Thursday, September 8, 2011

Two Weeks...Two Races!



Capital Triathlon
The past two weeks I raced two races. Having never raced back to back weekends I had no idea how my body would handle it. My coach and I were careful with the training the week between and have been keeping it really light since for a real hard week in the future. Onto the races...the first race was an Olympic distance race here in Boise, Id. The inagural Quest for the Capital Triathlon. Being an inagural event I was skeptical of how it would pan out. I am friends with the race directors, so put my confidence in them for a great venue. The swim was held in Quinn's Pond and as us locals know in August the water temp here is warm, which means no wetsuit. I was excited to see just what and where my swim fitness was. At the gun I wanted to take out an honest pace in order to gain some valuable time on Adam Wirth. To the first turn I was sitting on the feet of an unfamilar face, at the turn I noticed we had a gap already on the rest of the field. Bingo! I did all I could to stay on those feet the remainder of the swim however she gapped me by about 20seconds. I led out of transiton and enjoyed the company of the lead motorcycle for the first few miles until Adam passed me, I tried for as long as possible to keep him in sight. By the time we got to the hills Adam put some distance on me, my goal was to just ride as hard as I could and keep the gap minimal. After the first three of us were led astray for about 10minutes we were brought back to the intended route. I was frustrated but case in point is to know the course!! Leaving transtion I was a minute down on Adam. I could see him up the road and ran like a madman catching him. I caught Adam and was in the lead by mile 1 thanks to my T6's . I crossed the line being the first winner of Quest for the Capital Triathlon!! A great event overall and enjoyed getting out there with everyone racing.


Stumptown Half-Iron Triathlon

Another inagural race. This race was set up a lot like the Rev3 race in Portland earlier in the year so I thought it would be good to see how I compare against the big dogs. The trip was quick but enjoyable plust the bonus of getting to see an old friend who I have not seen in some time. Race morning came without a hitch and being extremely rested I was more than excited to get out and throw down a fast race. At the swim start there was the normal meet and great and size up who was racing. The elite wave only had a couple people in it so the announcer asked some more of us if we would like to start in the elite wave...uh of course. I noticed Jeff Smith at the start and figured him to be one of the fastest swimmers, therefore I had the goal of staying on his feet. However, I soon realized I was not going to stay there long. For some reason I did not have the swimming arms I had only a week ago. Still not sure why I had a sub-par swim but will not dwell on it and work on the open water swimming. Onto the bike I got a split from super fan Chris Bagg..3min 50secs down....ouch. I said to myself "bike like there is no run!" I also remembered Rick Floyd saying "I can bike way better then what my races have shown and that I should bike fast so that I don't have to rely on a fast run". Well I made no hesitation in putting the hammer down and really lit it up afterburners. I was in sixth place and my goal was to be in first when we hopped off the bike. After the first lap of three I had only made up about 30seconds riding in fourth position. Lap 2 I got another split and could see 3rd place not to far up the road. I put my head down and hammered for 5minutes. I closed the gap and rode to the turn around with him, seeing second place at the turn around made me hungry and I put in a attack to bridge up to him. I made it in second place by the beginning of lap 3 and was 2minutes down on first place. I tried to make up as much time as possible, but on made up about 10secs by the time I started the run. Onto the run I started out running well and making up some time on first place. I knew third place was right behind me and I waited for him to catch me so we could run together and use eachother to catch up to first. We were running together really well and then I hit a bonk like no other. I started to fade and I think he (Chris Ramsey) could smell blood and he put in a surge I could not match. Bugger! I kept battling as much as I could but really faded the last couple miles. It was a well fought podium and finishing in third with the fastest bike split and second fastest run was encouraging that I am well on my way to making a jump to the next level.

Reflecting on the battle

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