The WBWC

As the Wrightsville Beach World Champioships (aka: the WBWC, aka: Wilmington YMCA Triathlon, aka: the "At least we're not in Myrtle Beach" Triathlon)  draws to a close, let us take a moment to reflect on past editions of this glorious event.

Ok, you done? Moving on.

It's unfortunate, almost sad in a way, that this years edition of the WBWC coincided with the week long UCI Road World Championships. Clearly, the attention that the WBWC has received all week (what with all the tri pundits weighing in on odds), another great event is forced to take a back seat to one far superior. Bradley Wiggins must not know how to feel. On the one hand, the guy wins the World Time Trial Championships, on the other, his accomplishment will go largely unnoticed.

Wiggo, nonplussed indeed

It's like solving a crossword puzzle in a TV guide. I mean, good for you, those things are hard, but no one gives a crap (and why are you still using a TV guide anyway? who are you, Frank Costanza?).

On to this years edition. I am pleased to announce that I was able to defend my title yet again at the 36th running of the WBWC. Solid swim, bike, and run splits across the board lead to another course record breaking performance. This marks the sixth year that I've won this event, and it feels good to bring home La Tasse Pourpre (the purple coffee mug).

Be jealous, it's ok

And while I don't drink coffee, I figure this mug should be equally at home with the adult beverage of my choice (rubbing alcohol, for the good times).

One final note on the day. Hats off too Mr. Shawn Spencer and Mr. Patrick Farwell, who may have had you thinking you were in Myrtle Beach with their colorful addition to the beach cruiser division.

Don't forget to stretch those hamstrings

Fighting off some serious chaffing, these guys hammered along on a single speed beach cruiser tandem. And for their efforts, they shall receive a free six pack of Schlitz and a half used tub of chamois cream.

Chamois cream application available upon request (from this guy ↑)

Chicago Tri

My apologies for leaving my loyal followers without an update from my last race. You all deserve better. Come on, stop crying. It's not you, it's me.

So, I made it all the way to Chicago and back in one piece. Not that I didn't feel safe while I was there, but driving in the city was nothing short of treacherous. Needless to say, once we reached where we were staying, I didn't drive again until we left.

Waking up on race morning was an interesting experience. The race started at 6am this year, which meant waking up before 4am. The sheer mass of people heading into transition on race morning was a bit overwhelming, especially considering I was running late (as per normal race protocol). I managed to make it to swim start with some time left to warm-up, and we promptly got underway at 6 on the dot. The swim was quite a choppy affair, due in part to the wind coming off the lake, causing waves to reverberate off the adjacent sea wall. I felt pretty good in the water, and comfortably settled into around 8th place for the duration of the swim.

Heading out onto the bike course, I was about 40 seconds down from the front of the race, which was not bad considering the company I was in. They were trying out a brand new bike course for this year, in hopes that it would help with the logistics of running an international and sprint distance race concurrently. The new course took us on a 7 mile out and back section before we entered a maze of upper and lower roads, tunnels, and 180 degree turn-arounds. While this made for a very interesting course, it made it hard to settle into a rhythm. My legs were already not feeling great, and the course only compounded that. I still managed a decent split, but the front-runners (Cam Dye, Greg Bennett) were setting a blistering pace.

Moving on to the run, I tried to get my leg turnover going, and settle into a strong pace. I managed to catch one person, and pull back some time on others, but wasn't quite fast enough to do any serious damage. I did have some great encouragement though from my cheering squad.

Mimsy, Official Support Puggle of Matthew Wisthoff Racing

 Overall, it was a solid race, but not my best. Some days, you just feel flat. I was wondering where my form was from two weeks earlier at Lake Logan. Looking back on the two weeks between though, I can see that I went too hard on some workouts that should have been active recovery. I usually don't have a problem with taking it easy (duh), but when you feel good, it can be hard to rein yourself in. Lesson learned.