First off, nationals. What a trip. This was my first time to the west coast. I flew in on Thursday to a raw and overcast Portland. Quite the shock from the still summer like heat in Wilmington. The next day, I went up to the Hagg lake to do some recon and go to the pre race meeting. Riding and running in this area is absolutely amazing. Beautiful forests and crisp, clean air. We had been told a week before the race that the water was around 73 degrees, however upon jumping in for a quick swim, I realized this was no longer the case. The temp had dropped to 68 in the past week due to below average temps. The ITU wetsuit cutoff is 68 degrees. Just days before, I was swimming in the 82 degree water of the Atlantic, so this was quite the shock. Our race started at 2 o'clock the next day, and I think all of us were hoping that the temp would either drop a half degree or warm up five over night. It did neither. The water temp at race start was a crisp 68.5 degrees under cloudy skies and 60 degree air temps. Needless to say, warming up and then having to get out and wait around for the start was none to pleasant.
Anyways, on to the race. It got off to a fast and furious start (as usual) with everyone jockeying for position. I was tucked nicely in the upper quarter of the group for the first half of the swim. However, it was clear after we hit the half way mark that I was not on good form as I let the lead swim group slip away from me. Still, I led the chase group out of the water which still had some very strong guys in it ( Victor Plata, Jarrod Shoemaker, etc...). Again though, once I hit the bike, I realized that my legs were just not there. I ended up getting dropped from my chase group on the second lap of this very hilly course. I regrouped with on e other guy who came up behind me, and we worked together for the majority of the race just trying not to get lapped by hard charging leaders Reed and Chrabot. We managed to stay away with the help of two other riders who came flying up on us on lap 6. I scrambled to stick there wheels for the last two laps. Once I made it to the run, I was completely exhausted and quickly reverted to a survival pace. I ended up finishing 29th out of 38 on the day. All in all, a very disappointing performance for me. I really wanted this to be a break through race for me. However, there are some positives to take away from this. Firstly, I finished! There were a bunch of guys that had to drop all along the course either because they got lapped or just pulled out. Second, I was racing against the top short course triathletes in the country and world and managed a somewhat respectable result. And third, I have a better understanding of exactly where my fitness needs to be when I compete at
these events.In retrospect, the months leading up to this race were not very good for me as far as training is concerned. I had a couple of rough weeks with work and training where I got extremely exhausted, and instead of taking rest when I needed it, I tried to push through and ended up overtraining. Not a very good situation.
Ok, on to Pinehurst. This is one of my favorite races in the NCTS. Beautiful scenery, a clean lake, and usually some of the best competition of any series race. Ironically though, the course does not suit me at all. The bike very rolling, making it hard for a flat lander like myself to get a rhythm. The run is also very rolling. To top it all off, the swim is wetsuit legal. However, I really enjoy the entire event. Going into this year, I was a little unsure of exactly where my fitness would be on race day. After my race at nationals, there was some doubt as to what I could do. However, the 2 weeks leading up to this race were much different than nationals. I was starting to feel some strength on the bike and my swim was really starting to come around. Figures this would happen after the big race, but you live and learn. So, I had a little more confidence heading into race day.
The Swim: Could hardly see a damn thing. There was a thick layer of fog settling right on the lake surface due to the 50 degree air temps at race start. It was impossible to see any of the buoys. Essentially we just had to swim blind in the direction of the first buoy, and hope for the best. Fortunately, I was able to navigate the course quite well, and opened up a lead of about 45 seconds over my nearest rivals.
The Bike: Like I said earlier the air temp was roughly 55 at race start, so the breeze had a little extra nip to it. My feet quickly went numb, however it really did not bother me that much. I was feeling relatively strong on the bike. Not quite at the form I was in back in April, but still not terrible. I was caught a bit off guard though when Dave Sokolofsky passed me at around mile ten. I had hoped to lead the entire way, but it was clear when he passed me so soon that I was having just a mediocre bike. But, I kept my cool and just tried to keep him in striking distance for the run. Unfortunatley, towards the end of the bike I was passed by two more guys riding the exact same pace (miraculous) and one other about 30 second later.
The run: I came off the bike in fifth place about a minute down from Dave. I had a quick transition and was out on course. I could see all four guys ahead of me on the first straight away. This gave me a ton of confidence as my legs were feeling strong and I had plenty off time to bridge those gaps. I quickly passed Lance Leo for 4th, and set my sights of the next two. I then passed Dave, who was clearly not having a good run. I was inching closer and closer to the two leaders, but I was surprised that I was not bringing them back faster. I finally bumped up to second around mile 3 and maintained my distance for roughly a mile. At mile four, I decided to make my move. I was only 20 meters from first, and figured I could bridge the gap real fast and sit on his hip. Unfortunately, he was watching me the whole time, and surged every time I made an attack. Much to my disappointment, he managed to hold me off to the finish and I ended up second rough 15 seconds back. Later I found out the guy I was chasing was Richard Armstrong, a neo pro at the half distance. This made me feel a little better about losing to him, but I was still very unhappy with the fact that I blew the huge lead I had on him after the swim.
After the dust settled, my finish at Pinehurst was enough to put me into 2nd pace overall in the the Open Division for the NCTS improving on my 3rd overall from last year. All in all, not bad considering I missed the entire middle part of my season due to injury and had to miss some of my best races. Next year I'll just have to move up one more to claim the top spot.
So I know what your thinking, yay Matt, your done for the season, take a break you crazy fool! Oh if only it were that easy. There is one more race on my calender. It is the final race in the Haul to the Great Wall ITU series, the San Francisco ITU Pan Am Cup. Essentially it is the last race on the pro calendar and my last chance to meet the elite re-qualification standards for next year. I needed to place within 8% of the winners time at a pro race in order to re-qualify for an elite card for the next two years. I have was within seconds of making this at St. Anthony's and Musselman, but was unable to pull it out. So, with the money I won from the NCTS I going to buy a ticket to San Francisco. I'm going to stay with my good friend Kevin while I'm out there which will be fun. I guess you could say this is an all in situation. Time to put up or shut up and get the job done. This is not to say that I could not just qualify again next year, but it would make things a lot easier to get it done now.
So that is where I stand as of right now. I'm feeling very strong right now, and I'm getting in some great workouts. Now I just need to keep this momentum up for one more month and try not to go broke with this last trip. Working all the time and trying to do this pro thing is not always easy. Work is definitely a conflict of interest when it comes to be a top athlete, but you have to believe it what you are doing and know that one day it will all pay off.
