St. Croix 70.3 a classic race and 2012 one of the best editions

A week has almost passed since St. Croix (Ironman) and it was not until now that I had some time to write my usual report.  For the past several days I have been thinking of an appropriate title and yet I have not been able to decide on one.  I can go with the flow and use “The Lance Factor” , maybe go with something more personal “Running with an Idol” or focus more on the result “Against the best…”.  I still am not sure what to title this blog so lets just give it some time, meanwhile let me tell the story.   The St. Croix – Ironman 70.3 is a race that I have postponed for more than five years.  Some of reasons have been due to financial constraints and others; it simply did not fix well into the schedule.  This year everything opened up and it resulted to be one of the most competitive races ever.  I am sure that it will make the triathlon history books as a classic competitive race.  St. Croix is not a typical triathlon in the Ironman series. I often feel that some of the races have become similar to a McDonalds.  Many of the races are the same and at the end they always sell you the same thing.  St. Croix is different: it has history, heat, wind, warm and gracious people, and beautiful landscapes.  St. Croix reminds me of how triathlons used to be in the 80’s and 90’s, where you go deep from the beginning to the end of the race.  Here you are not looking at the decorations but instead looking inside on how to better oneself; you are seeking the strength and the magic of the triathlon.  This is what I found at St. Croix: history, challenge, and I wanted to play my best card so that my name could be written in the history books.  It happened to be not to work in my favor, but I hope that in the future it will be.  I will be back for more, has it usually happens in the races that I fall in love with.  Now to the race, eight days before the race I entered in an open water competition in Fort Myers, Florida.  I was taking advantage of the fact that I traveled early to Miami to get my new bike fitted using Retul.  The objective of this swim competition was to retake the confidence that I had in the water and feel the progress in my training that I thought I gained again with my lifelong coach Oswaldo Santos.  I recently felt that I had been coming out behind in the swim and thus having to struggle for a good placement.  The competition in Fort Meyers went well and I was able to place second.  I was able to win a few dollars and it gave me the confidence that I needed for the St. Croix – Ironman.  You could taste the tension in the air in the last moments before the start of the race.  The Pro-Men did not budge anxiously awaiting the sound of the CANON.  The announcer did not stop telling us to relax and that the race was not starting soon.  We all were in our own world and gush of adrenaline was released in the first 100 meters of the swim.  We all quickly turned left and wanted to position ourselves in the same place.  This time I gave it my all and I kicked and pulled without caring about all the slaps and kicks that I received.  I quickly placed myself in the lead group without counting Potts and Poulat.  I felt comfortable and I came out fourth from the water.  I knew that Lance was behind me and the only thing that came to my mind was that someone was about to take a picture (of Lance and me)…I have not found it yet, but I sure it will surface somewhere.  The transition was fast and I came out fifth together with Terenzo Bozzone, Federick Van Lierde, Omar Velez and Armstrong.  At the 2 KM mark I was leading this group. A bit later Terenzo and Van Lierde and later Armstrong passed me.  It took Lance to the 5KM mark to get to the front of the lead group.  He then took advantage of a series of closed curves in the road and then he simply took off.  I, Terenzo and Lierde tried to stay at Lance’s pace, but I could not go past the 6-8KM mark.  Once they pulled away I could only see them at a distance and I witnessed how Lance slowly continue to widen his lead. I was alone until KM 25 when the defending champion Maxim Kriat, Degasperi, Galindez and again Velez caught up.  We are were going at full speed, grabbing the curves without breaking apart until we reached the famous and fearful hill, THE BEAST.  It is a mythical mountain where (at some parts) there was a 25% in inclination at no more than 800 meters at one time.  Before the race I was able to go up THE BEAST with my friends Diego and Jairo.  We all thought, this is no big deal, but with the swim and 32K of biking on your legs THE BEAST was felt.  I went up the hill with the group but my legs were begging me for a rest.  During the next 30 KM many riders changed positions many times and we all started noticing a rider in front of us.  When we reached him I quickly realized that we are all human and we all need to suffer to win.  It was Terenzo Bozzone, 2008, 70.3 world champion.  He was suffering going over the many hills in the course.  A couple of kilometers in front of me was Van Lierde, multiple Ironman Champion which I was able to watch, a couple of weeks ago, racing using Ironman Live.  He was dueling with Craig Alexander up until the last kilometers at Ironman Melbourne.  I was keeping up with the big boys, in the past there have been very few stars to looks up to, but this year there were a lot of them shining all around me.   Lately I have been faced with being surrounded with the best athletes from around the world, but I am not complaining, the greater the level of difficulty the more we have to learn.  With just 5KM left in the bike we all were grouped together, but when a curve came Van Lierde almost fell and slowed down a bit.  This occurrence allowed me to loose valuable seconds and a good distance from the other four.  After working hard I was able to reach Maxim and I was then 40 seconds from the third place rider.  The race was wide open, Lance was at the tip and 3 min behind there was Poulat and Potts.  We were 8min back and behind me was Van Lierde.  I knew that that run was pure patience, because by now all of our legs were probably destroyed.  I started with a quick pace and not so fast that I would burn out quickly.   When I passed the 10 KM mark I was 1 min from Galindez and a few meters from Maxim and I was widening the distance to the ninth place runner behind me.  I knew that if I continued running I could possibly get some more dollars, because prizes are given up until sixth place.  This is where I committed an error in the race; I was not trying to catch up to Maxim when I had the chance.  At kilometer 15 my strength was starting to fail and at 17 I was almost at empty.  My legs were heavy and I could see the runners in front of me get further ahead.  Although I could not see Van Lierde I knew that he was inching closer and closer.  I think that I needed more gels in the run and in a couple of stations I asked for them and they did not give them to me.  I was lucky that I had a Powerbar with me if not my death would have been much sooner.  When I reached the town there was only 800 meters left in the race.  I looked back and I did not see anyone, I then asked if there was someone behind me and I was told no.  A few meters more I turned back again and I saw Van Lierde and I tried to quicken my step but it was no use.  He reached me with only 200 meters left and my legs could give no more. I slowed my pace down to greet the spectators and I finally reached the finish line. I thanked God for allowing me to learn so much and for giving me the strength to train each day harder and harder.  I was thankful for being able to compete on this beautiful island and battling with some of the best athletes on the planet.  I hope that next year I will be able to face the island with another name and place KONA.  Thank you everyone for your energy; especially the Valdes Family, my girlfriend (Jineth), my trainer Oswaldo and my 226 team.  Thank you to my sponsors: Aqua Sphere, Mack Cycle, Power Bar and Terra Pack.  Congratulations to my friend and colleague Jairo Salazar, who was able to accomplish many people’s dreams.  He won his age group and gained a slot in KONA and LAS VEGAS.  Till the next one…. FLORIDA 70.3.