Racing Update

Last weekend (July 5th) I wrapped up the sprint triathlon portion of my racing season at the Crystal River Sprint Triathlon in Crystal River, Florida. As I have come to learn with any race, I cannot expect everything to go as perfectly as I would like. While I was making my usual race day preparations on July 4th (getting my racing gear together and testing out my Zipp wheels on my bike),the brake cables on the bike snapped, leaving me panicked and wondering what to do for my race in less than 12 hours. Brakes are kind of a necessity! Since it was July 4th and all of the bike shops were closed for the holiday, I decided to race on the bike that had been sitting in my garage for about 2 years and hadn't been raced on since the beginning of 2006. Because this bike had a different cassette on it, I was unable to switch my Zipp racing wheels onto it, so I raced with my training wheels. Not really knowing what to expect from the race, I went in with the mindset that I would take this as a challenge to have a fast bike split with average equipment.

The result: my fastest bike split of the year! I averaged almost 22 miles per hour on the 15 mile out and back bike course and was able to pair that with decent swim and run splits to win the women's overall title and set a new course record! This was definitely a confidence booster for the racing season ahead of me. As my former cross country coach would say, "You have put in the work, now it's time to go get the paycheck."

Now that my sprint season is over, I am moving up to olympic distance triathlons, starting with the Nautica NYC triathlon next weekend in New York. More to come on that race soon!