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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
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.
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.
Great Job Tim!
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