Athleta Iron Girl 2011 Pre Race thoughts

Tomorrow I am settling in on doing a hometown race. Im so glad I get to sleep in my own bed! Although I will be waking up at 4:30 in the morning to be out the door by 5 as parking seems to be a big factor this year.

I have raced this Sprint triathlon the last 2 years and it is so inspiring to watch all the people that I have trained with week by week in the same venue through our Local Triathlon Club, CNY Tri. (Which has made USAT rankings as one of the clubs with highest members, 1,000+) We cheer each other on, we hoot and holler at each other, its just a fun race. This year it grew to 1,200 participants and sold out within 3 weeks time. Talk about a hot triathlon!! (If you are a single male this is a race you dont want to miss!! ;P )

Anyways, I racked my bike today and the transition area has been moved from previous years where it was a grassy transition to the parking lot pavement. Transition was long last year, but its even longer this year from the swim. Last year the swim course was off about a 100 meters and I made it back to shore in 8 min. This year it is going to be well calculated and I know that time will go up to around 10-11 minutes.

The bike course has changed too!! We are going out a different way, adding about .5miles onto the course. No big deal there but it will definately change bike times! Last year I was 50:25(? sec) for 18.8 miles. Lets see If I can bring that down to 47-48 min. I am faster on my bike this year, but I am racing this after biking 2+ hours today. (I am all in my compression gear as I am typing away)

The run is a little different as well, but not much. It is having us go down a little path then onto the run course. Still a 5K no matter how we look at it. Last year I was 25:??. This year I am gunning for 24-25:00

I have been PRing all my other races this year, Im hoping to PR this one as well!!!

I asked coach if she thought I could do better than my 11th OA finish last year. She replied " You have PR'd every single race you've done this year! Everyone at that start line has a chance to win the race. Its what you can control that helps you win. Your FOCUS and Your INTENSITY!! Let it Rip!!"

Ok coach!!! GAME ON!!!!!!