I know this is a little late to write about but I have a good excuse, the last few weeks have been hectic as I finally made the move out to Boulder, well Louisville CO to be exact. So just the general move activities kind of had me busy through the end of my season this year. Though this week I am not really sure what to do with myself, as I am forcing myself to take off till December to heal fully for next season.
Dallas was to be my last race of the season but fell only one week after our home closing in IL. I qualified for the US open in Chicago by placing 2nd in the elite category to Kaleb Vanort, the top 3 at each Lifetime fitness race throughout the country qualified for the championship in Dallas.
One week after arriving in Colorado in our new home I was off to the airport to head to Dallas for my last race this season. I choose to leave early Saturday and come home later Sunday night, since my wife was not to thrilled that I was leaving right away for this race. My coach Roberto Florencia that has been coaching me over the past two seasons happens to live in Dallas, so I arranged to stay with him and his family. I had never met him in person so it was a great opportunity. This worked out perfect as he was more than accommodating, he even picked me up from the airport and everything. Roberto and his wife were also doing the race so it was nice to have someone local to race with.
Race morning was perfect weather for a race, the US open was at a new venue just to the east of Dallas and proved a to be a great place to have a race. My wave of elite championship men consisted of only 10 guys, most of which I knew from other races, but they were all fast for sure. We got to share a special little transition with the top Olympic pros at this race which was pretty cool. At the swim start we lined up on a dock Hy-Vee style and dove in right after the pros started. The swim was nice, I tried not to take it too hard as I was trying to save a little for the run as Kaleb was there so I knew I had to run super fast if I could after my long taper and lack of training leading up to this race. For the first 500 meters or so one other guy from my wave stayed right with me, then upon turning into the wind and waves at the first turn he dropped off. The marker buoys in between the turn buoys had drifted slightly so I tried to just sight the turns and swim a straight line. Exiting the swim in 18:53 I made the long run up to transition.
Heading out on the bike I almost ran directly into a curb trying to get my other foot in the shoe before heading uphill. But this would of been nothing if I had not done a final check on my bike before the race, my shoes were clipped to the wrong pedals, I laughed but that would of really sucked if I stared the bike that way. I really had no idea what to expect for the bike, I was told there were hills, but figured that they could not be too bad in Dallas. I was wrong there were a lot of hills and it was a quite technical course. It was a really fun I love that type of course. The only incident I had was passing a group of 5 female pros. So the pros ride staggered taking up the entire bike lane, one right, one left, one right, etc. I am supposed to pass on the left, I voiced passing on the left but only one moved over. I don't blame them really, they risk a penalty by moving into the draft zone of another rider. So I had to pass way left and it happened to be on a right hand 90 degree turn. Almost crashed again, and I am sure the pro girls thought I was the crazy amateur. Oh well pass made and on my way. The end of the bike was down hill to transition, my legs were tired after only a 59:55 bike split must of been all the hills. So much for that fast run.
Heading into the run I thought I had at least a 2 minute lead on the field, but that is not enough when the top runner is running 31 a minute 10k. The run was not all that hilly like the bike but was a nice out and back. Flashback to the Chicago race Kaleb makes the pass on me a few miles into the run exactly like in Chicago, except this time he slows to chat with me for a little bit. I guess I was too slow after a while he decides to move on and still ran a 31 minute 10k. I managed to hold off third place by 15 seconds for 2nd place. I was not that happy with my run of 36:59, but really to be expected as my run has been off the end of this season and with all the time off before this race due to the move. No worries for me really, this race was just for fun at the end of the season and it was a great way to end the season.
Thanks again to my coach and his wife for opening up their home to me and helping make this race such a success so easy to do logistically. I am now going to be enjoying some well deserved time with my girls in out new mountain home.
Swim - 18:53 1:10
T1 - 1:06
Bike - 59:55 24.8
T2 - 0:23
Run - 36:59 5:58
Total - 1:57:13
