Off to the races--preseason report

Well I finally got back to racing over the last two weekends.  I first raced down in Virginia at the Kinetic Sprint--a 750m swim/17.6 mile bike and a 5k.  Torrential rains greeted us that day.  I had a good race, especially given the conditions and finished 2nd out of 18 in my AG.  I finished about 40 seconds behind the leader.  I was 70 seconds down after what I thought was a very good swim (though my time was a bit disappointing).  I made up some time on the bike (despite being very conservative) but never was able to see him and I cruised through a slow 5k split on a tough course.

Last week was Bassman, a 0.55 mile swim/29 mile bike and a 4.4 mile run.  I won my AG by over 10 minutes.  My swim was solid, but still unintentionally conservative.  My bike was solid (though not great) and the good news was that I averaged 240 watts with only a 148 bpm HR.  My run was better again and I averaged around 7:20/mile--still a long ways to go, but getting there.

So now the season starts!  I've been dropping weight ( last fat measurement was 5.9%) and building towards Eagleman.  Next weekend, I'm down in Florida for the Gulf Coast Triathlon, my first real race of the season.  I feel like I'm in decent shape--sub 4:50????  Obviously not as good as at White Lake at this time last year but I'm feeling good about how my fitness is progressing towards Eagleman--my first "A" race of the year.....