Sunday, September 23, 2012

70.3 World Champs



On Sunday the 10th,  I raced the World Championships in Las Vegas, the field was stacked with all the household names along with the up and coming guys in the sport of Triathlon.  WTC did an amazing job finding a true course to test the physical and mental strength of each competitor you really earned your finishers medal out there!

Race day rolled around pretty quick and so did 3:30am on Sunday morning, race time was 6:30am and my morning went smooth and uneventful.  I did forget to put tape cover on my Disc to block the opening for the value! Ah well could have forgot to put on my water bottles.  I was positioned next to my friend Shannon for New Zealand, we always end up riding together when we race, I joked that we would probably end up getting out of the water together and getting in each other’s way on bike out.  Funny enough we did get out pretty much together.

The swim start was in the water and the hard part was for us not trying to inch/float forward after the 30sec countdown. But the line held somewhat steady then all crazy broke out with the sound of the cannon. I kept contact and was in the mix on feet to the first buoy. However, my group of 3-4 lost contact with the pack after a few hundred meters. When you have the caliber of guys like Potts and Josh Amberger the swim is going to be super fast from the gun. With that been said I was disappointed when I saw the clock at just under 30min,  my training and other races have indicted I should be around 28min. But I stayed positive and set out to hunt. We had a long transition before we got to our bikes, then I saw a few guys start the climb so I attacked the first hill to make contact, and ended up just driving past and keeping the head down. I caught some more guys before the turn around at mile 24; we had some serious climbing   and descents and then hit a head wind on the return.  Before I reached the turn I saw the front group of 12 and a chase pack of 9, I counted myself at 39 so I picked off 5 bikes and ended up getting 6 or 7 more before hitting T2. I got off the bike feeling ready to run, but reminded myself patience’s was key to the run with the heat and hills, I kept moving up and hitting solid splits both up and down hill, until right at 10.5miles when my focus turned to the finish mode, I did pick off some more guys and kicked in strong to end up 24th in 4:20:56.

Overall I was pleased with my result, I don't think I raced up to my expectations and fitness level but when I look around at the guys just up the road from me and behind me I got to be happy, time/splits is really not a factor it's all about getting yourself in the mindset of racing on the edge on a day when it’s so hot.  I can proudly say I'm 24th in the world in my second year racing Pro.

This result wouldn’t have be possible without the great support team of  sponsors, friends and family so thanks so much to Bart and Mindy of Snapple Tri Team, Also On Running Shoes (Thanks Jon Cook), Immunotec keeping me healthy and allowing me to recover strong. Superfeet for being the best company in the world to work for and making great performance products that everyone should be wearing!! And last but not less my amazing wife Heather.

More to come on Rose City Sprint Tri and Trifecta Olympic  double win weekend.

Thanks,
Robbie