Man what a day. Last Saturday (11/11) Pete and I raced in the final race of the year. The World Championship in held in Clearwater, Florida. It was quite an experience with 30+ countries representing.Anyway at 7:15 EST my wave of approximately 600 athletes left on a beach start. Before I knew it I was in the front group leveraging lessons Pete has taught us on 'dolphining' through the shallow water. I struggled to hang and at the end of the swim was caught by Pete (coach) who started 5 mins behind me. As I exited the water I recorded a new sub-30 minute PR for the swim (YIHAAAAA).
The bike was a story by itself, with 2000 racers spread over just 4 waves, seperated by a mere 5 minutes combined with a very flat fast course it was inevitable that drafting (illegal) would take place. And so it did. Fortunately I felt strong and before long was in one of the lead groups, actually pulled that group for quite a while due to the threatening marshalls. This lead to a new PR of 2:11:59 (equates to an average of 25.48mph or 41kmh). Coming out of T2 I was right with Pete who with severe leg cramps still managed to outrun me.
The run was extremely tough as I clearly had blown too much energy on the bike and was 'hanging on'. Although Clearwater is as flat as a pancake they had managed to find a bridge that we had to cross 4 times and made it quite tough. I ran a flat 1:37 (about 5-6 mins slower than usual), and had no issues with my ankle.
Overview result (#349)
Swim 29:58 (PR - 31:08)
Bike 2:11:59 (PR - 2:33:10)
Run 1:37:58
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Total 4:24:37 (PR minus 23 mins)
I came in 52nd in my age group and 205th overall
A lot of thanks to my coach and friend Pete whom had an unbelievable swim (19th overall) and bike (20th overall) but was held back due to injuries on the run, yet still managed to finish ahead of me.
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