Bitter-sweet St. Anthony's Result

ALRIGHT, as I had mentioned, the 2012 St. Anthony’s Triathlon pro field was BEYOND stacked. We’re talking Bennett, Reed, Dye, Collins, Osplay, Hayes, Odonnell, Bozone, Atkinson, Matthews, Yoder, and that’s not even a quarter of the field!! A world-class field to say the least! For crying out loud - all we were missing were Potts and the Brownlee's!

I finished 28th and with a result such as this, you can do nothing but look at the positives. My swim continues to improve and thanks to Xterra Wetsuits and my crazy fast Velocity M-speedsuit, I came out about 2:10 down from the 1st pack. To put it into perspective, in 2010 I raced here and came out of the water more than 5 minutes back! I also came out just behind Jordan Jones (most recently the triathlete who nipped L. Armstrong at the tape at the 70.3 Champs – big Ups) who has regularly whooped me in the water.

Out onto the bike, I was able to pick off several riders once I found my rhythm. My bike split wound up being more than 2 minutes faster than my 2010 split – pleased with that! Out of T2, I started a bit conservatively because I know my run fitness isn’t yet there and I didn’t want to go out hard and then die. This tactic worked great, as I was able to really warm up to a quicker pace and pick off some guys. I even had a little speed left at the end – found the tape first in a three-way sprint! Additionally, my new Skechers GOrun shoes were light weight, comfy and really effortless when I needed to get into sprint mode! I crossed the tape in 1:54:38, more than 5 minutes faster than 2010, yet 6 places lower – should give you another idea of how crazy this field was!

A bitter-sweet result. I still have A LOT of work to do and I've got a good three weeks at home to get ready for another hotly contested 5i50 in Columbia, MD on May 20. One of my goals for the season is to continue to chip away at that bike deficit!

A big thanks to all my sponsors: Xterra Wetsuits, Skechers, Kask Helmets, Gu, Zico, Champion Systems, and Evolution Physical Therapy!! Looking forward to more 2012 action! Let’s get into it!

Thanks for checking in. Talk soon.

-HH