Came to LA to to better my results from last year which were absolutely horrible! Yes last year I posted a 2:10 and was second to last in PRO division.
The morning started well and I was feeling pretty good. Brewed a nice cup of coffee, had my bagel, and rested until it was time to head down the start. My good friend has a place here which is about a 5 minute walk to the start line. Lots of professional athletes had to catch a 4:30am bus to the start. I was lucky I didn't have to.
The surf this year was pretty calm until the gun went off. We all ran into a nice set that threw everyone of course. I had a descent line but it seemed funny seeing 50% of the field swimming at a 90 degree angle to the first buoy. I thought I had a solid swim until I just looked at the results and saw I again swam as fast as my grandmother. I did come out of the water feeling rather fresh and was ready to get on the bike.
Was off to a great start and was just settling into my rhythm when it happened. There were two riders in front of me riding abreast about 25m up the road. Each were riding in a separate lane of traffic. Beside them was a motor cycle. I was well back and had ample spacing off to the side, but not according to the marshal. I was pulled over and ordered to stand down. The race rolled by and I exchanged some less than pleasant words with her. I tried to claw my way back into the race but I exerted myself too hard and died the last 15 minutes of the bike. I was thinking about dropping since I was falling back into the same place as as last year. There were only three guys behind me and the gap up to the rest of the field was too large.
Jumped out onto the run course and felt solid and ended up coming in at 1:58! My run is coming along and ran a solid 10km for just cruising! I think that was the only positive from the race. Still lousy, but much better then the result from last year.
I managed to find USAT official, Charlie Crawford after the race to go over my stand down. He knew exactly who I was when I mentioned the stand down and apologized to me! He had reviewed the stand down with the official and had come to the conclusion they had made a mistake! I was not too pleased at all to hear this.
LA Tri has not been a great race for me. I hope third time is a charm as I think I will return.
JC
3 comments:
Thanks for the comment! I too have read your blog. HAHA! You never know who reads these things. Whats next for you? You coming to Kona next year to defend your Lavaman title?
I remember being told by a marshall in a Honu race on the bike when I started to pick it up and was passing a lot of people but sometimes slowly "to hurry up and get on with it" as I was about to pass someone. I always felt nervous when the marshalls came by and my heart rate monitor registered a few beats increase. I guess it must become a fine art (especially in the Ironman) as fast bikers know exactly how much to stay behind without losing a draft completely. Hope this weekend is a lot of fun.
Your poor grandma, how dare you diss her like that in your blog... :) Keep at it, the best things are worth waiting for, right?
Kelly
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