For those who want to get away from the rain/cold weather of Chicago or the boredom of training indoors for the past 5 months, head to Florida for St. Anthony's Triathlon in April. It is the kick off race for the triathlon season and you will definitely see the top names in the triathlon world at this venue. For a Chicago native, this race challenged me in every element but plan on going back next year.

A few things that I under estimated, the heat, wind and salt water. Normally, training in Chicago we do not have the heat play a role in our training until June/July. We slowly build up our endurance to get acclimated to the heat come July/August. This played a huge role in my first Olympic in several years (throwing out the window the past three years of half ironmans) and my first race in 7 months. Also, this was first open "salt" water race. I have never been sea sick until this race. Not a good thing going into T1. The bike course is flat but can be very windy from the spring storms to the north. The run course wraps around the city through the historic district and is very flat but the heat is the key factor.

The city and neighborhoods love this race and are out there supporting the participants. A well organized race from start to finish. The expo and post race festivities were great. The drawback is that it is expensive, $150 for race and airfare. I stayed with a friend to save on the hotel costs and rented a descent tri bike for $50 to save on shipping expenses of my bike.