Race morning: We got to transition as soon as it opened and
got racked and ready. The race was smaller with only about 500 athletes so
plenty of room to maneuver in transition. Everything was in good working order
and I was ready to roll. Chatted it up a bit then swam over to another island
for race start.
Swim: We had got a chance to preview the swim course on
Friday and it was an absolute beauty. By far my favorite swim ever (and I’m not
a huge fan of swimming). Gun went off and there was some jockeying to the first
buoy then everything opened up. I found sighting to be really easy during this
swim so I picked a steady pace and found clean water and off I went. I somehow
picked up a straggler about halfway thru and he drafted off me the entire rest
of the swim – drove me absolutely crazy touching my feet. I tried to kick him
in the face a few times with no success. Target was sub-30min, swim exit at
31:36, 6th out of the water in my AG and right in the mix. Not great
but not bad given no wetsuit and slight chop for the second half of the swim. Everyone
asks so I’ll say it again – yes the BlueSeventy speedsuit is worth the
investment for non-wetsuit swims. Blueseventy BZ3TZ – get one!! Goal is to be
under 30min before the end of the season in a non-wetsuit swim.
T1: No issues here. Quick and easy transition.
Bike: And the adventure begins… I’ll just say up front in
addition to this bike course being insanely difficult with non-stop steep
climbs and technical descents, the road conditions were horrible and probably
unsafe for racing. There were patches of 4-5 inch dirt that spanned 10-20 feet
long across the roads in many areas (some on downhill portions and turns) and
it was raining. Aside from the conditions the course was insanely tough
(excluding the beast portion there were multiple climbs of 15% grade or
better). I started off well riding with a few fast guys and then it happened
for the first time ever in a race on a steep downhill bank 7 miles into the
ride I lost control of my back wheel in some water and then hit gravel and it
was game over. Flipped over the handle bars and into a ditch which went a
little something like this:
Laid there for a minute to thank god I was still alive and
then assessed the damage – bike was in good shape and body was banged up but
okay for riding. My initial thought “you have to be f’in kidding me?!!” and a
flashback to IM 70.3 Galveston 4 weeks earlier where my glutes had locked on
the bike and tanked my race – this is seriously happening again 2 races in a
row? All the off season work down the tubes again. Checked everything out and
then got up and started rolling again very very cautiously. My hip was smashed
up but everything else seemed okay – I didn’t realize until later the top on my
liquid shot had severed which resulted in losing 25-30%% of my calories for the
bike. Two pros at the bottom of the hill had just crashed/flatted and watched
my entire episode and looked at me like I had lost my damn mind as I rode by,
wished me luck and off I went. I talked to Tim O’Donnell after race the race
and he told me I had tree branches still sticking out of my packet as I passed
them – crazy town!! The hip was bad but manageable and the race motto suddenly changed
from racing for an AG overall podium to extreme caution with the #1 goal of not
laying the bike down again – I really had no clue how difficult of a task this
would become as I pedaled onward but I took the remainder of the course very
very conservatively. The rest of the ride was no better as I battled dirt/debri
scattered roads and rain the entire rest of the ride. “El beast” was as
expected as I found myself snorting like a bull in a rodeo as I made my way up.
But as others have said “the race begins after the beast” – this is SO TRUE!! There are plenty of 15% climbs and technical
descents for the remaining 35 miles following the beast. I thought the Vegas
bike course was hard but it was pretty much a cake walk compared to this baby.
Anyhow, I was successful in not laying the bike down again and found myself
riding solo most of the ride pretty far out front picking up a few female pros
along the way. I was so concentrated on staying upright I really don’t remember
much of the scenery other than all the kids and locals out cheering – thumbs up
and a big smile to everyone who came out to cheer. I kept hearing “go wattie” –
it was awesome!! Rolled into T2 around 2:36 which was about 10min slower than
expected but in one piece. I knew immediately that my hip was in bad shape and
was dreading put 2 feet on land.
Headed out for a crazy ride
T2: PAIN!!! My initial feeling as soon as I stepped off the
bike. The hip was way worse than I thought at a pain level 7 at best. My feet
were covered in mud (think cyclocross again) so I took extra time and 2 water
bottles to wash them off completely before heading out to the run course aka
“tropical rainforest”
Deep in the pain cave here
Run: Another racer, Kiley Austin-Young, said the run in St.
Croix on this day was the most miserable/disenchanting experience of his entire
athletic career – I would like to plagiarize his words and second that notion
since it adequately describes my feelings as well. Brutal would be an
understatement. 95F and 100% humidity with no wind. As soon as we got out of
transition it was like stepping into a furnace. Everyone talks about how hard
the bike course is here but the run course is just as hard and once you add the
heat it’s even harder!!! I made it about 2 miles into the run course at a
decent pace but my hip was in really bad shape and I was operating in a caloric
deficit due to losing half my stash during the bike crash. At this point my
initial thought was DNF – you are done dude. Two races in a row with horrible
luck (my glutes locked up IM 70.3 Galveston 4 weeks earlier and forced me into
a 15min stop on the bike), it’s not your day, turn in your chip and don’t do
anymore damage. How can this be happening again? I put in so much work during
the off-season for this to happen twice in a row? Then I see my wife and son cheering loudly (okay you can do this – I can’t
let them down, they came all this way) and then I come up on Angela Naeth who
had flatted out of the race and my mind
jumped back to Vegas 2012 where she had a horrible crash but finished the race.
I remembered talking to her on the run course and her saying she wasn’t going
to DNF despite how horrible she felt as she limped along with road rash all
over her body. Ok Stock, lock it up right now and we are going to do this!!! Many
times crucial decisions are made during the race that can significantly impact
the outcome, this was one of those times. A crucial decision was made – damage
control mode button pushed - I knew I had to do everything I could to salvage
the hip and maintain a steady pace so I decided from that point on that I would
walk all the aid stations and maintain a steady pace of 6:30-40 in between. I
continued on with this strategy throughout the entire run using the aid
stations to cool as much as possible. At around mile 6 I came up on an athlete stumbling
like a drunk sailor after the bar was let out. It happened to be Ben Collins
who went way too hard on the bike which proved a long known theory – bike for
the show, run for the dough. At the turnaround I got a split from my buddy
letting me know I was in 2nd which really gave me some extra
motivation to keep trucking along. Lap 2 wasn’t much better than the first but
I did get a little kick for the last 1.5 miles to bring it on home – honestly I
just wanted to be done as quickly as possible and get into the med tent. 1:35
run split while walking every aid station each 1k of the run – can’t say I’m
proud of this but it was the best I could muster given the circumstances.
Initially, I ended up 3rd in my AG and was pretty bummed out on
missing the kona slot due to only 2 slots being available in my AG… BUT…
Wrap up: Congrats to Debi Bernardes on her 2nd place AG finish and Kona slot and Molly Roohi on breaking top 10 for the first time racing as a pro. Fellow wattie teammate Blain Pearson rocked it out with a 2nd place AG and will also be joining me on the big island in October. Now, time to totally re-vamp the racing and training schedule for the rest of the season. A huge thank you to my wife Kristin for coming along with our 9 month old Colt in tow and cheering me on – I get so much positive race energy from these two and can’t stand to not have them at races. Thanks to coach Torsten Abel for all his guidance and support. Also a special thanks to race Sherpa of the year Cyrus Roohi – this guy saved the day multiple times and made sure we were packed and ready for race day!!! Thanks to Wattie Ink and all our amazing sponsors – K-Swiss, fuelbelt, speedfil, 454 tattoo, Blueseventy, powerbar. A super special thanks to Scott Bikes and Kask helmets for keeping me in one piece during the crash – still amazed I and the bike came out in one piece!! Ok, I think that’s it for all the thank you notes. Next up – Columbia 5150 and hopefully some good race mojo…
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