Just got back from the Spirit of Racine and what a great race. This is the second race I have raced that was put on by HFP Racing and they do a great job. Everything from the volunteers to the race course to the food after the races was great! They even had slim jims at the finish. The aid stations on the run were jammed full of volunteers offering everything from water to gels to food.

On the flight over to WI from Maine my new Orbea frame was cracked in transit. I was a bit worried about riding a carbon frame with a crack on the downtube, but it seemed to ride ok when I tested it out the day before the race. I also had the race mechanic from Wheelie Fun check it out and gave me the OK. Race day morning went fairly routine, I did have to run to the start line which was about 1 mile away because it was a point to point swim. I made it to the start with about 5 mins to catch my breathe. When the gun went off I tried to stay with group, but about 300yds in I was swimming by myself again. During the swim the thing I am always waiting for is for the top pro women to come swimming over me. This had not happened this year, but it did this weekend. Not the best swim I have had this year but not too bad, 31:xx.

I got on my new Orbea bike was off to try and make up some time. The one complaint I do have with the race is the bumps in the road. Not pot holes but just lines in the road where I guess the road was fixed. Either way it was murder on my forearms. I just set up my profile aerobars so the only screw I had under the pad had a rounded top rather than a flat head screw. Every bump for 56 miles the head of that screw slammed into my forearms. Near the end of the bike I was riding with my forearms not touching the pads. I had a bit of trouble pushing hard on the bike and keeping my watts where I wanted but avg 273 watts for the ride, 2:13:xx. I got off the bike in 4th which I was a bit surprised about. I started the run and had a really tough time getting into a rhythm. It was a struggle from the very beginning. Some of that could have been due to the fact that I have only run over 6 miles once in 6 weeks due to tendonits. Either way I pushed on trying to hold back until about mile 8-9 then I start to push the pace. By doing this I think it helps me run even splits, which is the best for me, 1:16:xx. I passed one person on the run whom was in obvious pain so I moved up to 3rd where I stayed until the finish. Overal a pretty good day. None of my disciplines were great, but none were bad..

I would really like to thank Zoot Sports Team for the great equipment and allowing me to be able to travel to these great venues and compete against top pros. Again I would like to thank all of the volunteers they did a great job with support. Also to Shannon Kurek and Scott Erdman with HFP Racing for putting on a great race. I will definitely be back next year. Also I encourage others to check out either this race or the West Virginia Mountaineer for a well run race. There is also a good chance that I may be doing the Woodlands 101 race in Texas ;-)