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Showing posts from May, 2012

Wildflower Race Report

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Well let me tell you, this race lives up to all of the hype.  Most of the 7,500 athletes and 30,000 spectators end up camping for the weekend, but Tri-California is generous enough to provide elites with houses that are...well, just take a look at the pics. Thank you to everyone at Tri-California ! The above is from the road that drops you down to the houses, about 500ft below. The second is from the balcony of our place. The week of the race was great for me. I felt the best I had in a long time and was swimming, riding and running very well. One of the reasons that I choose this race was not that it suited me, but because it addressed almost ALL of my weaknesses. - Narrow congested swim start. - Fast descents on the bike, with speeds easily reaching 50+ mph - Run course that was off road, off camber and very hilly/technical I didn't expect to race my fastest, but the goal that Cliff English  and myself had was to stay focused and race hard

"Knowledge Is Power!"

As I type this, I am on a San Francisco bound plane, for a “re-do” to the start of the 2012 triathlon season.  For those of you who have followed my blog, you now know that I decided to go public with some of the anxiety issues that I have. Thank you to the 20 or so of you who sent me emails or Facebook messages with support and encouragement.  It is nice to know that I have so many people rooting for me and that in itself, makes a big difference.   I wanted to expand a little bit more on the anxiety and what that actually means for me on race day.  It is typically not the hyperventilating, rapid HR response that many people picture. It can be if I swim too hard in the first 400m of a race, but usually it’s a series of negative thoughts or visions that I attach to, that leads to a lack of focus, a sense of hopelessness and ultimately, giving up. It has happened so quickly sometimes that I have still been in the top 10 of major races when I throw in the towel. Back in 2010