The Start of a New Season and The John Tanner Sprint--4/26/2014

This was the first race for me of the 2014 Tri Season!  I was excited to get another season rolling with ALL3SPORTS!  Such a great team this year and great products to help get us to the podium!  This is a unique year for me as I have hired a coach!  Matthew Rose at Dynamo Multisport has taught me so much in just the 4 months I have been on board!  I have been in the sport for 8 years now and for the first time am learning about it....crazy to think about.  They are such a great organization with great people.  SO MANY PEOPLE THERE TO LEARN FROM!  My focus this year is Ironman Chattanooga in September but I have lots of fun races planned including many of the Tri the Park Series this summer, Rev3 Knoxville Half this Month, Lake Logan Half in August, and Beach to Battleship Full in October.  Should be good times!  Anyway, lets recap this race....

John Tanner is a race I have been doing for years.  It generally has lots of athletes showing up to play on it's hilly course!  This year I think 340 or so showed up for the tri.  More people always makes it more fun!  I showed up and set up transition next to Rob Richardson who is always dominating these races.  Heck of an athlete.  Enjoyed the morning chatting with everyone about their upcoming year and seeing the ALL3SPORTS.COM team in full force!  Since I typically do the longer races, I do not train transitions very much and they are crucial in this distance.  Last year at this race, my wet suit got stuck on me and killed my time.  Thanks to some advice from Brian Wortham(fellow teammate) and Dan Arnett with Endurance Concepts I fixed this issue!  Then it was time to hit the water....

Coach has had me back in the pool and that has made a big difference.  In the past, I took advantage of being a swimmer and never trained it.  Now I am in the pool twice a week!  Time for the start...When the gun went off, I sprinted.  I wanted to be up front.  It was all out to the first buoy.  I was where I wanted to be and did not see anyone around me.  I kept it steady got out of the water first and into transition.  

Rob caught me in transition and we mounted our bikes side by side with no one else in site.  I stayed behind Rob for the first few miles just settling in.  I was feeling good and hammered around.  I pushed the pace hoping to get away... I didn't :)  He pushed around me fast and I tried to hang.  Legs did not have it and he was gone.  Finished up the bike and into transition.  I was in and out pretty quick and onto the hilly run course.  Rob was a minute and a half or so ahead at this point and I knew I was running for second.

No one was close to me but since the masters had started 3 minutes behind, I was racing the clock more than anything.  Legs were still pretty tired from the past week of training but still felt decent on the run. I always forget how hilly the course is.  The turn around point seems to hide.  When I made the turn and headed back to finish, I knew I was comfortable in 2nd.

Finished in 2nd Overall for the second time on this course.  Really enjoyed seeing everyone and racing again!  It is going to be a great year.