Eagleman 70.3 – June 12th
I just arrived back in LA after a 10 day trip to the east coast where I had two races. The first being Rev 3 (half ironman distance) and the 2nd the Eagleman 70.3 (another half Ironman distance). You probably read my previous blog about Rev 3 so I wont go over that again but will bring you up to speed on my 2nd race. So Eagleman 70.3 I had 7 days to get the body back to 100% for round 2. I have never raced two half ironman triathlons one week apart so I was definitely a little apprehensive. I kept the training short and light but frequent, doing a total of 5 swims, 4 rides and 2 runs, I felt this was a good ratio across the three sports, spending most time in the non-weight bearing sport (swimming)and least time on the major weight bearing sport (running). So Eagleman 70.3 was a complete 180 from Rev 3 it was sweltering hot in fact the days leading up to the race were hitting 100degrees F. I was very excited by this as I absolutely love racing in the heat, the hotter the better. Race day rolled around and I went about all the normal pre race rituals, again no wetsuits but this time the water was a pleasant 84degrees F. The gun went off and I quickly got to work and I felt I was swimming well but it wasn’t until I exited the water I realized I was 3.5 mins down on the main front pack which to be honest is simply unacceptable. So with that and the disappointment of last weekend’s race I went on a rampage on the bike. I got on the bike and just went for it, make or break kind of thing. Anyway that 90km ride was the best piece of riding I have ever done. I rode 2hr 4min 29sec for the 90+km (it was a little long) averaging 43.8kmh it took me from nowhere in the swim to 2nd off the bike behind TJ Tollakson and just in front of Terenzo, Matt Reed and Krylov Stanislav. Terrenzo being the super fast transition expert went through a little faster than me so we exited together with Matty Reed about 20 meters back. It was great running out with Terenzo he is such a good friend and training partner it was really cool. Unfortunately he was having one of those days we have all had where the body just wasn’t playing so we only ran together for 1 mile and then he drifted back a little. By this time Matt reed had caught me. For a few moments I think I let his reputation scare me and I let him run away a little but by mile 2 I realized we had run 10meters apart for about 500meters and the gap stayed the same so all of a sudden I realized I can run with him so I bridged the gap backup to him and we ran side by side from mile 2 to mile 5. Where I went from thinking stay with Matt to “shit I think he is hurting more than me” so I attacked and from mile 5-7 I managed to put over 30secs on him. At this stage I was safely in 2nd but still a few mins down on first so again a bit like the start of the bike I went for it. Make or break from mile 7-10 I ran so hard but that’s where my dream race ended I hit mile 10 and I was so spent I could do nothing more than lock in the Ironman shuffle. During those last few miles I was passed first by Matt Reed and Krylov Stanislav who were running together and then a storming Richie Cunningham which pushed me from 2nd to 5th . All in all I am very happy with how the race went I learnt so much during both for that matter. It was a real pleasure racing such great guys and I congratulate everyone who raced because like the heat or not the conditions were tough. Next up is Buffalo Springs 70.3 in two weeks time so until then…..
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