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Richard Allen Knoxville Race Report

11/05/2010

Race two of the season was REV3 Knoxville, an Olympic distance event and part of the big money, competitive REV3 series in the US. It was certainly a better physical performance than St Anthony's but once again I seemed to encounter a few problems. It's hard to race at the very top level again having come out of retirement! Racing so fast I seem to make mistakes.

I had a much better swim than St Anthony's and exited the water right in the lead group and inside the top 10. I was feeling positive and strong but as I tried to unzip my suit the zip jammed and then broke. I think this was probably just bad luck but the speedsuit would not come off. I stood there for several minutes trying to rip the suit off and eventually 'incredible hulk' style I got it off. I always say to my clients that they must deal with problems and move on and that's what I did. I actually felt great on the hilly bike course and the Kestrel/Oval bike was awesome on the hills. I biked very well but was just too far off the pace after the transition disaster to be competitive. I came off the bike in 14th and unfortunately, although I ran ok, I had too much to make up and stayed in 14th. It really was a World Class field so not a bad result for an old timer. I just need more highly competitive race practice to get used to racing at that level. I think that I still get a little flustered right now and that leads to things going wrong.

I have Orlando Ironman 70.3 this weekend and if I can minimize mistakes then I should have a strong race! Really looking forward to it! Also a big thank you to Aquasphere for rushing me a new speedsuit! Very much appreciated!

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Richard Allen Knoxville Race Report

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