Racing coming fast and furious!

New look for old race bike (Di2)


Cockpit of Di2


What the wind sees of Di2


Into the heat of the early tri season now and happy to be back at it for sure! We ran a local 5K race a couple of weeks ago which was super fun and for a really good cause! Benefitted the local park system and the people really showed up! They hoped for 100 people but ended up getting over 200! This race was run over pavement (very little), grass, crushed shell path, boardwalk and soft mulch. Just the way I like it for sure! Yada, yada, yada I won overall for the women in a super fast time (sub 19 min) for the terrain so really happy about that! We actually made this a "long" run day by running to the race, racing and running home which ended up being a 10 mile day. Good day for sure.
Next up on the calendar was Escape From Fort Desoto sprint tri. This race was yesterday. I love this race! It's traditionally the first tri of the season for the locals so good chance to see where everyone's fitness is with two weeks to go until the big show at St Anthony's (in two weeks). I haven't competed in this race since '08 so was super stoked to toe the line! The Dane and I both managed to get a cold leading into this so preparations, training and sleep were not ideal for sure! Neither was breathing! I had a secret goal of winning overall (before the cold) as I've never done at this race. We all race from age group waves so it's impossible to know how your race is stacking up against the other gals in other waves so the race becomes a bit of a personal time trial swim, bike, run. The swim (1/2 mile) was the roughest conditions I've ever done at this race. It didn't look bad from the beach but it was rocking and rolling out there! Wetsuit legal so wore it for sure! I felt I had an ok swim, didn't swim all out but tried to stay controlled in the conditions. There was a ton of traffic from prior waves, bodies bobbing everywhere like the Titanic aftermath! Felt I dealt with that fairly well and didn't clobber anyone directly. Out of the water with a long run up to T1 (and a gnarly lagoon to swim through) and onto the bike (10 miles). One of my real race mantras was to be aggressive on the bike and not to lose the race on the bike. I have been doing some really hard sessions on the Computrainer so wanted to see how that was going to pan out. There was a lot of traffic again to ride around/through but felt I managed that fairly well also. I got new Shimano Di2 shifting on my P3 and boy, is it sweet!! I cannot believe how sweet the shifting is so if you see me out and about or at St Anthony's expo (in the Outspokin booth), ask me about it for sure! Anyway, the bike ride was windy as it usually is at the Fort and I really pushed the whole way not worrying about the run. I only got passed by one guy so that was pretty good for me! Into T2 and off onto the run (3.4 miles) which is out on pavement and back on beach. Went out really hard knowing I was racing gals in other waves so just tried to push myself out there. Didn't race with a watch so no idea about pace just wanted to keep it at suffer pace! Felt good about my race overall and ended up in 2nd overall for the women, first Masters finisher. Can't complain but would like to race in same wave with some of the other (younger) gals but not sure my result would have changed if I had. I will get a chance to race the stupid fast non-pro gals at St Anthony's as I'm entered in the elite amateur wave. I will get killed but still hope for a fast time and will hang on as best I can! The Dane had a good day and won his AG. Good day and great workout for sure! We did a long run today to end the weekend of training so pretty stoked and looking forward to a good, hot St Anthony's then Florida 70.3 two weeks later. Hopefully, we'll get and stay healthy to finish out the first half of the season.
Cheers