ITU Draft Legal Clermont Triathlon

This was my very first ITU style race and I was really excited and probably the most nervous I've ever been to do a triathlon. This was also my very first Pro race and my Aunt, Uncle, Mother, and 88 yr old Grandmother were coming along for the trip! Unfortunately, the lake was extremely dry this year and that will forever be the talk of THAT triathlon. They lined us all up and than had us walk about 250 meters out to the start line in knee deep water to ensure that we "swam" the full 750 meters of this sprint triathlon race. This made it pretty interesting when it came time to exit the water! Anyways, the gun went off, and me being all the way on the right side of the line immediately fell into last place, after all the dolphin diving ended and we began our actual swim. It was fast, furious, and all I could think was oh my God, I'm in last place and it's only 15 second into the race. 

The starting line, pretty much all of this water that you see was higher than knee deep!

It was an interesting swim, everyone swam in one straight line as you can tell by how we came out of the water. I ended up gaining two positions and didn't come out of the water last, but came out too far back to make the first bike pack or the second. I ended up chasing for the whole race with two other girls. 

A picture of me exiting the water at Clermont. 

After getting organized with two other girls we attempted to chase down the bike pack, but only had about 12.5 miles to do it. We were definitely gaining on them, but frustratingly never quite caught up. I also ended up working alot harder on the bike than other girls that were in larger bike groups and able to save more energy for the run.  Never the less, I loved doing this race. The tactics involved during an ITU draft legal race is definitely exhilarating and makes for a more fun race. 

Onto the run, which is my strength, I was able to pick up at least five positions and finish the 5K feeling strong. 

I definitely encourage every athlete to run with their tongue out!! (really it was just great timing)

My Uncle, no doubt, sharing his wisdom and perspective on how the race went, lol (it was his first triathlon spectating). Also my Grandmother and other members of my family hanging out post race.