Lake Steven's 70.3 was an important race for me, a top 3 overall finished would mean I earned my professional card, and I would again join the professional ranks. The week leading up to the race was good one, albeit a tough one. I was busy all week working with one of my favorite clients to close a transaction. I was definitely trying to be a jack of all trades, attorney and athlete.
As for the race, this was one of the toughest races I've ever done. The conditions were hard (about 90-95 degrees for the run) but they were hard for everyone. When I say the race was tough, its difficulty proved to be more mental than physical.
Swim: The swim went well, I got off to great start and swam with the leader all the way into T1. In the final few meters I came through to the lead and exited the water in first.
Bike:
I really took the bike out hard. I knew my bike shape was great, and if I was going to win this race, I would do so on the bike. Coming out of T1 my goal was to catch all the athletes that started in the wave before me (that wave started 4 minutes ahead of me). The bike was going as planned, I was catching all athletes and keeping my pace high. This was going to be great ride.
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| 56 Mile Bike through the beautiful hills of Lake Steven's Washington. |
However, at about mile 48 of the bike, I had that feeling that I may have gone too hard up the climb and/or not absorbed the calories I had eaten. I know the feeling of blowing up/bonking on a ride, and I thought oh no, I've done it now. I went into damage control and I decided to take it easy. I rode the last 7 or so miles at a relaxed pace. I really slowed down heading into T2 but I knew I still had a good size lead, and I wanted to take it easy on the final miles of the bike as a precaution to avoid a melt down on the run.
Run:
Off the bike I had about a 3 minute lead on all the other amateurs and was happy with my position. The start of the run was tough and very hot, so I decided to walk the aid stations and made sure that I drank all the water I could get my hands on. My strategy seemed to be working, I came through the half way point at 42:20 (not blazing fast), but my 6:30 pace (even with the stops) was working. Although an athlete passed me shortly after the midway point, if I could hold the current pace I would have an excellent result.
I kept my 6:30-6:40 pace for another mile and half and then came mile 8. There's a steep hill at mile 8, and my legs were done. There was no power to run up the hill and my stride turned to a shuffle. At this point the real difficulty of the race came to the forefront. I began (i) to worry about the guys behind me and (ii) to doubt my ability to finish the race. I am not sure if I failed to consume enough calories, or if I exerted too much effort on the bike, or if it was simply my body not cooperating. To prevent a complete melt down, I kept telling myself, you've got second overall, stay focus and keep it together (at this time I still had at least a 5 minute lead on third and fourth place). I was struggling. The great cycling commentator Phil Ligget once described a cyclist as "he looks like he has died a thousand deaths," and that is how I felt and looked. I kept shuffling through the mile and trying to stay focus and positive. At one point, I slowed to a walk. It's not often one of the leaders of the race is walking, but this time, it was me. I used the walk to compose myself. I took the 10 seconds to remind myself, hey it's 2.5 miles, run it in 16 or so minutes and get this race finished. I knew the guys behind me were catching up but if I could put together two reasonable miles I still had a top 2 finish and an age group win.
Between miles 12 to 13, I was passed again. I was now in third. The last mile is slightly downhill and I was giving it all I had to run a 6:30 pace. The last 100 meters of the race contains two right turns. With about 50 meters to go you make one last right and then it's a straight shot to the finishline. At the final right, I saw a guy coming behind me and coming fast. I summoned all my strength to pick up my pace but with 10 meters to go he passed me. I was devastated. I staggered through the finish line. In the end I finished 2nd in the age group and 4th overall (amateurs), there would be no pro card today.
I ran a 1:31:14. My goal was to run 1:18, but today, I would have been happy with a 1:31:09 (I lost the pro card by 4 seconds). Off the bike, I had a lead of over 13 minutes on the third place athlete. For most of the day I had a podium position. I was first out of the water, first off the bike, and for all of 20 feet of a 70.3 mile race, I was on the podium. Yet I'm still happy. I pushed myself to my limit, passed my threshold, but did not give up. A few years ago my race would have been over at mile 8. The 1:31 run would have turned into a miserably long 1:51 run. I am happy, I kept my head focused, struggled through the rough times and finished.
Swim 27:04
Bike 2:25:51
Run 1:31:14
Total 4:26:44 (2nd AG 4th Amateur Overall)
