t is pretty unusual for me to be chasing in a triathlon. Over the years I have gotten used to watching others pass me as I am usually one of the first ones out of the water. But this time it was different, and it was totally my own fault.
On race morning I arrived early to the transition area and was at the swim start with plenty of time, and we were even given an extra 20 minutes due to the darkness and nearby lightning. The race officials did not allow us to get in the water because it was too dark which forced me to do a dry land warm up. I noticed Andy Potts, the eventual race winner, walking up and down the beach scouting the water. I was wondering what he was doing but did not realize exactly what it was until 10 seconds after the swim start. That is when I saw Andy and many of the other professionals running to the first buoy on the right side of the start line while I was swimming on the left. Andy and many of the other professionals lined up to the right, because the water was much more shallow there than on the left. I chose the left as I was going to follow David Khan who was first swimmer out of the water earlier this year in San Juan 70.3, and he seemed like a good person for me to follow on the left side.
This was not the start I wanted on a race at which I was expecting one of my best results. I was literally the last one to the first buoy, and the chase began. I had to really concentrate and reject any negative thoughts. I had to put all my energy into my arms and swim as hard as possible for the whole 1.2 miles. In the end I managed to get close to 4th and 5th swimmer, but perhaps I gave it too much as once out of the water these guys gapped me quickly.
The first 6 miles on the bike I was riding in 6th to 7th place. Potts, Collington, Khan, Krylov and Hackett were ahead. I felt strong but did not want to push too much as my heart rate was higher than I would want it to be. At about 14 miles, Kriat, a Pro from the Ukraine and winner of St. Croix 70.3, came around and I used him as my carrot which lead us to catch a few of the guys ahead. I now started feeling very comfortable and strong with my heart rate very stable. I decided to just hang with this group and started mentally preparing for the run. Kriat tried to get away, but no one gave an inch. In the late miles of the bike, Kotsegarov, a pro from Estonia, chased us down and forced us to go even harder to stay close to him. At some point I realized that I was riding in third place, but I also realized that there were many triathletes within seconds. It seems the pace was not hard enough to break up the group, and many of us rolled into T2 very close to each other.
As soon as I dismounted my bike, I noticed the clock read 2 hours 40 minutes. My hope was that my bike this year was going to be faster since I felt stronger, and this would allow me to break 4 hours for a half ironman. But now if I wanted to break 4 hours, I was going to have to run sub 1:20 for the half marathon. I felt confident of this, but I was worried that all the U turns and grass trails on this run would make a sub 1:20 too lofty a goal.
I started the run in 7th place, but I quickly passed Horner as I didn´t want to give him any hope of staying with me. I was also worried about all the great runners that were not too far back. Guys like Pedraza, Hodges and Cotter would surely try to challenge for a top 5 podium place in this race. I ran very controlled for the first miles, and my heart rate never reached 160 bpm which was excellent for me. I clocked the 5th place guy, and I was 31 seconds behind. Midway through the run, I was still in the same place, but 5th place was closer. Now it was time to dig into the pain zone, and I started to set small goals like "from here to the next turn I have to be 15 seconds behind him" and "I have to pass him with a little over a mile to go". Luckily I accomplished all my small goals. As I took over 5th place, he congratulated me and, without thinking, I pushed the pace as hard as possible. Now came the last U turn, and all we had was a straight mile to the finish line. At first I thought I was alone, but to my surprise the guy I passed was just a few yards back. I now had to give it all I had, and as I looked back toward the end I felt secure that he was not coming back. I crossed the finish line for my first Top 5 in the US. Needless to say, I was very excited and cannot wait to get back to training and keep improving. Many thanks to my sponsors and to my coach Luis Vargas of MarkAllenOnline. I am looking forward to spending 5 weeks in Boulder, Colorado with Coach Luis and racing Buffalo Springs 70.3 as my final preparation race before Ironman Germany in Frankfurt.
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