My very first blog. This should be a bit interesting. Probably very similar to the first time someone has sex. You don’t know what you are doing, you are really nervous, and in the end, despite your best efforts, it’s really not very good and something you would rather forget, or more likely, you hope someone else forgets and gives you a second chance. My first three followers are my Girlfriend and both my parents. Since I have mentioned sex I am sure my mom is reading this and turning bright red, so…um,… sorry mom.
I have figured out my race schedule. I have planned for 10 races and I hope I can do them all. The reason I say I hope I can do them all is because there are two different types of races, Draft Legal and non-draft legal races. Non-draft legal races are the triathlons most people will do. You cannot draft on the bike. Get to close and you get a penalty. Draft legal races, of course is the opposite, you can draft on the bike. This is the type of racing they do in the Olympics and considering you can save around 30% of your energy drafting on the bike in the 2nd or 3rd position (the 2nd or 3rd rider behind the guy leading the pack), it is a completely different style of racing. In the draft legal races, you have to earn points to do the more prestigious races. A triathlete starts at the bottom at races called the Continental Cup series and earns points to moves up to the World Cup races by earning points, depending on how they finish. Because these races are draft legal, there are only 75 starting positions for every race. To get in, you declare your intentions to race and 30 days out they let you know if you have made the starting line. Needless to say, it makes it hard to prepare for races, flights, travel, etc. My first race is March 5th in Clermont FL, it is part of the USAT Elite racing series (All four of my draft legal races are part of Elite series and part of the continental cup). I find out if I made the starting line on Feb 5th, so I will keep you posted. My race schedule is below.
1. Clermont FL – March 5th Saturday- Draft Legal
2. St. Anthony’s – May 1 Sunday
3. Memphis- May 22 Sunday
4. Capital of Texas (Austin)- May 30th Monday Memorial Day
5. Monroe, WA – June 25 Saturday- Draft Legal
6. Lifetime (Minneapolis)- July 9th Saturday
7. Chicago- Aug 28th Sunday
8. Buffalo NY- Sept 24th Saturday- Draft Legal
9. Dallas- Oct 2nd Sunday
10. Myrtle Beach – October 8th Saturday- Draft Legal
