Team IE Heads South

With less than a week until our first race of the season Lauren and I have been backing down a little to get ready.  There is a delicate balance between getting ready to race and keeping the training up since we are still 8 months away from Nationals!  Lauren has traveled far for a race before, but this is my first time flying out of the country for a race.  It is a little crazy to think that I am going to be racing in Honduras in January.  While in high school I did not run much over the winter and certainly did not race.  In college I did indoor track so I am a little familiar about racing during the winter months.  The only difference from that is I had three seasons and two weeks off from January through the end of November.  Greg is a great coach and there is no doubt in my mind that we will be ready to race Sunday as well as Nationals in late September.

The race is in Roatan (Honduras Bay Island), an island north of the Honduras mainland.  It is a relatively new destination for tourism, but that does not matter.  We are not going for a relaxing vacation on the beach, although getting out of the South Bend cold for a few days will be nice, and we will have one day of “vacation” since we are staying there through Tuesday morning.  We are going there to take care of business and see how we match up.  This could be an indicator on what races we focus on this year, ITU draft legal or large non-draft races.  The course consists of a beach start, a one lap ocean swim with minimal waves and light current, a very challenging bike course and a road/off-road/sand run.  The bike course consists of a hill known as “The Wall,” a 16-19% incline hill of about 1km long, 3 more hills, 2 laps of a rolling hill circuit, and then over the back side of "The Wall" into T2. The website states, “This is surely one of America’s most demanding courses, with great views of the island’s shores, and luscious tropical forests along the way.”  I will be sure to check out those great ocean views while suffering up “The Wall!!” J

Profile for the start/finish of the bike course.

I hope everyone is well and staying warm, if you are located in a cold climate.  Check back shortly after the race for recaps and photos.

"Human beings are made up of flesh and blood, and a miracle fiber called courage." ~George Patton

Kaleb