Tuesday, April 29, 2008

St. Anthony's Report

Just got back from Florida last night. I think I have had enough of driving to races already this year. Alabama and Florida were both 10 hour drives.

But anyways, the race. This was hands down the biggest race of my life. It was really something else. There I was, lining up with Greg Bennett to my left and Craig Alexander to my right. Other notable racers were Matt Reed (Beijing bound after last week), Andy Potts, Faris Al-Sultan, Stephen Hackett, Massimo Cignana, Richie Cunningham, and the list goes on.

The swim got off in a hurry, with Reed and Potts not wasting any time and gapping the field before I knew what was going on. I was feeling strong and in control throughout the whole swim, just hanging in the main pack. However, I tried to pick it up a bit to try and bridge up, but I was unable to pick up the pace. I eventually came out of the water with a chase pack of about 11 or 12 guys. Interesting enough, Bennett and I came out of the water side by side, the same as we had entered. I had a solid transition onto the bike and I was off and running. My new Kestrel Talon felt great. My positioning is far far better than my previous setup. I was also borrowing a Zipp disc and Zipp 808 front wheel (thanks Kate) for the race. The combination of the two was phenomenal. I don't think I droped below 25 mph the entire time except for turns. I ended up having hands down the best bike leg of my entire career, averaging 25.3 mph for the 40k. Again, I had a solid transition from bike to run. I took it out strong but conservative, slowly catching two guys by about mile 2. Unfortunately, I have been having some leg issues as of late. I have been stuck on elliptical machines for the past month and a half. I was still in some pain from last weekends effort going into Sunday. Consequently, the second half of the run was a bit rough. I could feel some straining in my lower right leg, and was afraid to over extend myself lest I do something really bad. I still managed to pull off a 35:55 ruin split, but was a little disappointed knowing that, had I been injury free the past month, I could have really busted some heads. Little did I know at the time, but one of the guys I was chasing down on the run was 2005 Ironman World Champion Faris Al-Sultan. Unfortunately I was unable to catch him, but I still feel good knowing I was right there with some of the best in the world. My final time was 1:56.26, a pr for the international distance and good enough for 17th in a VERY stacked pro division.

As I mentioned above, my leg is not exactly in tip-top shape. However, its nothing that I am to worried about. I just need to keep my mind on the big picture. Therefore, my race schedule might be slightly altered over the next month to ensure proper healing. This will gurantee that I am in peak physical condition for my first ITU races.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

2012 Talent ID Invite Report

Victory! And 600 bucks to boot. After hanging around Tuscaloosa for what seemed like forever, I finally got the chance to race. I felt great on the swim despite the chilly water temps. I came out of the water in third position and felt really comfortable. After the the first lap myself and three other riders formed the lead group. However, one guy from navy took a spill at the turnaround on the first lap. This caused us to lose our rhythm a bit, but we quickly formed a strong group when one other rider bridged up and a very sketchy rider dropped off the back. The three of us got a good rotation going and held the first chase group of 9 riders to about one minute. Coming off the bike Nick Vandamme(sp) and myself stayed together for the first half of the first lap of the run. After taking it the first quarter at a comfortable pace, I made my move on Vandamme and never looked back. I ended up running a 16:51 for the 5k. A solid performance, but I would have liked to have gone under 16:30. Vandamme was able to hold off a hard charger from the first chase group who must have had the fastest run split on the day. Crossing the line in first was a great experience with a whole slew of photographers poised at the finish.

So things are going pretty good. I think I impressed some people today, and I am very pleased with that. It was very satisfying to beat all of the so called "pipeline athletes". In the end, it doesn't matter who USAT thinks is going to succeed and who to support. You just have to go out there and let your racing do the talking. They'll come around eventually.

Click HERE for the story on the USAT website!