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
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