This past weekend I was fortunate enough to schedule a nice recovery day on the same day as the Draft Legal Challenge here in Clermont. As far as I know this is the only age group draft legal event in the US and it also includes a professional ITU race as well. I had three friends to cheer on, each in a different race, so it made for an exciting day!
The race starts with a swim in shallow Lake Louisa which made the majority of the leg dolphin diving and high stepping, particularly for the pros. One pro, in particular, Peter Cook from Australia, gained a huge advantage out of the water from utilizing his height and high stepping early on. I can only imagine how heavy his legs must have felt running up that beach. My buddy from Oklahoma, Talbot Cox, racing in the Age Group Men's race, and my new friend from Clermont, Natalie Kirchoff, racing in the Female Pro race both came out of the water with solid mid-pack positions, while Derek Oskutis, from San Diego, had a great swim coming out near the very front in the Male Pro race.
Next was the bike leg, which stayed spread out into several smaller groups for the women and age group races, but quickly formed into one big group for the pro men after just one lap. With all the U-turns on the course though, it must have been brutal to deal with the accelerations for anyone hanging around the back of a large pack. Luckily, Derek, with his strong swim, had an easier time than most at the front of the pack. Natalie and Talbot, however, seemed to be redlining the whole way in their chase packs, trying to keep from losing too much time to the front groups.
Out on the run, though only a 5k, is where most really started to feel the heat of the day. With temps in the mid to high 80's and typical Florida humidity, those who were not adjusted, were soon struggling. Despite this, I was quite pleased to see all my friends come up with great races as I cheered them on from the sidelines. Talbot got his spot to race nationals, Derek came up with a very solid finish in the top third of the pro field (while working a full-time job in the Navy with little time to train at that!), and Natalie gutting it out for a solid first showing in her first pro race of the year. I was super proud of them all and highly motivated for more big training after seeing all those pros and age groupers flying around the course at such high speeds!
No comments:
Post a Comment