Races to Date

I guess it's been a pretty good season so far. I trained hard over the winter and really improved my swim and run. Things were going great right up until April when I started to have serous pain around my knee. It got so bad I couldn't really move up or down stairs and ended up having to take more than a month off and miss my priority race the Mooseman, a 1/2 IM. Turns out I had IT Band syndrome, and now three months later I'm still battling it, but at least I can race.

My first race was Mystic River Valley Sprint - I did this race last year and really wanted to return because it was flat, fast and is in a great location. Last year I placed third in my age group and was really proud to take home a cheesy trophy. This year the competition was much better but I improved on my time. I finished in 1:18 - 4th place in my age group and 27th overall. No trophy, but great time!

My second race was the Griskus Olympic, a pretty challenging Oly that I did last year. This is one of the most popular triathlons around and really draws some talented athletes. Last year I finished in 100th place and was very pleased. This year I finished in 84th with a time of 2:38. I had hoped to do better, but the bike is just killer.

My third race was Webster Tri up in Mass. I was new to this one and it was my third race in as many weeks. I was feeling addicted - mainlining triathlons is good for the soul. I bumped into some fellow Heat members or tri veterans. This sprint distance was super flat and super fast. The swim was great and I really was strong. It was followed by a 1/4 mile run to T2; jumped on my bike and stormed out on the flat roads; I was hammering on the bike trading places with three our four guys (fellow age groupers)and eventually nudged them out. Coming into T1 I'm still not great at popping out of my shoes and hopping off the bike. I stay clipped in and it costs me sometimes. This time I hit the front break a little too much and almost brought my back tire into my helmet. I got a chuckle and good save from the crowd as I steadied the bucking horse and ran into T2. On the run I was stiff, as usual from pushing such big gears, but loosened up at the turnaround. I picked up my pace and ran a negative split coming back finishing in 1:09:15, 5th in my age group and 42 overall out of a huge field.

I've been slacking the last few weeks on training because of work priorities and am now ramping back up. I'll need to really start getting back on schedule to prepare for the 1/2 IM at the end of September.

Upcoming races:

Massachusetts State Triathlon
Litchfield Hills Olympic
Timberman Half
Journey for Sight
Madison
Hammerfest
ExtremeMan or Nutmeg State Half