This was my best Columbia swim by 1:21! I knew coming into the race that if I wanted to be competitive, I needed to swim better than 22:00, and I had targeted trying to get in a group with Jeremy Cornman and Lucas McCollum who had both swum between 20 and 21 minutes last year. The swim start looked DIRECTLY into the sun to the point where you couldn’t even see the first directional buoy. I lined up with the guys I wanted to swim with and waited for the gun to go off.

The start was really fast (probably the 17:00 guys pushing the pace!), and about a minute or two into the race I saw a gap opening between me and a large pack. I thought I’d lost the pack I wanted to swim with, but when we made the first turn, I realized I had actually been leading the guys I wanted to swim with! I settled in, found some feet and just stayed in the draft knowing I was in a good position at this point. I got up the ramp out of the lake, saw 27:xx on the clock (our wave started at minute 7) and knew I had done my best swim by a lot.


Nothing.

Timing is messed up for T1 and my bike split. From swim exit to the end of the bike was 1:02:11, but the race website has it as a 0:01 T1 and 1:02:10 bike split. Either way, I out transitioned Jeremy (2:01 T1) and Lucas (1:51 T1) because I beat both of them onto the bike course so 1:40 sounds about right. Solid T1, wetsuit went off easily and helmet and sunglasses went on well.

Nothing

1:00:05 per my bike computer plus probably ~25 seconds to get from timing matt to mount line and back so 1:00:30ish. 317 AP/ 321NP. 1100+ ft of climbing on this course per my Garmin.

I wasn’t sure how my legs were going to feel after a relatively big week and a 3 hr ride yesterday, but BAM! I had a goal of 315 watts AP going into the race, and I knew that was within reach when I hit the first couple of miles and every time I checked my power I was @ 340-350 watts. I started picking off guys right away and rode through most off the 19-20 minutes swimmers in the first couple of miles. I caught Matias Palavecino maybe 5 or 6 miles into the ride, and I knew at that point I was in with a shot at being in the top 5 because he was 2nd overall amateur in the race last year. He’s an amazing runner (sub 35 10K in 2011) so I knew I was going to have to stay on the gas the entire time to put 3 or 4 more minutes into him to have a shot at holding him off.

There was rarely a time where a male from the open wave or a professional female wasn’t in sight in front of me, and I always like chasing targets :). I picked off most of the 17-18 minute swimmers by the second half of the course, but I knew Adam Webber and Brian Duffy were still up there somewhere. My watts dropped off a little over the course of the race, but I still rode the second 30 minutes at 307 AP after riding the first 30 minutes @ 326 AP. I probably could have paced a little better, but I still had a really solid ride, bettering the 2nd best ride of Lucas McCollum by 80 or 90 seconds (he rode 1:01:52). I got off the bike feeling pretty good and ready to run.

Bike nutrition: Had about ¾ of a bottle of 200 calories of EFS.


Maybe go out a little easier.

Racked the bike, quickly threw on socks and shoes, grabbed my race belt and watch and was off!

Nothing.

I surprised Deanne running out of T2 because she wasn’t expecting me for another couple of minutes. I like it! I had a good idea I was in the top 5 because there were only a few bikes on the racks when I got back to T2, and I was mentally prepared to hurt the last couple of miles to try to stay there to get a piece of hardware.

It’s really easy to go out too hard on this run course as there are lots of tough hills, especially from miles 2-4. I wanted to run the first part controlled to make sure I didn’t blow up in the middle of the course, and then bring it home with everything I had left. It was a little hard to stay controlled though because the 2nd place female, Leanda Cave (3rd in Kona last year!), FLEW by me out of transition and up the first hill.

I decided to let her go at that point and run my own race. The 3rd place female caught me briefly, and I said let’s work to bring Leanda back, but as my legs were starting to come around, hers were leaving her. Leanda probably got 150 yards or so on me, but she was never too far out of sight and when we hit the hills from miles 2-4, the gap started coming down. I didn’t see any other men behind me, and I thought if I can catch Leanda and stay with her until the end, I might be able to get a top 5 placing. I finally caught Leanda at mile 4.5 or so at the end of the second to last hill. I took a 5 yard lead and served as her carrot until we hit the final climb at mile 5.0 where I probably put 30 yards into her. She closed that gap coming down the last big hill, and then we booked it across the dam to the finish line, running the last ¾ of a mile in 5:55 pace. I crossed the line in just over 2:02 completely spent after the last hard mile!

Run nutrition: A couple of cups a Gatorade along the route.


Nothing.

Nothing.


Hmm, my fatigue level coming into the race?


I stuck around the finish line, said thanks to Leanda and shook hands with the Lucas and Matias who came in right after me. I didn’t know where I had finished, but Deanne said she thought I was fourth. Results weren’t going to be posted for a long time, but I got a free massage while waiting and then we decided to pack up my bike, head back to the hotel, shower, and come back to the race site to check the results. When we got back, results had been posted and I was 4th!

I couldn’t be happier with my race. I swam, biked, and run up at a level that I feel represents my current fitness, and it’s hard to complain about that. This race is a HUGE confidence boost heading into IMLP—to PB on a course by 7 minutes is a testament that work works. Bring on the big training for IM!