So first race of the season is under my belt and, a it was a
great experience. In a country I’ve never been, with a chance to test how the
winter has set me up, I was feeling good heading over to Florida.
It was nice that dad was able to make the trip with me,
taking away a lot of the stress of getting around, and immediately earned his
keep, as we had a two hour wait to clear customs out of the airport, and I was
very glad I wasn’t driving to the hotel after a long day traveling.
The lead up to the first race consisted of some easy
training, loosening off from the flight, having a look around the course, and
getting ready for my first Continental cup of the year.
So onto the race, and a wetsuit swim (just- 19.9 degrees…)
meant that I knew the pace was going to be on. A beach start, and a slow
reaction meant I was a couple of body lengths down, fortunately I was well
positioned on the start line, meaning I eased out of the pack, and worked round
the outside for the rest of the swim, to emerge on the feet of Ben Kanute, in
the lead.
A poor transition meant I just missed the lead pack, but
into the chase pack and I worked well with a few others, for the duration of a
flat bike, where I was sensible and held a good position, holding the leaders
to just 15 seconds. T2 was good, and then onto the run, and emerging in the
pack, I went with the pace for the first km, and then as others started to drop
back, I worked my way through the field with my best run to date, and equal to
my fresh pb.
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| Emerging from the swim in my new HUUB design wetsuit and Swans goggles |
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Beach start - watch out for the alligators
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| Some awesome shots in my new Red Venom Tri Suit |
In the end I finished in 20th place, meaning I came
away with points and overall a very positive mind-set leading into the second
race a week later.
A week training around Florida, with the temperature in the
mid to high 90’s every day was a welcome break from the horrid weather we had
been having in the UK, but all too soon it was time for the race briefing, and
then time to go, round 2.
This time a non-wetsuit swim, with the water at a balmy 22
degrees, (and the air close to 100F). My swim was far below par, but eventually
I made it out onto the bike, and into the chase pack.
Unfortunately there was a
split in the group just as I caught and it split into 3. With a strong wind, it
was hard work, and I worked in the group for most of the next lap, then leading into
the technical section I took to the front, attacked coming out, and then
decided to try to breach the thirty second gap on my own. Once I had caught back to the chasers , I worked
well leading into T2, however onto the run, and losing my bottle on the cycle
meant that I struggled round the 5k to end up 35th. Not the result I
was hoping for, but a lot to learn from.
A great experience, and if nothing else, nice to get some
decent weather, now time for some more training, in the lead up to the next race,
the elite duathlon champs in a couple of weeks at Windsor. Thanks once again to my sponsors: Anchura partners for helping me go out to Florida and race at this level, Red Venom for the awesome kit and support, HUUB design for the wetsuit, Swans for my race goggles, Sealskinz and Swimzi.
