Yeah, it's a big enough deal that it had it's own bus ad
Even
just getting onto the start list for my first international race made me giddy.
The fact that it was a World Cup level race made me feel like I was moving up
in triathlon just be being at this race. In 2009 ITU draft legal racing was
broken up into three levels of racing. World Triathlon Series (WTS) races are
at the top with 6-8 races per year in some of the most iconic cities on the
planet. This is the crème of the crop in triathlon, high caliber, fast paced
racing. On the middle level are World Cup races, with about ten per year
scattered across the globe. Then there are the entry level Continental Cup
races of which there are a whole lot. Clermont, Sarasota and Dallas were all
Continental Cup races that I had done earlier in the year. But now I was stepping
it up a notch, racing against a deeper field at a higher level.
First thing I see coming out of the airport, freaking awesome!
This was
my first trip ever to Edmonton and my first time staying with a completely
random homestay set up by the race director. Things couldn’t have gone better, I knew I was going to like Edmonton the moment I walked off the plane and saw a bunch of ads bragging about random facts about Alberta. Facts like; Bison used to repopulate wild populations all come from Alberta or that Alberta has the most diverse amount of dinosaur species anywhere in the world.
Edmonton was a great city and the race organizers had put together a difficult
and fun course, and my homestay was incredible. Gunther and Mary were extremely
helpful and accommodating. They were both heavily involved with the race,
Gunther was providing the beer for the post-race festivities, and their home
was a quick bike ride from the race site. Overall I was left with an amazing
impression on the city, the people and the course. Edmonton will be the site of
the Grand Final Championship next year, it will be an amazing race and who
knows….maybe I’ll even get to be a part of it.
Standing in downtown Edmonton, getting ready to get into a car with a complete stranger
My first
taste of the course came on Friday morning, when all the elites were able to
have a police escorted ride through of the course. Just like on race day, all
the streets were closed off for us as we strolled through. World Cup races are
on a whole other level. Since the race meeting was on Friday and the actual
race wasn’t until Sunday, I had some time to familiarize myself with the area
as I continued to train leading up to the race. I even got to watch some
international water polo as Canada and Serbia battled it out at the Kinsmen
Sports Center.
In the
days leading up to the race I had a slight equipment snag to overcome. The
bearings and freewheel in my rear hub were super tight. Riding around I could
feel the loss of power, especially when coasting downhill. It was maybe only a
5% loss in power, but that was 5% I was definitely going to need come race day.
My homestay came through for me though, their daughter raced on the Junior circuit
years ago and they still had her tubular all carbon Reynolds in the garage.
After checking that they still held air and swapping the 9 speed cassette with
my 10 speed, I decided to go for it and use the wheels. Hoping that the eight
year old glue would hold in the tight corners of the Edmonton Bike course.
Safety first...actually this would be the site of a horrific crash during the race
Race
morning came around 8am, as I slowly dragged myself out of bed. I love ITU
racing! A quick jog and some stretching in a grassy park overlooking the river
was a great way to prep my mind for the intense hour of sprint racing to come
in the afternoon. I spent the rest of the morning trying to relax my mind, no
sense in getting all amped up to early in the day. One of the biggest hurdles
for this race was just being wide awake and ready to rock at three in the
afternoon. I got down to the park in time to watch the women’s race start.
There was good energy in the air and I wanted to see how the women would handle
the awkward three step drop/dive into the water at the start.
The view from my morning shake out
After a
solid warm up prep, we were all called up onto the blue carpet for our call
ups. Jogging down to the start line I was ready to put the last several weeks
of hard training to work. I felt so prepared to crush this race and was very
confident in my ability to perform well across the board. One final deep breath
on the starting pontoon and we were off! The 750m swim course was in a shallow
little pond, it had heated up throughout the course of the day and we were in
for a non-wetsuit swim. There was a small island that we had to navigate around,
this meant for really tight swim conditions with 50 of my new best friends.
I spent a little time pre-race getting pumped up with youtube videos, similar to the one above. During our call ups, the ITU theme began to play over the speakers. Most kick ass pre-race moment I've ever had, it was time to crush this race!
I had
what felt like a smooth and rapid start. I was swimming strong and had a bit of
open water in front of me to work with. Charging ahead, I focused on a relaxed
kick and quick turnover to be sure that I didn’t go hypoxic. Then I felt
someone grab my butt and rip me backwards. Never have I had something like this
happen to me, yeah I’ve been swam over, kicked, elbowed, even put in a headlock
and taken down before. None of that compares to being yanked back in the
critical first 200m of a World Cup race. I came to a complete standstill as
everyone surged past me, in one moment I had gone from the front third of the
race to the back third. And the back third was a brutal place to be. The
tightness of the course meant that everyone pretty much stayed together
throughout the swim. A pack of swimmers in the water can be a lot like a pack
of cyclists, there’s an organic flow with people passing and dropping, except in
the water it can be very hard to tell what’s going on. It's all about skill and experience, two things that I don't have quite enough of yet.
The infamous blue carpet of Elite ITU racing
I never
did manage to move back up in the pack. Too many kicks to the face and too much
clutter for me to push through, my swim ability isn’t quite good enough to
comeback from a hiccup yet. But still I was out of the water on the tail end of
the pack and made the critical mistake of thinking this was good enough. There was a mad sprint the 200m to the transition zone. I must’ve
lost a few more seconds getting my helmet on because by the time I got onto my
bike what seemed like such a short gap had grown a lot. I tried to strap into
my shoes to get up the first climb quickly and close the gap. Putting
everything I had into stomping the pedals down the gap started to close but I
had lost too much time and couldn’t lose it all the way.
Cool video put together by ITU, highlights of the men's race.
On the other side of
the road I could see the lead pack starting to make its way down the hill. I
heard wheels cross and saw several riders go down in a hard massive pile up. As
I rolled through the same spot less than twenty seconds later, the road was
completely blocked off with bikes, bodies, motorcycles and spectators
everywhere trying to help those on the ground. After creeping by the crash
site, I didn’t have the strength to push down the hill into the wind and catch
the disappearing pack. Click here for a full gallery of the women's and men's elite race, way better than the pictures I got.
Stand up transition racks and a personal name card....I was racing big leagues for sure
It’s
crazy how two seconds out of the water can quickly turn into so much more than
that. I was caught by the trailing pack and we began to sort of work together
to catch the next group. Our group was small and unorganized, with the hills
and turns of the course we didn’t have much of a chance to catch anyone after a
few miles. Our group seemed deflated and my legs were destroyed from the high
intensity effort to start the bike. We kept bleeding time and I tried to stifle
my frustration with missing out on that front pack. Two
seconds down on the swim had turned into three and a half minutes by the end of
the bike.
Jumbo screen to show all spectators live race footage and stats
I was
demoralized starting the 5k run, but I was hell bent on at least beating those
in my group and any stragglers that I could reach. The run course was up and
down the same major hill that we had to start the bike course with. I found my
legs under me quickly, and got to work up the hill. But it was the downhill
that really got me moved up. Maybe it’s my long legs, but I really just let
things fly and closed down on everyone around me. By the time I started up the
hill a second time my legs felt completely destroyed, but the race was almost
done and there was one more guy to catch. I got him just before the turnaround
back down the hill and ran the rest of the race alone. I ended up in 29th
place, just enough to score some world ranking points. Check out a full breakdown of splits and results here.
Packed grandstand to cheer us on, spectators were all over the course and very excited to yell at us
I’m
happy to have completed my first World Cup race. I’m frustrated that things
didn’t quite go my way, it’s tough to swallow a disappointed race like that. I
feel like I didn’t perform to my fitness ability and that is the most
frustrating thing to deal with. But it’s more experience gained and I’m happy
to have been a part of such an amazing event. Triathlon can be a very
frustrating journey sometimes, but for now it’s all about getting back to
training and hopefully continuing an upward trend. It was a goal of mine to get top 30 so that I could score some world ranking points, and guess who is now ranked 433rd in the world! This may have been my last
draft legal race of the year, so I'll have to wait a bit before being able to climb any higher. Next up is the Lifetime Minneapolis Triathlon on
July 13th, a race I've done in the past as an amateur. It's a great venue, on a very scenic course, I'm excited to lay down some speed and see what I can do!
Cool airport sculpture/mosaic of downtown Edmonton
This was
an A race for me. Being the U23 National Championship and a trip to U23 worlds
on the line, a lot was at stake. There were several contenders for the title
and the trip. Although I didn’t consider myself a favorite, I was at least a
dark horse to watch for. I think.
75 mile 7 person relay running race on beautiful Iowa Trials. We crushed it, 5:30 average pace for the team.All in a days training!
The
three weeks prior to this race were a wet blur. I had really upped my time and
intensity in the pool. 2 hour swim sets became the norm and I was determined to
not be left behind anymore! I was hoping to get a chance to see if I’d improved
at the Kansas 5150 but due to bad weather the swim there was cancelled. I was
down to only 2-3 bike rides per week. Allowing me to really increase my run
mileage too. So coming into this race I had a big block of training and I was
itching to show something for it.
Sweet recovery....
It was
great to get through a much needed taper before race week. Finally the soreness
and heaviness was leaving my body. Replacing it was some freshness, a happier
mood and a spring in my step. To make things even sweeter, I had raced the
Dallas EDR in 2012. So I knew the area already and it really eased my mind the
days before the race. Finding a cheap direct flight meant that Kelli could come
with. It’s always great to have her with me at a race. We spent a lot of time
just chilling in the hotel room the day before the race, this was probably one
of the most laid back pre-race experiences I’ve ever had. Bad television, Kelli
and a comfy bed. Perfect.
Z3 taking over the hotel lobby and turning it into a bike shop
Shake
out and swim recon all went very smoothly. Our hotel was on the bike course so
everything was really easy to get to. There was also a F1 race going on for
12-17 year olds. So it was great to interact with some of the younger Z3 kids
and feed off of their excitement. The swim was only open for an hour, so it was
a good chance to eye up all of the competition. I was feeling fit and fast,
really I was just itching to get the race started!
Athlete meeting....so exciting....
I woke
up around 3:45am to pee, and Kelli made the joke that for some races this is
when the wake up alarm is going off. ITU racing is awesome in so many ways….I
got out of bed at 7:15am. I had a little snack and went out for a morning shake
up jog. Running around a little helped wake up my body and get things moving. I
was able to check out the race course set up and cheer on some of the younger
girls who were racing early in the day. It was overcast, hot, humid and windy.
A great day for some racing!
Tight run into transition, fence made things complicated
After
eating breakfast I had about an hour of just hanging out and thinking about the
goals for the day.
·Get out of the swim with a pack….any pack
·Focus on a lighter swim kick and a faster arm
turnover
·Don’t over work on the bike
·Build through the run
·Hydrate on the bike and keep cool on the run
At the race site with all I need on my back
Around 10am I finally rolled down
towards the race site to do my real warm up. I ditched my stuff at the Z3 camp
and got familiarized with the local area. A short jog followed and I was
feeling pretty good. I wanted to get into the transition area early to maximize
the amount of time I could spend warming up in the water. Good thing I did
because our start time got pushed up 25min. Instead of noon were we now
starting at 11:35am to try and avoid an impending storm. Even better for me
because I had a 5:10pm flight to catch after the race!
Got to love the dive start!
Lining up for the start I felt
confident and excited. This is my craft and I intended to soak in every minute
of it. Not only did I want to smash myself in the race but I was eager to show
off all the hard training I had done. The horn went off and I had a smooth dive
into the water. The pace was quick but by keeping my kick more relaxed I
avoided spiking my heart rate and going into immediate oxygen debt like I have
done in the past. I had a surprisingly smooth and open first 150m, but just
when that thought crossed my mind I began to get swam over, elbowed, pulled
down and boxed in. Finally the real race had begun. I wasn’t struggling too badly,
but I was losing positions at a critical moment. A group began to form off the
front with a string of swimmers behind, I was somewhere in that string.
Coming into the swim exit
As we
started lap two, I saw that our string of swimmers was falling off pace. It was
now or never and I put in a hard effort to see if I could catch the lead group
before the next turn. Unfortunately, I couldn’t close the gap and was instead
watching as 10 seconds turned into 30, 45, etc. Luckily though, I was at the
lead of the second group. Needing to recover from my previous effort, I forced
my way onto someone else’s feet and became content with being at the front of
the second group for the swim exit. In retrospect, I should’ve kept pushing the
pace in the swim to thin out our bike pack and keep the gap to the leaders manageable.
Nothing like going vertical to spike the heart rate
I awkwardly hit the exit stairs
and lost a couple seconds trying to scamper to the top. I bled more time trying
to let my heart rate to come down a bit in the long run into T1. Transition was
not blazing fast but no major hiccups either. Mounting the bike, I was solidly
in the second bike pack of 12ish. Freaking sweet! Our pack tried to quickly get
to work, but as would be the story for the entire 40k ride, we were not getting
it done. A cool race moment; Manny Huerta was in my bike pack and I had the
brief thought of how awesome it is to be riding next to an Olympian during the
race and listen to him yell at everyone to try and get them organized.
Riding with the big boys
The lead group split into two and
on the third lap of eight we gobbled up those that had fallen off the lead groups pace. Now our pack of 25ish riders
was trying to chase a hard riding and motivated group of 9. Our group had too
much dead weight and too many guys would attack off the front instead of just
pulling through smoothly. The gap to the lead 9 kept growing and growing. Our
group began to lose motivation because the winners were way up the road, but I
really needed to be as close to the other U23 guys as possible to maybe have a
chance of running someone down. So I kept myself towards the front and tried to
get in solid pulls when possible.
Group all strung out after the turnaround
There was one really bad wreck
about halfway through the ride. It happened right at the front, I think a
couple guys crossed wheels and one of them went down hard onto his shoulder. I
got a front row seat as his body and bike slid on the road in front of me. I
was caught between the edge of the road and the pack. Luckily I was able to
slam onto my brakes enough to squeeze by and then catch back onto the group
quickly. Unluckily, that dude has some serious road rash all over and was going
to be in a world of hurt.
Everyone trying to hide from the headwind, the Las Collinas Convention Center in the background
I tried to chill myself out even
more on the last two laps of the bike. Our group had lost just about all motivation
to even ride hard by then. There was a big surge coming into the dismount line,
which was grey duct tape on concrete, it caught me a little off guard. Instead
of leading the group into T2, I was caught in the middle of it. With such a big
group trying to run bikes through such a tiny area, some blocking was happening
and there was nothing I could do by then. I bled more time and made the mistake
of taking two steps past my transition spot and almost racking my bike
backwards. I caught myself before messing up that badly, got my shoes on quick
and was out the gate. Most of the group ran by me within the first 400m. I had
a very unsettled feeling in my stomach and just needed a bit of time to get
into my grove. It was hot, 90 degrees and super humid. The sun had come out and
I kept telling myself that all of these guys were going to just blow up.
Chasing down the competition
The run course was a little
strange. It was five laps, instead of the regular four with a basic 180 degree turnaround at each end. 100yds
before the turnarounds were the aid stations. So for every 2km lap we would
have access to 4 aid stations. At every station I would grab 1, 2 and sometimes
even 3 bottles of icy goodness. The feeling of frosty bliss would last with me
for a few strides and then I would return to reality and the oven that I was
actually running in. This was my first time running in anything over 80 degrees
for the year. It was hot and I was blowing up constantly. The other guys were
feeling it too though, and I began to reel people back. With a lap to go I was
sitting in 13th place with 10th place (and a paycheck!)
in sight. I kept pushing the gas pedal desperately trying to surge up to the 10th
place guy. I was able to get around one and then another, but the final guy
stayed out in front the entire time. I closed down the gap but I couldn’t close
the deal. I ended up finishing 6 seconds out of the top ten, the money and the
press release.
Getting everything taken apart and all packed up in less than 20 minutes
Overall I was very pleased with my
performance. I accomplished many of my pre-race goals and gave my swim
confidence a huge boost for the future. I was finally a factor in a draft legal
race. Surprisingly though, my run wasn’t quite where it usually is. Maybe due to
the heat, or maybe my run legs just weren’t there on the day. For me this whole
race was just proof that my training is going in the right direction and that all
the work is paying off. Bit by bit, I’m experiencing progress. This was my best
performance in a professional race to date, next up is the Edmonton World Cup!
Getting ready for an easy ride with my little brother
As always, thanks for reading and happy
training to all!
