Well, the Apple Du was a huge success. With all the hype of the duathlon world championships being held in the U.S. this year, a lot of talent from all over the U.S. showed up for this race hoping to earn a spot on Team USA and race at Worlds in September. With only the top 3 in each age-group earning a Worlds slot, a lot of talented elite athletes would be going home empty handed. I was happy to be coming into this race healthy and I was REALLY looking forward to duking it out with some world class talent.
It always seems like the hardest part of a race is the beginning. The anticipation build during warm-ups, the 'on-deck' call for my heat, and then walking up to that starting line and getting the 10 second countdown before all hell breaks loose....it's during those 10 seconds when the Five Finger Death Punch tune I had playing in my head gets put on mute, the leaves no longer seem to rustle in the near-by trees, and I swear the guy next to me can hear my heart trying to jump out of my chest. Just when I'm about ready to jump out of my own skin the guns goes off and I have work to do. It's funny, but all the doubts and fears I have beforehand seem to disappear. I'm too busy finding position in the pack and establishing a pace that is going to make me suffer, but not die. That's kind of how the race went yesterday....the hardest part was getting over my nerves beforehand, the easy part was going out and racing hard. I was fortunate enough to lower my previous personal record at this race by 2 minutes and win my age-group to earn a spot at the World Championships in September. It was a big relief to race well with a lot of competition present, but I know I'll need to bring it up one more notch to really get it done at Worlds (French dudes in spandex are surprisingly fast). I had cut down my swim yardage in the past month during the final preparation for this duathlon, so now it's time to get back in the pool regularly and crank the swim back up for the tri season which gets under way in a couple weeks. Keep on keepin' on everyone!
It always seems like the hardest part of a race is the beginning. The anticipation build during warm-ups, the 'on-deck' call for my heat, and then walking up to that starting line and getting the 10 second countdown before all hell breaks loose....it's during those 10 seconds when the Five Finger Death Punch tune I had playing in my head gets put on mute, the leaves no longer seem to rustle in the near-by trees, and I swear the guy next to me can hear my heart trying to jump out of my chest. Just when I'm about ready to jump out of my own skin the guns goes off and I have work to do. It's funny, but all the doubts and fears I have beforehand seem to disappear. I'm too busy finding position in the pack and establishing a pace that is going to make me suffer, but not die. That's kind of how the race went yesterday....the hardest part was getting over my nerves beforehand, the easy part was going out and racing hard. I was fortunate enough to lower my previous personal record at this race by 2 minutes and win my age-group to earn a spot at the World Championships in September. It was a big relief to race well with a lot of competition present, but I know I'll need to bring it up one more notch to really get it done at Worlds (French dudes in spandex are surprisingly fast). I had cut down my swim yardage in the past month during the final preparation for this duathlon, so now it's time to get back in the pool regularly and crank the swim back up for the tri season which gets under way in a couple weeks. Keep on keepin' on everyone!
