those guys to the main pack and I knew it was crucial to catch the pack before they started pulling away. I got my feet in my shoes fast, then took off. The guys I was with all decided to put their shoes on at the same time and I dropped them and was in no man's land for about 1 minute or so. I was ALL OUT but not making much ground on the main pack and not really dropping the pack behind me. I decided to sit up and wait so we could all work together and maybe catch the pack. Well, this never happened. We worked together, but not really well, so we ended up losing about 45 seconds or so over the course of the 20k bike course. We came into T2 about 1 minute or so down from the leaders and knew there was no chance of catching most of them as they are all phenominal runners. No problem, I would just run my best anyways. I had a good T2, and was out running. My legs felt like bricks due to all of the sprinting and ALL OUT efforts that I had put forth during the bike segment. It took me a minute or so to start feeling decent but I never really felt great. I was in no man's land and I pretty much stayed there the whole time. I crossed the finish line way back from the winners but in front of a small group of guys so I wasn't last, haha.
I knew that this type of racing isn't my forte so I didn't have any expectations except to have fun and get in a solid first effort of the year. I was happy with the effort, just not the result. I was hoping to be apart of the main bike pack coming into T2 and my fumbling with my helmet and getting caught behind the guys that I did coming out of T2 cost me this position. Sure I should have swam 10 - 15 seconds faster and I wouldn't have had to worry about it. But it just goes to show you how 1 - 3 seconds at a critical point in the race can end up costing you several minutes later in the race. I may have lost about 1 minute during the bike portion, and then another 30 seconds or so on the run since I wouldn't have exerted as much energy on the bike. I would have had a better draft and only had to sit in and not have to push the pace.
In the grand scheme of things, I did swim(run) under 8 minutes for the swim, biked a 28:something for the 20k bike segment, then ran 16:18 for 3 miles (course was a tad short) so it wasn't a terrible day. But when the top guys biked 27:30ish and then ran under 14, I have a long way to go, haha.
But it was a great experience and fun to compete at a distance like that against some of the top names on the ITU circuit. I now have San Juan 70.3 less than two weeks from now and then a month before New Orleans 70.3.
Back to training.
T-Bird
Monday, March 7, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Mercedes Half Marathon RR
Well, my first race of the year is over with and a good time was had by all. I traveled down to Birmingham, AL on Saturday to race on Sunday. I have heard great things about the race and Jill Edwards did a great job helping the pro's out with everything. She helped me get a room at the Sheraton hotel downtown, which was only 1.5 blocks from the start/finish line. That is always great to be able to leave your room at 6:35 and have plenty of time to warmup and start the race at 7. And it's also great to be able to walk straight to your room, put on some dry clothes and cooldown immediately following the race. The volunteers and police did a great job with everything, and the course overall was a little harder than I expected, but it is still a fast course.
Casey made the journey with me on Saturday. We made it in town with about an hour to spare for the Expo so I could pick up my packet. We then ventured out to find a place to eat. Once we were told there was nothing in walking distance, we just hopped into the car and drove a few miles down the highway to a Chili's which is always a great choice. After dinner, we had a relaxing evening and I was in bed by a decent hour.
I woke up to temps below 30 degrees (which wasn't in the forcast a few days before this) so I wasn't as prepared as I would have liked, but there wasn't any wind so it wasn't terrible. I raced for the first time in compression socks which actually kept me warm and also I believe that I'm not as sore as I usually am so I may start racing in them, as dorky as they are. I made it to the start with a few minutes to spare and at 7:03 we were off. The pace felt surprisingly slow at first, but I guess it was a marathon/half marathon start so there wouldn't be too many people taking off at sub-5 min. mile pace. The 1st mile mark as a little short and we went through in about 4:50. The next few miles were uneventful. I just stayed tucked into the pack that I was in (the 2nd pack on the road as 4 really fast guys were up the road) and maintained a nice tempo for these miles. I to about 4 -5 miles and realized how fast were were actually moving. We went through 5 miles around 26:30 and 6 miles right at 32:00 (take into consideration the short 1st mile). This pace was a little hot for me, but I wasn't too worried about it as I was working with the faster guys in front of me. Well, that is when they were able to maintain pace and I started to fall off. The next 2 miles were the hardest on the course so they managed to put a little time on me on the uphills and I managed to put a little distance on the guys behind me on the hills as well. The 9th mile was fairly flat and the 10th mile again was mostly uphill. I clicked off these miles around 5:40 pace and was hoping for a downhill finish for the last 3.1 miles. Well, that wasn't the case. The 11th was slightly downhill, the 12th, and most of the 13th miles were flat but straight into a headwind (the wind picked up as the temps went up throughout the day). I went through 11 miles just under 1 hr and then 12 miles in 1:05:26. I knew I had to cover 1.1 miles in 6:34 and that all I had to do was hold pace and I would be 10 - 15 seconds faster than that. Well I didn't think about that first mile that was a little short. They made up for that in the last mile. The 13th mile had a .25 mile uphill leading up to the 13 mile mark, and then two 90 degree turns in the last .1 of a mile. I hit 13 miles right at 1:11:30 and knew I had to get on my horse to get in under 1:12. Needless to say, that didn't happen. I picked up the pace, but all I could do was watch the clock tick to 1:12 as I was crossing the finish. It turns out, my finishing time was right at 1:12:00. And no I could not have gone faster because I used that "faster" speed to get in at 1:12:00, haha.
After the race, Casey found me, and we made our way back to the hotel. I did a short cooldown and we packed up and hit the road. They had some amazing BBQ for us, but considering it was 9am, we decided to hit the road and find a Panera on the way home. I am really happy about this early fitness and I know it is because of the hours that I have been putting in this year. I doubled the number of training hours that I put in in January from 2010 to 2011. When you make a large amount of training hours the norm, it doesn't really seem that bad, and it feels normal, who knew.
Thanks for reading. Up next, ITU US National Sprint Championships Tri in Clermont, FL.
Tony
Casey made the journey with me on Saturday. We made it in town with about an hour to spare for the Expo so I could pick up my packet. We then ventured out to find a place to eat. Once we were told there was nothing in walking distance, we just hopped into the car and drove a few miles down the highway to a Chili's which is always a great choice. After dinner, we had a relaxing evening and I was in bed by a decent hour.
I woke up to temps below 30 degrees (which wasn't in the forcast a few days before this) so I wasn't as prepared as I would have liked, but there wasn't any wind so it wasn't terrible. I raced for the first time in compression socks which actually kept me warm and also I believe that I'm not as sore as I usually am so I may start racing in them, as dorky as they are. I made it to the start with a few minutes to spare and at 7:03 we were off. The pace felt surprisingly slow at first, but I guess it was a marathon/half marathon start so there wouldn't be too many people taking off at sub-5 min. mile pace. The 1st mile mark as a little short and we went through in about 4:50. The next few miles were uneventful. I just stayed tucked into the pack that I was in (the 2nd pack on the road as 4 really fast guys were up the road) and maintained a nice tempo for these miles. I to about 4 -5 miles and realized how fast were were actually moving. We went through 5 miles around 26:30 and 6 miles right at 32:00 (take into consideration the short 1st mile). This pace was a little hot for me, but I wasn't too worried about it as I was working with the faster guys in front of me. Well, that is when they were able to maintain pace and I started to fall off. The next 2 miles were the hardest on the course so they managed to put a little time on me on the uphills and I managed to put a little distance on the guys behind me on the hills as well. The 9th mile was fairly flat and the 10th mile again was mostly uphill. I clicked off these miles around 5:40 pace and was hoping for a downhill finish for the last 3.1 miles. Well, that wasn't the case. The 11th was slightly downhill, the 12th, and most of the 13th miles were flat but straight into a headwind (the wind picked up as the temps went up throughout the day). I went through 11 miles just under 1 hr and then 12 miles in 1:05:26. I knew I had to cover 1.1 miles in 6:34 and that all I had to do was hold pace and I would be 10 - 15 seconds faster than that. Well I didn't think about that first mile that was a little short. They made up for that in the last mile. The 13th mile had a .25 mile uphill leading up to the 13 mile mark, and then two 90 degree turns in the last .1 of a mile. I hit 13 miles right at 1:11:30 and knew I had to get on my horse to get in under 1:12. Needless to say, that didn't happen. I picked up the pace, but all I could do was watch the clock tick to 1:12 as I was crossing the finish. It turns out, my finishing time was right at 1:12:00. And no I could not have gone faster because I used that "faster" speed to get in at 1:12:00, haha.
After the race, Casey found me, and we made our way back to the hotel. I did a short cooldown and we packed up and hit the road. They had some amazing BBQ for us, but considering it was 9am, we decided to hit the road and find a Panera on the way home. I am really happy about this early fitness and I know it is because of the hours that I have been putting in this year. I doubled the number of training hours that I put in in January from 2010 to 2011. When you make a large amount of training hours the norm, it doesn't really seem that bad, and it feels normal, who knew.
Thanks for reading. Up next, ITU US National Sprint Championships Tri in Clermont, FL.
Tony
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Long Time No See
So I have been pretty terrible about keeping up with this during the off season, but to be honest, not too much has happened since my last race. I took a few down weeks after Clearwater to recover and just to clear my head before I started training for the 2011 season, which at the time I hadn't really thought of too many races which I really wanted to focus on. I had a few ideas for this season, but that was it, they were just ideas. Well, I put in a few pretty solid weeks in December, was pretty consistent over the holiday weeks (Christmas and New Year) and have been still at it this month. One of the things that has been drastically different from past years is having access to a computrainer (at Swim Bike Run of KY) to train on during this winter months. I feel like I'm in the best cycling shape of my life right now, so I'm anxious to get out on the roads to see how strong I actually am.
I have a lot of trouble with motivation during the winter months, as I'm sure most people do that live in a state with weather like Kentucky. Especially the weeks surrounding the holidays in December, I have trouble getting out the door and I tend to eat significantly more food than usual. As we all know, those two don't work great together. Not having access to a pool in my hometown also doesn't help me get in those extra yards I need to work on my swimming on the days I decide to visit home. However, I had a shorter holiday visit than past years thanks to my job here in Lexington (and the fact that I don't get a 3 week break like I did during college).
The month of January has also been pretty exciting in regards to travel. I have been to Colorado Springs and Bowling Green already this year, when the month of January is usually a month for me to get back into the swing of things. I flew out to Colorado the 2nd weekend of January to get my USAT level 1 coaching certification and also to honor Susan Bradley-Cox and her induction to the USAT hall of fame by attending the hall of fame dinner there in Colorado Springs that same weekend. So, if anyone is interested in being coached, shoot me an email as I would love to help you reach your goals.
The very next weekend I drove down to Bowling Green to visit my girlfriend and family. She is doing her first clinical of PT school there in Bowling Green, so I decided to go down and spend the weekend with her. I was able to get in my first 1hour and 45 minute run of the year while I was there. Sure it was 14 degrees, but that just shows that the weather will only affect you if you let it.
I am now back in Lexington for a few weeks and will be racing in the Mercedes Half Marathon on February 13th in Birmingham, AL. I'm really looking forward to it as it should be a fun race. Then once March rolls around, I have two races that I'm looking at: the USA sprint National championships in Clermont, FL on the 5th and then San Juan 70.3 on the 19th. So I'm looking at two extremes at distances, one being a sprint ITU draft legal race, and the other being a half ironman.
So we'll see how the season starts off.
Thanks for reading.
Tony
I have a lot of trouble with motivation during the winter months, as I'm sure most people do that live in a state with weather like Kentucky. Especially the weeks surrounding the holidays in December, I have trouble getting out the door and I tend to eat significantly more food than usual. As we all know, those two don't work great together. Not having access to a pool in my hometown also doesn't help me get in those extra yards I need to work on my swimming on the days I decide to visit home. However, I had a shorter holiday visit than past years thanks to my job here in Lexington (and the fact that I don't get a 3 week break like I did during college).
The month of January has also been pretty exciting in regards to travel. I have been to Colorado Springs and Bowling Green already this year, when the month of January is usually a month for me to get back into the swing of things. I flew out to Colorado the 2nd weekend of January to get my USAT level 1 coaching certification and also to honor Susan Bradley-Cox and her induction to the USAT hall of fame by attending the hall of fame dinner there in Colorado Springs that same weekend. So, if anyone is interested in being coached, shoot me an email as I would love to help you reach your goals.
The very next weekend I drove down to Bowling Green to visit my girlfriend and family. She is doing her first clinical of PT school there in Bowling Green, so I decided to go down and spend the weekend with her. I was able to get in my first 1hour and 45 minute run of the year while I was there. Sure it was 14 degrees, but that just shows that the weather will only affect you if you let it.
I am now back in Lexington for a few weeks and will be racing in the Mercedes Half Marathon on February 13th in Birmingham, AL. I'm really looking forward to it as it should be a fun race. Then once March rolls around, I have two races that I'm looking at: the USA sprint National championships in Clermont, FL on the 5th and then San Juan 70.3 on the 19th. So I'm looking at two extremes at distances, one being a sprint ITU draft legal race, and the other being a half ironman.
So we'll see how the season starts off.
Thanks for reading.
Tony
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Some Pics
And of course, I posted these in the opposite order. AAAHHHH!!!
Me sprinting it in just to make sure Nick Waninger didn't catch me. Thanks for the scare buddy.
Coming out of T2.
Taking off on the bike.
Coming out of the water.
Nice little pre race photo with Casey.
Me sprinting it in just to make sure Nick Waninger didn't catch me. Thanks for the scare buddy.
Coming out of T2.
Taking off on the bike.
Coming out of the water.
Nice little pre race photo with Casey.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Clearwater 70.3 RR
Well, my 2010 season is over and it is nice not having to worry about my workouts for once. I woke up this morning not sure how I was going to fill the day. I have mostly been doing some things around the house before I head to work this evening. Doing a little laundry, grocery shopping, and a few little chores that I had put off last week just because I didn't have time to do them. Now I'm catching up on my favorite TV shows on Hulu.
Our trip to Clearwater began last Tuesday night when I departed Lexington and drove a whole hour to my hometown of Corbin to spend the night and meet up with my bro before we left for Florida. Wednesday morning we hit the road and spent most of the day in the car. We had a nice dinner on the beach that evening and I enjoyed some fish tacos for the first time in my life. Thursday came around and I went for a little jog before my brother and I hit up IHOP for breakfast. This wouldn't be my normal breakfast, but our hotel didn't offer breakfast and IHOP was less than a 1/4 mile from the hotel with no other options (not that I'm complaining, I love a good IHOP breakfast, just not usually this close to a big race). Ben and I went for a little swim later, then picked up my roommate Kevin, my sister, and my mom from the airport followed by a little lunch at Firehouse. We hung out for a little, went for a little spin, then met up with my grandparents for dinner. Friday was about the same. Some easy morning workouts, a little IHOP for breakfast, the pro meeting, Subway for lunch, meeting up the family to discuss the race day parking situation, checking in my gear to the transition area, dinner with my dad, and bedtime.
Saturday rolled around and the weather was perfect. High 50's, not much of a wind, and clear skies. After my usual breakfast, I headed down to the transition area to finish my pre race prep. At about 6:15, I had my wetsuit on, got a good luck kiss from Casey, then headed down to the water for my warmup. At 6:40, I was standing on the beach with some of the best triathletes in the world waiting for the gun to go off. There is nothing more nerve racking than the "waiting" period just before a big race. At 6:45, the cannon went off.
I didn't have a great starting position, but actually had a decent run into the water. I shot through a little gap, did the dolphin dive a few times, then was in water deep enough to swim. I put my head down and tried to get into a good position. I fought with a few guys for the first 200 - 300 meters, and swallowed a few mouth fulls of water in the process. I got right on the buoy line and felt like I was decent position. I lost the feet in front of me about 600 meters in but kept that group close until the first turn buoy. Once we rounded that turn, we swam 100 meters directly into the wind/waves. That is where I lost the group in front of me. I thought for a second I was in no man's land, but after the next turn buoy, I had another group catch me, so I just sat in and swam with then the rest of the way into the beach. I was the last one in that group out of the water, but I was out with some fast cyclists such as Maxim Kriat, Chris Legh, and Leon Griffin so I knew that I had a chance to pace off of some really fast guys to help me get back into the action. Well, apparently my T1 was terrible and I never once saw those guys. I felt that I had a decent transition, put my head down for the first 5 miles on the bike, and I caught 4 -5 guys that were just up the road. None of these guys were the names that I previously mentioned and I found out that the guys that I caught were not the strongest of cyclists. They were strong enough to sit behind me and pace, but not enough to be in the wind themselves. When I would back off, they would pass me, but our pace would drop a couple of mph. So I basically pulled this group for the majority of the race. We did have 2 MUCH stronger cyclists pass us, but they were out of my league. I tried to pace off of both of them when they passed, but I felt like I was going sprint tri speed and not 70.3 speed, and I did want to have something left for the run. I came into T2 well behind the leaders and not in a great position overall. I took off on the run and realized that the flat and windy course had done some work to my legs. I felt like I had no gas in the tank what-so-ever. I just decided right then that I was going to finish the race, no matter what, and give it my best effort. I fought off cramps and just an overall terrible feeling in my whole body for the first 3 miles of the run. After I got a little fluids and Power Gels into my system, I felt a little better. The rest of the run, I paced off of the guys who were just up the road. I did eventually catch them around mile 10 - 11. My fastest splits on the run were actually my last 3 miles which was a little surprising. I guess that is what happens when you are trying to pass competitors. After a little scare from my buddy Nick Waninger at mile 13.05 of the run, I managed to cross the finish line just in front of him in 28th position among the pro's.
I was extremely happy to be finished with the race. This was my slowest 70.3 of the year and I was not overly happy with my performance, but I know that there are days that you just have to grind it out, and today was one of those days. Overall, I felt flat the whole race. I felt that I couldn't keep up the strong pace on the bike and that I didn't have any turn over on the run.
I know that I am better on the harder bike courses that have more hills because that is where I tend to be a little better than the average triathlete but these flatter courses are not the best for me considering the terrain of central Kentucky.
But, my season is now over and I have 2011 to look forward to. I would love to see how I can match up against these guys in Las Vegas. I know I need to keep up my work in the water, actually train on the bike in the off season, and then keep up my mileage over the winter. I'll bet that having a decent base phase will make a world of difference going into a new season.
I want to thank everyone who travelled down to Florida to watch me. It was a blast having everyone there and supporting me. My roommate Kevin had an amazing race and finished 2nd in his AG and 8th overall among the amateurs. My brother fought his way through the race battling his injured IT band and finished the race. We were all happy to be done for the season.
Tony
Our trip to Clearwater began last Tuesday night when I departed Lexington and drove a whole hour to my hometown of Corbin to spend the night and meet up with my bro before we left for Florida. Wednesday morning we hit the road and spent most of the day in the car. We had a nice dinner on the beach that evening and I enjoyed some fish tacos for the first time in my life. Thursday came around and I went for a little jog before my brother and I hit up IHOP for breakfast. This wouldn't be my normal breakfast, but our hotel didn't offer breakfast and IHOP was less than a 1/4 mile from the hotel with no other options (not that I'm complaining, I love a good IHOP breakfast, just not usually this close to a big race). Ben and I went for a little swim later, then picked up my roommate Kevin, my sister, and my mom from the airport followed by a little lunch at Firehouse. We hung out for a little, went for a little spin, then met up with my grandparents for dinner. Friday was about the same. Some easy morning workouts, a little IHOP for breakfast, the pro meeting, Subway for lunch, meeting up the family to discuss the race day parking situation, checking in my gear to the transition area, dinner with my dad, and bedtime.
Saturday rolled around and the weather was perfect. High 50's, not much of a wind, and clear skies. After my usual breakfast, I headed down to the transition area to finish my pre race prep. At about 6:15, I had my wetsuit on, got a good luck kiss from Casey, then headed down to the water for my warmup. At 6:40, I was standing on the beach with some of the best triathletes in the world waiting for the gun to go off. There is nothing more nerve racking than the "waiting" period just before a big race. At 6:45, the cannon went off.
I didn't have a great starting position, but actually had a decent run into the water. I shot through a little gap, did the dolphin dive a few times, then was in water deep enough to swim. I put my head down and tried to get into a good position. I fought with a few guys for the first 200 - 300 meters, and swallowed a few mouth fulls of water in the process. I got right on the buoy line and felt like I was decent position. I lost the feet in front of me about 600 meters in but kept that group close until the first turn buoy. Once we rounded that turn, we swam 100 meters directly into the wind/waves. That is where I lost the group in front of me. I thought for a second I was in no man's land, but after the next turn buoy, I had another group catch me, so I just sat in and swam with then the rest of the way into the beach. I was the last one in that group out of the water, but I was out with some fast cyclists such as Maxim Kriat, Chris Legh, and Leon Griffin so I knew that I had a chance to pace off of some really fast guys to help me get back into the action. Well, apparently my T1 was terrible and I never once saw those guys. I felt that I had a decent transition, put my head down for the first 5 miles on the bike, and I caught 4 -5 guys that were just up the road. None of these guys were the names that I previously mentioned and I found out that the guys that I caught were not the strongest of cyclists. They were strong enough to sit behind me and pace, but not enough to be in the wind themselves. When I would back off, they would pass me, but our pace would drop a couple of mph. So I basically pulled this group for the majority of the race. We did have 2 MUCH stronger cyclists pass us, but they were out of my league. I tried to pace off of both of them when they passed, but I felt like I was going sprint tri speed and not 70.3 speed, and I did want to have something left for the run. I came into T2 well behind the leaders and not in a great position overall. I took off on the run and realized that the flat and windy course had done some work to my legs. I felt like I had no gas in the tank what-so-ever. I just decided right then that I was going to finish the race, no matter what, and give it my best effort. I fought off cramps and just an overall terrible feeling in my whole body for the first 3 miles of the run. After I got a little fluids and Power Gels into my system, I felt a little better. The rest of the run, I paced off of the guys who were just up the road. I did eventually catch them around mile 10 - 11. My fastest splits on the run were actually my last 3 miles which was a little surprising. I guess that is what happens when you are trying to pass competitors. After a little scare from my buddy Nick Waninger at mile 13.05 of the run, I managed to cross the finish line just in front of him in 28th position among the pro's.
I was extremely happy to be finished with the race. This was my slowest 70.3 of the year and I was not overly happy with my performance, but I know that there are days that you just have to grind it out, and today was one of those days. Overall, I felt flat the whole race. I felt that I couldn't keep up the strong pace on the bike and that I didn't have any turn over on the run.
I know that I am better on the harder bike courses that have more hills because that is where I tend to be a little better than the average triathlete but these flatter courses are not the best for me considering the terrain of central Kentucky.
But, my season is now over and I have 2011 to look forward to. I would love to see how I can match up against these guys in Las Vegas. I know I need to keep up my work in the water, actually train on the bike in the off season, and then keep up my mileage over the winter. I'll bet that having a decent base phase will make a world of difference going into a new season.
I want to thank everyone who travelled down to Florida to watch me. It was a blast having everyone there and supporting me. My roommate Kevin had an amazing race and finished 2nd in his AG and 8th overall among the amateurs. My brother fought his way through the race battling his injured IT band and finished the race. We were all happy to be done for the season.
Tony
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Are You Ready?
The week has come and in a few days my season will be over. I have been anxiously waiting for this Saturday and am really looking forward to competing against some of the best 70.3 athletes in the world. I'm headed to Clearwater tomorrow to get checked into the hotel and just going to hang out and rest before Saturday.
As I have heard before, "The hay is in the barn." I am just doing a few maintenance workouts before Saturday and that is just to keep the blood moving. All of the hard stuff is over, I just have to go out and perform this weekend. I watched "Friday Night Lights" this morning while I was on the trainer and I absolutely love that movie. It always gets me pumped up before a big race.
And I know I have posted that video before, but it's one of my favorites. It is the Versus commercial from 2009. I don't know if there is anything better to watch to get you motivated to go out and give 110%.
T-Bird
As I have heard before, "The hay is in the barn." I am just doing a few maintenance workouts before Saturday and that is just to keep the blood moving. All of the hard stuff is over, I just have to go out and perform this weekend. I watched "Friday Night Lights" this morning while I was on the trainer and I absolutely love that movie. It always gets me pumped up before a big race.
And I know I have posted that video before, but it's one of my favorites. It is the Versus commercial from 2009. I don't know if there is anything better to watch to get you motivated to go out and give 110%.
T-Bird
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