St. Anthony's Triathlon

Just a few thoughts from the race this weekend.

This was the first race I've done on a 650cc bike after Paulo convinced me that it would fit way better. It's definitely more aerodynamic and I feel more in control and more powerful on it. It took some getting used to. I didn't love it at first.

The swim was really choppy. It definitely spreads the group out and makes things more interesting. I noticed that my heart rate didn't get nearly as high as usual because it was more of a strength swim. With a lot of chop you don't get into much of a normal stroke rate because you are constantly adjusting to the up and down of the waves.

I had a pretty good swim, but there was a group of 5 or 6 women with about a minute lead over me. I focused on keeping a strong and steady pace on the bike. We do weekly time trials up a mountain in training and I tried to get to that level of effort and maintain it.

My plan for the run (as directed by Paulo) was to take the first four miles at a steady pace that I felt like I could maintain and then "empty the tank" the last two miles. This was my longest run since my injury and I was nervous! I felt great the first 3 miles and then it got a little harder to maintain my turn over. Miranda Carfrae and Barbara Riveros passed me right before the half way turn and I couldn't keep up with them. I knew there were some fast runners charging from behind me and honestly I felt like I was just waiting to hear their footfalls. That's probably not the most optimistic way to think. The last mile was very hard, but I made it to the line without getting caught and finished 8th.

My 37:14 run split was faster than I thought I would be able to run and that makes me want to get back to Poway and start running up the hills at Blue Sky with the squad (once the soreness leaves my legs)! I credit Paulo's master plan for getting me back to racing healthy - even though I complained about slow treadmill running and wanting to run 5 more minutes. I've also gotten some great PT/ART from Function Smart here in San Diego that's helped tremendously.

I'm really lucky to have an awesome group of friends and training partners in the squad and so grateful for the guidance and preparation that Paulo provides on a daily basis. It's exciting to see the crew getting some good results early in the season, and I think we're all pretty motivated to keep working f'ing hard.

I had a great visit with my parents in Florida and am now back in "Powadise" for a couple of weeks. Flying into Next up for racing is the Columbia Triathlon in Maryland on May 19 but my bigger focus is on the Dallas Pan Am Cup on June 1.