The 70.3 world championship changed venue from Clearwater FL to Las Vegas NV, which was a welcome change for sure. I can't say that I like Vegas it just seems dirty and gambling is not for me, but the course is great, set near lake Mead on the southeast edge of Las Vegas in a town called Henderson. The course is meant to be tough hot, windy, and hilly, it did not disappoint. I left for the race thursday night after work without the family in tow, they bailed after they realized there was an 11 hr drive involved. Next year they will come and enjoy the nice hotels Vegas has to offer. I got to Vegas early afternoon on Friday, met up with many of my teammates who were racing as well, Glenn, Kerry, Mark, Pam, Warren, and Landon. Bryan was there as well to give support and watch the race. Saturday was an easy day as check in was completed, all I had to do was drop off my bike and talk to a few potential sponsors. I did get a kick out of the bike counters, tallying bike brands, wheels, bars, power meters, etc at T1. At the pro meeting though I finally realized the field I was about to compete in, usually I can finish in the top half and top ten at 70.3 races. But these were all the guys that consistantly beat me, oh well I knew this coming in and will race my own race. That's exactly what I did.
Sunday morning Bryan drove the entire team over to the race start in the beast of a Ford that Kerry and Glen rented, there was not too much to get done in T1 so I was ready to race. The swim was in 81 degree lake Las Vegas surrounded by condos. At the start in the water I found myself right next to Potts, so as the gun went off I stayed with him for the first 300 meters and then realized his pace was a little too quick for me to have a good race on. So I fell beck to the lead group and stayed to the outside of them the entire swim. I like to swim just to the outside of the lead group, I feel this is the best place to stay out of trouble. I got into it with a few guys towards the end which takes energy out of both of us and slows us both down so I am not sure why it happens but no worries I gave a few hard strokes towards the end and dropped them quickly. I exited the water around 10th I think with Craig right behind me, in 24:42. I think I could have swam a little quicker here as I was not all that tired, and should of been further ahead of Craig. I choose not to use a T1 bag and ran directly to my bike. I think I had one of the fastest T1 times for sure but I should of used a bag as I had to hunt down my swimskin and goggles after the race. Out onto the bike where the fun begins....
Lets just say that I went from top 10 to top 20 in the first 10 miles of the bike. The course ran out of Lake Las Vegas and into Lake Mead park which was very pretty, but also hilly. I felt fine on the bike, just kept my power right below 300 got my nutrition and hit each water station. The problem was the guys I was against were so much faster on the bike, my normal effort felt very slow. It was a little lower than what I expected, but I also wanted to be able to run so I did not push too hard. Over all the bike was okay and I ended up passing about 5 guys in the last 10 miles, which got me ready to run. Bike was 2:28:13 at 294 watts avg.
I went through T2 fast, bike catchers are great, passed one more guy in T2 and headed out on the run. I felt great the first mile, that was about it. It was starting to get hot out and the 3 loop run course was not an easy course by any means. Each loop was 1/2 all downhill, then 1/2 all uphill and it hurt each time around up or down. To my surprise I had many folks cheering for me throughout the run course which was great. I could not manage a decent pace most of the run and felt very slow out there, but maybe it was Jessie Thomas passing me or Craig pushing up the hills like they were nothing. The best part was at the end of the run though I managed to get chicked in the last 1/2 mile by the lead female, so that was great. I ended my run not really feeling like I had left it all on the course which I usually do, and a 1:27:04 time.
I am not disappointed with my results, I made it to worlds which is more than 3/4 of the pros can say, I learned a lot this season and will take this race into next season only to improve on. I know what it takes to compete at this level now and exactly what I need to work on. Now its cross season....game on.
Swim - 24:42
T1 - 2:23
Bike - 2:28:13
T2 - 0:49
Run - 1:27:04
Total - 4:23:10
