Duathlon World Championships Race Report

A little long but here it is...
I arrived at the race site, Lowes Motor Speedway, around 11:30 Friday after leaving Virginia Beach at 6 am. The weather was perfect and I went on a tour of the bike coarse as soon as I got there. I read that the coarse was going to be loaded with hills and turns and that’s what I got on the tour. So now I knew what to expect come race day... or did I. After the bike tour I picked up my race packet and put my bike up in the transition area. I walked around the site for a little and talked with some people from Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and also met up with some people I knew from races here in the US. It was really awesome seeing so many countries represented. Triathlon is pretty major in the international community. It’s also very cool to see a place like Concord, NC transformed into a biking and running Mecca for a couple days.

I checked into the hotel and went straight to the hot tub to blast the jets on my ankle, which was sore after riding the coarse and going up and down the hills. I ate a ton of food and rested for the rest of the night. My mom and sister got to the hotel after spending the day in Asheville.

I had to be at the race site by 2 on Saturday, so we planned to drive to Charlotte and check out the City. We ended up just going to IKEA.

The weather Saturday was horrible. The roads were super wet and I was not looking forward to racing the bike coarse in these conditions. After I got everything ready in the transition area I went to the Team USA doctor to see if he could give me a cortisone shot for my ankle. Unfortunately he could not, but said I could race on it without doing too much damage. So that was reassuring. We both agreed that it was going to hurt like hell though.

Athletes ages 35 and under were the last to start the race. The professionals went in the morning. I waited around for a while as the women, and “old” guys started their races. I think there were around 700-800 athletes who started the race. Half were probably from the US. The crowd was pretty good considering the terrible weather conditions.

I was feeling very relaxed. I came in to this race with no expectations. I hadn’t run since my last race 2 weeks prior to this one. I really felt like all odds were against me for this race. The first run was a two 5K looped coarse that went through the stadium twice. The first 5K was tough. I saw my split around 17:30 minutes and was happy with that. I finished the first 10K in just under 36 minutes. Had a smooth transition to the bike and I was off for the crash coarse. Not even 2 minutes in and I almost went off coarse because my brakes were so wet. I definitely had to take it slow, the race was not worth the road rash or damaging my bike. Let me just say it was a frustrating ride and I’ll leave it at that. The coarse was not 40K, more like 38K. The bike coarse did not suit me, but I still managed to finish in 59 minutes. I could have easily took 5 minutes off that. Others chose not to take the bike coarse as cautious as me. Some benefited with faster bike times others did not. I saw a few people wipe out. Ambulances were keeping busy. I had my bike tire skid on the down hill and went into a hay bail and knocked my head on a railing. I didn’t fall, but I have a nice gash over my eye and on my forehead now. There was a fun part on the bike coarse and that was a loop around the Nascar track. I gunned it around 30 mph. Its too bad more of the coarse couldn’t have been around the track.By the time I started the last 5K off the bike I was in a lot of pain, not to mention I had blood dripping in my face, I had to keep wiping it off. The hills on the last 5K were really taking a toll on me by now. The cheers from the fans were great motivation. Finished the last 5K around 19 minutes.

All in all I was happy with the race I had considering all my obstacles. Overall I finished 104^th out of 800 or so athletes in the world and 26^th in my age group. It was too bad I had to do this injured, after looking at the times I think it would have been possible for me to medal. Racing at the World Championships for Team USA was a great experience. Competing with the top athletes in the world raises my game to a higher level. I know I can only get faster from this point.

The day after the race we had planned a hiking trip in the Smokey Mountains, but with time constraints we couldn’t go. So we went to a State Park called Morrow Mountain. It was a fun hike in perfect weather. I drove straight home from there.

I’m now sitting in my office extremely sore! That’s what happens when you don’t run for 2 weeks then run 9.4 miles as hard as you can. I am taking today off to catch up on things, then the rest of the week will include hours and hours of swimming. I have a race this weekend at Lake Anna. It will be my last triathlon of the season.

Race pics.. more to come.




















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