Races like this past weekend are always a little difficult to accept. My off season preparation had been very successful this winter, and I remained healthy and eager to do work. As the South Beach Triathlon approached, I found myself more and more excited to race. Unfortunately, even the best preparations can be sidelined by a bit of bad luck.
Taper week saw the first decrease in training in a pretty long time. My body was absolutely ready to absorb the previous 15 weeks of training. Since I was lucky enough to have a place to stay with the Maloy family in Ft. Myers, I flew down to Florida 6 days before race day. I didn’t feel perfect during race week, but I felt like I really nailed all of the pre race sessions. I may even go as far to say that it was my best preparation to date. As the race approached, I found myself growing calmer. I felt confident in the work I had completed, and I was ready to put out a good effort.
As always, race day came much quicker than expected. I went through the motions that morning, and was pleased to feel stronger than usual in the hour leading up to race start. I changed a little bit in my race morning preparation, and I felt like it went a long way. Besides extending my pre race run an extra 5 minutes, I also made sure to get in the water a solid 20 minutes before the start. Even though first light was several minutes away, swim warm up went well. It was the first time that I ever swam in the dark, and it was pretty exhilarating. As the start quickly approached, I started to wonder if the sun would even poke out before we found ourselves hitting the water. The sky was still black, and the buoys were almost impossible to see. However, as predicted, the sun rose just enough in the final seconds before the gun to light up the entire course.
Lined up on the beach were the male / female pros, and amateur “elites”. I thought that it was a little unprofessional to put us all together considering the amateurs were wearing wetsuits. Regardless, I lined up towards the middle and prepared myself to fight all 100 meters to the first buoy. The gun sounded and I quickly made my biggest mistake of the morning. Instead of concentrating on having a strong dive a few feet off shore, I ran too far and found myself carelessly face planting into the Atlantic. Then, instead of taking a few solid dolphin dives (which I had planned), I start trudging through the water like a fool. A few of the more experienced guys had already put 15 meters on me in the first minute of the race… then the fun began. I tried to fight hard for my position, but I found myself in the wrong group, most likely because of my poor start. I was clearly the strongest in my group, which consisted of only god knows who, so I decided to make a break for the chase pack after about 5 minutes. They were only 25 meters away, and I felt like it was now or never. I spent the next 5-10 minutes gaining until I was only about 5-10 meters away. As soon as I thought I had it, I lost the group. I ended up swimming solo, stuck between both groups. I exited the water 3 minutes down from the leaders, Dustin McLarty and Javi Gomez, 2 minutes down from the top chasers, Cam Dye, Bevan Docherty, Joe Maloy, Ben Collins and others, and 20-30 seconds down from the Chris Foster / Kaleb Van Ort / Lauren Goss / etc group. Knowing that I should have been smack in the middle of that last group, I was a little disappointed with my position. I had felt like my swim was strong, but I needed to have a much better start. As I have quickly learned, having a successful swim in the pro wave is all about position.
Out on the bike, I immediately struggled to find my legs. I was pushing hard, almost red lining, but I wasn’t hitting my planned wattage. Putting that out of my mind, I concentrated on closing the gap to the other guys in front. It took around 10 miles, but I finally started putting out solid watts, and I started to catch a few guys. Even though I was definitely hurting, I felt like I was riding better with each passing mile. At 15 miles, I had lost a bit more time to the front guys, Ben Collins, Cam Dye, and Javi Gomez, but was only about 2:00 – 2:30 down from the majority of the pro male field. I estimated that I was sitting in 12th or 13th at that time. I figured that if I could continue to push, I could gain a bit more time on some of those guys and be in good striking distance on the run. Unfortunately, at mile 16.5, I felt my tire flat on a particularly rough portion of road. Knowing that my run would likely be my strongest leg, I was more than annoyed to be stuck on the side of the road.
Because I wasn’t race with a spare, and the race had zero support, I found myself sitting on a curb for well over two hours until a volunteer could drive me back to South Beach. I literally watched every single person in the race (minus the top 11 or 12) pass by. It definitely wasn’t the most ideal way to spend the rest of my morning, but it is a risk of only racing with the essentials.
Even though this wasn’t the most ideal start to my 2012 season, I feel like I was able to take away several positives. My race preparations and taper week were almost flawless. I stayed relaxed and calm, even when things became a bit stressful and I put myself in a position to be able to race at 100% when the time came. This race just fuels the fire, and I can’t wait to line up again at Rev3 Knoxville in 4 weeks.
Like always, racing wouldn’t be possible without a great deal of support from others. Joe Maloy and his parents were amazing during race week. They kept me fed and laughing all the way up to race day. I’m also very appreciative that Holly Cross was willing to help me with a very convenient place to crash before the race AND for the ride back through Alligator Alley to Ft. Myers, even though we almost ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere. I also need to thank all of the people / companies that get me to the race healthy, happy, and ready to compete.
USPro Tri Team, XX2i for sunglasses, Rudy Project for helmets, Blueseventy for goggles and a wetsuit/speedsuit, Powerbar for nutrition, Fleet Feet Sports, and UniqueTri.com.
Also, a huge thanks to Quietly Fierce Media for helping me get out pre race / post race updates, and Paulo Sousa and The Triathlon Squad for getting me to the race fit and healthy.
