I think the word of the day for me was complacent. I was swimmming comforatbly in the first pack of the swim, but got complacent and drifted towards the back of the first pack. After a good transition. I hopped on my bike only to have a slight derailleur problem lose me several precious seconds which ended up meaning missing the first pack. If I had been less complacent in the swim, the problem would not have been a problem. On the first lap, of the bike I was complacent and content to let the chase pack chase the leaders. We were only (4 of us) like 15 seconds down on the first group on the first hill. Instead of hoping someone else would pull me up to the group. I should have attached and possibly made it. Who knows what would have actually hapened, but I was complacent and sat in.
Our Hotel
Team USA going for a ride
The bike was crazy hard with 2 steep hills per lap with 8 laps total. There was about 0% of my day spenton the flats. To make it even more interesting the wind was gusting at 30mph. And it was 33degrees (90+ F). Tough day. We ended up losing about 1 minute to the first group by the end of the bike. I felt w-recked by he end of the bike. Then came the run.
The run has been the focus of my training for the last three weeks. Going into the race I was very confident of my run. Going into said run, I became decidely less confindent. I was having a little trouble keeping liquids down on the bike (not hurling, more like gentle spitting up) and I lost focus after missing the front swim pack. I started the run and felt ok, but did not attack the course. I was complacent.
Team USA apres race
Also, this race is a team race and the top 3 from each country score for the team. With 2 people in the first group and 1 person in my group, who told me he was feeling really good for th erun, I was out of the team scoring. Just needed to get through the run. Well at the 1.25 k turnaround. I saw Ethan, our start runner (who made the first pack) struggling. This meant that I was now the 3rd place US and had to run fast. The coaches were screaming at me to keep passing people. Right around this time my legs started to come around and I began to pass people. 25, 20, 17, and finally 15th. If I ran my first 2 laps like my last 2 I think i would have been top 10. Our team with Kevin Collington (6th), Stephen Sexton (7th), and myself ended up getting 2nd. This was the best result ever by a USA FISU Team.
The trip was great fun and it was a blast to hang out with the guys. Stephen, K-Fed, and EB all have race reports on their sites, and K-Fed has a good report on the swiss-american medal ceremony shenanigans. Check them out. I am now in Luxembourg for a three week training camp. I have already logged a few crazy sessions, but the training here is good. The views are second to none, and as of right now Luxembourg City could be my favourite city in the world. Well this race report has become way too long. But I did add quite a few pictures for those who have a problem with reading. I am going to make it a bit longer by adding my French race report for all my french readers (maybe 1). It is unedited but understandable if you speak French.Une petite description de ma course en Turkie pour le Championatte de Monde Universitaire. Pour le nage il y a 77 triathletes et le depart de le pontoon est tres dificile. Sortie le nage Je suis dans le premiere ensemble. Apres une bonne parc 1 Je suis dans the derriere de the premiere ensemble, mais un probleme technique dans le premiere kilometre dans le velo et voila, Je suis in the deuxieme ensemble (Je ne sais pas the mot pour le problem technique dans francais. Dans l´Anglais "my front derailleur"). Le course pour le velo est tres dificile avec 2 cotes grandes par boucle (8 boucles = 16 cotes!!). Le vend est tres dificile aussi avec 40-50kilometre par heure. Le temp pour le jour est 33° C. Quelle mierde! Arrivee dans parc 2 une minute derriere de le premiere ensemble. Ma course a pied est pas mal, mais je fini dans 15eme. Je suis le 3eme par l`equipe les Etats-Unis. Le classement de notre equipe (USA) est 2eme!!!! Une bonne resultat par le federation. Merci et @+
Well that does it for this round. Catch up again in a bit.
Cheers,
B
3 comments:
Congrats on the great result. I know you wish you could have done better, but enjoy the result for what it is, not for what you wish it could have been. Be kind to yourself, forgive yourself, be grateful for what you have accomplished, and what God has accomplished through you. The following may help you or it may not. If it does not, throw it in the trash. On the other side of the coin, when you race, I would encourage you, if you are not already thinking this way, to think of a race as a battle, and your desire and goal is to win the battle. You are battling in the swim, bike, run, transition areas, and most importantly, the mind. Nothing(pain, mechanical issues, lack of sleep, anything negative in the mind, or whatever it may be) will allow you to not win. Prepare your mind as hard as you prepare your body. If you do not win, once again, be kind to yourself, forgive yourself, be grateful for what you have accomplished and what God has accomplished through you. Then, move on to the next battle. The US Marines put it best, "Adapt and overcome".
Barrett, I am impressed but of course I am your Dad. All I can say is "Bon Appette" and I can't even spell it right.
Sounds like the race was a window into your heart ie most life experiences are.
Your Lauren did great! I am sure wrapping up both Lincoln and swimming will be a bit challenge.
Praying for you guys.
Love you, Dad
All 17 of us gathered around the internet to watch Lauren swim and we just squealed and screamed! It was such a delight to watch her "beautiful stroke" as Josh Davis kept saying!! She swam her heart out! Only a very few make it that far. And same for you...WUG's and so does that mean you will go back for your Ph.D.???? Love, Mom
PS - Teri flies to Germany on the 15th and can take back STUFF for you---she has like 5 empty suitcases and ... wait, I should be e-mailing this...i'll stop here.
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