Kate and I left well in advance for IM CdA . We drove from Boise to Coeur D Alene the Wednesday before hand. Quite a magical drive if you ever get the chance to do it . Pictures to follow on facebook and website in a few days.
Onto the race.
Race morning rolled round quickly as it always does and we climbed into the 55 Degree F water ( 12 C ) …COLD…for our warm up… after about 3mins you go numb and lose the feeling that your about to have a panic attack..
( Photo Dave Erickson )
Pointing out the turn round for the swim to T.O
So back to the beach for an ankle deep start and as usual I had a great start and got myself out to a body lengths lead in the first 15seconds, however after a few hundred meters I was feeling quite bad, maybe I should have gone out a little slower?? but that’s never my way, I like to go hard and then settle in except T.O then Bryan Rhodes came past me and I knew I wasn’t swimming that well. However lucky IM is a LONG LONG LONG day and as long as I kept it together and didn’t lose to much time it’d be ok… That’s what I told myself anyway.
By the end of the swim I had lost nearly 2mins to T.O and Rhodsey.
Swim exit ( Photo Dave Erickson )
I had a quick transition and was out onto the bike, I can usually tell if my legs have come to play or if they are still in bed, to my delight I knew I’d have good legs today.
I played a smart game and rode with Viktor Zyemtsev for nearly the entire ride. We caught Chris ( I think he sat up and called it a day to be fair ) then soon after T.O and before I knew it we were leading the race. Heading back into town I made a conscious decision to ease off and try and get some calories in for the run. I knew Viktor was a great runner and my thoughts turned to a top 3 finish, if I wanted to achieve this I had to make sure I had calories to burn and wasn’t riding beyond my means.
( Photo Dave Erickson )
Heading into T2 and out onto the run the crowd was CRAZY, people screaming everywhere, I think I was smiling for the entire first mile, telling myself DON’T RUN TO FAST. Once out of town I settled into 6:50-7 min miles with my goal of running a 3 hour marathon. At 6 miles or so Tim caught me and spoke some words of encouragement that was very nice of him.
(Photo Jessica Alexander )
( Photo Dave Erickson )
( Photo Dave Erickson )
Heading back into town and I was still sitting pretty in 3rd place. Then at about 17K I started to crack ( I think that’s how they described it on IM LIVE ) and fall apart , by the time I hit the half way point I was hurting pretty bad in 4th equal . Then BOOM , KA-POW , I was gone .. My brain was still working and willing my body to push on, but my body was refusing…( Sorry body.. MY BAD )
I ended up finishing the race and once again the crowd was fantastic. Not the finish I wanted but never the less I learnt a lot and got some things really right and other things horribly wrong.. HAHA
Finish ( Photo Dave Erickson )
Big thanks to all the supporters out there, my fello professionals who were great to race with and learn from..Your legends.
My coach Pete McKenzie… legend.. best coach ever.
My Sponsors.. Sorry I couldn’t bring home the bacon on this one.. We are getting closer by the race. Thanks for your continued support.
You are AWESOME
Guy
No comments:
Post a Comment