First off, let me say that I initially had this post titled as the end of my first season as a pro, but decided that had too much of a negative connotation. World Duathlon champs did not go as well as I would have liked, I ended up being hypernaturemic and cramping all over my legs and passing out. I was predictable disappointed and was quite honestly pissed off. I felt like I was robbed of an opportunity to perform well, but I was not robbed, I was the cause of my cramps- lack of planning on my part for international travel. Instead of being super down on myself, I am taking this as a learning experience. Anywho, here's about the race.
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| View from the hotel |
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| One of the tight 90 degree turns near transition to hit every lap |
It was pretty sweet traveling to France to race, but at the same time, was TOUGH. Adjusting to the time zone wasn't so bad, but being in a completely foreign country trying to get proper food, and talking to people was tough. Luckily, I had great teammates from team USA to hang out, ride, and run with.
Onto the race:
The first 10K went out hard, and because I was number 54, I started in the 5th or 6th row back of the start line, which was on cobblestones! This plus the 5-10 thousand people cheering along the course (I have heard figured from both 5 to 10, thus the broad range!) Somebody spilled early in the race, but then around half mile in, I found myself next to Tim Don! I was pretty stoked, but I was also feeling a little in debt. It was not so much the hard pace, but the 8 sharp 90 degree turns on the run that took away momentum and required hard accelerations that made me a hurtin' pup. I ended up having a good last two laps and leading the group of Mexican and two Belgians into T1. We were only 13 seconds down of a huge pack, and with two strong Belgians, I figured that would be no problem.
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| First run |
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| Bike pack shortly after transition before the hill. |
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| The start of the race, compliments of ITU photography |
We started out the bike hard, and got through the technical section near transition well and were already bridging the gap once we got to the first of two 180 degree turns. This is where my cramping started. I got a charlie horse in my calf and made it stuck in a plantar flexed position. I forced my knee down but the muscle still was firing. After drinking and coasting, the muscle chilled out enough, but then the cramps came back in all muscle groups on both legs. All I remember is getting to the side of the road and then black. Honestly, not much else to say on the subject, just a learning experience. Other members of Team USA felt rough with cramps too, but these were much worse than the standard cramps you get in training.
Onto training for next season after a few weeks of just training how I feel and doing some things I wouldn't normally do such as mountain biking, basketball, football, etc. Would like to really thank all sponsors such as Powerbar, USAT Collegiate Recruitment Program, Bifferato Gentiloatti, and Delaware Orthopaedics as well as my coach, Brooks Doughty Until later!
Lastly I would like to thank my incredible family and friends for the support! Couldn't do it without my Mom, Grandparents, Aunt, who all helped me to get to France and all my incredible friends and girlfriend who encourage me when I'm out racing or training.
