Clermont Race Report

Well here goes my first race report of the season. It was weird racing in March, but it was nice to start the season so earlier. I arrived in Florida Wednesday afternoon, and had a couple days to prepare for the race. Friday was a short swim, bike, and run to get the body ready to go for Saturday afternoon.

Woke up Saturday morning pretty early because I am staying about an hour from Clermont. To get into the park you had to drive on the bike course so I wanted to go in before the girls start so I wouldn't be rushed to get ready.

Swim

The swim was a beach start and wetsuit legal. As soon as the horn went I was at the back. Having only done a handful of beach starts this is not my forte and little legs don't help running through the water. I settled in after a couple dolphin dives and found some feet. I was surrounded by swimmers so things weren't going terribly. I stayed here for the rest of the swim.

Transition 1

This is when things got ugly. It was a long run from the water up to the beach and I got passed by a couple guys on the way to transition. When I got to my bike I struggled to get my wetsuit off and missed the pack on the way out.

Bike

Draft legal racing is tough!!! If you don't make a pack it is a long day. I missed the initial pack to go out, but there were two others as well so I thought there was a chance of getting back on. I rode that first 2.5k at max effort. When we got to the turnaround my legs were fried, and I couldn't get on the wheel of our leader of 3. This proved costly as he was able to bridge the gap and I was left with one other guy. We did the rest of the ride together and managed to work well, but we were continually loosing time to the larger group.

Run

The run was a mental reset and I put the rest of the race behind me and just focused on running. Each turnaround I noticed I was getting closer to the 2 guys ahead of me so I jut focused on pulling them in. I managed to catch them just before the finish. I surged hoping they wouldn't come with me, but they stayed with me and managed to out kick me in the end.

Conclusion

Practice transitions!! I have one week until Sarasota and I am hoping for a much better race. If i don't have one there is a good chance I will be lapped out. I will make that pack. My fitness is good I just need to minimize those mistakes, and I should be right there. I am looking forward to a solid week of training in the Florida warmth. It is still March and while I would love to have strong results there is still a lot of racing to come.