Training and racing continues! This past weekend I raced in the PlayTri Festival International distance. The overall result was a podium in second place so more hardware!
The race was a little tougher than last year due to wind, heat and some small inclines in the run. I was actually 9 minutes slower than 2013, but I felt much stronger this year.
I had what I consider one of my best race swims yet. It wasn’t my fastest, but I was first out of the water for our class and I just felt great. I was honestly surprised at the time as I felt a lot smoother and faster. I’ve been examining that in masters this week after the race and I’ve developed a couple of idiosyncrasies in my stroke. I am dipping my elbow and breathing above the water line again so that explains some speed loss. Just splitting hairs honestly as I could have shaved a few minutes, but the energy I expended in the swim was minimal so I was setup for a great race.
The bike I expected to be a little faster than my 20.4 average. Unfortunately I have a sore spot under my left kneecap and it was flaring up Sunday. It gets me when climbing so I couldn’t power up like I normally do. I was flying on the flats and declines though. 🙂 We had a decent headwind for a lot if the course, but it was very manageable and the breeze kept us cool since it was heating up quickly.
Then we were into the run! This is always my big fear in any of my races. I felt good coming out of transition and into the first water stop. Immediately on the road you could feel the heat starting to radiate. This years course had some incline and a small hill unlike last years completely flat course. The worst problem I had on the run was trying to figure out if I was on lap 3 or 4 at the end of the race. Luckily I was on the 4th and I powered it in. The knee did not bother me at all on the run which made me feel a lot better about BLST coming up in just over 3 weeks.
Overall a great race and result! I had a blast and do like this course a lot. I highly recommended this race to any Triathlete. It truly has something for everyone.
