In a nutshell Rev3 Knoxville was really good.  Raced well and not too far back at the end of the day.  Ran my way into 9th and a paycheck….gutted myself to get there.  Had one of the fastest run splits and felt good about the effort over that distance.  Speed concept worked out brilliantly, fit well right off the bat and feels incredibly fast.  Rode with guys I would normally not ride with.  First time on Di2….literally had 30 minutes on it the day before but it works seemlessly….big button harder gear, small button easier gear…..shift on the bar ends and on the brake levers……way safer, way smoother.

Top guys were impressive….so strong all round, no real kinks in the armour.  Torenzo fourth race in a row and nearly took another win.  Matt Reed now has a really good opportunity to grab all three events and claim a 100k bonus which would be cool to see but there will be lots of us trying to stop him in the next two races.

Sore today for sure, en route home from TN- which by the way is a very cool city despite the fact that I didn’t get to see Taylor Swift or Faith Hill.  I know they were also looking forward to seeing me……sorry ladies, you had your chance….chalk it up to experience, better luck next time.

Rev3 and Heather Gollnick did an incredible job hosting the race, it’s a big job and they are nailing it…..great events, tons of fun for kids as well…..definitely going to the next one in Quassy.

Full results here:  www.rev3tri.com

Well Xterra was a bomb.  Can’t really say what happened on the day but I had nothin and that just ain’t right.  Perhaps a bit burned, who knows.  I swam well but after that I started going backwards in a hurry.  I felt off all day.  To be honest I hate that comment “felt off”, it sounds so random and the sport ain’t random, you should show up knowing roughly how you are going to perform but this one just mystified me.  I will say however that I scored some totally awesome bunny hops and some good airtime on the decents.  That course was like an MC Escher painting….you know the ones where the stairs always seem to go up no matter how you look at it……it was a tough one for sure……exactly what an xterra should be.  Tough run with sections on the beach and in the spooky forest and a typically spectacular hawaiin ocean swim.  I will go back for more.

And now a toast……

A cheers to Kelly who mixed it up for the day and put himself in striking position.  A cheers to Mel who battled her way to the podium again, dam impressive.  A cheers to Hawaii for being such an awesome place.  A cheers to all the comments and support from you folks over the past month.  A cheers to the last two races that kicked my ass. A cheers to all the people at the last two races who kicked my ass.  A cheers to my sponsors, thank you again for another great year.  A cheers to Brett Favre (just for being you buddy, just for being you).  A cheers to “Top Chef” our show of choice during taper time.  A cheers to Jude who is pregnant and beautiful.  A cheers to triathlon which continues to get more nerdy and I love it.  A cheers to the gang who came out from Victoria to cheer on Mel (but secretely were cheering louder for me).  A cheers to flat tires and CO2 cartridges.  A cheers to time off.  A cheers to Maui sunsets.  A cheers to Finn who likes to cheers everything including dinner plates, random bits of food and of course anything that he is drinking.

Hawaii Ironman take 4 for me.  Started out well, swimming has been feeling good.  Still missing a bit of snap at the beginning but it’s coming.  Ended up pulling Norman Stadler around most of it.  Upon exiting the water he declared “I shall give you half of my prize money if I win”  At least that’s what I heard.

My goal this time was to simply play out the race smart, stick to my pace and the effort I knew I could handle and have a solid day….get to the finish in a respectable time and see what that ended up being.  On a whole I managed to do this very well.  It takes a significant tempering of the ego at a race of this calibre…..continually getting time updates that seem impossible and when you are more factored into the womens race than the mens.  Nevertheless I stuck to the plan and was content.  Up to Hawi, definitely way back of the leaders but still in a position to run myself into a top 20.  Chrissie Wellington is incredible…..as much as I hate to admit it, by Hawi she had sunk 5 minutes into me.  Theresa Mecel, in second for the women was my riding partner for most of the climb and down from Hawi…..another woman who has shot up in the last year.  She is riding incredibly well.

When things go south in Ironman you can start going backwards in a hurry.  At 130km I started coming apart at the seems.  Nutrition and fluid were not being absorbed and by 160km it was starting to come back up.  The last 40km of the bike were the longest of my life, it was demoralizing and humiliating.  I rolled into transition and despite the efforts of a very enthusiastic and encouraging ART guy (thanks by the way), I ended up in medical dry heaving into a garbage can and feeling very nauseous.  Diagnosis- Intestinal shut down- nothing being absorbed, stuck in the gut.  Hadn’t urinated all day and desperately needing to take a dump or throw up.  And that was that- day done- mission not accomplished.

My theory: I think I just wasn’t acclimated well enough to the heat.  I thought I was, 10 days here prior to the race and feeling good with every session- I think I simply reached a threshold point of heat and hydration and my body packed in my digestive system meaning no calories or fluid getting to the right places.  It’s a frustrating thing because it’s an easy fix- get here earlier.  I have no mechanical or injury excuses- felt great coming into the event, great head space great physically, super fit, super rested, ready as ever.

Significant mentionables:  Chrissie Wellington- 8:54:02- new course record, third win in a row- 23rd overall just behind some big names in the mens field- incredible- absolutely incredible.

Thereza Macel- Wins Lake Placid….6 weeks later wins Canada…..6 weeks later 4th in Hawaii…..bloody awesome

Marinda Carefree- 2:56 run split- 6th fastest among the pro men- wow!

Craig Alexander- 12 minute deficit, runs to second win in a row on a very tough day.  Good dudes can win!  I’m in awe of how fast these guys go.  The only pace that makes sense to me is the running- the rest of it seems like a mad sprint.

Chris Lieto- Going for it- 7 minute lead off the bike- 12 minutes on Craig- gutsy and so close to a win.  How anybody can ride that fast eludes me.

Mike Neill- Tough day but gutted it out for another solid finish.  Sometimes conistency is only really rewarded if it is top 10 consistency.  Fact is Mike has shown up every year in Hawaii and been 20-30th and always runs himself in there.  Yesterday wasn’t his best day but he hung in there, good on ya Mike

Rich Pady- Sick as a dog all week, hung in there to finish under 10.  Good on ya Rich.

Brett Favre- Turned 40 yesterday- October 10th and is about to go 5-0 on the season

Judith- Turned 36 yesterday, not to be outdone by Brett Favre

My respect for this race grows every year I do it.  I’m in awe of the top men and women and how fast they go.  Respect, respect respect.  I’m disapointed no question, yesterdays outcome totally sucks!  I was ready to have a good day.  In 4 attempts I’ve finished once, DNF’d twice and DNS’d with a stress fracture…..definitely not the track record one aspires to.  Good thing is that now I have an opportunity to have a good race at Xterra Worlds in two weeks.  And Finn didn’t really seem too bothered by it so I can learn from that.  Thanks to everyone for the high fives.  Now it’s time to rock out the Mtn. Bike.

I think I re-learned a valuable lesson in sport, you can only focus on the things within your control. At the end of the day the place you end up is slightly out of your control. You never know what the competition is going to bring to the table and you never really know how the race is going to unfold. What you can control is your own mental and emotional state and your physical effort. I did a good job of focusing on those things and in hindsight I will say it was probably the best possible outcome and that on the day I was simply beaten by guys who brought a stronger game to the table.

I had a lack luster swim, definitely not off to a great start but in Ironman this is usually the least of your worries. You have to settle into the bike and get your head around the day which I did very quickly. I’m a big believer that you have to stay within your own effort especially early on or it bites you in the ass at about hour 7. I did this well despite having to mentally get over the fact that the lead female was basically riding the same pace and every time I happened to glance behind me the lead car was only about 200m behind me. Theresa showed on the weekend that her work with Brett Sutton is obviously paying off with incredible dividends and I was in awe of her entire race. I will admit that I had to decide with some mental fortitude that I would stay on pace regardless of whether she went by me or not. I was riding within my effort and was certain I was still on track. It was less a case of my own riding and more a testament to how well Theresa is riding so my hats off to her.

There were some discouraging moments for sure on Sunday. I got off the bike in 23rd or something like that with a massive deficit. A deficit that even I know is too large to make up on most people. I can tell you there were moments that i was looking for reasonable excuses to pull the plug. But Ironman is a game of patience and you have to honor that rule so I gave it a chance and starting running the miles. When my mile splits started coming back the tides turned slightly and I was given my first sign of hope all day. I was running sub 6′s and having to force myself to slow down which is a good sign and better than the other way around…..a massive tail wind helped the cause as well. It’s not hard to do the math and I figured that it was definitely possible to salvage the day and if guys started to blow up then who knows how far up I might go………and as corny as it may sound, when you have a kid you start to realize the importance of all those cliches…..what would I tell Finn in this situation? “That you never give up, that you keep running, that you do your best, that you trust in the plan…..and at the end of the day you need to look back and be able to say that you gave it your best shot”……..it’s cheesy but there is truth in it.

I ran from 23rd to 4th and got dam close to 3rd. It took everything I had to do it and I faded in the back 6 miles big time but I managed to salvage the day and was proud of the effort. It turns out that most of the guys had gone too hard on the bike in my estimation. There were only two run splits under 3 hours which is rare. As for Jordan, well what do you say, I don’t think there are many athletes in the world that would have beaten him on Sunday and even on my best day I think I would still be tipping my hat. It was an impressive performance all round on a tough bike day. People rave about his biking ability but to be honest I’m more impressed with how far his swim/run has come…….it’s a complete package and that’s why he laid down an 8:25 and won by 15 minutes.

And Theresa I will say landed a day of equal brilliance. Two Ironman wins in 5 weeks and a performance on Sunday that I have no doubt would have put her in the lead off the bike in Hawaii. A year ago there is no way she could have done this. She has stepped up big time and it was awesome to witness……at times a little too closely mind you:)

The best part of the weekend was the efforts of the team.  Dina back on track with Ironman and in a great head space.  Chris, no longer and Ironman virgin did an awesome job.  And of course I’m blown away with the Race4MS team who collectively raised over $100,000 and all finished with great times www.race4ms.org

Next up Hawaii and surprisingly I’m motivated……tired physically but motivated….perhaps for some kind of redemption but more a chance to have my best effort on the biggest stage and see what that gets me.

Steve Kilshaw set a strong early pace on the run and Justin Starks and I managed to match it for about 5-6km but I just didn’t have the leg speed in me and he eventually broke the bungee so to speak.  Steve ran really well closing the gap down to about 5 minutes and I went into survival mode in the last 10km and did my best to hang onto a podium spot which I did finishing 3rd.

Jordan was really strong all around, Steve also had an incredible day and Justin motivated me enough to stay in 3rd.  Sometimes you race to win, sometimes you race harder for 3rd.  I never mind loosing if I giver shit and so there you have it.

Other noteables-  Brent Poulson did a heck of a job hammering himself on the bike and swim, impressive!  Fletcher coming off no running for 7 weeks with a stress fracture managed to hang onto 3rd.  The woman who won might be one of the most talented individuals I’ve seen in a long time.  I think she will do huge things in the next few years.  A big shout out to Dina who finished just over 6 hours and showed the ocean whose boss!  And to Chris who busted out a 5:01 in only his second half ironman and 4th ever triathlon.  Pretty darn impressive if you ask me.

Always great having Finn there.  I think I will likely be finished with racing by the time he is old enough to get it but at least we will have some pictures to show him.  Nothing beats hanging out with that little dude.  Win or loose it’s always awesome.

I did manage to score myself as the swimmer on a relay team however which was great fun.  A shout out to Chris and Steve who both did a great job this weekend. Chris in his first true Olympic distance with an open water swim and Steve, the machine, Kilshaw who raced smart and fast and won a big trophy. Fun to watch!

Next up Couer D’Alene in two weeks.

I’ve been saying for the past 3 years that I would love to have a go in the Xterra series.  This weekend I finally gave it a crack in the city that never sleeps, Las Vegas!

When Ironman is your focus there seems to be limited opportunity to race and Xterra looks like it might provide the perfect venue to sneak in a few competitive battles throughout the summer without the long drawn out drama of Ironman.

I spent at least one day a week mountain biking all winter with the most awesome group of folks here on the island but my skill level was still a big question mark on the bike.  Mountain biking requires an even mix of fitness and finesse.  My fitness is good coming off the winter and my finesse is hit and miss at best.  I learned alot this winter riding with some of Canada’s finest technical riders so that helped but I have been known to go through some rather dubious sections with less than perfect control.  At times I think I was more of a hazard to the group and in one instance I think I declared that “I’m not trying to be a jackass, i’m just trying to make it over new obstacles”.  Regardless, I have had very patient riding partners this winter and every Sunday proved to be my favorite workout of the week.  And of course a big shout out to the Queen of Xterra for teaching me about the hour of power and tire pressure and how to do a good Xterra old school transition.  I feel ten years younger when I come home from a mountain bike session.

And so onto the race.  Out in the front pack with Conrad and Josiah and a couple other dudes…..front pack swimming is rather delightful and something i’m not entirely used to but i’ll take it ha!  Onto the bike and it was immediately evident why Conrad and Josiah are arguably the two best guys on the planet at this sport.  They were gone and they just kept getting smaller and that’s pretty much all I saw of them for the day.  But there are races within races and I plugged away.  The course was quite gnarly, loose gravel, rocky, really steep climbs and totally exposed Nevada desert with high winds and increasing heat.  I managed a good effort on the bike and surprisingly did not loose too much time to the guys around me.  I got off the bike in 8th and ran myself into 5th.  The run was one of the toughest I’ve ever experienced….all uphill or screaming crazy downhills….my legs were pooched at the end and I’m sore today…….definitely one of the tougher efforts i’ve put out over the years but super stoked to be in the mix.  And I have to admit, mountain biking is just plain fun no matter where you are, i always get off the bike totally jazzed baby.

A big thanks to Owen, Stephen and Christine Brown for their kind hospitality and of course the Kwaz who rocks the Kasba and is the ultimate support companion.

I don’t have any race photos yet, this is all i’ve got for now.

Full Report and Results can be found here:

http://www.xterraplanet.com/news/press_article.cfm?id=2415