Tri and mighty: Knowing when to pace yourself rather than going all out

When the Giro D’Italia cycling race is on, you will usually find me glued to the TV for a couple of hours a day for three weeks. 

So by Tuesday, after a rest day on Monday, I was suffering from withdrawal symptoms and looking forward to watching Stage 4. 

But, the riders decided that it was too dangerous to race so they just took an easy pace around the course. The disappointment on the spectators’ faces was very evident.

It got me thinking about Tyler Butterfield’s performance in last Sunday’s National Triathlon Championships. 

He could easily have paced himself to win but instead he showed everyone just how quick he is which is what everyone wanted to see — good on you, Tyler.

Last night saw the start of the popular Argo Re Thursday night super sprint triathlon series, which will run most Thursday evenings for the next few months. 

The series attracts complete beginners, less experienced triathletes, juniors and experienced  triathletes to Clearwater for a fun evening. 

With very short distances, a swim in shallow water and a bike on an easy flat road, these events are a good way to try out triathlon and there are always experienced triathletes there to help out. 

To get on the e-mail listing for these events send an e-mail to [email protected] and to get more information go to www.bta.bm to the Argo Re FAQ section.

Flora Duffy races again on Sunday in the US XTerra Southeast Championships in Alabama. 

Having won the Xterra West Championships in Las Vegas and then again in Australia, Flora will be looking for 3 wins in a row and on current form I would not bet against her !

The good news is that junior Tyler Smith had his heavier cast off this week and I am told is already hammering out 60-second 400 metres repeats on the track. 

Hopefully he will be ready to race the upcoming Tokio Millennium Sprint Triathlon as, with Tyler Butterfield in the field, he will no doubt be keen to be on the start line.