TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Triathlete Finds Ironman Humbling

ADVERTISEMENT

By SCOTT PURKS

Tribune correspondent

Published: November 5, 2008

TAMPA - At 6:45 Saturday morning near Clearwater's Pier 60, more than 1,800 folks in skin-tight swimsuits and caps will pile up on the beach.

A horn will sound and they will splash into the surf, beginning their crawl through a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1-mile run.

Just under 4 hours later, a winner will cross the finish line and be crowned the Ironman 70.3 world champion.

But wait, where will Tampa's Holly Petrak be?

"I'll be way back in the pack," said Petrak, sounding about as happy as anybody could be. "What those elite guys do is amazing, and what they do also keeps you humble. Just when you start to think, 'Hey, I'm pretty good at this,' all you have to do is race in something like this and you gain a lot of perspective."

This is not to say that Petrak, 31, isn't an exceptional triathlete. It's just that on Saturday she will be in a field that includes Olympians and full Ironman world champions.

"When the race is over I'll look at what their times were and what mine were and I know it will inspire me," Petrak said.

Petrak is among the Tampa Bay area's best triathletes, having won the recent Tarpon Springs sprint triathlon, the Publix Family Fitness Weekend Series Championship and placing second in her age group at May's Disney 70.3 triathlon, which qualified her for Saturday's world championship.

Every week she averages more than 250 miles on the bike, 20-plus miles running and about four long swims. Unlike her professional counterparts, however, she has a full-time job, working as a fitness specialist in Tampa's Corporate Fitness Center.

For Petrak, it's a way of life that started as a Largo High cross country runner and steadily branched from there.

"I'm antsy right now because it is just a few days away," Petrak said.

"I've been working so long for this, and I'm so excited. I mean it's the biggest race of my life so far. Really, it's an honor to race in this race."

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT