Bryan Brosious: Updated Spring Festival Triathlon: Part 2 of 2

A very big thank you to all of those who have given so much so that all of us may live free from fear and oppression. Memorial Day is a day to reflect and give thanks to the men and women who have given so much for all of us. We will forever be indebted to those who, and those who will in the future, do so much for others.

*Jonmark and Brown showcasing medals

In leading up to this race I decided to go “old school” and just hammer out a couple good weeks of training to get to that next level. I trained through the last three races and I am starting to feel the fitness. It’s a hard way to race, 6th place at the PEAK Tri showed that, but it is a great way to train. I didn’t plan on any tapering so I was training hard up until the race. During the week I had two workouts that I considered to be “next level workouts.”

*No one knows hard workouts and sweet tri outfits like I do.

The first was a swim workout that included a 10 x 200 individual medley main set. One 200IM after the other, bang, bang, bang. That's 2000 meters of IM! The Friday before the race I had my second “next level workout" of a 50 mile ride on the Murder Machine, I loved it. When you don’t have a girlfriend, Friday night (date night) is epic bike ride night. Despite all the training, I felt ready to race. I streamlined a few distractions recently, on race day I felt like an uncaged, race-animal.

*Kevin, Brodacious, and Jonmark

The swim start was rough, maybe the worst that I can remember. I wear earplugs in open water and didn’t hear the starter yell “Go!” When I started I was a body length late and that is not the place to be. If you want the roughest part of the swim start just behind the front lines. I was thrashed by the washing machine as I bumped and bounced all over people at the start, it was chaotic. I used a move that I term the "barrel roll" (if you have ever seen a fighter jet barrel role it’s just like that only you do it while swimming). I used the barrel roll twice to roll over the backs of two swimmers who were blocking my path to the first buoy by swimming crooked. Once I was over their backs I made my way up to the front pack.

*Start the washing machine

*Kercher and I sighting our swim exit

The remainder of the swim didn’t really settle down. First place took off like a torpedo, that’s what Casey does, and I swam side by side with John Kercher in second. There was a little wind during the swim so the chop made a water/air mixture of breath in each gasp. That is a tough way to swim, but everyone had to do it. The pace of the swim stayed red-hot all the way to the swim exit. When my hand hit the mushy bottom I popped up and made my way to transition. I had the second fastest swim, 20 seconds behind super swimmer, Casey.

*Time to ride

*Kevin lookin' sharp.

*Lock the visor, time to zoom

I scuffed off a little time in transition and left close on the leader. Right out of transition there is a huge hill that burns your legs and lungs. After we crested the hill the eventual winner, Sam Piccicci went by with Kercher close. Casey must have put in a lot of riding this winter because he too began to pull away. He is a great rider, much improved over last year. That’s a compliment. The bike was windy and I fought crosswinds that would push me right and left in the lane. At the bike turn around I took time splits. Casey had 20 seconds on me, which was about the same as his swim gap, leaving me in 4th place. I saw Jonmark in 5th place at what I timed to be about two minutes behind me.

I became a little frustrated on the return trip because I could see the leaders but I just couldn’t shrink the lead. In fact, I think all three leaders extended their leads on the return trip of the bike. I kept reassuring myself with “we will see them on the run, we will see them on the run.” I fought the wind, and made the huge sweeper into transition. Deanna and Rory, the race directors, yelled at me to “Slow down, remember what happened last time!” They were the directors of the race I crashed at and they won’t ever let me forget it, safety first.

*Kevin on the bike

*Taylor into transition!

*Ayla working the bike!

*It's time to do work, son!

*Kevin on the move

*Let the animal out of his cage, it's chase time.

Anyway, I had a fantastic bike to run transition and left in 4th place. My footstrike felt good and I quickly put time into 3rd place. At about the one-mile mark of the run I had closed the gap to 3rd place, which was occupied by Casey. Growing up doing combat sports like wrestling, MMA, and martial arts has made me comfortable being close to people and for lack of a better phrase “being all over them,” but still staying relaxed when my personal space is voided. I ran one step off of Casey’s feet (an uncomfortably close distance) for about 20 seconds before slipping hip-to-hip (also uncomfortable for most people), and then moved past him. I would like to say “good job” to him now. He said, “Good Job, Bryan,” as I passed him, but I couldn’t muster anything in return. I felt bad for that after the race, good job, Casey.

*Hide the kids, it's SCARY face time!

*I have huge muscles, but they say black is slimming, that must be it.

I ran hard through the twisting neighborhood streets while my feet pounded the concrete and my black trisuit absorbed the warm sun. I ascended the largest hill on the run course with the wind offering resistance. I kept the pressure on until I made it to the final ¾ mile of slightly down hill. I finished the run strong with a flying finish and a place on the podium. Overall it was good day. Casey had a great race finishing 4th place, and Jonmark ran like the wind to finish in 5th. I need to take notes from the master, I am a good runner, but Jonmark is the man when it comes time to run.

*Flying to the finish, literally, I'm like a foot off the ground.

*Jonmark showing how it's done

*Kevin is done

*Beat up the beat!

After the race we all rehashed the day’s events, took pictures, and collected our awards. Our entourage cleaned up with trophies, medals, and swag. My time for this year was over a minute faster than last year, and nearly three minutes faster than the first time I did the race in 2010. I was faster this year across all three disciplines in comparison to last year, which is satisfying. It’s crazy to think that putting in hundreds of hours of winter training is worth a minute in a race, but to me it is. That is what it takes.