WCS #2 Approaching….

In a few days, I will be traveling back across the Pacific once again, but this time to Seoul, South Korea. Less than three weeks ago I raced the first World Championship Series Race of the year in Sydney, Australia and finished in 8th place. Sydney was an amazing city and I would have loved to stay an extra few days and vacation; however, this is not exactly in the training plan at the start of the season. I quickly returned to the US and suffered for a few days from jet lag and travel. But, once I felt recovered, I was anxious to get back into some quality training in preparation for Seoul.
On April 25th, I raced in the St. Anthony’s Triathlon in St. Petersburg, Florida. The goal of this race was to be able to incorporate a tough workout into my training block ----and there is no better way to get in an intense quality workout than jumping into a race!! Florida felt much like Sydney, warm and humid… I did not have to pack any cold weather gear.
Speaking of packing….I will have to prepare much differently for Seoul. Cool and possibly wet conditions are likely for Korea and I will make sure to bring my arm warmers, rain jacket and tights. I will definitely need my TYR Hurricane Wetsuit, as I have a feeling the water is going to be COLD. I think one of the unique characteristics of triathletes is our ability to adapt to adversity. I can’t imagine too many other sports travel several weeks apart to different continents and race in quite drastically different conditions. I love a challenge and look forward to getting out on the start line and putting forth 100% of my effort; both physically and mentally.

St. Anthony's Triathlon

Race Report: St. Anthony’s Triathlon
This past Sunday, I competed in the prestigious St. Anthony’s Triathlon. The race is beginning to have a hometown feel to me, as it was my fourth time competing at the race. I missed last year after undergoing surgery in Feb. or 09’ at DISC Medical facility in CA for a nerve entrapment release in my leg. This was the first time we stayed in downtown St. Pete’s and experienced the atmosphere and flavor of city.
The race is EARLY, especially traveling from Colorado with a 6:55AM start (which is more like a 4:55AM start; however, once race morning arrives any feeling of tiredness is replaced with a rush of adrenaline!) I woke up at 4:40AM; had my normal breakfast and walked the .8 mile to the transition area to get setup. It is still very dark at 5:30AM, so fortunately Nate had his flashlight to help me get all my gear set up in transition. Around 6 AM, I started my warm up and ran down to the swim start, followed by some activation, drills and strides. I wanted to make sure to get in the water and test out a couple of runs into the water since it was a beach start. The water felt very refreshing at 74 degrees vs. the muggy, humid 76 degree morning.
The men started promptly at 6:52 and we began just three minutes behind. I had a decent start, next to Laura Bennett who is one of the best in the world at beach starts. She had a body length on me after the run into the water, but I remained calm and got right on her feet for the first 400meters of the swim. After the first couple of buoys, I took over the swim lead and swam at a comfortable, but strong pace. The swim started off fairly calm, but the waves definitely picked up the second half of the swim. As I approached the steps to climb out of the water, I was grateful a couple of volunteers were there to help me onto that first step, as I was feeling a little dizzy from the waves at that point.
Once out on land, I focused on getting my TYR Sayonara off as quickly as possible and strapping on my Rudy Project Wingspan TT Helmet. I felt comfortable on my Fuji D-6 with my 921 Oval Aerobars, ISM Adamo saddle, Zed Tech 404 and Sub9 disc. I also loved my new pedals from Sampson Sports; Stratics S6, which are lightweight, yet have a great platform for power. The bike was a bit windy (wind from the south), so the first 15 miles of the bike were challenging. I focused on making sure all my corners were smooth and keeping up a high and steady tempo. At two points on the course (around mile 3 and mile 17), I could see where the other girls were located. I noticed I had about at least a minute lead over the next girl, so I continued to ride at my pace and made sure to hydrate in preparation for the run. I drank 36oz of EFS fluid while on the bike course, much more than most races beginning at 6:55AM due to the high humidity in Florida!
Heading into T2, I focused on starting the run off at a high tempo pace, especially thinking about my form. The run is an out and back, so I only could see the other competitors at the half-way mark. I noticed I had a lead by a couple minutes, so I knew if I could keep everything together at that point, I should break the tape in first. I was very glad to get to that last stretch of the run, knowing that I accomplished my goal for the day! My time was the second fastest for me on that course (although it is tough to compare overall times because conditions change so much from year to year!).
After the awards ceremony, we headed home back to Colorado. This made for almost two days in one, but it was nice be able to spend my recovery day on Monday at home. The travel home was much easier than the travel to Florida….we had to drive in a snowstorm up to Denver last Friday! Yes, Colorado can still get pounded with snow at the end of April!!! Hopefully, that snow was the last!!! I am now gearing up for my second WCS race in Seoul, Korea on May 8th. Recently I have been doing lots of traveling and racing, but this is my last race for quite some time (five weeks). I will spend most of May and part of June training for the races upcoming in this summer.
Best Wishes
Sarah