Ellensburg Triathlon

I always look forward to my time in Ellensburg, it was a great weekend with my triathlon friends.

 



*Sharing the age division podium with Kevin (left) and Hubert, congratulations to both of them.
 

The Ellensburg Triathlon is an important race for me because it’s always a big weekend with Kevin and his family.  I am always treated like royalty when I visit and I look forward to this weekend all year long.  This year was no exception, Kevin’s family took me right in and let me stay, treating me to delicious dinners, and like Kevin, Rob is one hilarious guy.   

*Breakfast view


*Kevin, Anne, and Jan

A new addition this year was staying with Anne’s family for part of the trip.  They have a charming house built in the early 1900s which is magnificent.  Jan and Craig, Anne’s parents, were so nice to let me stay, take me to the country club for breakfast milkshakes, and allow me to feel right at home with a comfortable stay and delicious food.  I am very grateful for the generosity extended to me by both of these great families.

*Rob, Trina, and Riley

*Rob's ribs!

A few friends were missing this year, but that’s how it goes, I guess.  I knew early on this year that three time champion, Drew Magill, wouldn’t make it, which was disappointing because he is a great guy.  He was texting me the day before the race, which I appreciated.  We will see you next year, Champ.

My Budu Racing family was there, which is always a treat, I adore them. Also, Hubert and his wife, Emily, were fun to be around.  I had a good time chatting with both of them, and Hubert had a great race finishing on the podium in our age division. Great job to him.  Finally, Ayla and her mom, Terri, were a welcomed addition.  Ayla had a great race, passing a girl with a sprint finish, and getting a podium in her age division while wearing a great outfit.  Terri provided most of the pictures for this post, of which I am grateful for.  We were lucky to have her.  

*We are so lucky to do what we do, great job to Kev and Ayla!

*Budu Family, such great people.

 The swim started and I had a clear path to the lead.  I swam smooth, and straight.  My swim has been awesome lately and by the end of the swim, my gap was a minute over the field.  I had a pretty good transition and left with a great lead.

*Pre race chit-chat.

*Going clear, lil' splasher (that's me) out front.

*Dry land, chase begins.

*Time to go to work.

The lead motorcycle led me out onto the main portion of the bike course and the winds hit full force.  I rode fairly conservative for the first half of the bike course.  When I looked back on a corner I saw I had company in chase.  I knew I had to pick it up and focus now.  On the hardest section of the bike, we grind into the wind up a false flat.  It is always a gut-buster and this is where Drew caught me last year.  Mike Rushton, a power house on the bike, took the lead from me just before the welcomed turn around.   

*Hot pursuit.

*Kevin workin' the bike.

I kept telling myself “Keep the gap in check, you’ll get him in the run.”  My challenge was to keep Rushton’s bike gap from spreading too wide on the return to the lake.  I did a good job of this.  When we hit transition, I was 10 seconds off the lead and in a position that was perfect to strike on the run.

We left transition with the same 10 second time gap to fight it out on the run.  I had the fastest run split of the field in last year’s race and I thought I was in a perfect position to make a push for the win.  I pressed hard in the initial stretch on the run, but kept repeating, “Be patient, bring him back slowly, you got this.”

*Race belt on, let's do this.

After about a mile of chasing the gap wasn’t coming down, and I hit a point where my body said, “Bryan, we aren’t doing this anymore.”  I had a big week last week and I simply detonated on the run, I couldn’t twist out anymore.  The sting that I was so confident that I would make, I couldn’t make. My pace slowed and Rushton, doing an amazing job, got smaller and smaller in the distance.  I really had to use damage control to suffer it in the rest of the run.  

Rushton, had a fantastic race and won, I am happy for him.  He shook my hand as I finished in the runner-up spot for the third year in a row.  Not a bad day, I won’t complain or make any excuses, suffering it in was the best I could do on this day, there’s no shame in that.

One of my biggest regrets in life is not appreciating non-winning moments.  I wasted so many opportunities to be happy with just being consistent, having fun, and doing what I do.  Once you win nothing else is the same, but I used to have a first-or-last approach when I was younger, and I regret that now.  More importantly, I have learned from it and become a better person because of it.   

I really think it was a maturity thing, my mind wasn’t entirely developed so I couldn’t really reason through it.  Insurance companies have this all figured out.  Ever wonder why insurance goes down when you turn 25?  In part it’s because your reasoning and judgment are not fully developed until your mid to late 20s.  2^nd place isn’t winning, but it’s also not a failure. I gave my best for the day while doing what I love to do, I had fun with my friends, and that is as important as winning. 

*Rob and Trina brought chairs to the race, Kev and I used them. lol

At the end of the day, I want to win here more than ever, this year wasn’t the year for that and that is okay.  I am thankful for the opportunity to keep dreaming of winning this race. I keep this race in a special spot in my heart because I want it. I am happy with how I handled myself and applied the lessons that I have learned throughout my sporting adventures. I no longer miss those opportunities that I regret missing in the past. That is a special thing. 

*These two guys are professional RC Helicopter pilots, I was so impressed by their skills I took their pic.

Thanks for reading, the dream continues.