Just wanted to drop a line about this weekend’s first pro outing. Even though it was a super hilly course, I really stepped it up and in my pro debut, was second. I was absolutely elated. The course was crazy hilly, lots of climbs packed into a short course. The opening run, was a half mile straight uphill, starting at 6% and reaching a peak of 19% (the RDs were kind enough to write the gradient on the pavement) and then continued to roll up an down back into T1. I let the first few guys go, thinking they would definitely be coming back, and I was right, by mile 1, a lot of them looked gassed. So, once I hit the first mile in 5:30, I started to put it down, flying back into T2, getting on my bike, and climbing that same hill out. The ride was tough, but I was wishing it was longer, since I’ve spent all winter training for long course. I was feeling strong by mile 10, but we only had 8 miles left to ride, so, I really started to hammer. I got into T2 in 6th, and started the second run, which was single track trails. The Newtons were awesome. I just ripped thru the trail, got on the road for the final mile and grabbed spots along the way.
I was never happier to have my Newtons in a race. With the downhills being super steep, I was on my toes, and avoided that hard “slapping” you often hear from runners going downhill. I felt fresh and relaxed, and was so thankful to have them with me. Can’t wait to race them at Powerman AL. Thanks for the support. I look forward to talking to you soon.
Best regards,
Guy Petruzzelli
Could you please let readers know what race this was? Distance? No one ever told you about the 5 “w”s? I’m still working on mind reading but have not quite figured it out.
I did some homework and found that Guy was talking about the Natchez Trace Duathlon in Lexington, TN.