Posted: Sat Jun. 25, 2005 10:35 am
This years Eastman race, you couldn't ask for a nicer day. It kicked off at 8:00 before the heat. My plan was to stick with Joe Zjak in the swim ( he pulled off a great swim last year) I couldn't find him at the start. Gun went off and I sprinted the first 100 yards. Way too fast. I couldn't get air smoothly and had to rest to try and relax. My swim was over a minute slower than the previous night's warm up swim. Happy to get out of the water....and start peddling. The first few hills I was slow but faster than others and started picking people off. By the turn around I passed 20. On the way home it was mostly downhill and passing people stopped until the climb up into Eastman where I snuck by another 1/2 dozen. I was 13th overall at this point and hoped I could keep that place in the run. 3 people got by me in the transition to the run, and my goal was to get them back. The first 1/4 mile was tough as my legs were asking me to stop, but then they bounced back and I got into a rhythm. I pumped out 2 miles in about 14:30 and got all but 1 spot back. Coming back I attacked on a steep hill that Glenn and I scouted out 2 nights previous. It worked and I got back my place of 13th where I finished overall and 5th in my class. Got to see Joe on the run where we had a feeble high 5 as we passed each other. Other than my swim really stinking, I was happy with my first sprint triathlon in 9 years. The competition was tougher than last year, so kudos to the folks at Eastman. A girl crashed on her bike, but reports of a broken collarbone and some road rash relieved worries of a worse injury. Its a great training event and hope more come out next year to join us...........
PJ
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