Tim has been a great athlete at M2 over the past two years. He has left us for a while to work in Australia, but he made his way back to the States for the ITU Long Course World Championships a week ago and had a great race. Here is his experience from Las Vegas!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, my first experience in any sort of event I had to qualify for,
let alone something with the prestige of the world championships has
come and gone. The
ITU Long Course World Championships was an amazing
experience and I can’t thank my mom, sister, my “manager”, and my
awesome friends and family for being there for me at the event and
supporting me with good vibes back in SF and Australia. I came into
this event feeling pretty confident after managing 2nd place in my age
group at my first tri in Australia, even after some stomach issues
caused me to have two unforeseen “breaks” that cost me a chance at 1st
place. My swim was starting to feel better and more efficient, I’ve
never felt stronger on the bike, and I was looking forward to redeeming
myself and having the sort of run I knew I was capable of. I was back
in the states, feeling good, and excited to represent Team USA and do my
best.
I really didn’t have much in terms of expectations
for this race as I snagged the last qualifying spot in my age group at
Wildflower back in May. To be honest, I was just stoked to be at an
event that had “World Championships” in the title, and so I really
focused on not worrying about anything or anyone other than myself. I
knew I would be competing against some of the best age groupers from all
over the world, so I really just wanted to show that my qualifying was
legit, and that I belonged in this realm of athletes. The distance
(4km, 120km, 30km) was nothing like I had ever tackled, and I didn’t
really know whether to approach it like a half or full Ironman, so
really just decided to go based on feel, and if I felt good to go for
it. “Do the best you can and control what you can control” was the
mantra I kept pounding into my head.
I hit one last M2
session the Tuesday evening before the race and then drove to Santa
Barbara Tuesday night to meet up with my manager and best friend, Lucas
so we could drive to Vegas together. Thursday and Friday saw the usual
shit show of registration, figuring out my tri-munchies plan, checking
in the bike, run bag, and worrying about all sorts of random things.
Luckily Lucas and I were staying with the Goffsteins; the parents of our
best friend from college, and they were so amazing in making us feel
right at home and comfortable. Friday saw a lot of movie watching and
kicking up the feet, and after a trip to the cinema for the new Harold
& Kumar Christmas movie, I slept like a baby.
RACE DAY!
Goals: Swim: 1:04-1:10; Bike: 3:30-3:45; Run: 2:05-2:15
I
woke up early Saturday morning to make sure that I could get my
nutrition plan exactly on point. I had no stomach issues at Wildflower
this year so I made sure that I went back to that exact plan. Three
pieces of white bread, peanut butter, a banana, and two cups of coffee
was what I had before I walked out the door. Waking up the manager is
always a difficult task, but he didn’t give me too much grief and we
were on the road at 5:30am.
It was freezing cold when I
got out of the car and I started to get nervous that this might cause a
repeat of the hypothermia I suffered last year at the World’s Toughest
Half Ironman in Auburn. Then, as we approached the transition area,
people were running around like chickens with their heads cut off and
screaming all sorts of random things. “Swim is cancelled” was all I
heard and while I was surprised, it made a lot of sense considering the
air temp was around 40 degrees. The race officials were worried about
hypothermia, and while I was excited for the 4km swim, and knew it would
be beneficial for IM New Zealand in March, I’d be lying if I said that I
wasn’t a bit relieved that I wouldn’t be shivering for the 6 hours I
was going to be spending in the brisk air after exiting the water. In
situations like this you can a) freak out and worry, or b) stay calm and
adapt. Normally I think I would freak out, but I think the fact that
I’m starting to get more race experience is benefiting me as I kind of
just shrugged my shoulders and started to prepare for how this would
change things. They decided to do a time trial start on 5” intervals, so
I threw on my jacket over my Team USA kit, put on my gloves, two pairs
of socks and got ready to roll.
Bike
3-2-1
and I was off. Can’t say I’ve ever started a bike ride that way, but
again, not in my control so I managed. The course was quite narrow at
the beginning so passing people was not easy. I was yelling at some
Japanese guys in my AG that I was coming on the left and of course they
move to the left. After some weaving and swerving I finally made it out
of the Lake Las Vegas area and onto the main Highway. After 10 minutes
I was averaging around 275 watts which is just under my 90% level and
way too high for that point in the race. My goal was 230-240 watts
normalized for the race, so I decided to scale it back as this is a long
and very hilly ride and overall net gain by almost 1,000 feet. The
course was gorgeous and honestly one of my favorite rides ever. The
desert is such beautiful scenery and as I was pounding away on the
hills, passing people left and right I have to admit that I started to
think about how cool IM St. George would be...Back to the task at hand, I
was feeling great and my legs were holding up really well as mile 50
approached. I was sipping my accelerade, taking gels and Gu chomps
every 30 minutes, and I had 1 ½ mini pay days. All the guys that were
with me at the beginning were no where to be seen as my ability to stay
consistent with my power was starting to benefit. Gotta thank M2 for
this one; power training really does work...
At mile 56
the hills start to kick in. It was the first time where getting out of
the saddle was a must but to my surprise it felt great to stand and then
settle back in over these “3 sisters”. I mean I’m used to the 7
bitches in SF, so this didn’t seem like much in comparison. After
cresting the 3rd sister is where the real work began and I started to
really excel. I could hear M2 telling me to get stronger as the ride
got longer and I really made an effort to do just that. There is about
10 miles of a false flat uphill and I started picking off the few guys
from my age group who had passed me earlier and also a lot of the women
pros. Once I got to mile 70 my legs started to tire and the watts
dropped off a bit. I was pretty concerned that my legs would be toast
and that I might see a repeat of Forster (Au tri), but I decided to put
my head down, grind out the last few miles and just see what happened. I
rolled into T2, handed off my bike, and ran into the tent to get my run
gear. 75.4 miles, 5500 feet of climbing and a 3:34 split...I was
stoked to say the least.
Time 3:34:20; Avg. Watts = 235, normalized = 239
Run
I
decided to keep both pairs of socks I had on the bike on for the run as
my feet were completely numb. I came out hot out of T2 with a Gu, my
sports legs pills, and....No Garmin. I am really good at forgetting my
Garmin, but once I realized this it was too late to go back and get it, I
took a chill pill, simmered, and told myself to just go on feel. As I
mentioned earlier, I was feeling nervous at the end of the ride that I
had expended too much energy on the ride and that I was going to be
toast, but as I came out of T2 down the first hill I felt absolutely
great. My stomach felt fine, my stride cadence was high, and my form
felt great. The course was 4 laps of 2 ¼ miles up, 2 ¼ miles down. It
was nice because it was very spectator friendly and you could see the
competition, but not so sweet because it got a bit boring. My first two
laps felt great and I could tell I was ahead of most people in my age
group. I passed the two guys left in my age group who were ahead of me
off the bike, and at this point, I was either in 1st or 2nd place in my
age group. I could see one of the guys who I raced against at
Wildflower, Nick Sigmon, catching up on me though. This kid had the
fastest amateur run time at Wildflower and ended up w/ the fastest
amateur run time on this day as well. At every turn around I could see
him closing in, and while I was doing my best to hold him off, I knew he
was going to catch me somewhere on lap 3. Right before he passed me,
one other guy from my age group passed me, and I did my best to try and
copy his stride for as long as I could. He (Alex Hooke) ended up 1st
overall in M2529, so I guess I can’t feel too bad about that. I was
starting to get tired on the third lap, and I kept telling myself to
just get to the top of the hill for lap 3, the run back down would be
fine, and then to just enter the pain cave for lap 4.
Once
I got to lap 4 I was hurting real bad. Side stitches, leg cramps, and
bonking were starting to occur. I was slamming coke and water at every
aid station, and looking back on it, I think I neglected the
electrolytes a bit on the run. I passed my mom, sister, and Lucas on
the death march up to the top of the hill for lap 4, and they were
cheering me on a lot which really helped. I finally made it to the top
of the hill and saw another guy from my age group who I had passed
earlier, was catching up on me. This guy Gerry Marvin went to Kona this
year and is an absolute stud on the bike (3:30 split at this race –
fastest in M25-29), but I had passed him fairly early in the run. I
didn’t know exactly where I stood at this point because of the TT start,
but I knew I had a shot for the podium and that I wasn’t going to let
him pass me. Once I got to the top of the hill on lap 4 I put the pedal
to the metal. That last mile, while it was downhill, was done in
around 6:15 and while all I wanted to do was stop, I found myself
smiling and feeling really good about giving it everything I had. Gerry
never ended up passing me, I sprinted across the finish line, and
couldn’t have been happier.
Time: 2:09:09
Total time: 5:45:33, 18th overall amateur, 3rd AG
I
stumbled into the athlete tent, grabbed a few pieces of pizza and some
fruit and had a quick chat with both Alex Hooke and Nick Sigmon (1st and
2nd respectively in the AG). It was really awesome to meet these guys
and everyone was pretty stoked on how each other did. I wobbled out of
the tent and met up with my mom, sister, and Lucas. My mom was pretty
amped to see me on two feet and not in a heap like after my first
Ironman. A few hugs and some chilling and at long last, the Sierra
Nevada special edition Belgian Beer courtesy of brew master Marc. This
day was complete and a total success.
I soon found out
that Team USA had swept the 3 podium spots for M25-29, and that I
somehow managed to squeak my way on there. The thought of getting 3rd
in the world for my age group never even crossed my mind leading up to
the race. The fact that I put very little pressure on myself worked to
my advantage and I think my relaxed attitude is something I definitely
need to bring to future races. I’ve got a lot of work to do with IM
Asia-Pacific 70.3 Championship in Thailand in 3 weeks, and IM New
Zealand in March, but this result gave me a ton of confidence that I can
hang with the best amateurs in the world and that I really do belong in
the same breath as them. I couldn’t be more stoked for what lies ahead
and I think what keeps me motivated and focused for what lies ahead is
what M2 had to say following my race: “Give yourself a pat on the back
for a job well done. But...you can do even better...”
Stay hungry and stay humble. I can’t wait for what lies ahead.
