Lake Stevens 70.3

All recovered from the Boulder 70.3 I hopped on a plane for the quick trip over to Seattle then on to Bellingham WA for my first back to back 70.3 races.  I have had this Lake Stevens race planned since the beginning of the spring, the cool weather in August and beautiful location I could not miss.  Plus my main sponsor for the last three years Erin Bakers was located here.  I arranged to stay with Bryan and Erin in Bellingham who opened up their home to Kevin Sullivan and myself the entire weekend.  Their hospitality was unprecedented and Bryan was racing his local 70.3 as well.  I got a tour of the bakery which I learned a lot, took in some sights of Bellingham, and relaxed Friday.  Saturday I had a great run around a beautiful lake in town called Padden, just wow.

A little ride, check in our bikes at the race site and some more relaxing while Erin prepared the most wonderful pre-rece meal for all of us.  We woke early Sunday and headed to the race site, arrived early and got set.  Air was about 55 and water 69, a far cry from the weekend before with hot water and hot temps all day.  It was going to be a nice day for a race, cool even.
The first wave headed off at 6:30 into clear cool Lake Stevens, as the gun went off I found my way to the front of the pack.  One guy was pulling in front of me so I gladly let him lead the entire swim, later to find out it was Graham O'Grady.  The swim was great mainly because this was the first cool water swim all season, there was also a rope about 4' below the water line that the buoys were attached to that you could follow the entire course.  I think this was for crew or slalom skiing, anyway it made for a great guide.  I touched Graham's toes every once in a while to let him know I was still there, before the exit I tried to pass, but he was not having any of that after leading the whole swim.  I was only one second behind him on the swim.  I got through T1 and hit the bike in first though.  But a few more guys were right on my tail and soon I was caught not too far from T1.  The bike was a two loop course with lots of small rolling hills, and the second lap was with the age groupers which made it a little crowded.  Very similar to the Boulder course the week before.  My bike felt good and I rode at around 300 watts the first lap, and then settled in behind two guys for about 10 miles on the 2nd, catching a legal draft.  After that I passed them as I felt their pace was a little too slow.  I did take the slower time to get in some calories fig newtons and hydration Nuun Strawberry lemonade.  I never did drop them even though I pushed the pace the rest of the bike.  Again a beautiful ride, cool, rollers, and smooth great course.  I managed to hold 316 watts average on this course at 24 mph which was exactly where I wanted to be.
Into T2 I counted bikes on the rack and there were 4 so I was in 5th, I made it quick and headed out for the run which is also two loops.  I love racing in my new Zoot Ultra Race 3.0, no socks, feet never too wet, and feel comfortable the entire run.  I had one guy pass me Stephen Kilshaw, I tried to stay with him but quickly realized he was running at a pace I could not hold.  So I ran my own pace for the rest of the race.  I could tell I was not fully recovered at about mile 8 or 9 as I started to slow, but I knew James Duff was right behind me even after serving his drafting penalty at the end of the bike.  I just kept counting down the miles, but James caught me with a mile to go.  I tried to not let him pass, but it happened, then I stuck with him and ended up only 6 sec behind at the finish.  Not my greatest run, but to be expected after back to back 70.3 races.  My swim and bike were both good so I was very happy with this race.  The main reason was the location though, and getting to race with 5 other of my teammates at one race Elizabeth Thiel, Geoff L'Heureux, Bryan Geschwill, Landon Opunui, and Kevin Sullivan...what a great race guys and way to represent the team.  Of course great weather and beautiful location don't hurt either...

This was my 6th half this season and the 5th WTC sanctioned one, the plan this season was to try and make it to Las Vegas for the world championship Sept. 11th as a first year pro.  Pro's this year race for points divided up at each race determined by placement, your top 5 points are added up and the top 50 go to worlds.  I received an email Monday morning from WTC that I made the cut, so I have excepted and now I actually have an A race this season to taper for. I can't wait to race the big boys in a few weeks.

Thanks again to Bryan and Erin for their wonderful hospitallity and enabling me to participate at the level that I do, I can not thank you guys enough.

Swim - 23:38
T1 - 1:09
Bike - 2:20:08 @ 24mph
T2 - 0:58
Run - 1:24:27 @    6:26/mi
Total - 4:10:20