Weekend in Huntsville

It was a wonderful weekend in Huntsville.  I teamed up with Dave and Janet to form a relay (Team Sharratt) during the Sprint Triathlon on Saturday afternoon.  I swam, Dave biked, and Janet ran.  The swim was a lot of fun and I definitely went a lot harder then I originally planned.  I passed the chip to Dave and he rode really well--on his road bike without aerobars in order to more specifically prep for his upcoming ITU race this weekend.  For anyone who cares, I am pretty sure he averaged around 181779.14 watts (non-zeroed) over the 20k course.  Janet ran very well over what was a tough hilly 2 lap course.  We had a blast and Team Sharratt finished 6th out of 18 relays. 

Team Sharratt pre-race.

Janet crossing the finish line and out-leaning Dave.

The next morning was the Long Course Triathlon.  I love the course and the hills on the bike suit me well.  However, the past two years I have biked poorly on the course.  I was confident going in that I was going to take a big chunk of time off from last year.  However, history repeated itself, and I had another decent swim, sub-par bike, and ok run.  Mentally, I was not ready to ride out of my skin like I have in other races, and mentally I have treated this event like a hard training day instead of RACING.  That is mental issue that will not continue in my upcoming races.  I will live to fight another day.  And next time, I will toughen up and fight harder.

 

I had an ok run but, minus the quick washroom break and finishing kick, I thought I should have been going faster than I was.  Brian was holding Annika before the finish (he raced well the previous day) and said that Annika wanted to race me to the finish line.  So Annika and I had lots of fun in the final 100m.

Crossing the line with Annika was without question the highlight of the weekend and really put things into perspective of what really matters in this world.  Five years ago I would have been steamed that I had a less than ideal performance.  On this day, I was overcome with hyperbolic joy to see Annika near the finish.  Does that mean I have lost my killer instinct?  Haha--if you are my competition reading this, then in the immortal words of Wolfgang Dietrich: "we will see..."

I ended up 10th overall which was a bit of a disappointment--but I know the fitness will show in my upcoming races that I am specifically gearing up for.

Sean Bechtel had a great race--he has worked very hard and paid his dues over this course--so it was nice to see him get the win he deserved. 

LPC's Jane MacLeod won her age-group by 23 seconds.  Margaret had another solid result, and Dawn Van Vlack had an exceptional race and completed the longest open water swim of her life.

So what is next?  Find out in the next post...