Ellensburg Triathlon: Part 2 of 2

The Ellensburg Triathlon was an incredibly satisfying experience.  As always the race started with the swim.  As Rory counted us down, my internal pressure guage and nerves rose.  I dove under the surface made a few dolphin kicks and surfaced swimming tempo.

*This is how I stretch out pre swim

*Kev stretching

*Drew stretches his legs because those are his weapons

I felt amazing the whole swim and quickly went off the front.  After I made the turn at the buoy I set my sights on the swim exit.  When I reached the swim exit the swim gap had been busted wide open at nearly 40 seconds.  The question was, would it be enough to hold off the chase that always comes, a chase that would be spear headed by two-time defending champion, Drew Magill.

The Ellensburg paper had run an article the day before the race.  The article said Drew was going to "receive stiff competition" from me. To even be mentioned in the same sentence as "the man" is way too much pressure for me to handle. I don't think I really deserved to be in the paper, they must have me confused with someone else :)

A big thank you to Leanne, and Trina, for their pictures, it was so nice of them to capture the special moments for us.

*Start the mayhem

*Sea legs to transition legs

*Drew exiting the swim

*Kevin on the way to transition 1

I had a smooth transition, fast and efficient, and made my way down the long corridor to the bike mount.  I knew I had some hot pursuit coming, it was time to ride.

*Running through T2

*The bike master about to inflict the pain

Once on the bike course I was picked up by the lead motorcycle.  I do appreciate an escort but, personally I found this lead motorcycle to be extremely annoying.  The guy riding was way too slow in the corners and insisted on letting me get way too close.  On the first few corners my speed made me ride up on him and have to grab the brakes. I had to yell "Let's move it!" a couple times to let him know to get the heck out of the way.  On top of that, he was riding a Harley which was really loud.  Having him ride just in front of me and having to hear that rumble was an unnecessary distraction.  While I am on a role about the motorcycle, I should mention he didn't even do that great of a job of escorting as he led Drew and me beyond the turnaround point.

*Let's do it, Brodacious!

As I put the distraction aside, I put my head down and power to my peals.  The wind was really tough this year.  On some sections of the bike course I would grind into the wind and my legs would burn.  I knew Drew was going to pass me on the bike.  I have never met anyone who can ride like Drew.  This year I held him off for the longest time ever.  At mile 7 he pulled even, we exchanged a few words and he went ahead taking the motorcycle with him.

*The diesel engine himself

A couple posts ago I said it wasn't a bad thing to compliment people.  I'm not embarrassed, nor do I suffer any reduction to my ego, to say that Drew Magill is my idol.  He's a very honorable, humble, and amazing racer. He has always been very courteous to me on and off the race course. I see no problem in telling him (or writing here) that I respect him.  The first time we raced each other he beat me by 6 minutes.  Total beat down, that was in 2010.  Since then I have been looking up to him and trying to catch him.  

*Grinding it out into the wind

*Kev feeling the burn

When he passed me on the bike it was the hardest section of the course.  The wind was really stiff and it felt like we were crawling.  Yet, Drew was still riding in his big chain ring just grinding his pedals like a diesel engine.  Like I said, Drew is my idol and I have nothing but respect for him.  The dream I referenced in part 1 is my Dream of someday racing just like him...and beating him :)    

*The master at work

*I am in hot pursuit about 30 seconds back

On the last stretch home we had the wind at our backs and we flew.  My computer was reading 30+ mph consistently on the return to the park.  Once we wound our way back to to transition Drew had taken the lead and built a little cushion.  It was now time for us to fight it out on the run.

*Drew and I both ride Cervelo P3s, he just rides his faster.

*Bike legs become run legs

*Houck in chase mode

*Kev making his transition

Coming into transition two I was a little surprised, I have never been this close to Drew after the bike.  Drew is amazing and to be that close to him is indescribable.  I made a quick change to my [well coordinated] shoes and flew out of transition.  

For the past two months I have been training my run hard.  Thanks in part to Jonmark's [endearing] taunting I have become very motivated to run fast and take that aspect of the triathlon to the next level.  I did what it took with hard workouts and I could feel the fitness for this race. I worked so hard the past few weeks. I felt like I was gliding over the road, sweeping through the corners, over the rocks, and past the trees.

*Drew on the move

I could see Drew right up ahead, my idol, my hero was right there ahead of me...and I was catching him.  As we went through the course I felt strong, I was tired, but still feeling strong.  I received some great cheers from my entourage at about mile 2 which charged me back up. I very much appreciate the special people who came to watch me race.

*Heading for the trees

*Houck on the run

*Kevin near transition

*Mounting a charge to catch Drew.  

*SWEET OUTFIT!

I was running for all I was worth, and loving it.  To say I love pain and suffering is weird, but I do, it took many years to learn to love it.  I have won my fair share of races but I don't usually do the damage to the field on the run.  On each of the corners Drew would look back.  This was an incredible feeling, my idol was looking back because he was feeling the pressure, pressure that I was putting on him.

*Stay right here, be in the moment, and keep putting the pressure on.

As the distance to the finish diminished, so did Drew's lead.  The question was would I catch him before we ran out of race course.  I stayed focused, kept my form and kept the pressure on.  With 300 meters go I unleashed the remaining energy in my body with a full sprint.  I flew to the finish with the pain emulated on my face and crossing the line 15.7 seconds behind Drew, and having the best run split of the day.

*The two-time champion becomes the three-time champion. 

*Yeah boy, give me a grimace!

Being that close to Drew feels awesome.  I am not saying this to be like "look at me I'm awesome."  That's not my intent at all.  I say this and write this post to say how hard I worked the past two years to catch Drew, and to say how much respect I have for Drew.  He is a class act.  I would love to say that I won, but I didn't, I have more work to do, and I'm looking forward to continuing to chase Drew.  Will I ever beat him?  There are no guarantees, like I said he is amazing.

*Drew and I rehashing our dog fight

After I caught my breath, Jodi came up and told me good job and how proud of me she was. That meant a lot to me.  To have the fastest run split is satisfying and a credit to how hard I worked the past two months.  Again, I'm not saying "I'm awesome," I'm trying to convey where I was two months ago with my run and how hard I worked to get where I am.  It also helped my foot speed to know Jodi was waiting on me at the finish line. :)

*You would have the fastest run split if you knew you had a pretty girl waiting on you at the finish line.

*Drew with his winner's trophy, congratulations to him.

*Runner up trophy for me.

*Taylor did great in the women's race!

In the end it was a great day.  Kevin and his family, Anne, Taylor, Ayla, Leanne, Amanda, Jodi, and I all had a fantastic time at the race.  It really was an incredible race, to battle with Drew was a great experience.  After the race I told him how I never forgot how badly he beat me in 2010 and how he has been my role model for two years now.  He told me next race would be my race...which I laughed at.  It was a great day, I am happy.

*Telling Drew "When I grow up I want to be just like you."  lol

The best feeling in the world is the feeling of being thankful in just being you and being proud of what you have done.  

The chase continues. 

Ellensburg Triathlon: Part 1 of 2

I struggle with the fact that my dream was right there, 15.7 seconds separated me and the achievement of a three year goal.  I question myself whether I should have pushed harder to find those seconds. Did I have more to give? 

*I don't think I could have gone much harder than this.

I was on the other side of the 15.7 seconds, the dream continues. I am actually quite thankful I have that goal there, still motivating, still humbling, and still begging me to do the things that other people don't want to do.

This race means a lot to me, going into this race I had unfinished business.  If you need a refresher, I was having a fantastic race, but had a bike crash.  You can read about last year if you'd like (click here to read 2011 race report.) Or I can save you the time and sum it up with one pic.

*That sucks

I am happy to report that 2012 was much different, I went much faster, left with all the skin on my body, and shared the race with great people.  I must first say thank you to some special people.

*Leanne, Amanda, and Jodi

Thank you to Jodi, and her friend, Amanda, for getting up at 5am to come to the race, it was great to have them there.  I was lucky enough to convince Jodi to be my arm charm. She was great, it was fun to share the race and have her cheers. :)

*See, arm charm :)

Thank you to Leanne and Jonmark for a fantastic dinner double date, the amazing pictures (Leanne took nearly 200), the cheers, and their motivations to find my run-machine.  Their guidance over the past two months has helped me find my inner run strength.  I was the one who put in the hard work, but they both helped me develop the key workouts.  It was great to spend time with both of them.

A big thank you to Kevin and Anne for sharing in the adventures, it was great to spend more special moments with Kevin and Anne.

*Kevin contemplating something.

*Mr. and Mrs.

It was nice that my friends, Taylor and Ayla, could attend another race with me.  They are fun to race with.  They both cleaned up with awards by the way.

Rob and Trina, like always, treated me like the 3rd child and took care of me with lodging, food, and generosity.  

*It's about time I post a pic of Trina and Rob, this is from the wedding rehearsal.

*Trina made her special pasta salad, delicious!

 Rob gave me a ride in his 2013 Ford Mustang.  The car is amazing.  Until last Saturday I never understood American muscle cars and why people like them.  After a ride in the Mustang and feeling the power, the stiffness of the chassis, and the acceleration, I get it.  It's American Muscle, it's awesome.  

A really cool side note, the car's color is "Grabber Blue." As I understand, this is the same color of car that Rob had when he first started dating Trina.

*This is what I look like next to the car

*This is what I look like in the car

*This is what I look like with the wind in my hair

*Rob use to drive race cars, I can see that.

It was these people, and many more, who made the trip so fantastic.  I wouldn't trade my time with any of them.

*Podium Pals

As much as we tried to drill each other into the ground, it was nice to compete with Drew, Brian, and the rest of the competitors.