Ironman 70.3
Racine was a crazy race.
The day
before the race was perfectly sunny weather, but by the time race morning had
rolled around that had changed. A massive thunderstorm was on it way. I did not
change any of my routine that morning just incase the race did go off as plained.
I was up at 4am and at the race site by 5am. I went through my normal set up
and started off for a 15min run. When I got back Ironman had decided to delay
the race till at least 8:00am (the scheduled start was 7:00am) and they remove
the swim portion. I was fine with this and started to rap my head around racing
a duathlon, when the first storm hit. It was a few minutes of heavy rain. I hid
in a tent with Robbie Wade, another pro. When that storm had passed the race
organizers announced that another large storm cell was on its way with lightening
and they would announce what was happening at 9:30 with a planned race start
time of 10:30.
It was only
about 7:50 at this time. With a storm on the way and having eaten breakfast almost
4 hours ago, I chose to go to Starbucks with a few other professionals from the
GTA area. We got some coffee and a little to eat. It allowed us to stay warm,
dry and get a little food before the next attempted race start.
We got back
to the race site around 9:20. It looked like the storm had passed and there was
some blue sky. We were told due to the late start of the race the bike would be
shortened to 31miles and the run would stay at a half marathon 13.1miles.
We then were
told that the pros would have a mass start on the bike. Starting at the base of
a steep little hill. Most of the pros were not pleased with this. It would have
been a dangerous way to start the race and there would be a large amount of
drafting going on. We argued to have a rolling TT start, where someone started every
30seconds. This did change the dynamics of the race but it was the fairest way
to do it.
Since I was
ranked 8th in the race I would be the 8th man off the
line and 4 minutes back from Lionel how was ranked 1st. The officials did let us out to have a
short 10-15min bike warm up. Finally it was go time!
It was a
very different feeling starting on the bike. The crowds were there, all eyes on
you. I felt a little shaky standing there on the start line watching the clock
tick away the seconds, till I started. I just kept thinking stay calm, just
clip in properly and do your job out there. 3…2…1…go. I was into my clip
smoothly and out of the saddle climbing up the short hill. It was nice to have
people to chase up the road. I chose to build a little into the bike since
there was a lot of cross winds and rough roads conditions.
In the first
2miles I saw Tim Don walking back with his bike. It looked like he had gotten a
puncture and was out of the race. He stayed around for the whole race cheering
on the rest of the field, a true sportsman. I stayed focused on avoiding holes
and putting down the hammer. Drew Scott passed me about 10miles in he had
started 30seconds behind me. I new if I kept him in my sites I could out run
him. After playing with the wind and bumps on the road for 20miles I passed Paul
Matthews and Luke Bell. I then started to mentally prepare for the run. I made
sure my transition was clean and quick.
I went out
onto the run knowing that I was in the race but with the TT start I did not
know what position. I had to run smart and fast. I opened up quickly getting my
legs turning over. I could see Drew Scott up the road and focused on catching
him. Tim Don and Andrew Starykowicz where giving out splits. I new Paul Ambrose
and Richie Cunningham were 30 seconds up the road but had no idea where the
people behind me stood. I passed Paul Ambrose and Richie Cunningham about 6km
into the run as Paul Matthews ran past me.
Since Paul
Matthews started 30 second ahead of me I had 30seconds on him even though we
where running side by side. I guessed I was close to the top three, either in
third or fourth position at that point. For the next 10km I sat on Paul making
sure he did not get away from me. At the far turn around about 6km from the
finish we noticed that James Hadley had been making up time on us and he very
well could be beating us. I put in a last ditch effort to try and bring back
the ‘virtual’ James Hadley who was now in third place. I gave it all to see if
I could bring him back in the final 5km, but in the end he took 3rd
place by 42seconds. I finished in 4th.
Over all it
was a good day. I stayed positive through out all the crazy changes and placed
reasonably amongst a strong field.
I am back in
Caledon for a month now to prepare for the Ironman 70.3 world championship in
Australia on Sept. 4. I will also be racing Timberman on Aug 21 to sharpen up
for worlds.
Thank you
to:
Royal Containers
