end of a long road

My triathlon season is drawing to a close. This weekend is my last Tri for the year - the Lake Lanier Islands Triathlon. It's just a little sprint that is about as close to home as a race can be. I ride the roads that this race takes place on at least twice a week.

I have never raced as much as I have this year, and it didn't all go down without it's challenges. I've had a pretty big year in the sport and a lot of good surprises along the way. I picked up a sponsorship and a coach. I also managed to check off all of my major goals for the year. Which included:

1. Finish my first full Ironman


2. Lower my half-Iron PR by 15 minutes


3. Break into the top 3 over-all in some local races



Towards the end of this run I've stumbled a bit and became unmotivated. I took a step back in training load and seriousness and made sure I was having fun doing this - and this seemed to make the biggest difference. This adjustment allowed to to relax and coincidentally I turned in some of my best results of the year. This also has really gotten me very excited for next year!

Back to the Lanier Islands race - I actually got to pre-ride the bike course yesterday. I'm psyched that I know it so well and will feel so comfortable on it during the race. I actually did this race 3 years ago and rode the bike course in 36 minutes. Yesterday I rode at a moderate pace about 15-18 BPM (talking HR here) under my race pace and it only took me around 33 minutes. There's something that puts me at ease about know exactly what is coming on a race course that also allows me to push myself very hard.

I'm hoping to close the year out with another over-all podium finish - and wouldn't it be nice to do it in my own backyard? While it is a sprint, it's a HUGE sprint with about 800 competitors - so you never know who is going to show up. Guess we'll find out on Sunday!