Well, today was the big day. We got up, had some breakfast and prepared for the race. It was quite surprising that the snow was still around, but it was in really rough shape. The girls went first, and I watched for awhile. We did really well, with Rebecca Duseault (2004 Olympian for nordic ski) placing 6th... nice!
The men's race was shaping up to be pretty crazy. Lots of fast guys, plus the run was all on pavement and trails. Sure enough, it was high speed from the get-go. I hung in pretty well throughout that leg, until the third lap, when I really started hurting. Then, it was on to the bike, which was another speedfest. All big ring, all the time. Just roads - some paved, mostly dirt. Drafting played a big role and I was happy to hang with an Italian and a Spaniard for pretty much all of it. Once the bike was over, I was still ahead of Mike Kloser, so I was second American, but I heard him come into transition behind me, so I knew we'd ski together for a bit. The transition was pretty rough because my calves were cramping really bad, mostly from the hard run I think, but it didn't help that it was about 50 degrees and sunny. Once I got on the ski, I lost touch with the Italian immediately. He was going really well. It was so sloppy and nasty. Definitely the worst ski conditions I'd ever seen. However I settled in and caught a few guys. Mike ended up catching me, but I couldn't hang with him. He eventually caught Brian, who was really suffering. We ended up 21-23rd places, all in a row. Pretty good improvement over last year. The crowds were really great - very loud and lots of people. It was definitley a fun, well organized event. All we needed was REAL winter tri weather!
Relay is tomorrow. Hopefully my legs aren't totally shot from today's running.
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