2nd (again) at St. Anthony's

This past weekend. I headed down to St. Petersburg, FL to do the St Anthony's Triathlon, a race that I haven't done since 2005 when it was one of my very first pro races. It was also an opportunity to catch up with my parents, who came down for the weekend, my Gainesville-based sister Lauren, my brother-in-law Clay, his parents, Clayton and Linda, and my 8-month old nephew, Beckett (the star of the weekend). While racing is always fun, having family around always seems to make it that much more special. Thanks for cheering me on!

As for the race itself, the water conditions were so choppy that the race director had to cancel the swim leg for the amateur athletes. While I'm sure that there were many disappointed athletes, Philip definitely made the right decision. From the start, I was feeling really "flat" (certainly flatter than the water!) and realized that I might have to race a bit more conservatively than I might like. I let Jasmine Oenick dictate the pace of the swim and sat on her feet as we rounded the course. As we headed out on our bikes, I felt equally sluggish and made the decision to try to, as my coach says, "race smarter, not harder". Rather than push the pace from the start of the race, I sat back, hoping that I'd get my legs by the time we left T2. On the bike, we were met with windy conditions on the flat course. About halfway into the 40k ride, Bec Wassner, the eventual winner came storming by, and she was our new pace setter for the the remainder of the ride. By the time we entered T2, Sara McLarty had a 2 minute advantage on us after a blazing swim-bike combo. After the first 2 miles, Bec had a 20 sec advantage that I couldn't quite close. At least it didn't grow, I guess. Somehow I managed to catch Sara within 100m of the finish line to finish 2nd. I didn't think that I had a kick, but maybe I do! Although I didn't find that spark in my legs that I was hoping to find, I still managed to have a solid run (a good 90 sec faster than I had feared!). While I am a bit disappointed that I felt as flat as I did, coach assures me that, based on our training, it is no surprise that I wasn't as spunky as I might have liked to feel. Just as long as I find my groove by the end of the month, when I head to Madrid.

I am really looking forward to returning to St Petersburg next year. St Anthony's is an incredibly well run race and they treat the pros incredibly well, setting us up with great homestays and transporting us to and from the airport. Thanks, especially to my homestay, Lu and Norma!