May is typically the start of the racing season for most people in the South.  We had three big events this month.  First was our cycling race, the Sumner County Road race.  Unfortunately that was in a ridiculous downpour, which ended up being a flood.  I ended up racing, even though I wasn't excited about the rain.  Bike racing is not my favorite thing in the world, but it is GREAT training.  There is not a time in training where you ride anywhere near the effort in a bike race.  It's totally different from triathlon.  Instead of a steady effort, you have 2-5 minute stretches where you ride your legs off, then recover, then do it all again.  I made a mistake and missed one of the final corners, and ended up losing the race.  That doesn't really break my heart.  If it had been a triathlon, I would have been more upset, but as it was just a training day, I'll get over it.  

The next week Allen took the ACME Multisports Tailgate Tour on the road to Gulf Coast Triathlon.  It sounded like they had a great time, but I had to go to work in Knoxville at the Half Rev.  I've been racing for 6 or 7 years, and last year was the biggest learning experience of my racing life about pacing.  I knew I could take those hard lessons, and translate them into good things for 2010.  Knoxville was my chance.  Between the bike race, and the Country Music Marathon Expo, we were very busy with the store, so going into the race I felt tired.  But, I knew the race was going to happen whether I was tired or not, so I decided to just follow my plan, and let the race play out.  I swam, it was uneventful, and that's about all I have to say about the swim.  I didn't feel good, and was happy to make it out barely under 30 minutes.  Going out on my bike I was excited to race my QR CD0.1.  I've been on it for a few months, and it is extremely comfortable, but I wanted to see it go fast.  Knowing this was a hilly race, I went out with a clear plan for my watts, and made a deal with myself to stick to that plan.  There were people racing the Olympic on the same bike course as the Half, so I had to watch the first few miles because there were people flying all around me.  (The most important thing about pacing on the bike is the first part of the bike.  You have to let people go, don't try to chase everyone. )  I didn't feel to good during the first 15 miles of the bike, but I stuck to the plan, and heading toward the turnaround, I found my legs.  As I started to feel more comfortable, I could tell that I wasn't working too hard, I was catching people in front of me, and all I had to do was keep myself in check and ride to the transition.  Up and down a few more long hills, and back to T2.  I slipped on my K-Swiss Kruuz, and started cruising down the road, making sure to watch my pacing just like I did on the bike.  I heard from a volunteer that I was in second, but I couldn't get a clear number as to how much time I had to make up.  The run was on a greenway and really twisty.  There was no clear road to look for other runners.  Finally at the first turnaround I put a watch on the guy in first and he had about 2:30 on me.  The next turn around was about 1.5 miles down the road, and he was only 1 minute up.  I knew at that time that I was catching him, but I didn't know how long.  I caught him right around mile 6, and made the decision not to turn around.  I was not going to look behind to see if anyone was coming.  I also told myself that I needed to maintain my pace, and not get excited and try to sprint the final 6 miles.  I took care of myself, hydrated, put down a few more Powergels, and tried to stay positive.  This was the longest I've ever been in front of a race, and something new to me.  There wasn't a lead bike for this race, so I had to pay attention to all the turns and directions.  I was not going to take a wrong turn like the bike race.  There was a nasty hill around mile 12.5.  I had a little panic moment, because I didn't want to crash and burn on that hill and lose the race.  After that last turnaround, I had plenty of time on second place, and all I had to do was run down the hill and just finish.  The finish was pretty cool.  There was a long finish chute and a big Jumbo-tron showing the race.  I ran down the chute by myself, and was still a little surprised that I won the race.  My mom came to the race, and it was cool for her to see me do so well.  My parents don't get to see me race that often.  Plus my reps from QR and K-Swiss were there as well, and I think everyone was pleased.  Of course, from there I had to get back Nashville because the store never sleeps, and we had to get back to work on Monday.

After a rest week, we were planning to head back out on the ACME Tailgate Tour.  This stop was Memphis in May weekend.  It's a big weekend for us at the store because we are the title sponsor of the race, and it is one of the top 10 races in the US.  I was signed up for the Amateur Challenge, which was a sprint on Saturday and the Olympic on Sunday.  Going into it, I knew I was heading for the hurt locker because we had 2 and a half days of expo and selling, along with two days of racing.  With not much rest, and a lot of standing on our feet.  But, this is what I signed up for, so it was time to MAN UP!!!!!  Allen was down there early Friday and I came down later, and we hustled.  Saturday morning, I was up early and feeling good about racing.  After what I thought was a poor swim, I hit the gas on the bike.  I touched over 30mph quite a few times over the first 12 minutes, and was crushed over the last few miles.  I over cooked the bike, and hurt on the run.  I had an ok run, but below my best, and I knew it.  Well, it was time to regroup, work the expo, and get back to smart racing on Sunday.  I woke up Sunday a little tired, but you never know what your body is going to do, so I just had to trust that I hydrated myself the best I could the day before and was ready to go.  I got kicked in my eye during the swim, and swam with one eye for about 15 minutes, and felt like I did ok considering.  I had a better plan for the bike, and took care of myself.  I felt ok, and made sure to down a bottle of Powerbar Endurance, and two Powergels.  I wasn't very fast, but it didn't seem like it was killing me.  I rolled into T2, and was looking forward to a fast run.  Within a half mile, that dream was over.  I could tell that I had cut my foot, and by the first mile I could see blood coming out of my shoe.  By mile 2, I considered running barefoot, but I thought it would do more damage.  I tried to run hard for a few stretches, but it was difficult to get into any kind of stride.  I finished, but was disappointing.  Not because of my time, because you can't stop time.  I am disappointed because I did not put out my best effort.  I can live with bad races, if I am doing my best, but I felt like I left a lot on the table.  But, the best thing is, there are always other races.  I'm doing a little recovery, and getting ready to do it all again in June.