a week after the race, my report.
probably the most surprising and shockingly happy result i've had in triathlon yet. it's been a challenging year training. 2008 was probably my best tri season ever. won my first triathlon,
the big kahuna 1/2 ironman, won my age group at ironman couer d'alene, and had the best race weekend ever with paula at the new york city marathon to finish off the year. so i was stoked for 2009. then i got injured...hip flexor strain, it's going around san diego, must be something in the water. it's taken about 4 months to diagnose, figure out how to deal with it, and start recovery. it's a funny injury because you can train through it, but you know you shouldn't- a very tough concept to handle correctly for triathletes. i took january and february off from the run with no change to the injury. but started physical therapy in march and things started looking up. also during the injury time, my second isaac time trial frame cracked- hence 3 months i've trying to sort out getting a new frame. then my super cool fsa neo pro cranks started to come apart. everything was telling me not to race. completely surprised that i toed the line last week. i guess it's not that bad as i write it out, but it sure seemed tough in the weeks leading up to the race.
paula was racing as well, love it. i'm so lucky to have such a beautiful wife who shares the same passion, it's what allows me to do this stuff! i spent the friday afternoon prior the race getting the bikes ready, not to self...don't throw everything in a box after the last race of the season and expect t all to come together again. barely had time to make dinner before bedtime but we were in bed by 9 and both excited for the day.
the hardest part about this race is driving to the start and watching the temperature gauge dip to the low 40's as you make your way up the coast. at least it wasn't raining as it has in years before. we got rock star parking and were in transition early, too early as my wave was the very last of the day. spent the time seeing a few friends and then escaping to my secret restroom and chilling out under the stars for a bit. it was cooooold, but as sun as the sun started breaking the horizon, you could feel it warming up. hung out with my friend nick who i seeevery year, but only once a year as we line up for this race. water was perfect for racing, cool and not too stinky. swim was pretty typical but this year i had the whole race in front of me so there was even more crashing and bashing around. didn't look at my watch as i exited but felt fine with the effort. raced through t-1 pretty well, except...if you're going to walk from the swim to your bike, please move out of the way and walk on the pavement and not the carpet strip, it really really hurts to run on the asphalt...
had a brand new set of lightweight wheels to use compliments of
Dan Plummer.incredible wheels and very pricey, i'd have to sell my car to get a pair. rode the disk which is good for the course, but i prefer the standard set of lightweights anywhere else, they're so light and stiff. the new isaac worked out pretty good as well. rode a pr for the course, just out my head down and jammed, felt good, a few mental low points, but the legs were there. the highlight was passing paula at about 10 miles, she was looking strong and happy, always a great sign. came up on Mark Harms about 1/2 way into the ride, scared me as i didn't know he was there and he is an incredible athlete. i laughed with him for a bit and then hammered away to put a little distance between us as he can run...we had a nice run back into town, for a change, there was no head wind which probably didn't make a difference with trashing the legs less because i worked harder then ever!
oceanside is a great race with all the fan support on the run and it helps being a local. tons of cheers and spectators lining to course. coming off the bike felt pretty normal. right out of transition BJ Christensen passed me. he's in my age group and won his age group at lake placid last year with a sub-three hour marathon. it tried to stay with him for a bit, but he was steadily pulling away. there were 3 waves of my age division though so i had no idea if he was ahead of me or not but I guessed that i had the lead of at least 3 minutes so i'd just have to minimize the damage. first 6 miles went ok, steady pace but i knew i was going to have to fight. i was also fighting the temptation to back off a bit and call it a day, and chalk up a mediocre result to the injury. funny how your mind tries to talk yourself into things like that when it really hurts.
i had a good deal of support on the run though so i couldn't back down. i just took it one mile after another trying to keep it up. the age stations were packed! hard to grab drinks but managed a little coke and a little water at each one. mile 7 through 11 were the real fight. i knew i had a shot at kona still but would have to work. i had energy, but the legs were failing. but, this is often my favorite time of a race. it's a cool spot if you don't mind the pain. it's one of the few moments in life when nothing in the world can touch you or get into your head. it's all you, and nothing else matters.
at about mile 10 i passed paula which was a huge boost but she knew i was hurting as i was kind of glazed over, usually i can pull myself together during the run to slap fives or say hi to some friends, but today i was cooked. the photo at the top from my buddy
James says it all...
ended up holding it together and having a nice last 2 miles. everybody said i was in 4th place but i didn't believe them. finished with a course pr and second in the age division behind Adam Zucco, a great athlete who I knew was one to watch out for. i had been watching him ahead of me a little but i didn't know for sure who he was or what wave he started in. i must say though i was a little bummed crossing the line, not sure why as in looking back it was a great day where everything went perfect...i think it was being so close to the win and the kona spot. i was even more shocked when i found out they had a few extra kona slots and divided them up between the largest age groups, with mine being one of them. they had 2 spots...i was in disbelief. disbelief at how perfect everything was working out when i had such poor expectations. paula and i were both elated. the registration girls said they hadn't seen anyone as excited as i was in a long while...
we hung out for the awards and paula was able to register for ironman canada so it truly was a perfect day. my goods friends and training partners Brian Scott,
Charisa Wernick, and Vickie Alexander also grabbed spots so the october group is coming together.
so now it's time to get healthy and figure how to get myself up on the podium come october, at least there is ample time to sort it all out! i think i also need to figure out how to make these reports shorter...thanks for reading if you made it through!
patrick
