Ironman 70.3 World Championship – 18th

This race had been the goal for me all season long. It was time to roll the dice and match myself up against the world best and see what I could do. I had confidence in my training and how I had prepared for the race, which had also included 4 weeks of sleeping at altitude. In the week leading into the race I spent my time getting in some light training at my base in Vegas about 40 minutes away from the race venue. A big thank you to Dennis for letting me stay at his house and Kim for driving me around to check out the course not to mention Dave for making my S-Works Shiv immaculate! Dennis kept me well feed with his amazing cooking and I couldn’t have asked for a better race week leading into the event.

S-Works Shiv ready to go!

Race morning soon arrived along with very heavy rain. It was a surprise as in the days before it was really quite hot and humid in Vegas. After a quick run warm up I heading into the water with the rest of the 57 professional men to get ready for the swim start. I lined up next to Craig Alexander and Bevan Docherty and soon enough the gun was off. The swim was a straight out and back course, which I really love as I could keep a pretty good eye on where I was positioned. It was a solid but not overly fast swim and I keep out of trouble emerging from the water in 8^th just seconds off the leader. Onto the bike I keep cool and worked to move up into the front group while still conserving my energy. Once I hit the main section of the course about 10 minutes in the gaps opened up which put me in the lead group along with 7 other athletes. 

The bike course was tough however the pace wasn’t as quick as I was expecting and just before the turn around the chase pack caught my group and before long there was a sizable pack of around 30 men. I tucked in and tried to stay as aero as possible while conserving energy within the large bike pack. The ride was taking it toll on those who had worked hard early on and just before T2 I rode past a few people who had paid the price. I hit T2 feeling pretty good and after a quick transition I was out onto the run. Feeling pretty good I settled into a solid pace that I hoped I could hold for the entire half marathon. 

I had only 1 athlete run past me and in the last lap picked up a few more athletes with Craig Alexander hot on my heals. Craig was smoking on the back end of the run and I dug deep to keep him at bay. I crossed the line in 18^th very pleased with my result in just my first year of 70.3 racing.

A huge thank you to my coach, family, sponsors and supporters for helping me to 18^th in the world for 2013 over the Ironman 70.3 distance. I will now be having a few easy weeks and enjoying some fun in Vegas and Utah before my favorite race of the year, Noosa 5150.