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 Swim
Comments: I knew most would be faster swimmers than me so I seeded myself on the outside middle. Got a good start and there were people everywhere. It was tough to get clean water anywhere for the first 500m. I was just trying to find some good feet to latch onto. When we got to the first turn I could believe we were almost half done already. We started spreading out and I got some good feet for the next 500M until the last wave started catching us. No way I could stick with those feet so I just looked for clean water and swam my race. I wanted to be out of the water under 36 minutes so I was happy when I looked at my watch. I was ahead of my goal time after the swim and came out of the water in 827th overall. What would you do differently?: I can't complain about this swim since I knew there would be a lot of fast swimmers.  Transition 1
Comments: Out of the water and the wetsuit strippers did their work. Grabbed my bag, put my food in my pockets, put on socks and shoes and I was off. Put my helmet and sunglasses on and I was off.  Bike
Comments: This is where the fun started and my race almost ended. Less than 1 mile into the bike course and in the main shoot where all the spectators were, one of the riders was still trying to get his feet in his shoes. He veered to the right and clipped my front wheel. I knew I was screwed and I went down hard. Luckily we were only going about 15mph. Bottles went flying and my left foot actually came out of my shoe. There were a lot of riders around and luckily nobody ran over me. My elbow, shoulder, and hip were bruised and bleeding but no major damage was done. Fortunately I crashed on my left side so no damage was done to the bike other than my X-wing. More on that later. Fans were cheeering me on as I grabbed my shoe and water bottles. Got back on the bike and realized my chain was off. Get off the bike, put the chain on and start up again. At about mile 11 I passed the Hoyts. Everyone along the course was cheering like crazy and I knew the cheers weren't for me. :-) At mile 12 off goes my water bottle. The cage was bent to crap from the crash. Thought this might be really bad as I always take water with my nutrition but figured I'd just have to stick with Gatorade Endurance. As it turned out it didn't bother my stomach at all. Mile 14 and I here a CO2 cartridge go flying off my bike. No problem, have 1 left if I do flat. Mile 35 and there goes my last CO2 cartridge courtesy of the crash. Nothing I can do now but ride and hope. If I flat my race is over. Ride was was great until that last 14 miles when we turned right back into the wind. I guess that's the payback for 22 miles downwind. :-) 819th overall after the bike. BIKE SPLIT 1 20 mi. (55:42) 21.54 mph BIKE SPLIT 2 22 mi. (47:28) 27.81 mph BIKE SPLIT 3 14 mi. (46:42) 17.99 mph TOTAL BIKE 56 mi. (2:29:52) 22.42 mph What would you do differently?: Not much else I could do. Legs didn't really feel that good the first 10-15 miles and I feel like I didn't really get going until 15 miles into it. All in all, a good ride. Transition 2
Comments: No problems, grabbed bag, put on running shoes and hat and got any remaining nutritionand I was off.  Run
Comments: I knew I was ahead of my goal time after the ride so I just wanted to finish strong. I felt like I really had a slow 2nd half in my first HIM at Cancun so wanted to stay strong the whole run here. Started out great and was passing people all over the place. Going over the first bridge was no problem. For all the times I got mad at the hills here in Austin, I now want to say THANK YOU! I was taking Gatorade Endurance every other aid station and water at the others. Kept pouring water over my head and grabbed sponges at every station to stay cool. I wanted to take more nutrition in here as I think that's why I slowed down so much last race. Took a Gu every 5k and think that really helped the last part of the run. With about 3 miles to go I knew I was on pace to meet my goal of 4:45 when all of the sudden I started to feel that twinge in my quads. Damn, I CAN'T cramp now. I had to back off a little bit because I did not want to blow a sub-5. I took everything I could, Gatorade Endurance, Coke, Water, sucked down Gu's for the last few miles. It must've worked because just 1 mile after that first cramp feeling in my quad I felt ok. Picked up the pace again on the last bridge and finished at 4:45:07 and ended up 602. Improved my finishing position by over 200 places on the run. RUN SPLIT 1 6.52 mi. (45:55) 8.52 mph RUN SPLIT 2 6.58 mi. (49:44) 7.94 mph TOTAL RUN 13.1 mi. (1:35:39) 7:18/mile What would you do differently?: Nothing, happy with the run. With more volume and longer training time next year I think I can go 1:30. Post race
Warm down: Got my towel and medal and off to the med tent. I figured I'd go get my scrapes all cleand up. As I was getting cleaned and bandaged they carried a women into the Med tent unconscious. I was sitting there for a few minutes and she still hadn't regained consciousness when I left the tent. Got pizza and drinks and got my picture taken. Went to the Finishers store and spent whatever money I had left. :-) Event comments: This was amazing! People can say whatever they want about world championships and drafting, but I wil always remember the day I competed in a world championship triathlon. And I will be very proud of my accomplishment when I tell people I competed in a world championship. The logistics behind a race like this amazes me. The volunteers were fantastic and this was without a doubt the best event I have EVER participated in. If I could do it again next year I would, but next year I'll be doing IMFL instead. Last updated: 2007-11-12 12:00 AM
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United States
World Triathlon Corporation
70F / 21C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 602/1466
Age Group = M40-44
Age Group Rank = 95/192
Arrived very late Tuesday night. Picked up my bike from the shop I shipped it to Wednesday morning and went to check in for the race. First people I see are the Hoyt's. Very inspirational to see them.
As I get my packet and see the other athletes it finally hits me that I'm at the World Championships. Go back to hotel and put my bike together and go for a 20 mile spin to make sure everything's in good working order.
Thursday morning wake up and go for a swim. HOLY SH#*T it was cold and windy and the waves were 3-4 ft. As I'm pulling my sleeveless wetsuit on the seam splits on my left leg. I swam in it but there was no way I was going to race in it. Tried on new suits at the expo and went to a couple local shops and nothing really fit that great. I didn't want to break the first rule of racing with something new so luckily I could call my wife who was getting ready to fly out to bring my long sleeve suit. I never really liked the fit of that suit either but I figured better the devil you know.
After getting back from trying on wetsuits I went for an easy 30 minute run. Made me feel much better and got my mind off the wetsuit.
Friday morning got up and decided to go for another swim to make sure the long sleeve suit would be ok. Actually glad I had the long sleeves because the water temp went from 71-68 overnight. It was still cold and choppy though not as choppy as Thursday. Went for one last 30 minute spin and I was ready as I'd ever be.
Packed my transition bags and took my bike into transition Friday afternoon. Now that everything was in transition I had nothing to do but chill. Went for pizza with some friends and just relaxed the night before.
This pre-race was a very different feeling for me. I tried very hard not to get intimidated by all the "fast" looking athletes. I just had to keep telling myself to do what I can do and enjoy the race.
Since everything was checked in the night before and our wave was the 2nd last to go off at 7:55 I got up at 5:00am, nuked my Startuck's latte (yes, I'm addicted) ate my bagel with peanut butter, banana, grabbed my wetsuit and swim stuff and I was off.
It was very chilly in the morning so went for a little jog along the beach to loosen and warm up. Did my usualy 2 swim warm up and I was ready to go. Water was calm and the 2 previous choppy days just made this water look all the better.