Tuesday, July 14, 2009

SERIOUSLY

I will not even lie and just throw it out there. I say this with the highest amount of respect to top three at Rhode Island...I went into RI thinking I could win the race or at least podium. Post race i spoke with Cameron Brown who said it best. This sport is filled with so many ups and downs.

Swim was perfect. I started swimming when I moved to Hawaii in 2000. Swimming in the ocean a fair amount even when rough prepared me for the swim at RI. Lots and lots of chop the entire swim. Even though I said I was not going to lead the swim because of the great white shark spotting, it just happened. Opened up a gap from the gun. I was hesitant to open up the gap outbound because I didn't want to be easy bait. Once I hit the turn around I opened it up a little more. Solid swim which I thought set me up perfectly for the race since I cruised 80% of swim.

On the bike I rode solid and waited for Richie to bridge up so I had a riding partner. He went by and it was like I was riding with my brakes on. Brownie went by, Wolf went by, Lovato went by, Hodges, Evoe, hell i was waiting for some one in the last wave of the day to go by! It was strange because my left leg was not firing and was stuck in a constant cramp the entire ride. Very hard to swallow especially when my build had gone much better then Kansas. That is racing and if were easy the world would be full of pro triathletes.

Run was solid and I shut it down at mile 10 when I knew the money was too far up the road.

Rhode Island is a great course. The transportation situation is not awesome (up at 3am) but everything else is top notch. I will be back again. Congrats to all finishers.

Great event and it was nice to run into friends. Once of my favorite things about the sport of triathlon is running into friends and meeting new athletes. Meet Dion Harrison during the race and had a nice chat with him at my 14hr stuck at the airport!

Positives from the race:
1) swimming is feeling good
2) my biking continues to motivate me. It is stronger, just bad luck.
3) Running is easier off bike since I'm getting stronger.

Back at it tomorrow!

Cheers,

JC

3 comments:

Bruce Stewart (施樸樂) said...

I thought you were going to win after I saw the swim time. Maybe you went slightly too fast on the swim due to imagining there was shark chasing you (you should do the Ali'i challenge next month!). I don't really understand the bike - if something was wrong get it checked out as some people have circulation issues in the TT position.

ONEHOURIRONMAN said...

Too bad about the bike... Hey, on that 70 yr old commment... careful I'm not that far off and actually have dreams of 4hr 30 min rides (but then I do wake up)

Anonymous said...

Still very proud of you!