2012 - Je Sui Finis

Well....if the Mayans were right and we're in end of days....at least I went out with a bang.

I competed in the 2012 Polar Bear Triathlon at White Sands Missile Range yesterday.....this is the traditional season ender in New Mexico (although there is now an Albuquerque race that takes place next weekend). I won my age group in this event last year and placed 5th overall....albeit in a small field of about 50 people.

When I showed up at the race site yesterday things were different.....there were a lot more cars than I expected....when I went into packet pickup I saw the registration list and it looked like about 150 people signed up (included teams). There were 5 guys in my age group and the only guy I was familiar with was me.....I couldn't even pick the others out if I bumped into them. I told myself "Top 3 age group finish...no matter what". It's kind of tough to tell yourself you're going to win when you don't even know who you're racing. With packet pickup done I set up the rest of my gear, took a short run and ride....and took two hits off my Albuterol inhaler in the dry desert air.

Just about the only person I knew in the field was my old buddy Josh Sanders from Las Cruces. Josh was a member of our first team Tri Team SW....many years ago. This is the same Josh Sanders that blew past me on the bike early this year at the MVT Triathlon....and when I tried to go with him...I couldn't. Josh and I exchanged pleasantries and lined up for the start.

I seeded myself in the first 30 or so runners....not wanting to get bogged down in passing a lot of people. After the initial sorting I figured I was in about the top 30 or so athletes on the run. I picked off about 5 people on the 5K course. For some reason the run seemed longer than usual and it was a different course than I'm used to....but nevertheless I stayed on it and finished in 24 minutes. That was slower than I expected and seemed to portend a less than stellar day....but next up was the bike.

My plan on the 30K out and back bike course was simple...break their hearts on the way out....break their legs on the way back. I planned on going full tilt right from the start and made a deal with myself that once I passed someone, they would stay passed. I would go by with authority and break their will, showing them they had no chance to go with me. That's exactly what I did. I kept my head down and churned a monstrous gear for the first 4 miles that goes slightly downhill. I passed people fairly continuously.....and stayed on the hard gears as the road leveled out then went up a bit. Every time I went by someone I ticked up the watts a bit so they knew there was no chance they would even think they could come back.

As we neared the turnaround I decided to count the riders coming the other way....to see what place I was in. In a bigger field I didn't think a top 10 overall was possible...but I told myself that I must get in the top 20. Then I cursed myself for being weak "Screw you....top 20? Top 15...minimum" I told myself.

I started seeing the leaders heading back.....and counted off until I saw the turn up ahead. At the turn I was in 15th place overall....time to do some leg breaking.

I knew there were some real hammers behind me....and if I let off the gas I was going to let them come up on me.....so at the turn I increased my effort and pushed even harder. I immediately passed one guy....putting me in 14th. I spied Josh Sanders not far behind me.....and probably gaining. Every time I was tempted to push an easier gear and spin I asked myself "can I still push THIS gear?"...and every time the answer was yes. When I did shift down on some uphills I asked myself "can I push one more gear?"...and the answer was yes...so I did.

About 3 miles after the turn I passed another guy in one of those fancy aero helmets and sat 13th overall......and looked up the road.

There wasn't anyone left to target. I could barely make out a couple of cyclists in the distance but with less than 6 miles to go it didn't appear I was going to catch them. "Wait for the uphill MG.....they'll suffer on the hill".....so I kept driving...waiting for that 3 mile uphill stretch. When I hit it, I was all alone...no one behind me...and sure enough my 2 carrots started to come back to me. Again and shifted down to a bigger gear and stayed in the cups....trying to work my way closer to the top 10. I couldn't get them....although I entered transition within a 100 yards of them.

I quickly ditched everything but my shorts, grabbed my goggles and ran to the pool. This race uses a 25M pool with 8 lanes. You swim up and back in one lane...then duck under the lane line and keep going for all 8 lanes....for a 400M swim. As I put my goggles on, there was a tall, lean guy in front of me just getting in the water. As we got in he swam away pretty quickly. I didn't take the time to look in the pool and determine if I could catch anyone....I just got in. The water felt like it was boiling....I couldn't believe how hot it was...but off I went. At 100M I caught some guy who seemed to be cramping badly in the warm water.....but by this time Josh was in the pool and I was concentrating on seeing if he was gaining on me. At 50M back I felt like I'd hold him off if I kept my pace. At 250M I passed another guy who was starting to struggle....but since you have swimmers going in both direction in the same lane...I wound up in a scrum with two guys heading the other way. We tangled arms for a bit but I made it thru and moved up another spot. In the final 75M the tall guy's feet appeared in front of me. He was suffering so I stayed on him until we turned for the final 50....then I went for it. Pass completed I glided in to the finish. At the time I had no idea where I'd finished overall or in my AG....but knew I'd had a very strong race.

In the end I won my AG by 11 minutes....and finished 10th overall in one of my best ever races. Realize, I started this sport (at this very race) as an almost last place finisher....and on most days am a solid threat to finish in the middle of the pack....but I realize that if I keep working, I can keep improving. Yesterday felt great.....some vindication after a less than stellar Ironman Louisville.

I'll retire from my AG at this race as the 2 time champion. Although I'll be 49 at next year's race (If I do it), this race will kick off the 2014 SW Challenge Series so my series age would put me in the 50-54 AG.

As an added bonus, they had a raffle after the event and I won a free race entry to any of WSMR's events next year! Good deal...

I don't get many days like this.....so I'm going to enjoy this one for awhile.....

How does this affect the rest of my race planning for 2013? I've got very mixed emotions about that.....maybe another day.

Out.