REV3 Knoxville: Featured Athlete Justin Harris

First ProfessionalTriathlon Race

STATS:

28th out of 366

24th of 28 Pro Men

1500m Swim: 22:38

40k Bike: 1:03:16

10k Run: 35:32

I’ve had a lot of time to chew on my experience of my first triathlon as an Elite. I mean, I REALLY had A LOT if time since I drove the 12 hours down to Knoxville and back solo. So how was it?

I had a very” eventful” (SEE: Stress) week leading up to my departure on Thursday evening. Luckily, I have the most awesome-est Mom in the world, as she let me borrow her nearly brand new car to drive down since it was too expensive to fly. And, she left me with a full tank of gas and a couple $$ in the glove box! Mom of the Year award!

Since I left at 10:30PM, my goal was to get as far as I could, sleep in the car and then hoof it the rest of the way. I a brought pillow, yoga mat, and sleeping bag, but they don’t make up for a short car! I basically slept hugging my Cervelo P3– bring “I love my bike!” to a whole new level.

Arrived in Knoxville, found my homestay, Terri, and settled in. Laurel, a professional triathlete and one part of a kick ass training duo that I workout with, stayed with Terri the year prior and asked if I could join last minute. Terri was extremely comforting and helpful. Thanks Terri.

Pre-race day is full of meetings, checking out the course and crashing. Wait, crashing? Yup, wasn’t on the agenda but, Laurel and I ate it on some wet railroad tracks that were at a 45 degree angle across the road. Came up on them quick and before I knew it I heard Laurel hitting the deck and I followed shortly thereafter. Laurel ate it pretty good with road rash, a dent in the helmet, deep cut on her hip, and a broken front shifter. I, having a heads up when Laurel went down that I probably was going to be joining her shortly on the asphalt, had some road rash.

Not the way I intended on starting my career. But, it’s funny that any life changing opportunity for me seems to start this very way. That is, I have these expectations, and through a series of quick events, those expectations come crashing down and I’m left to real evaluate why I am doing this.

“Well, Justin, that was only one event.”

Yup.

The other was getting my ass handed to me on race day by not only the Pro Men but, also 3 age groupers and Leanda Cave, the winner of the Pro Women’s field.

Sigh.

But, like I said, I had a lot of time to think about this and here is my take:

• I had a solid day. I had a good swim, and ok bike and run.
• I rebounded from my allergies and illness two weeks ago well.
• I executed my race strategy perfectly. That is, don’t go out too hard and die or start hyperventilating due to allergies.
• I over came the challenge of driving down, sleeping in my car and crashing the day before.
• I felt like I could hold that effort for much longer, which is great with REV3 Quassy Half Ironman coming up in 3 weeks.

It’s tough to not look forward and question if I have what it takes. I mean, I lost by 14 minutes. I don’t care if it is Matty Reed, one of the top triathletes in the world (I think 3rd or 4th best technically). I think I was the most frustrated that I was that far out of the money. I could use some of it but, Laurel, the seasoned Vet that she is, put it into perspective for me, and I needed that the most at that time. She said that we do this for the challenge not for the money.

Well, I now know what the challenge is and I’m ready to do what it takes to get up to the top. Maybe not tomorrow or this year, but I’ll get there.

You can follow Justin via his website : www.justinjharris.wordpress.com or via Twitter: Justinjharris