The racing season kicked off and left me feeling positive about where the season is headed. Unfortunately I was the first guy to miss the prize money. The race started out as expected; I figured Thompson, Hauck, Miller, and Grossinger would take out the run at around 5:05 mile pace. I forced myself to hold back (it was really hard to let those guys run away) and went with the second pack, including my brother Eric, Cohen, Shelp, and Milner. I didn't get our first mile split but it was probably around 5:15. It felt weird to run fast again, but I was glad that it felt smooth and easy. Eric and I picked the pace up at the end, made up some ground on a few guys, and finished the first 5k feeling strong (and fortunately having no pain in my hip or achilles) in 16:19. Hauck and Thompson held strong to finish in 15:40ish. After a not surprisingly slow first transition (I got beat out of transition by 3 guys that I beat into transition), I got off to a good pace on the bike. It started out on a hill and there was a cluster of 5 guys. Since I put my shoes on before getting on the bike, I passed them all right away even though I knew it would only be for a few seconds...The two pro's Cohen and Shelp are strong bikers and passed me about a mile later. Milner went past shortly after them. Fortunately, that was the last time I got passed on the bike! The first 13 miles of the 20.4ish mile bike were really solid and I felt really good. I held a few of the guys ahead of me in sight for the first half hour, caught one guy, and was averaging 25.5 mph. The wind picked up alot and the last 7 miles were tough. I caught up to Hauck (who was dealing with a mechanical problem) and got off the bike in 6th place, averaging 23.5 mph for the bike split. I was successful in getting my feet out of the shoes while still riding and the first time I tried it was yesterday! I finally bought some specific triathlon shoes (Shimano TR50) which feel great. My second transition was pretty good, and I got my racing flats on without ripping the stitches out of my thumb. I'm usually excited for this part of the race because the run is generally my strength. But my calves were a rock from the first run and my running fitness is...well...not good. I got a glimpse of a guy or two up the road from me so I attempted to run them down. There is prize money for the top 5, with the 5th place guy getting 200 dollars! Plenty of reason to push the pace. I went through the first mile at a fast clip but I was still at least a minute down from the next guy. The fatigue was hitting me pretty hard at this point and my legs were not feeling so hot. It was probably a good thing that I was out of touch with the next guy because it would make losing 5th place by a small margin a lot harder. I tried to race through to the end as though someone was right in front of me but my pace slowed in the final stretch. I was surprised to see that I had the second fastest closing 5k behind Thompson. Hauck came in 20 or so seconds back from me and Eric was a minute after that. Eric has been sick this week and had a final yesterday so he was a little sleep deprived. And I know he isn't happy with his running fitness/injuries either.
Top 5 guys were: Thompson, Cohen, Shelp, Grossinger, Milner, respectively. Grossinger was the top amateur.
So the good things from today: 1) my running ability hasn't left me as bad as I thought it would so I'm confident that it will get back up there with more races in the coming weeks. The opening 5k didn't feel taxing which is even more reassuring. I just gotta stay healthy! Should have learned to be more patient in college... 2)I feel strong on the bike, although I faded pretty badly at the end. I know my cycling has improved a lot since last year, regardless of what the results showed. It will just take a few weeks of racing again to start to see the speed...hopefully
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