As some of you know, and others don't, I was quite sick these past two weeks...massive head-aches, loss of appetite, cramps, and extreme soreness. Needless to say, that meant I wasn't able to get in much to any training leading up to this race, nor were my energy levels all that high due to the loss of appetite. I was scared going into this race. It was the last race I needed to get my PRO card, and really my only good shot, or convenient shot, at getting the PRO card before this summer's ITU season began.

We had a wetsuit swim as the water was a warm 72 degrees (6 degrees under the legal limit for wetsuit use) and that went pretty well for me, minus the extreme roughness. People were in the mood to throw more elbows than usual this past weekend. Nonetheless, I came out of the water 4th for my wave, however, on the run up the hill to transition, felt really weak and tired (three cheers for a loss of appetite the week before!) and out of energy. So, I went out on the bike in a conservative fashion, staying relaxed and never hammering it, but just pushing right below my threshold line. I had the fastest bike split on the day. By now I was feeling real lose and relaxed...feeling good again. Though, I learned my lesson from the Florida race weekend and went into the run at a controlled pace. I soon realized there was someone right on my shoulder passing people along with me and keeping pace, I calmly told him he was free to go around (we were on a single track trail running hard-core cross-country style) and he politely declined in a winded breath. That made me feel good, he was tired. We then began to talk with each other as we continued to pass people. He, DeCook, told me he was already a PRO and just out for some fun. We ran together for 2.5 of the 5mi before he started to push off the front of us, and I told him to go for it (I wanted to play it safe and just cruise in). I ran the last mile, according to my clock, in 5:40 and still felt good enough to cheer people on as I caught them. DeCook won the race, but that was fine with me, I got 3rd overall and my PRO card as a result. Yes, I had lots left in the tank afterwards, but I saw no point in a senseless act of trying to win when all I needed was top 8...had I blown up like FL I may have lost my chance at a PRO card, so I was conservative, and it worked.

In short, or in summary, it was a great race, and nice to do an off-road run for a change.

My next race, the ITU race in Geneva, NY will not find me playing nice like I did with DeCook. Until then, I'll get in some good quality training, and keep you all posted on the outlook for that weekend's race.