The week of the race was a little hectic. Work was busy and my grandfather's heath began to go downhill. I headed to Thomasville, GA to spend some time with him Thursday morning and came back Friday afternoon. It was so amazing to spend time with him and get to tell him bye. Spending time there puts everything in perspective! As I type this, I have learned of his passing this morning. I am so blessed with the health, ability, and support to do this sport that I love! He was a man who lived to the fullest and put others first in everything. I intend to do the same thing!
Saturday morning I was up and at it bright and early with my amazing wife! We drove up to Knoxville arriving around 10am. My room was not ready so I went ahead and picked up the race packet and checked in. I then did a super relaxed brick in the gym as we waited for the room. Just following the plan. After a quick lunch, I went to the athlete meeting and checked in my bike. The rest of the afternoon was spent just laying around and going over the race plan in my head. My mother in-law and aunt joined us late and we all went to dinner at a great local pub. I was in bed a little later than I wanted(8:30pm) but was asleep quick!
Race morning started for me around 4:50am with breakfast and a walk to T1. My set up was pretty simple and I went for a light 10min run to get the juices flowing. It was good to see a lot of familiar faces around transition. Lots of All3Sports.com team members, Dynamo Multisport team members, Peak Racing members, and lots of other locals to the Atlanta area. Some crazy good athletes hanging around. It was go time.
On the bike, I would catch and pass the two faster swimmers relatively quick. My buddy Rob Richardson with Peak Racing would pass me on the bike early was well. The first 20 min I just let my HR settle in. I was with Rob and we were going at a comfortable pace dodging some of the Championship Wave racers. Then passed another quick rider into 1st. The three of us road together a while. Then came the first mechanical. My chain dropped between the cassette and my frame and got jammed. Dang! I stopped, un-wedged it and pushed on. I was riding in 3rd still. I was eating and drinking to plan but just could not get my HR up at all. I was hoping to ride almost 15 beats higher??? Strange.... I did not want to throw down extra watts to push it higher because I knew it would lead to a disaster on the run. At the first out and back, I saw that they had not put too much time on me and I was still comfortably in 3rd. Around mile 38, same thing happened with my chain. I stopped again, fixing the chain. I decided not use the 12(my fast gear) anymore to prevent a third issue. This led to some serious spin outs but had to of been quicker than stopping again and again. That last stop provided an opening for another pass. I was riding in 4th overall. I rolled into T2 felling fresh and ready for the run even though I was concerned with the lack of being able to push my HR. I had biked 2:37.24 with the stops.
As I started the run, Rob Richardson ran beside me telling me I was in 3rd and that do to his ongoing IT Band issues he had to pull out. I purposely held back for the first 3 miles as part of the plan. Keeping the HR down and getting ready to build! During those 3 miles, I was passed by 2 runners. One was fellow All3Sports.com representative Sean Schnur who was flying! He ended up running down everyone and WINNING OVERALL! The other was a 40+ year old who had started the wave after me. He was moving. I stuck to the plan! I was running in 5th and no one else was close. Mile 3 came and I was eager to pick up the pace. I went to push it......nothing happened. I did not have another gear??? My heart rate was in the 140s and I wanted it in the high 160s. What the heck? It was the same thing that was happening on the bike. I could not get the HR up so I went to plan B...I increased the cadence. Around mile 5 my stomach let me know that I needed to stop and go to the bathroom. I pushed through knowing that would allow someone to catch me. It hit me bad at mile 9.5 and I jumped in the woods (I'll spare details). After the stop, I ran on. I was frustrated the entire run knowing that I could run quicker but did not have the gear today. My HR was waaaaay too low! I was passed again sometime around that bathroom break. It was Chris Nasser an amazing athlete from the Atlanta Triathlon Club! He ran like a beast! I brought it home 6th across the line. I had run a disappointing 1:39.34. Three more of the 40+ age groupers put enough time on me to bump me to 9th Overall.
