The DAM Triathlon
Amesbury, MA
Race Details
Swim - 1/2 mile
Bike - 12.3 miles
Run - 3.2 miles
Results
Swim - 9:44 (3rd)
T1 - 1:04
Bike - 31:36 (23.35 mph / 3rd)
T2 - :49
Run - 19:07 (5:58/mi / 5th)
Total - 1:02:17
Place - 2nd Overall
The past month of training has been phenomenal. It's been incredibly painful and intense, but I see results on a daily basis. This being the case, I was anxious to test myself this weekend at DAM in Amesbury. A race that generally draws a solid field, I knew it would be an opportunity to gauge my mid-season fitness. It's also a race I've done on a number of occasions in the past which allowed me to compare this season's speed to the past few years. As you'll read below, I shattered all of my expectations today. I knew I was fit and fast coming into the weekend, but I had no idea how much progress I'd made since last year. Today was the breakthrough performance I've been hoping for all year long.
Rumor had circulated in the days before the race that Ethan Brown, fresh off the Olympic trials race where he nearly made Team USA, would be on the start line. While I'm near the top of the sport in swim at the amateur level, I saw today just how far from I am from the ITU pros. Ethan gave me a quick lesson on how fast one must race to hang in the pack at an ITU race by taking off from the gun never to be seen again. I established myself solidly in second place, though, and pulled away from the rest of the elite wave.
As I exited the water, I was just less than a minute back of Ethan but clearly a few minutes ahead of the rest of the field. Not wanting to relinquish a second of my lead, I sped through transition and hammered the first section of the bike course. My cycling legs have been coming around lately and I wanted to ride hard. It helps that I'm much more confident in my run than ever before and know I can push the bike and still run well afterward. Again, I didn't see a single person on the bike course. Occasionally I would see the flashing lights of the police car up the road with Ethan, but otherwise I was riding solo. My legs felt great and through the middle and late sections of the course I continued to push onward, putting as much distance between myself and any pursuers as possible. My legs were burning, but they do every day in training so it wasn't a new sensation. Again, the quality of my training this year has made me a much more confident athlete. The pairing of the confidence and actual soil I have developed is allowing me to push the pace like never before.
Once safely back in transition, I racked my bike, threw on my running shoes, and ventured out on the run course. Still feeling strong, I pushed the pace early. I've been killing it on the run lately and really wanted to test my legs today. I was running so well that I was actually passing cyclists as they rode the early portion of the course. By the turnaround point halfway through the run, I was starting to feel the impact of the intensity I was putting into the effort. My shoulders tightened and it took some encouragement to keep my legs turning over at a quick pace. The pain came and went as I made my way back toward the lake and finish line. Thanks to Stephen and the work he's had me doing, I was able to make myself suffer without letting the pace drop off. I wanted to make myself hurt as much as possible. It's easy to drop off the pace when things get tough and just cruise to the finish, especially when you know you're not going to be caught. In the past, that's probably what I would have done. I'd get past uncomfortable, but I couldn't hold a pace while truly battering myself. I didn't want that today; I wanted to see exactly how far I could take myself before I cracked. Again, thanks to Stephen, I've found that point in training a number times at the track this spring and summer. And because of all that work, I didn't break today. My legs just kept turning over, even though all my mind wanted was for the pain to stop.
It did stop, eventually. As I crossed the finish line and looked up at the clock I saw something that made all the discomfort subside. I'd crossed the line 3:08 faster than last year. In a sprint distance race, that's a HUGE drop from one year to the next. I was particularly impressed because I raced extremely well last year so it wasn't as if I'd simply outdone a bad day (4th overall, 1:05:25). I recognized instantly that this was a breakthrough. In every way, this race was a success. All the work Stephen's done with me the last two years is paying off in a big way. Things are coming together and that's an exciting prospect for the balance of the season.
After the race I had the opportunity to spend some time talking to Ethan and his girlfriend (who, coincidentally, swam on a team with one of my really good friends/former teammates. Small world...). Ethan is a really nice guy and it was interesting to hear his perspective on the sport at a professional level. I also got to spend some time with the guys from Fit Werx. As a group, we had a great showing today. Ethan won, I was second, Marty & Kevin both won their age groups and a number of other Fit Werx athletes stepped on the podium to receive awards. It was an honor to race with the Fit Werx logo on my suit for the first time today. I'm really glad I was able to perform so well at a race so well attended by the shop's athletes. On a related note, it was also awesome to hear Marty shouting splits to me as I exited the swim! Thanks, buddy!
Now, it's back to work as I move toward USAT Sprint Nationals and Pumpkinman. I still have a lot of work to do in order to achieve my goals, but today was proof that I am headed in the right direction. I appreciate all the support I have received from Eileen, Stephen, my family, Fit Werx, and all of you that have followed me along this journey.
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