St Anthony's Tri report

Oh, the suffering!!


The Dane looks like he's won!


With Linda M, perennial St A's winner!


Happy moments at awards!! Yay!

(thanks to Laura Glover for the action photos!)
Seems it's taking me forever to get to this one, must be a reason. I raced in the Elite Amateur wave because it always leaves really early and the road (bike) isn't crowded which is usually nice. I did qualify ligit for it as well, so not a stretch. I didn't expect to light the world on fire in the overall in this division the young and fast typically dominate here! This year it was not as big a field so felt I might, on paper, be able to get a better result than in past years. That didn't happen. I had super tired legs in the days leading in and my workouts leading in were indicative of this but, as usual, I tried to ignore that. The wind really kicked up in the couple days leading up to the race, which, at this time of year, isn't that unusual. It does, unfortunately, make the water on the original swim course terribly rough. The decision was made to move and cut the swim course. Not ideal for me as, although I'm not a great swimmer, I can usually distance myself from some others in the overall course of the event. I, somehow, never really got into any sort of aggressive race mode. Not sure why but feel I must have still been quite tired. Who knows but it was the beginning of the end of my race. I also decided, stupidly, that since the swim was cut to 1000meters, I wouldn't bother with a skin suit (swim was not wetsuit legal). My swim suit is just that, a plain, lycra suit with no technical fibers or other hydro-dynamic magic. I was one of few without a swim skin, hmmmm, must be a reason. Anyway, got out of the still rough swim and was all alone, not good. The barefoot, concrete path run to T1 was fairly long which I didn't mind. Onto the bike and it took several miles until I felt safe in the aero bars with the wind whipping off the water! Once I got comfy, I did catch a couple gals and then another. Then, I was all by my lonesome for miles and miles. At times, wondered if I was still on the bike course or just riding aimlessly around St Pete! Really easy to flake out in that situation especially when the legs are disagreeing with the pain! This is the result of a bad swim - the pack has left! Still tried to push and had a little company over the last 3-4 miles so got motivated again. Off the bike, on the run, got into my goal pace right away. That lasted about a mile! Just didn't have the legs to continue the pace I wanted. In survival mode, just tried to keep pushing and not lose too much time. I did pass a few gals on the run but was so far out of it, I was just trying to stay positive. I did push as hard as my legs would allow! I think some of the cold I had previously settled into my lungs a bit and found breathing a bit tough during the run but no excuses here! Overall, good workout and I definitely need to be sure to recover for Florida 70.3 on 5/15! The Dane did win his age group which he has been chasing for years so all was not lost on the day! We had a blast during the weekend! Great to catch up with so many people! Onward.
Cheers