Bryan Brosious: Four Times as Sweet as Winning

*It only took 4 years to win...

In preparing for Janet Clarkson Memorial, everyday before I went to sleep I would tell myself, “I am going to win Janet’s Triathlon.” On thing that no one knows until know is that I immediately followed that statement with “And I am going to win the State Games.”

Right after winning Janet’s Triathlon I fell apart after everything had caught up with me. I was sick the entire week after, and following the sick week I developed a shin pain while running. I was lucky I hung on until after Janet's Tri before faultering. It most likely was attributed to riding the razor's edge for so long in my preparations.

I began to think it wasn’t in the cards to even race at the Games. Well I am very proud of how I handled that, I didn’t train through my little “ouchie” and I was so smart in managing it. Looking back the way I handled that injury was exactly how I should have handled it. I kept a great attitude and focused my efforts on other training. As of the night before the race I still hadn’t decided whether or not I would be racing. My shin was untested, but I had no pain. I decided to sleep on it one last nigh and make the decision on race morning.

I had a dream that night that I was running; well actually it was more of a bounding as each stride felt effortless as I glided along the ground covering 10 feet with each stride. When I awoke at 3:45am the first word that appeared in my mental imagery was “race.” That works for me. I reasoned I would start the race, if I had any pain I would quietly withdraw and prevent any injuries from occurring.

I arrived at the race feeling rested, motivated, and happy to be there. I racked my bike next to Chandler and my sister, Mackenzie. I eased through my preparations and arrived at the start with plenty of time to warmup and relax. I had a great laugh with Mackenzie and Mike as the race director was giving swim directions. As she pointed to one the swim buoys the weights on it came loose and it began to float away, priceless.

*Pre race strategy and laughs with my sister

*Let the chaos begin

I have done this race for three years and all three years Chandler has beaten me out of the water. I make no secret about it; I want his draft in the swim. I lined up next to him. I gave him a pat on the back and said, “I am going to try and draft you in the swim, you try and draft me on the bike.” He replied with, “What about the run?” I shook his hand and smiled, “Every man for himself on the run,” I said.

3….2…..1…Bang! We were off. As bodies bumped into each other, and legs and arms thrashed I fought to get on Chandler’s feet. In my haste to catch his draft I may have gotten a little over zealous as I unintentionally swam onto the back of his legs a few times while getting knocked around by other swimmers. When we made the first turn, I again accidentally swam into him. It was then that his, I don’t know, size 10 or 11 foot whizzed past my right ear and smacked the water. I pulled back, “Maybe I better give him a little more space, I don’t want to take one of those to head.”

The lead group was three and we stuck together for the first of two loops. The first loop is about 300yds, a 50yd beach run separates the first loop from the 500yd second loop. Chandler pulled way on the beach run, Amanda and I entered the water together in chase. I swam the first loop under control and began to open up the throttle for the final loop. At 400yds Amanda and I had caught back up to Chandler.

We all swam closely together for a few hundred yards. Amanda eased ahead and I followed her. When we hit the swim exit Amanda was first out, I was three seconds behind, Chandler was 5 seconds behind me. If you look at the swim pictures you can see me smiling because that may have been my best State Games swims ever!

*Smiling ear to ear

Despite swimming hard I hit T1 feeling great and not even breathing hard. I had a fantastic transition and left for the bike in first. I flew aboard the Murder Machine and my bare feet found my shoe tops. The key to this course is a high tempo but you have to be patient with it. There are a lot of hills and if you aren’t patient you’ll detonate your legs on the early climbs. I slithered my way through the s-bends to the main out-and-back of the bike course. A duathlon was running at the same time so I had a few people to pass on the bike which is always fun. Just before the first climb I did a position check, I saw 3, maybe 4 people in chase that were an immediate threat.

On the first climb I stayed in the saddle and focused on keeping my cadence at about 100rpm and accelerating over the top. Once reaching the top of the climb I would dive back down into my aero bars and start clicking through gears. There are three climbs each way on the out and back. Actually what I meant was the bike course was uphill both ways, and I was riding in a snowstorm…of killer bees. :)

By the third climb I had ridden everyone off my wheel. I am hesitant to try and describe how great I felt because it sounds like a me-monster bragging blah blah blah and no one wants to hear that. I hit the turn-around feeling great, I made a time check. The chase pack was about a minute and a half. I repeated the process of climbing-cadence-aero-zoom and quickly found my way back to the park. My computer told me I had a fantastic ride. 16.5 miles averaging 23.3mph, which is faster than I have ever been on this hilly course (suppressing me-monster). For a wimp like me that is a good ride.

I made a quick change to my running shoes and headed out for the run. Chandler is a local hero in this city and just like last year at least 20 people called my by his name as I ran out. “Way to go Chandler!” “You’re the man Chandler!” “Great bike Chan-man!” My favorite was a guy who yelled at me, “Chandler, you had a smoking ride!” The guy extended his hand for a high five. Someone told the guy, “That’s not Chandler.” The gentleman said, “oh” and withdrew his offer for a five. I was planning to give him a five and air wiffed as he changed his mind. I say this not because I am annoyed. I actually get a kick out of it. This is the only race that this happens at. Every time I think about it I laugh.

*"Looking good ~~Chandler!"~~ Bryan!" Ha ha ha

I had a small entourage, but they made their presence known. Corrie, Autumn, Cheryl, and Kevin Sr. were snapping pictures and giving me encouragement the whole race. I knew it was them cheering because they were the only ones calling me by my correct name. J As I left T2 the race director, Jennifer, shouted at me to have a good run. I quietly gave myself a “let’s do it” as I left.

*I understand some may see my shin sleeves as "dorky," they are not fashion, they are medical devices.

Once on the run I knew I was going to win if I kept everything together. I was silently pleading with myself not to have shin pain. At this point if I did develop any I would have run through it because I was living a dream 4 years in the making. I won’t keep you in suspense; I had no shin pain the entire run. The run wasn’t that adventurous, I ran strong and smooth and ticked off the miles. I saw my friend Mike on the course and cheered him on. I entered the park for the final loop around the lake.

The loose rocky footing began to take its toll on my legs but I knew I was almost done. I saw the finish and the fans. I had ripped off my best swim, bike, and run. As a result I shattered the course record. It took 4 years to win this race. The first year I did this race I was 3rd, the second and third time racing I finished 2nd after getting passed on the run. After 3 years of “knocking on the door” I was so happy to finally be the first one to the finish. Again, ask me to describe how it feels to feel indescribable and this is what you get.

I have the winning combo: Arm raise to fist pump.

*First you do this...

*Then you do this!

*So close I can almost touch it

*It's finally mine

A very special thank you to Corrie, Autumn, Mackenzie, Mike, Kevin, and Cheryl for their cheers and pictures. I appreciate the support I had. I am thankful to have them share one of my greatest days. I am very thankful to finally win.