Sometimes a trip is more then just a trip, its a journey. This past week was definitely something that I will remember for a long time to come. The previous two weeks going into this race week was tough. I worked a lot, didn't get much of a taper, and was consequently exhausted. I left for New Mexico on Thusday feeling tired and not sure about what kind of race I was going to have. My hope was to make good time on the 700 mile drive so I could get there and get rested. The drive itself was pretty interesting. I went from a sun parched and burned out Texas Hill country to a moderately green high desert in west Texas and southern New Mexico. The air kept getting cooler the farther away I moved from Austin and our 100 degree heat. It was a welcomed change. I made it to my grandparents place in New Mexico at a decent hour after a short stop in El Paso to pick up some tacos and a couple hitchhikers. At this point this trip became a lot less about racing and more about something else. I don't know how to explain a lot of it without becoming too personal, but I'll do my best to describe it. This past year has been tough, and I learned a lot, but I still didn't know where my life was going. I always trust that God will provide the answers, its just hard to wait for them when you're ready to go. But thats what faith is, believing in something that isn't always readily apparent. I went to New Mexico expecting to see my family, race, and have a good time. And I did, but I also came home with a whole bunch of answers about whats next for me. Its crazy, and exciting, and I can't believe what I'm about to do next, but its time to shake it up a little bit. The only thing I ever wanted for my life was for it to be interesting and I certainly haven't failed there.
Come race morning I felt completely relaxed. In the days leading up I had the worry in the back of my mind that I would not do well just because I was so tired. But as the days went on that worry faded. The race didn't matter so much only because I knew it would take care of itself. I slept well, got up early, had a little breakfast and made my way down to the race site. I've never felt so peaceful and focused the morning of. Everything just clicked like it was on autopilot. Plenty of time for transition set-up and pre-race poo's, a little meditation, and a nice swim warm-up. The weather was perfect, I had a ton of support, and I couldn't ask for a better day to do a triathlon.
Then bang! Its go time. We started in a large wave down a narrow chute, so I knew I had to get out fast to avoid getting beat to death in the middle of the pack. It worked out well, but it was still pretty rough. The coarse was a T shape with a bunch of turns and lots of bouys that didn't belong to the coarse, so it was difficult to navigate. I quickly fell into a good rhythm and it didn't really take too much to get out front, which kind of surprised me. However, there were a lot of guys banging around in the water and I was hoping it would string out soon. The fast swimmers started pulling away by the second turn, so when we got to the back stretch I could see a small pack out front with a few stragglers between me and them. Somehow I ended up towing a group behind me that made my swim a lot tougher. One guy in particular just kept pulling on me and pushing me down. He was a pretty big dude and I couldn't get away from him. I guess he was dead set on staying in my draft. I had another on my feet that I kicked a few times, but he wasn't really a problem. Its just weird having someone touching your feet while you're swimming. Still, the other guy was making my life hell, I kept thinking "I'm gonna punch this fool when we get out of the water." By the end of the swim I was exhausted from both the fighting to with the guys around me and the 4000ft. of extra altitude.
I remember the last time I did this race how disoriented I felt when I got out of the water. As tired as I was it was not near as bad despite the quarter mile run up the sand to T1. No smiles for my family and friends either, and I'm not sure I really ever saw any one I knew. I had some serious tunnel vision on, but I managed to have a fast transition and got on to my bike relatively quickly. Coming out of T1 was a steep little climb up to the highway. I was huffing and puffing hard core trying to get my legs going. Often times when I come out of the water I have a little burning in my legs as they start to get their rhythm. This day would be whole other story. And normally I catch my breath in a few minutes, but like I said...a whole other story was about to unfold.
A couple of guys on relay teams caught us by the end of the first mile which consists of about three quarters of a mile of hilly sandy running with a super steep climb up the hardtop. I made sure not to walk at all and to try and stay with my running partner. At the top there was an aid station and I took a second to catch my breath and get some water and gatorade. When I started to get it going again I felt much better. I pulled up to the relay runners and began to push the pace. Soon enough we dropped the younger guy and they eventually dropped me as we climbed up from the first dam. I felt okay, my legs were hurting, but I was keeping a good pace. I was happy to be moving in the 6min mile range because I felt like I was running 8's. The run coarse was just as tough as the bike, with a long climb up to the turn around. But I was making good time and picking up spots slowly but surely. After the turnaround I felt a lot better then I thought I would. It went by quick, so I just focused on the next runner in front of me. He was up quite a ways, but I knew I could catch him. It took me another mile, and I started to put some distance on the guys that were catching me on the way up. I also started to close the gap on the relay runners too. All I could think about was finishing though. I caught one more guy before the final mile in the sand, which was a little on the painful side. Bombing down that steep hill I was doing all I could to keep upright, and my poor quads were not happy, but I pushed it in and was so happy to cross that line.
I remember the last time I did this race how disoriented I felt when I got out of the water. As tired as I was it was not near as bad despite the quarter mile run up the sand to T1. No smiles for my family and friends either, and I'm not sure I really ever saw any one I knew. I had some serious tunnel vision on, but I managed to have a fast transition and got on to my bike relatively quickly. Coming out of T1 was a steep little climb up to the highway. I was huffing and puffing hard core trying to get my legs going. Often times when I come out of the water I have a little burning in my legs as they start to get their rhythm. This day would be whole other story. And normally I catch my breath in a few minutes, but like I said...a whole other story was about to unfold. A couple of miles in a young college guy caught me and we traded spots back and forth for a while. Finally, about 5-6 miles in I started getting my bike legs. I passed that kid on one of the climbs and started to move pretty good. We were closing in on a lot of other guys and I started to feel stronger. From then on I kept moving up reeling one in after another on the 5 mile climb up to the desert plateau. My legs were still on fire like I've never really felt before. I was guessing that it was the lower oxygen, but I was pushing pretty hard and really sucking wind the whole time. My mind was relaxed though, and I was doing my best to enjoy the coarse as it is very pretty. I clicked through the first 13 miles in 47 min. well under a 20mph average. The road was rough as hell and there was a lot of climbing, and it was just very taxing.
Finally, we peaked out and made the turn back to town. I kept the pressure on hoping got pick up a few more spots. I figured at this point there was no reason to conserve for the run. The road back was much better and fairly flat till we turned off to a small road leading back to the highway into town. I was hauling ass staying right around 26-28mph, but so were the guys in front of me. I was slowly making up some ground, but once we turned and hit the fast curvy downhill it was strung out till we hit T2. i
I was glad to get off the bike and yet not very excited to run. My lower back and legs were getting really tired by the time I hit transition and I didn't think I would have much for the run. Fortunately I had a little motivator to get me going. The guy I was battling against at the beginning of the bike turned out to be right behind me as we left T2. I laughed and told him I thought I'd lost him, but he said he was doing all he could to keep up. We started out together on the run, and I was doing all I could to keep up with him at that point.
A couple of guys on relay teams caught us by the end of the first mile which consists of about three quarters of a mile of hilly sandy running with a super steep climb up the hardtop. I made sure not to walk at all and to try and stay with my running partner. At the top there was an aid station and I took a second to catch my breath and get some water and gatorade. When I started to get it going again I felt much better. I pulled up to the relay runners and began to push the pace. Soon enough we dropped the younger guy and they eventually dropped me as we climbed up from the first dam. I felt okay, my legs were hurting, but I was keeping a good pace. I was happy to be moving in the 6min mile range because I felt like I was running 8's. The run coarse was just as tough as the bike, with a long climb up to the turn around. But I was making good time and picking up spots slowly but surely. After the turnaround I felt a lot better then I thought I would. It went by quick, so I just focused on the next runner in front of me. He was up quite a ways, but I knew I could catch him. It took me another mile, and I started to put some distance on the guys that were catching me on the way up. I also started to close the gap on the relay runners too. All I could think about was finishing though. I caught one more guy before the final mile in the sand, which was a little on the painful side. Bombing down that steep hill I was doing all I could to keep upright, and my poor quads were not happy, but I pushed it in and was so happy to cross that line. I could hear my family off to my right but I just floated on for a minute or two in my exhaustion. It took me a few minutes to acknowledge that the rest of the world was still there. Its funny to think how much I withdraw inside myself when I'm racing. This one in particular was a fight. I can't even begin to tell you all the things I was telling myself to get through it. I don't really remember. But I went and found a shady spot to sit, and after a couple of more minutes I was fine.
It was a great day, I felt good about what I did. I didn't race with a watch except for my GPS on the run, so I had no idea what my total time was. I knew that I was close to the front, and that I probably at least placed. I was extremely pleased with the effort I was able to put in, and I pulled out a good run after a tough swim and bike. I would say without a doubt it was the toughest olympic distance race I've done. The results posted and I was second in the AG and 16th overall not counting the three relay teams that beat me, and only one minute slower than when I raced this same coarse in 2009. But if you add the extra time for T1 because of a much longer run up from the water I was actually almost the same. I had a faster swim and run this year, and was less than a minute slower on the bike. And the swim coarse on this one was definitely long, but I swam about that far off coarse last time too. So for 10 months off, a month of training followed by three weeks of sickness and losing 8 pounds, to come out and do what I did in less than 5 weeks is awesome. I think its just the tip of the iceberg though. I believe now that I can really come out and do some damage next year.
It was a great day, I felt good about what I did. I didn't race with a watch except for my GPS on the run, so I had no idea what my total time was. I knew that I was close to the front, and that I probably at least placed. I was extremely pleased with the effort I was able to put in, and I pulled out a good run after a tough swim and bike. I would say without a doubt it was the toughest olympic distance race I've done. The results posted and I was second in the AG and 16th overall not counting the three relay teams that beat me, and only one minute slower than when I raced this same coarse in 2009. But if you add the extra time for T1 because of a much longer run up from the water I was actually almost the same. I had a faster swim and run this year, and was less than a minute slower on the bike. And the swim coarse on this one was definitely long, but I swam about that far off coarse last time too. So for 10 months off, a month of training followed by three weeks of sickness and losing 8 pounds, to come out and do what I did in less than 5 weeks is awesome. I think its just the tip of the iceberg though. I believe now that I can really come out and do some damage next year. All that being said its time for a change. I'll be moving on from these parts here in the very near future, so no Longhorn 70.3 for me this year. I'm happy with what I've done and satisfied with my season even though it was only two races. A huge thankyou to my mom, my sis and nephew, Valerie and Louie, and Robin and Walter for coming out to support me and watch me race. Thank you to Crystal and Elsie for coming to visit and big thankyou to Crystal for stretching me before and after the race and for all the raceday pics. And a very special thankyou to my wonderful grandparents for being such gracious and generous hosts to all of us for the weekend. I had a great time and I'll see you soon.
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