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 Swim
Comments: My wave finally got in the water and I swam over to the start and waited for the gun to go off. I lined up far to the left against the rocks. I was actually standing on the rocks so I didn't have to tread water in just a speed suit and without the buoyancy of a wetsuit. I just stayed there and when the gun went off, I jumped from the rocks and got a great start....you know what they say, if you ain't cheatin, you ain't winnin. ;) Anyway, the swim start was very smooth. The first few hundred yards were quick but pretty easy effort. After we were a few buoys in, I was done. lol. Totally over swimming and I was like 500 yards into the swim. Didn't really know what to do. I couldn't maintain any kind of focus so I would just stop and breast stroke for a minute, kind of look around and then get going again. I did this SIX TIMES....LOL. Six times, I would roll onto my back, do a couple back strokes to make sure no one was behind me, roll back over and stop, look around and then get going again. So stupid. But I was so far back, I didn't care. My legs were sinking and my back started hurting and I was simply over it. It also didn't help that you couldn't see 1 foot in front of you in the murky water. Finish seemed like it took forever to come but it finally did. Long muddy run to the bike and hopefully I feel better cycling than swimming. Guess we'll find out.... What would you do differently?: This question is far to complicated to answer here.  Transition 1
Comments: Pretty easy transition with no wetsuit. I had to keep my helmet in the bag to be sure no officials got a little too authoritative and maybe tried to tell me I couldn't race with a non CPSC certified helmet. So I just left it in the bag in case they were doing roaming patrols in T1. The run out was a little crowded but no big deal. What would you do differently?: Nothing  Bike
Comments: Power avg:207 | max: 585 | y: 222 score:182 | factor: 0.82 | cad:83 Felt fine coming out of T1. I knew that I was going to get passed a lot on the bike. My power goals are like that of a little girl compared to my competition. So I was fine getting passed and not getting off my game. I knew that this was going to be a tough race for me. Mostly mentally. Very tough to stay in it when you know you're, at best, going to run around in the middle of the pack...and quit possibly, the back of the pack. So I knew it was critical to stay on my program. The rain was never a concern. In fact, I didn't even think about it while I was out there. I felt good coming out of the park and on to the main road. I knew the fast girls from the wave behind me would be coming soon and I thought I would just do my best to hang on to them. The dudes passing me in my wave were just coming by in huge packs. No way to stay with them unless, 1. I wanted to put out more power than I was comfortable with and 2. I'd have to latch on to the packs because there was no way an individual effort could keep pace. I road my race, slow and steady and tried to concentrate on getting fluids down. I was thinking there was a good chance this rain could clear and the run might be hot, so I wanted to be prepared. The course is as rolling as it gets and I tried to ride as smoothly and steady on the power as I could. Not good for a fast split on a rolling course but really good from a run protection standpoint. Got to the turn around and the ride back seemed to go so much faster. Before I knew it, I was back at Lake Las Vegas and started the ride into Henderson. I've done that section so many times that it went by in a flash. I did notice that the sun was starting to come out which was perfect. The clouds and rainfall would keep the day from getting hot but you wouldn't have to run in wet shoes! On the run in, my Nemesis, Sarah Barkley made up a 12 minute deficit to pass me in the very last section of the bike. I officially fired her as my Nemesis because she has surpassed me by so much that it is no longer a contest. She would go on to finish 2nd in her AG. Farewell Nemesis, happy journeys ;) Bike split was slow but I did feel like I was ok to put in a decent run. What would you do differently?: If I was in better shape, I would have ridden the course a little faster with a slightly higher VI. Transition 2
Comments: T2 was solid. I found my bag instantly and shoes went on without a problem. I grabbed my water and prerace pills and I was off. What would you do differently?: Nothing  Run
Comments: Immediately upon exiting T2, I saw another solid female athlete and friend of Karin's, Amanda Wendorff. I knew that Amanda was going to run faster than me so when I saw her just slowly pulling away, and my pace felt slow, I knew I was right on. The first lap went great. I love the three loop course, It's funny but two loops sucks....because they are two long ass loops and when you get back, you have to go back out for another big run. But three loops with T2 in the middle allows you to break the run up into like 6 sections and each section is rather manageable. I went through the first lap right on target and just below 8 minute miles. My goal was to try and avg 8 min miles throughout but after passing through T2 for the first time and down the mile to the first aid station, I turned around to come back up the hill and realized 8 min miles was a pipe dream. Finishing quickly became the goal of the day. Trying to run as much as I could also became high on the priority list. I wasn't tired or hurting at this point, I just couldn't and didn't want to run any faster. Another huge benefit was having Karin every 2 miles. That helped a ton. Along with all the Wattie spectators and friends. I had support throughout the run. Never a moment passed where someone was not encouraging me. This was tremendous mostly because I didn't want to look like an asshole walking around in front of so many people that know me. Fear motivation is a great thing....fear of looking like a schmuck does wonders! I really tried to concentrate on getting to the top of the second hill for the second time. That meant I had 1 mile downhill and then just one more loop. Mentally, this was easier to digest. The third loop was SLOWWWW...I was fading fast and did have to walk a couple aid stations. Ah well, gotta do what you gotta do. Funnest moment of the run was when I saw Paulo Sousa. He shouted, "Go harder Dusty! Brian would want you to go harder!" The reference was to my coach Brian Stover. The dude right behind me heard all this and when he passed me moments later he said, "You should tell him to tell Brian to go fuck himself." LOL...I literally almost threw up because I was laughing so hard. It was such perfect timing. Struggled up the last hill and this is when my body started to hurt. I couldn't even pick up the pace really on the downhill. But, I finished, I got there and before I knew it, it was over....thank goodness. What would you do differently?: Get my head into it. Post race
Warm down: No warm down. Found Karin quickly and just sat in the shade and relaxed. When the volunteer handed me my medal, holy crap, I thought I was the overall champion. Spectacular medal to say the least. What limited your ability to perform faster: Too long of a season. Work and life stress. Event comments: So there you have it. Solidly back of the pack in my first World Championship...whatever. I set out with a goal this year and accomplished it. Period. The World Championship was not part of that. Right now, as I type this, I'm not sure what the goal for next year is. I seem to do better at Olympic distance with my solid swim bike combo and suffer at HIM with my crap "run". So I may concentrate on Olympic distance next year with Age Group Nats and Chicago ITU as my big races. Race calendar is already laid out for next year. I just don't know if I'll accept a slot at Mt Tremblant should I happen to qualify. I need to see how the next 6 months goes and how far along my run comes. Up next is a whole lot of nothing serious. Gonna do some open water races, a small tri in Catalina and a few running races over the next six months. Absolutely nothing serious till Wildflower next year. I need to judiciously shorten the season. As it stands now, it's too much. I'll keep up the blog with all the BS I do over the winter. Special thanks to all my sponsors Wattie Ink, blueseventy, KSwiss, Reynolds Wheels, Scott Bikes, ISM Saddles, Power Bar, Kask Helmets, FuelBelt, 454 Tattoo, SpiderTech and Speedfil. Corporate Sponsors 101 Pipe & Casing, Kurt Orban Partners, and Wins Wheels. My coach, Brian Stover, from Accelerate 3. My body mechanic, Blair Ferguson, from Ventura Training and Athletics. My girlfriend, Karin...Wait till you see this girl crushing dreams next year!! Last updated: 2013-06-16 12:00 AM
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United States
World Triathlon Corporation
85F / 29C
Precipitation
Overall Rank = 879/2500
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 164/232
So, the goal for this year was to qualify for 70.3 World Champs. That was it. It was specific and within reach. At Boise 70.3 earlier this year I accomplished this goal by slipping into a 9th place roll down spot. Once I accomplished my goal, something dawned on me, now I have to race this stupid thing! This was actually a tougher decision than one might think. I knew that qualifying would be a solid and tough goal to obtain which made it a great little carrot throughout the year. I also know that I'm not remotely competitive to race the world championships. So why race? Well, being a part of Wattie Ink, I have a commitment to represent them the best I can. Turning down a slot to appear at the world championships would be turning down a lot of publicity and exposure for my team. It was very important to me to represent the best I could. Running around in the kit with all the sponsors showing is good for the team and our sponsors. So I couldn't in good conscience not take the spot and participate in the race.
The summer leading up to the race was a tough go to say the least. I pulled out of Age Group Nationals during the bike for no good reason at all. I simply didn't want to be there and found it almost impossible to produce power on the bike. It was a very bizarre feeling but definitely the right choice. My coach and I came up with outside stress being the biggest culprit. Stress outside of triathlon has been huge this year and it has taken a big toll on me and affected my racing and training big time. I can't find the focus I need to stay down in aero for hours at a time or stare at a long black line in the pool. So I found myself bailing on rides and pulling out of swims. It has also been difficult to stay focused in races. But after a small break after Age Group Nats (well, it actually turned out to be a break with a short taper and non race) I did get a little back into the groove and got a couple weeks of solid training in. But hardly optimal as my mind wasn't into it...and that's the worst muscle of all of them to not have functioning.
Karin and I headed up to the Vegas house a week ahead of time. Plenty of time to get settled and everything in place. Plenty of time to get some training in at the race venue which was nice as well. Weather was typical for this time of year with hot days and monsoon moisture ruling the day. We met up with friends throughout the week and had some great dinners and lunches.
I hosted a Wattie Ink Pool Party on Friday before the race and the turnout was fantastic. I saw so many friends and met quit a few Wattie Ink Teammates. Wattie handed out the racers new World Championship kits as well as the goodie bags our sponsors put together for us. Can't thank them enough.
Saturday was just a rest and relax type day before the race. Tried to keep it purposefully uneventful.
Race morning came and I woke up to cold temps and solid rain. So strange for the desert to have a solid, steady rain all morning. But whatev's....no big deal. Turned out to be a godsend because I don't think I would have finished if the conditions were hot.
Karin, Flabby and Tyler dropped me off at the Lake to set up T1 and they took off back to eat breakfast and get out of Dodge as to not get stuck down at the lake. They made their way back to T2. I just sat in the rain, loaded my bike up with my bottles and stood there waiting for the race to start. No warm up to speak of.
At this time, I felt pretty good and just turned myself over to whatever the day had in store. Nothing I could do at this point except execute the best I could.