Over the weekend I competed at the St. Anthony’s Olympic
distance triathlon in St. Petersburg, Florida. With not that much high-end
speed work in my body I was unsure how I go against a stellar Pro field. I went
into the race without much pressure and did what I could. Which on Sunday was
good enough to put me in 6th Place.
With the good results in this area of Florida over the past few
years (St. Petersburg/ Clearwater) Kelly and I have always enjoyed coming back.
Unfortunately she has been stuck at home in NZ with health issues and is missed
more than words can describe. On a brighter note I did have a great homestay,
local celebrity and Oxiclean front man Anthony (Sully) Sullivan, his partner
Brett Stone and their 18month old girl Devon. They really helped me feel at
home and recover from the previous weeks race, plus Brett is a great cook. On
top of that Sully pitched the opening pitch at the Tampa Bay Rays baseball game
against the LA Angels, my first ball game, we went cruising in the Gulf in
their pimpin boat, caught a shark and didn’t get eaten. Thanks guys for opening
your house to me and making me feel at home.
My big goal last week was to get rid of the heavy feeling in
my legs, which with the help of my 2XU compression gear, Normatec boots, and
loads of massage I managed to do.
Then race day, I misjudged the time needed to get to the
start of the swim and ended up rushing down there, made it with a couple
minutes to spare. I ended up having a great swim and was in a good position
coming out of the water. Then it was onto the 25mile/ 40km bike. There was a
breakaway of 3 riders from the beginning and the main group failed to bridge
the gap. The bike stayed reasonably controlled and then with 5 miles to Tim
O’Donnell and I made a run for it. We managed to get off the bike with a small
buffer on the group but 4 guys up the road.
Heading onto the run my legs were stuck in 3rd gear.
I tried changing up my cadence and stride length but the pick up wasn’t there.
Tim ran by my, then Philip Osplay, by this stage I was in 4th gear.
Then another small group caught up and I was determined not to let them get
away so I changed into 5th gear. Unfortunately I was like a 5 speed
Jap import racing 6 speed Euro cars and was topped out. I was happy with how I
ran for my current fitness and held on for 6th place, which for the
time being I am okay to call this a “job well done.”
Next Stop is the St. Croix 70.3 down in the US Virgin
Islands. This is one of the hardest courses on the circuit, not only because of
the geographical terrain, but also the climate and the competition which this
year will include 7 times Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong.
I am still early in my come back from injury and just hoping
for a good race, do not expect any records to be broken… just yet.
Will fill you in on the stories next week.
