As promised, here is today's race report.



Let me start off by saying that the race did NOT go anywhere near planned. On my end at least.



Weather: Temp of 79f with variable clouds turning into rain at the end of the run...winds strong at 20mph sustained.



We started off checking in our bikes at 1:30 in the afternoon (this is EST remember), which included rulers and strings to check for proper bike geometry and sizing. Helmets were also looked over in great detail for any defects or out-of-the-ordinary set-ups on them. Once I had gotten everything checked in and my chip onto my ankle, I went out for a run to warm-up and get loose. The warm-up felt great. I did two strides that felt excellent and decided to cool it and stretch.



We all moved towards the starting area around 2:45 and watched the women's wave go off promptly at 3:00p EST via an in the water start. (They held a yellow rope out to make the start line in the water). We, the men, began moving down to enter the water shortly there-after and entered the lake at 3:11 in the afternoon. I moved out towards the yellow rope and found an empty gap, and I took it. When the horn went off at 3:13 I took off only to have some other athlete take my head and push in straight down into the water mid-breath. I took in a ton of water, and came up sputtering. I didn't have anytime to think about it though as the entire field was moving on. I basically coughed up water the entire swim, and to top it off, due to my lack of being able to breath from the coughing, I fell a bit behind the main pack and therefor managed to somehow spot to the wrong buoy and spend 30sec going off course. Sure, 30sec may not sound like a lot of time, but you'll see in a minute that it hurts more than you'd think.



I was one of the last out of the water which meant while everyone else was getting to ride in a pack (some packs of 7 others, the main one, of 18) I was solo riding the course in 20mph winds. This began to take its toll on me very quickly. Remember, in ITU racing we can draft, except I had nobody to draft off of. For those that don't know the benefits of drafting, when you draft you can go the same speed as a non-drafting person while using 40% less energy. The packs walloped me pretty badly. It was, according to mom and dad, very hard to watch as there was nothing I could do. Add to that, the course was more of a crit style course meaning that each lap was 3.1mi and full of super tight and very technical turns, so I was never able to hammer up to speed and catch the main group. I will admit, I began to get a bit demoralized here.



Coming into the second transition, I got a second wind knowing that I was a strong runner and put the hammer down. This was were a number of athletes began to drop out from fear of having a low finish. I, as you all can guess, refused to quit. I actually began to catch people that had lapped me (the run course was 1mi per loop so that lead bike group had a lap and half lead on me going into the run). I felt good on the whole run and was able to stay in good form until the 5th lap were I started to simply run out of energy. I still pushed on and came across the finish looking strong and avoiding the medical tent (unlike many others...I just don't want to go into them).



In simple terms, I was the last male to cross the finish line. My 12th ever triathlon, and it was probably the most horrid I will ever have. It was a rough, and very hard race to endure. This is a whole new world I am in now. One mistake or stroke of bad luck can compound quickly (getting nearly drowned at the start), and make for a very painful and miserable day.



I learned though. I was also told by the Team USA members that I shouldn't sweat it as the first PRO race is not a pleasant experience anyone.



That's for sure.



I know what I have to do though, and I know next race will be a whole different story. I'm going to spend more time in the pool over the next four weeks and get the swim right in Colorado so that I am not left alone on the bike and can then utilize my running background more effectively. I got my first one under the belt, and that is what matters. I may have been the last across the finish line today, but I didn't give up like the 10-15 others that did. I can promise you that because of that, next time I'll be in the upper echelon across the line.



Next race: Longmont Colorado ITU Pan American Cup/U23 National Championships (August 12th)



P.S. I am not doing the Evergreen Triathlon next week. I'll be there to help run it, but I wont be racing. I'll be focusing on training instead.

The first ITU race of my career as a professional athlete is this weekend, July 14th, in Geneva, New York. What makes this such a unique experience (beyond it being y first PRO race) is that I will be allowed to draft on the bike, start the swim from a dive (off of a platform), and I'll be racing in the mid to late afternoon. All of these are going to be new and different factors of the race. Oh, and there is the fact that it is going to be really, really fast :)

This race sees former USA Olympian, Victor Plata, current collegiate national champion, Kevin Collington, USA Elite Development and National Team members John Dahlz, Michael Orton, Mark Fretta, Doug Friman, Matt Seymour, and many other highly talented athletes. It is going to be an All-Star field on the starting line Saturday afternoon.

Training has been nearly flawless over these last few weeks which has really helped my confidence levels. I feel fit and ready to race. I know that this is going to be a very fast-paced race with a lot of learning going on from my end of things. But, that is okay with me. I have to start somewhere and I plan to make that first appearance and impression count. While I plan to use this as a learning experience of sorts, that in no way means I don't want to compete. In fact, the exact opposite is true. I plan to go out there and rock the Triathlon world with a fast, smooth, and top notch performance.