Gator Country Racing

           

Start of Sunday's Mixed Relay (Photo by: Christie Scott)

This past weekend I was lucky enough to travel to beautiful Sarasota, FL to race the PATCO Sprint Championships and the PATCO Mixed Relay Championships.  I had a great time and, as always, learned a lot!

Solid pack by lap 3! (Photo by: C. Scott)

            Saturday started the weekend off with an individual sprint draft-legal race.  My result was not exactly what I had hoped for but solid overall.  Being so early in the season it’s fantastic to do a couple of races, take note of what you need to work on and get back to the grinding stone!

Walking up for the relay in my Vendetta! (Photo by C. Scott)

            Sunday was a fun and fast format of a half-sprint draft-legal relay where two men and two women compete on each team.  This race was so much fun except the fact I really felt I let my team down—I came 1^st out of the water, had a rocky transition and ended up last off the bike course.  I felt pretty bad about the whole thing and confused about what went wrong after having such a strong bike the day before.  It wasn’t until after the race, wheeling my bike out of transition, I noticed there was quite a bit more resistance than normal. I checked to see if my shoes were dragging on the ground, they were fine.  It dawned on me—someone had asked me if my brakes were the problem on the bike and I laughed and thought it was a nice suggestion to assume that the problem wasn’t that I was slow, but sure enough that person was right—the left side of my brake was stuck to my back wheel.  It was relieving and disappointing at the same time, such a silly mistake that cost me a good amount of time—definitely not a mistake I will make again in the future!  Sorry team!

            

     After the race on Sunday it was time for some R&R.  My friend Christie, whose family was so generous to let me stay with them over the weekend, headed down to the beach to relax by the ocean!

Christie and I on the beach! Mimosas included!

       

     Overall it was a great weekend—racing, learning and enjoying the ride. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the season has in store!

            

     

Thank you so much to XTERRA wetsuits for making my swim super speedy on Sunday, Rudy Project for keeping my head and eyes “technically cool” (and safe), TRIBE Multisport for stocking me up with my every need from training to racing, and Power Bar for keeping me fueled!  Warmest thanks to the Scott family for hosting me last weekend, your hospitality was amazing!

Until next time!

Photo by C. Scott

Racing in the Lone Star State

It seems like it has been about a month since I race in Dallas on June 1, but in reality it has only been a day more than a week!

The Thursday before the race, Lucas and I stepped off a plane into muggy Dallas, TX to get set for the Pan American Cup taking place on Saturday.

The venue for this race was definitely one of the nicest I have been to!  The logistics were amazing--the airport is an easy 20 minute freeway drive away from the hotel and the race itself takes place at the hotel--virtually no travel once you're there!!

Convenient Swim Venue!

Leading up to the race I knew weather was certainly going to be a factor, the forecast kept changing from no rain and super hot, to a higher and higher chance of thunderstorms every day.  The day before it looked as though the women would finish just in time for the storms to start, but the men would not be so lucky.  In actuality, it was just windy and threatening to storm while the women were racing (thank goodness for clouds), and then the sun decided to come out right in time for the men's race.

The water temperature of the lake was perfect, practically pool water, which I was super excited for--no shivering; off to a good start!! The method of start for the swim was a dive off the side of the lake, which was also much to my advantage with my swimming background.  The only unfortunate thing about the swim is that it ended up being a couple minutes short, and I really wish I would have kicked it up a notch a little earlier before exiting the water.  Regardless of the length and late acceleration, I came out of the water 3rd!  I haven't been in the front pack of a swim yet in an ITU race, and this has been a point of frustration for me coming from a swimming background; definitely a highlight of the race!

Transition was kind of crazy and an obvious point of improvement for me in the future; it's not my skills that are lacking anymore, it's my intensity.  The other girls had such ferocity running into and out of transition, whereas I look like a little girl running through a daisy field...  Building this aggression in transition will help me to get a better position earlier in the game and not have to fight for the spot I want!

The bike was a good experience.  In the previous two draft legal races this season I have been in small packs of 3-5 where it is very easy to organize and work together (as long as everyone is willing).  This pack was 10 right out of transition and 11 by the end of the bike.  The benefit to this large pack was the amount of energy I saved in the draft, however, the downside was the lack of organization.  It was tough to make any moves to get further away from the packs behind us.

Finally the run... I started out a little behind because I made a silly move on the last lap of the bike.  I was near the front most of the final lap and the final turn was very close to transition.  Right before this turn, everyone rushed to the front to get into T2 first. If I would have been smart, I would have maintained my position, instead I watched everyone go by me--don't know what I was thinking! I didn't think twice about it while in the race and moved on--I had a plan for the run, I was ready to have a good run off the bike for the first time this season.  I started out strong and made up some of the distance that I lost out of T2.  The first couple of laps were good, I could feel my energy building and I

On the run, probably before I bonked :)

was slowly getting closer to the girls in front of me.  The fourth lap came around and I was starting to get that fog where you know you're racing, but you just can't think anymore (aka brain running out of glucose!) and next thing I know volunteers are yelling at me because I'm running on the wrong side of the road! Ran into a little bit of a bonk... I tried my best to snap out of it; grabbing cold sponges and water at every station.  The girls from the pack behind me were starting to get dangerously close. I told myself to hold them off as long as possible... sure enough, lap 5 started and I was passed by the first girl of the second bike pack and I knew there were others behind her that could very well run me down.  I told myself, "2500 meters left, no one else passes you!" I tried to stick with the girl that passed me, but she was going WAY faster than me and instead I settled into the best pace I had left and held my position to the finish.  I've never felt so unstable crossing a finish line, and realized it was a lack of nutrition that really restricted my performance.  I was still extremely excited because I went 4 minutes faster than in Sarasota (I didn't know the swim was short at the time) and I still felt I raced the best I could.  I ended up 11th, which is the highest finish I've had in an ITU race so far this season :)

Lessons:
-Even when it's hot and you don't feel like taking in nutrition, you still need it!
-Transitions are part of the race, obviously when you're trying to catch a pack, but for optimal positioning as well!!
-I am finally becoming a swimmer again! :)

Lucas, best support crew ever :) <3

Thank you to my wonderful boyfriend, Lucas for coming with and making this trip essentially stress free!  Thank you to my coach, Brian Grasky for continuing to make me faster, and thank you to Trisports.com for your support this season!
No race is ever perfect, and this one was certainly far from it, but I came away from the experience excited for my next opportunity to race this format and it certainly solidified my desire to race the ITU circuit!

Until next time :)

@nicoletruxes

A Whole Lotta Racin'

Sooner than expected, the 2013 season is in full swing.  In the past four weeks, I have completed three races; the most racing I have ever done in that span of time!  With every race comes a plethora of lessons, but I feel the learning curve this year was particularly steep.

Transition setup for Tritonman!

 My last month’s racing journey began on the sunny shores of San Diego in the first ever “Collegiate” draft legal race.  The University of California San Diego (UCSD) Triathlon team hosted this event with a non-draft race the following day.  The idea was to preview what Collegiate Nationals will be like with the addition of the draft-legal race.  I was very impressed that this team put together not one, but TWO triathlons all by themselves.  It is not an easy task to organize college students especially for such a logistically difficult event! 

The race itself was a blast with lots of surprises!  I had my first-ever run-in with marine life—a bloom, or swarm of jellyfish floated into the bay where the swim took place and many people (myself included) touched the tops of the jellyfish without knowing what it was until after the race!  I was glad to know later that it was not just mushy mud, but the top of a particularly squishy lifeform that my hand brushed mid-swim.  The next surprise came in T1…let me set the stage…air temp ~50* F, water temp somewhere in the 60*F region (with much colder pockets mid-swim)…I wore earplugs to help combat the dizziness that comes with frigid waters, but it turns out the earplugs were almost as disorienting to me!  I ran up to the transition area, promptly slid on my butt softball style through the grassy transition and then struggled to yank my wetsuit off for almost a minute until I gave in and sat down to pull it off my legs!  The embarrassment doesn’t stop there…I then ran my bike out of transition to the mount line in nothing resembling a straight line attempted to mount my bike while it is still tilted 45* in the opposite direction from my body…probably very entertaining for spectators.  Luckily, this was the end of the major surprises (and embarrassments J ) in the race and I was able to take a deep breath, catch the pack, and get my game face back on! I ended up 3^rd overall with lots of lessons and excitement to take with me to the next couple of races!

Tricats! Thanks again for letting me tag along, so fun!

Two weeks of training and anticipation went by before I boarded a plane for Orlando, FL.  En route to both my first professional and ITU race, it was almost unreal when I heard the gun go off in Clermont. First of all I couldn’t believe the strength of the women around me and second I couldn’t believe the speed!  The swimming in a professional ITU race is a whole different level and takes entirely different tactics than any swim I have ever completed before.  The swim at Clermont was unique in that the start was very shallow, but the depth varied enough that you had to switch between running, dolphin diving, and swimming.  It also funneled very quickly (because it was a sprint distance) so there were a lot of bodies trying to share the same space.  I got a hand to the mouth, tasted some blood (my own and very little!) and realized I was in for an intense swim! I was lucky enough to spread into my own spot and find a rhythm to finish out the swim.  The rest of the race seems like a blur…riding in my first pack of professional women, not really knowing what I was doing at all and furiously racing through the transitions.  I finished and couldn’t believe my first pro race was already over!  I ended up 18^th in a field with 6 Olympians (and a 10 minute PR from last year’s course)…both in awe of the talent and strength of these women and determination to finish closer to them in future races.

Finishing at Clermont!

After the race, I was fortunate to spend a few extra days in Clermont with a bunch of my teammates in the Collegiate Recruitment Program.  We stayed at the AAA tri camp honing in on our cycling skills and introducing ourselves to the unique wildlife of Florida :) I learned so much in those couple of days both about triathlon and about my fellow teammates—it was a blast! (Thank you so much to John and Jodie for being wonderful hosts to us while we were there; such a cool venue for a camp!!)

Real Lilly Pads!

Alligator friend...I believe someone named him Brevan? :)

To complete my trip, I traveled to Sarasota.  The Scott Family was so generous to take me under their wing for a long weekend.  Mr. Scott introduced me to all of his cycling buddies, “The Village Idiots” and took me on a few great rides around the area (if you're from Sarasota check out Village Bikes, great people!).  I felt like I was at a home away from home, and I’d like to say THANK YOU again!! 

Somewhere in the middle of the Bike!

The race in Sarasota took place on Saturday and had a 2:30pm start time.  Not only was this my first Olympic distance draft legal race, but definitely my first afternoon start time!  I was very antsy leading up to the race…is my stomach going to cooperate? Am I going to overheat? Is it going to be extremely windy? Lots of questions, but only one way to answer them!  Race day came and I was surprisingly calm, and mostly excited.  The weather was beautiful; cool breeze, warm sun, and clear skies.  Though the wind did pick up during the cycling portion of the race, I was lucky enough to be in a smart pack of girls and thanks to their helpful guidance, we were able to combat the wind to the best of our abilities.  Overall, I felt really solid in the race and am very hungry for the next opportunity.  Having double the distance and a diving start made for a very different feeling race and I really liked it!!  I ended up 15^th overall with almost a 10 minute Olympic distance PR.

On the run! Thanks again for the cheers and photos Mr. Scott!

After a month of racing…my lips are wet for the rest of the season, I am hungry to challenge myself on a whole new level and I’m so excited to grow in the sport of triathlon even more in the next couple of months!   

Thank you for the support from my coach, family, friends and sponsors…2013 has started off wonderfully, I can’t wait to see where the season is going!!

Onwards and upwards :)

Music recommendations:

Without getting too mushy…being gone in Florida for 10 days was amazing, but I really was missing one thing…Lucas <3 …I heard this in the airport before I was going to board the plane on my way home and it made my heart smile :) (The link below is a live version)

1234 by Plain White T’s

Some solid riding music...

Fortune Days by Glitch Mob

And finally a little bit of bragging on behalf of Lucas...some of his music was featured on a pretty big EDM blog recently :) 

TopHouseMusicBlog.com