I don’t know who showed up on Sunday to race at St Anthony’s, but next time let’s tell her to leave the sinus issues at home. I had a friend ask me, “So are you motivated or devastated?” Shoot… if one disappointment was all it took to break my spirit I’d have dropped out of college, stopped swimming, quit my job, and vowed to never date again. In triathlon, it’s the “off” races we endure and the things that go wrong that make us stronger, motivate us to try harder, and teach us how to race smarter. 
St Anthony’s triathlon is an amazing race venue. The race has been held for 28 years and this year hosted one of the largest and most competitive pro fields. The level of organization for such a large race (including the expo, transition area, meetings, set-up, volunteers, etc.) was impressive. The course is amazing- ocean swim; flat and technical bike; fast out-and-back run… I was ready and excited for St Anthony’s. Too bad I didn’t get to race it. Let’s just say I left my pro race debut quite differently than I had expected. I’m not talking about the “eye opening experience” some people expected I’d have racing against some of the best pro triathletes in the world. Neither am I talking about the “shock” other people thought I’d have attempting the switch from IM distance to Olympic distance racing. I was prepared for those to creep in. No, my first taste of pro racing was quite different than I’d expected. 
What I mean is I was ready to RACE. Ready to hang on for dear life to swimmers around me, knowing there were some even further ahead. Ready to push harder than ever on the bike just to stay amongst the other racers, knowing I wouldn’t be able to hang with some. Ready to gut out my fastest 10k to date, knowing my run split would fall short in comparison to the “runners” in the sport. 
Instead, I was playing catch up to the middle swim pack after the long run into the water and having my goggles torn off. Ironman mass starts were tame in comparison to the frenzy at buoy #1. Next, let’s discuss the ½ mile run to T1 (since the swim was cut in half and location changed at 5am race morning). T1 for age groupers= a transition from the swim to the bike. T1 for pro racers= another opportunity to get ahead of the competition and one step closer to prize money. Lesson learned. My bike was relatively uneventful unfortunately. I caught 3-4 women but didn’t have that extra gear to light things up and push harder. As for the run, I was confused why my body was physically shutting down when mentally I was ready to go. Legs were heavy and I was shuffling along at what felt like marathon pace. Afterwards, I spoke with coaches discussing the race but was still quite confused. I am the type of person who likes to figure out what went wrong so I can plan around it for the next race. It wasn’t until later that night when I lost my voice and was congested that I figured it out. I thought staying hydrated, off my feet, and napping would help what felt like the start of something. Guess not. The same thing had happened in 2009 at Kona- able to finish the race, but well below my expectations and abilities. Oh well- it happens. Just glad to know why things were out of sorts and ready to move on. 
There were plenty of great things about the weekend, so let’s focus on those. 1. I met with a new sponsor: 110% recovery gear. They provide comfortable apparel that not only provides compression but has pockets to hold cold/warm packs for convenient and effective recovery. Click on the link to the right to get to their website.
2. Got to experience racing at the professional level and loved it!! This is exactly the motivation in racing I need to step my game up.
3. The condo I stayed at was above and beyond my expectations in terms of convenience and quality. Extended family members from the Regal Boat company graciously let me stay there. It turned out to be the “hub” of activity since it was mere yards away from the transition area. Thank you again!
4. First race wearing my Aquaman speedsuit- it fit great and had no hassles getting out of it in T1.
5. New TriSports.com uniform shorts fit great!! Thank you!
6. Got to coin the term “Scoot n Sniff” (for better or worse).
7. First time racing on my new Zipp disc wheel- love the sound of race wheels!
8. Met new people, enjoyed catching up with other racers I hadn’t seen yet this season, spent a great weekend in the sun.
9. Learned that every detail of the sport counts at the professional level- transitions, nutrition, recovery, strength, motivation, etc. Let's make them all count!
10. Met Paul Phillips of Competitive Image (http://www.competitiveimage.us/). For an AMAZING video highlighting the pro race check out this link: https://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=1980258587406&comments
9. Learned that every detail of the sport counts at the professional level- transitions, nutrition, recovery, strength, motivation, etc. Let's make them all count!
10. Met Paul Phillips of Competitive Image (http://www.competitiveimage.us/). For an AMAZING video highlighting the pro race check out this link: https://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=1980258587406&comments
miss
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