Good Grief!!

I was on my bike yesterday from 1:30-3:00. I headed out south on 115/Nevada for some rolling hills (and a change-up to my typical riding locations). It was a beautiful day as I headed out and for 50 minutes, the ride was sunny and bright...and then I turned around and started heading home. That's when things went down-hill (literally and figuratively because the ride actually has more downhills on the way back:)...these massive dark gray clouds had moved in from over the mountains and they started dumping their contents on me. HAIL!!!
What the!?!? It was May 29th...2 days until the month of June...and I was getting HAILED on in the middle of the day. The temperature must have dropped 7 or 8 degrees in a few minutes because I was not dressed in preparation for HAIL, rain, and cold winds!
I was thankful for one thing...the sun that was shinning when I departed the OTC...I wore my sunglasses and they saved my eyes from multiple chunks of ice that were aimed right for my retinas:)! Fortunately, I made it home safely and not frozen...with just enough energy to quick-change into my running gear and hop on a treadmill for the completion of my Brick workout...like I was actually going to go run OUTside in that weather...one of the rare times I'll voluntarily get on a treadmill.
Speaking of Brick workouts...Tuesday afternoon's bike-run brick was one of 5 (yes, FIVE!) brick workouts that are on my schedule this week! Today I also had an afternoon bike-run brick...with beautiful weather the whole time. Tomorrow morning we are doing another bike-run brick downtown on the Monument Valley trail. Friday, like Monday, is a rare non-brick day. Saturday morning we will be riding our bikes on the pool deck for another fun swim-bike brick session. And the training week ends with a Sunday morning (or whatever time I get around to starting) bike-run brick!! Look out Vancouver and Des Moines (my next two races)...I am not going to have any problems switching from swimming to biking and then biking to running during the race...lots and lots and lots of practice!:)

Going GREEN!!!

I feel like I have always been an environmentally conscience person...I print on both sides of paper, I reuse paper and plastic bags, I use glass cups instead of paper cups in the cafeteria, I do some of my errands on my bike, I sign up for the all-electronic-billing options, etc. But, after a suggestion from a family member, I'm actually going to start doing more for the environment.
The environment is where I make my living...I breathe the air...I swim in the water...I run on the land...I want to treat it better. I don't want this to turn into a short-term fad for myself, so I'm going to take small steps. And at the same time, I'm going to encourage everyone else to take those small steps with me. Eventually, I want to encourage major changes (like encouraging the OTC to be more conservative and environmentally friendly and asking triathlon races to be carbon-neutral) but I have to prove that change is possible on the individual scale before I try to tell other people they should make huge changes.
Today, I took my first major step to 'Go Green'. I joined GreenDimes...it's a for-profit organization that does all the work to stop junk mail from being mailed to you. They estimate that each year, we use 100 Million trees and 28 Billion gallons of water just to mail all those catalogues and fliers that go straight from the mail box into your garbage can! What a waste!
Lately, I have found a ton of junk piling up in my OTC mail box...when you order from one company (online or by mail), they love selling your address to other companies! When I get back from a long trip or race, I literally fill up my garbage can with Useless Junk Mail while I'm sorting out my checks and letters from my Grandmother (who else still writes letters via snail-mail?:)
This GreenDimes company also plants one tree a month for each of it's members...they work with orginizations that encourage re-forestation and sustainable farming in Third World Countries. Check out the website for more information! So, I'm going to get less junk mail here and have 12 trees planted somewhere in the world...it's a small step, and I'm excited about this new path I'm walking.

Triathlon On TV!

Shocking, isn't it! It happens so infrequently that I have every right to celebrate a TV station airing a triathlon...especially in the USA! Click HERE for the article on USAT's website that gives more information.
The basic info is: FOX Sports is going to broadcast the first 4 World Cup races...starting with Mooloolaba on Tuesday, July 3rd...and then Ishigaki on the next Tuesday...Portugal the next Tuesday...and South Africa on the 4th Tuesday. I only participated in the Ishigaki World Cup (and then only about 95% of the race) but I'm sure I will be on TV!

National Champ Race Photos

"Take Your Marks"...I'm number 58, in between Sarah Groff and Becky Lavelle.

Hanging on to good running form...this is about 250 meters from the finish line...don't miss the awesome GATOR colored elastic-shoe-laces that I'm sporting!

I love this angle, because even though there were 4 other girls right behind me out of the water...no one is in sight in this photo:)

Rocking the Litespeed...and our new Rudy Project helmets that are custom designed with the USAT logo (hard to see, but it's there:)!

Un-Typical Colorado

Want some proof of Global Warming happening right now...Colorado is freaking FREEZING and it's almost the month of JUNE! Just the other day, on Wednesday when I got back from Hawai'i (where it was warm and beautiful), it actually SNOWED in the mountains around COS!!
I've been bundled up in long pants and sweatshirts since my return from Honolulu...and it pretty much sucks! I got off the plane in COS before noon and got back to the training center in time for the group ride leaving at 12:30. I was going to open my bike box and quickly build my bike...but the rush was not necessary because it started to pour down freezing rain outside! The group ride was canceled...and I ended up in the basement cycle room watching Pirates of the Caribbean 2 for 2.5 hours! BORING!
After the ride, I did some more indoor training with a 40 minute run in the gym on a treadmill. It was the perfect welcome back to COS...I just jumped right back into the training routine. The next day was no cake-walk either. We started at 7:30am on the pool deck for another swim-bike brick session. (I LOVE these!) After warm up, we did two bricks of 400, 300, 200 meters swim on 1:20 base, jump out, run around the pool, hop on bike and ride hard for 10 minutes. (The first 2 minutes were suposed to be hard to catch a pack and then 8 minutes of in-pack riding...but I just made my 10 mintues like I was in a rotating pace line...kinda like Honolulu last weekend.) I was pretty much shot after this workout...I was falling asleep after breakfast.
Fortunately, I didn't fall asleep for too long because I was the first person on the schedule for an O2 workout in sports-med at noon. It was an intense session and I now realize how much I love oxygen! 5 by 1 mile at sub-10K pace with 90 seconds rest...and I made my pace for all 5! I'm a runner, I'm a runner, I'm a runner...sorry, did I write that out loud?:)
I spent 4 hours yesterday afternoon on this computer uploading items onto ebay. I've got 16 things for sale for my friend Sam McGlone...ebaying actually a pretty time consuming project. So far, a few of them already have bids...I guess we'll know in a week how well they sold!
Other than that, I just got an official invite in the mail to Carrie Berrie Pie's (aka: Carrie Ross) wedding in Delightful DeLand at the end of June. I so so so so want to be there on her special day...but it will be the 4th weekend in a ROW of traveling (although that travel wouldn't involve a 2 hour pain-fest called triathlon:)! I've got a decision to make!

Wandering 'round Hawai'i

The race was over on Sunday morning...the meetings were over by mid-day on Monday...and I finally got to explore and sight-see around Hawai'i! I mentioned in my previous post that I drove up to the North Shore with some friends.

On Tuesday morning I woke up late (relatively to the 3 and 4am alarms of previous days) and ate some breakfast in front of the TV. When I got motivated, I hoped on my bike to go practice on the race course for next year's race. In April of next year, I will be racing in Honolulu again...in that race, the first American finisher will qualify for the OLYMPIC GAMES!!

At the meetings on Monday, the race director came in and described next year's race course. Since it IS an Olympic qualifier, they wanted a course that is as much like the Beijing course as possible. So, in '08, we will be doing a 2 loop swim on the other end of Waikiki Beach...biking 5 loops out-and-back over the Diamond Head hill...and finishing on Ala Moana Boulevard for a 3 lap hot and flat run. The women's race will start somewhere between 12 noon and 1pm...yikes! It's going to be hot and humid...just like Beijing...so the best person for the course should qualify.

While I was exploring the Diamond Head road, I saw Jarrod (he got 4th in the men's race) and we decided to meet at Ala Moana Park to swim together...so I finished my ride to the park and swam the race course with some company.

When Jarrod headed home, I asked some of the lifeguards if they could point me in the direction of a guard named Bill. He went to high school with my mother...and when my parents stopped in Honolulu in January, they visited with him. So I introduced myself and we chatted for a bit on the beach in front of his guard tower.

It was already a hot day by 10am so I headed back to my hotel to shower, pack, and check out of my room. I left my bike box at the front desk and loaded up into my rental car for some more exploring outside of downtown Honolulu! I chose to drive east because there is a crater and some beaches that are beautiful. Unfortunately, the sign said the crater was closed on Tuesday (bummer) so i just decided to keep driving along the coast and stop at every Scenic Point and Overlook that I came across. It turned out to be a pretty neat day. Every few miles I pulled off the road and enjoyed the island sights...bright blue water, bare lava rock at the shore, white waves crashing onto everything, yellow sandy beaches full of locals and tourists...I also enjoyed looking inland at the huge mountains blanketed with tropical rain-forest plants, the peaks still hanging onto a heavy fog at mid-day.

I packed all my leftover food from the weekend and it turned into a bit of a picnic lunch at each stop. After spending a few hours along the coast, I turned inland on highway 61 which took me straight back to Honolulu...THROUGH the mountains! There were actually 2 tunnels that the road wound through and then it dropped right out at the main city. I drove right back to the rental car lot, returned my grey, power-less, economy car and prepared for a long night of traveling back to the mainland.

Race Weekend

Sunday morning was my national champs. It started bright and early at 6am...of course I had no problem staying out of the mid-day heat! I was part of a 5-person lead-pack on the bike course...we worked hard together and increased our lead on the chasers. On the run, I felt great! The heat didn't affect me. I kept good form the whole 10K.

Julie Swail, Sarah Haskins, and Laura Bennett had a great run...they pushed each other right to the finish line. I ran my own pace and I finished in a solid 4th place! After the race, we started the national team summit meeting before a great dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.

This morning, we finished our meetings at noon. I picked up my rental car then picked up Katie and Sharron for a short trip to the NORTH SHORE! I've finally been to the North Shore...it was beautiful but the water was pancake-flat! So we didn't see any surfing, but we did walk in the water, check out the gardens, chow on some Mexican food, and stopped at the famous shaved-ice stand for dessert!

My Latest Elite Update

I wrote a quick story about the race this weekend that was posted on the USAT website...check it out here!

Aloha Again

I don't usually do this...but I'm pressed for time and computer battery. So that is my excuse for just posting the same thing that I just sent to everyone I know in email. But I want to get a post up here since I'm in Hawaii...so here is my Pre Honolulu Press Release:

It’s been three weeks since my last race. Three weeks of really great training sessions, long nights of sleep, and a few days of nice rest. Tomorrow morning I will be waking up at 3:00am (Hawaii time) to get ready for the 2007 Honolulu Triathlon.
This year, the Honolulu race is our Elite National Championships, it is the first qualifier for the Pan American Games, and the first qualifier for World Championships. It is also an “ITU points race” so I can win some much needed points in my quest for making the Olympic Team for next year! There is a lot up for grabs across the finish line tomorrow and I’m looking forward to a strong result.
I flew over here on Thursday morning…4:30am departure from the OTC, 6:20am departure from the COS airport, and 11:30am arrival in Honolulu. The trans-Pacific flight from LAX was very nice because I was upgraded to first class…no special reason, I just used some upgrade certificates that were about to expire:). But it did give me some more leg room and a comfy seat for the five hour flight.
I’m rooming with my good friend (and last year’s Honolulu Triahtlon Champion) Jasmine at an average hotel that I found with a kitchenette. I’m here for almost a week so saving money by eating at ‘home’ for some meals is one way to go.
It’s Saturday morning, still dark outside because I set my alarm for 4:00am. We’ve got a training session down at the beach at 6:00am and I want to stay on Colorado time as much as possible. So, it really doesn’t feel bad to be awake right now…or so I keep telling myself!
Later, Gators!
Sara McLarty:)

Insteads

Instead of getting my gear packed for Honolulu (because I leave on Thursday morning)...I'm just going to write about how I should be getting my gear packed.
Instead of switching over my cassette tonight so I don't forget in the morning (before my last bike ride before traveling) I'm just going to write about how I should be changing my cassette.
Instead of going to sleep before 11pm (which has just passed) I'm just going to write about how I should have gone to sleep before 11pm.
Other than that, I've been pretty productive. I must have just replied to over 20 emails...my inbox is under 30 which is pretty low for me. I try not to let emails sit for too long with out a reply...sometimes they get lost at the bottom of the list...but I usually make up for the long delay with a very extensive reply and I'm sure the reader gives up before finishing reading the entire thing:)
I have successfully washed my 3 loads of laundry so I've got plenty of clean clothes to pack for Hawai'i. Actually, I would probably be fine to pack without doing laundry because the clothes I've been wearing in COS would not be a good idea in Honolulu. Jeans, long sleeves and sweats...probably not a good suggestion for the heat and humidity that I'm heading towards this weekend. Those clothes are perfect for the freezing rain and overcast skies that rolled over COS today (after 4 days of perfect Spring weather) and we spent 2 hours outside on the Colorado College track working with Bobby McGee on running drills and pre-race activation.
I ran to the local Performance Bike Store between lunch and the running session for a laundry-list of bike supplies that I need. Of course they didn't have a SINGLE thing in stock at the store...what a waste of a 15 minute drive through the crappy part of town. I walked out with ONE thing that I needed...a 12-23 cassette for the flat bike course in Honolulu this weekend (they didn't have the Dura-ace model in stock, though!). I couldn't resist the Tuesday Lunch Time sale...10% off your purchase if you shop between 12 and 2 on Tuesdays...make your plans accordingly:)

Oh What A Day

It started with a swim practice that gave me nightmares of college swimming...after the main set my forearms and fingers were cramped up and my water bottle was completely empty!
Of course...the main set was only 10 x 300m and I did them on 3:45 instead of like 20 x 500y on 5:00 (my most memorable workout at UF...because I actually MADE all 20 of those 500s!)...but it's all relative now and the altitude is always a factor (excuse) that I love to use!
Practice was from 7:30 to 9:00 in the pool and we had 30 minutes to rush through the cafeteria for some chow before meeting at 9:30 for a group bike ride over to Gold Camp road for three ascents of the paved road (takes me about 9 minutes at 100% effort). Again...its not like I'm trading pulls with Matty Reed and Mark Fretta...I'm at the tail end of the group doing my best and watching my heart rate fly off the radar for the last quarter mile. We actually finished up with a fourth ascent of the road for a cool down...that one took me about 15 minutes to climb because we were actually at 'conversation' pace:)!
After lunch I was out for the count...a 2 HOUR food/exhaustion coma. I really don't think my body moved while I was sleeping because I woke up very stiff and exactly how I lay down! But that wasn't going to stop me from finishing off my training log with the 40 minute jog...no sir-e...I headed out on the road at about 12-minute-per-mile pace knocking out some serious fitness.
The remainder of my day was split between some shopping at Target, getting work done on the computer (I was a bit behind on email because the internet was down for about 12 hours:), eating dinner with some friends, and I just finished watching "Blood Diamond" with Leo DiCaprio (good movie)!
If the pattern continues, tomorrow is my last big day of training before the volume really drops off for the race next Sunday in Honolulu. Monday will probably be a nice day off...maybe with an optional swim (humm? Will I swim?) and I've got a massage appointment before another relaxing yoga/stretching/breathing class.

Good Sportsmanship

Today was a simple training day...just one workout in the morning. At 8am I was in Sports Science, hooked up to the oxygen, and hauling butt on the treadmill for 7 x 1K at race pace!!
My last two running workouts have been outside in the thin air on Tuesday and Wednesday. I noticed during both workouts how much my chest was hurting and how easy my legs felt.
BIG difference today! With the oxygen it's completely opposite...my lungs and heart are just hanging out while my legs are screaming! So I guess that's what it is going to feel like next weekend in Honolulu at 1 foot above sea-level:)
After the run workout I had to hurry through a shower and breakfast before heading over to Cheyenne Mountain Elementary School where I gave a fun 30 minute presentation on Sportsmanship. The kids were so darn cute, good listeners and they paid attention the whole time. They loved the stickers we gave them afterwards. There were a couple of USAT staff members there and I got some photos from Jason:

All 250 kids at the school attended the Sportsmanship presentation in the gym.

I was up on stage talking about ways to display good sportsmanship...not sure if I actually need the microphone, but I tried not to deafen everyone:)

After the presentation, I got back to the OTC for a little 'down time'. I've had some discussions with the other triathletes here and we have come to the unofficial conclusion that after an O2 (oxygen) workout, the tiredness hits you a bit later than after a normal workout...it's like once all the extra oxygen has left your blood stream, you body suddenly realizes how hard it worked!

But, I had to wake up from my nap in time to walk over to the "recovery center" for a 1 hour massage...let me remind you to NOT be jealous that I get 1 hour massages. These are not nice relaxing 'hot stone' massages or something...they are painful deep tissue work and sometimes involve involuntary screams of pain when the masseur finds the tender spots:)! And they also involve consuming large quantities of water afterwards to flush your body of all the junk that got flushed out of the muscles! So, basically, I'll be peeing every 5 minutes for the rest of the day:)

Painful And Fun

The swim/bike brick workout this morning on the pool deck was awesome! I'm so glad that I was in town for this one (I missed a similar session 2 weeks ago because I was traveling to Tampa).
After the very painful and intense workout, I realized that those are the types of sessions that keep me interested and excited about my sport and my job. It's the creative and different sessions that come along just once-in-a-while to keep things interesting...they break up the monotonous 3 hour bike rides and 5000 meter swim workouts. The intensity pushes you to your personal limits and when you're on a trainer, you can't compare your speed to the person next to you. It forces you to compete with yourself and learn how hard you can motivate yourself.
I was completely dead after the session! After warming down, everyone made a bee-line to the cafeteria for a huge breakfast to refuel. I had to make sure that I had enough to recover and get ready for a pretty solid running workout later in the day...there was also a nap thrown in there to help that recovery:)
Another big day tomorrow...I'm feeling strong and fit and looking forward to the next race...Nationals in Honolulu are next weekend!

Bikes On Deck

It's almost 7am on Wednesday morning...I just woke up to chow on an energy bar before wheeling my bike over to the OTC pool. Practice starts at 7:30 so I've got about 30 minutes to set up my bike on a computrainer on the pool deck! We are doing a swim/bike brick training session today. After warming up on the bike and in the pool...the main set is 4 times: 200 meter swim at race pace, hop onto your bike for 1 minute all out (like catching a pack) and 4 minutes at 'in pack' pace!
To be honest, I don't know what it's like to go HARD on my bike right after swimming...usually I'm going easy waiting for someone...but we'll see what it feels like today!
Sounds like a fun workout...I'm excited! And I'm late...got to go:)

A Very Productive Day

I spent about 3 hours in front of the TV this afternoon. Barely moving a muscle, just flipping through 40 channels because my attention span is very short. I've got a list on my desk of things I need to get accomplished...but for those couple of hours, I couldn't care less!
Of course I'm going to give you a reason...are you ready for it?...From 10am to 1:20pm today, I was doing one of the hardest training sessions of my life!!!
At 8am I woke up to the sun streaming through the cracks of my blinds...although it ended my slumber, the bright light did mean that it wasn't disgusting and raining outside. And if it wasn't disgusting and raining outside, that meant that my three hour bike ride was not going to be on a computrainer in the basement! Instead, it meant that I was going to ride down to the coffee shop and join the Sunday morning 10am group ride that climbs about 10 steep and painful climbs during it's 3 hour trek of COS and the surrounding area.
I got dressed in what I thought was going to be enough warm cycling clothes for the cool weather that has blown through the area...but 2 seconds on the road and I knew that the uphills were going to be perfect but every time I had to fly down-hill at speeds around 40 miles and hour, I was going to be quite chilly (especially when you add the sweat-factor...the more you sweat on the up-hill, the colder you become on the down-hill).
So my Litespeed and I joined some other triathlon teammates and about 40 other local cyclists and headed over to the Air Force Academy. This was my first time on the Sunday group ride (been on the Saturday one plenty of times) so I had to ask a few people what the route was. Once we got on the campus, the speed took off and the big group splintered into small packs for about 5 miles but then it re-grouped. Then we headed off up a big climb and the group splintered again...but then regrouped at the top. I was beginning to like this ride...I know that I can't keep up with the likes of Matty Reed...but he'll be waiting up the road a bit and then I can try to hang on to his wheel again for as long as possible:)!
So we finished the loop in the Academy and then headed over to Woodmen road for another long, long, long climb. Crested that one (regrouped) and headed down towards Garden of the Gods. At this point, the temperature was really dropping and the storm clouds were rolling over the mountains. Jasmine and I opted to pass by GOG and start heading back to the OTC...hoping to beat the rain. But, as we rode down Colorado Street into a massive head wind, somehow the rain managed to catch us!! It wasn't too bad, we got a bit misted before coasting through the welcoming gates of the OTC and hopping into a toe-thawing hot shower followed by a tummy-filling lunch followed by 3 hours of channel-surfing.
That was my Sunday, May 6, 2007 in a nut-shell:)

Surprise On My Training Log

Last night, when I checked my training log for today's workouts...I was thrown a curve ball! The first thing on the list was "Garden of the Gods 5 Mile Road Race"...ummmm, OUCH!
I was up early this morning for some pre-race breakfast and then headed out the door with my friends Jasmine, Mike and Yonni. Since I'm the lucky one with a vehicle, we all piled into the Xterra to drive through some light rain towards GOG (official COS abbreviation for Garden of the Gods...I'm not sure where the 'the' went in the GOG but you get the point). We had to park about 1.5 miles away from the start but that made for a perfect warm up run.
Unfortunately, it wasn't much of a 'warm' up because it was freezing outside with strong winds and occasionally some light rain showers. I did the best I could to stay warm...found some other triathlete friends doing the race (Matty and Kelly) and saw Cliff on his bike ready to motivate and cheer.
The first 1 mile of the course is directly UP hill. There is no gradual incline off the starting line, it's just up hill running for 7 or 8 minutes (depending on how well you paced yourself:). I just got back to altitude on Thursday so I was in no rush to kill myself from oxygen deficit...my first mile was nice and slow and my lungs were already burning.
At the 1 mile mark, we hit our first down hill section and I was pleased to see that all my practice has started to pay off as I was able to fly by a ton of people as I pounded down that road, arms flailing, legs churning! Of course that only lasted for a few seconds before we were heading back up hill. There isn't a single flat section of road in Garden of the Gods and that's what made this run a really great challenge...it was all about keeping my form together going down, going up, and surging over the crests of the hills.
We do a lot of cycling training around the GOG loop but I've never been running in the park. Along with the huge bike/walking path on the edge of the road, there are miles and miles of trails that wind through the rocks and rivers. After the race I jogged along some of the trails for my cool down...just watch out for the poke-y cactus and yucca plants.

St. Anthony's Photos

Pre-Race dinner on the St. Petersburg Pier. We had a ton of friends and family join us for some yummy grub.

Race morning on Spa Beach...with another pretty sunrise behind me. Check out my awesome GATOR race suit...orange and blue baby!

And we're off! I've grown accustomed to the dive-starts at ITU races...this 'run-into-the-water' thing always makes my heart rate skyrocket:)

I Never Learn

When ever I have an opportunity to come home to DeLand...after a race, or for the cold months, or just to visit...I always look forward to relaxing and just kicking back with my family.
Anyone who has ever met my family will be laughing right along with me. RELAX is not a word that is understood on the McLarty Farm! When I'm training hard in COS, I have these images of sitting and watching TV, maybe sleeping-in, reading a book, etc.
Of course, when I get here...it's nothing like I dreamed. For each of the three days after the St. Anthony's race (of course, it wasn't much of a race for me due to bike mechanical problems) I have put in miles on the bike, meters in the pool, and more miles on the running trails!
My mom and I swam in the lake today and to make our swim speeds even...I had a kayak tied to my right ankle! My dad and I went on the 30 mile Airport ride this afternoon...but not without heading out an hour early to get 20 extra miles! I visited the Daytona Beach Swim team yesterday afternoon and Coach Steve had a nice hard set of 150s to wear me out!
I have decided that it's in Florida that I should be having dreams of relaxing when I get back to Colorado Springs. At least I don't have to cook for myself at the OTC and that wipes out about 1 hour each day that I can maybe exchange for a cat-nap of sorts:)
Tomorrow morning I will be saying good-bye to ol'McLarty's Farm again and departing the oxygen-filled-sea-level for the mile-high-COS. I'm flying out of O'Town to COS via Denver...keep your fingers crossed that the check-in people aren't having a bad day and try to charge me $85 for my bike box (I didn't make one penny on this trip so I'm already in a financial hole from this race...no need to dig it deeper:).

Sunshine State Again

No matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to escape the Sunshine State and all it's warmth! I keep thinking my address is in Colorado, at least that's what all my address labels say...but then I spend all January in Florida, I spend Feb-April in Australia's Sunshine State, and now it's the beginning of May and I'm waking up in my childhood bedroom in Delightful DeLand, Florida!
Unlike the bursts of snow in Colorado that make it hard to determine what season it is...the bright sun and long days of summer are very obvious here. Fortunately, on Sunday morning in St. Petersburg, there was a constant breeze along the water that kept most of the St. Anthony's race course cool and comfortable.
The professional (or should I say 'elite') men and women were the first two waves into the water at 7am. This year the water was nice and calm...no sea-sickness to report. I had a nice lead out of the water but quickly lost it and about 11 other places during the bike (only my own lack of preparation to blame for the 1 hour and 10 minute bike split). I got off the bike and used my freshness to my advantage to have a super fast run split and almost catch my brother!!
At the 5 mile mark, I recognized him in front of me so I put in a surge to catch up. Right when I ran up behind him at the 5.5 mile mark, he recognized my breathing, glanced behind, and took off sprinting to the finish line! I had nothing left to respond to his attack so I just eased up and let him finish a few seconds ahead (of course he had already beat me by 3 minutes).
My parent's mixed gender relay team won their division, I finished 11th in the elite division, and Dustin broke the top-20 in the elite-age-group with a 19th place.
Before the race, I spent a few days hanging out with Beth and Robert in St. Pete and I can't thank them enough for their hospitality and letting me devour the contents of their fridge:). After the race, I packed out of the condo and loaded into my family's truck to spend a few days at home. I'm about to head out on a cool morning jog with my mother (she's on her bike) before the sun gets too intense!