St. Anthony’s Triathlon

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St. Anthony’s Triathlon-April, 28th 2019

 

This past weekend was my 11th time racing in St. Pete at the 36th annual St. Anthony’s Triathlon.  The day before the race, I was asked what an 8th win at St. Anthony’s would mean to me?  When I reflect back to each win, I think about how different each win was and how each was special in it’s own way.  This time around, prior to the race I was thinking that an 8th win would embody dedication, mental toughness and experience.

This year heading to St. Anthony’s, I was grateful to be on the starting line.  Five weeks ago, I had a fall on the bike that resulted in two weeks off from running.  I was able to run on the grass pain free three weeks prior to St. Anthony’s and figured if I was smart about mileage and my build up, I may just be able to race.  I wanted to make sure the calf was 100 percent before racing, so eight days prior to the race, I tested out the leg with 10x 800s on the track at 10K race effort.  The leg felt good and I was confident that I could race without an injury on race day.  A couple weeks off running is not too hard on the fitness; however, the timing was not the best for this particular race.  My plan was to swim and bike hard, and just do what I could on the run course.

Race morning was fairly calm compared to earlier in the weekend.  There was a bit of chop during the swim portion.  I ended up swimming in third position behind Jen Spieldenner and Lindsey Jerdonek.  I didn’t feel great in the swim, but tried to keep a solid position.  My swim gear for the day I had on my. I had my Blue Seventy PZ4TX to make me sleek in the water. For goggles on the day I used the BlueSeventy Elements in Orange Tint .

The bike course at St. A’s starts on the cobblestones, so I feel it’s a challenging race to get the cycling shoes on while riding on the cobbles.  A part of my right cycling shoe was jammed down and after several attempts, I just couldn’t get my strap unstuck.  I decided to just ride with the shoe a little lose and tried to catch up to Lindsey who was up the rode.  Lindsey had a great ride and pushed me the entire bike.  We went back and forth with the lead and she ended up exiting the bike just before me.  Like the swim, I didn’t feel great but just focused on constant pushing on the pedals and staying strong on the technical sections of the course. For the race gear I used  Fuji Norcom Straight 1.1 out fitted with SRAM e-Tap wireless shifting, SRAM Red Dzero Quarq Powermeter, ISM PN 3.0 saddle, Zipp Vuka Aero bars, Zipp 858 NSW Carbon Clincher, 30th Anniversary Super-9 Carbon Clincher Disc, both with Tangent Speed R25 Tires’ , Sampson Stratics Carbon Ti Pedals, Rudy Project Wing57 in my favorite color, Rudy Project Tralyx Slim in my Favorite color! . Here is my Quarq power-file presented by Training Peaks

Getting off the bike, my legs felt a bit heavy (which is normal off a tough bike).  On the run, I had no idea how my body and legs were going to hold up.  I had a cramp under my ribs at the start of the run, which I have noticed I have been getting in the early season races in years past, most likely due to the first really hard effort of the year.  Racing puts your body into another level that I feel you can only simulate during a race.  Lindsey ran just behind me until mile 2 and then I slowly put time in her each mile.  My plan going into the race was to try to avoid having the race come down to the run, but you just never know how a race will play out and you have to play your cards as they come.  I wasn’t sure if my legs would fall off or if I would fall off pace, but I just continued to push steadily until the end.  Fortunately, the legs felt pretty good in the run, but my body was really fatigued while running.  The last few miles, I thought about my kids who were at home and I wanted to do my very best for them, to show them to always do your very best.  I also think about all the sacrifices my family has made for my career; including my parents who were home helping to care for them.  All the hard, mentally tough, indoor training sessions this past winter and balancing everything suddenly becomes clear in that last mile.  I am running for them right now.  It’s their win just as much as it is mine.  My run gear for the day  Mission HydroActice Multi-Cool,  Rudy Project Tralyx Slim in my Favorite color,  Triflare Custom Lace Sarah Haskins line, T1 Pro Race belt, with Altra Escalante Racer’s on my feet. 

What does the 8th win mean now that I have achieved that goal?

I appreciate each win more than the last.  Each year I feel that I build upon life and racing experience that I carry on with me year after year.  Thank you to all my family, friends and sponsors who support me in this passion/job/career.

Thank you to all the staff and crew at St. Anthony’s who have made this race successful.  This is an iconic race with so much history and embodies what triathlon is all about.  First timers or 36th timers, athletes were there to accomplish goals, have fun and become part of the St. Anthony Triathlon community.