great swim, my fastest ever. I focused on going hard for 200 mts and then draft of the fast swimmers. it was a bit crowded on the 2nd loop but overall I felt comfortable all the time. I swear I can swim faster without a wetsuit, at least I tend to post faster swims without one, werid...

nothing

long run from the beach to T1, I ran comfortable and passed one guy on my AG.

nothing

coming out of the bike I new I was top ten on my AG and according to my parents the 1st places were just a few min ahead so I got into my race plan rhythm and began hydrating. Plan was to ride around 190 watts (75% of FTP) for 20 miles and then settle onto 200-205 watts for reminder. I was cruising along the 1st 20 miles and I caught and passed 5-6 guys on my AG and I wasn't pushing too hard. I was concerned cuz I knew my fitness was far from ideal but I figured a 2:25 hr split was doable and within my means to post a solid run after. my avg watts for that segment was 193 watts an avg 23.5 mph. I knew I had a nice tailwind but due to the two loop course I would have to spend more energy on the way back with the headwind. Anyway around mile 20 I hit a pothole and my aerobars tilted like 30-40 degrees down making riding very tough and dangerous and my aero bottle to rub with the tire. I managed to move sideways my bottle and rode that way for almost 3 miles until a mechanic helped me out to fix it which cost me 2 min (according to my power tap). I also realized the impact toasted my right s bend and I had to ride with no pad on that side. Anyway I stayed sort of calm and focused on riding my race; I caught up with a group of guys in my AG who were blatantly cheating as in they were from the same team ( TTT Panama) and where taking turns to pull. I couldn’t get myself to cheat even when I lost time due to my bars so I stayed at 10 mts and focused on my power as we hit the head wind portion which dropped my speed to 21.7mph. I was doing a good job hydrating and I kept passing the cheaters but since they would always tuck into my rear wheel I decided to let them ride ahead and work on passing them on the back section on the tailwind. At this point when I stayed behind this group draft legal a fucking truck came out of the jungle (literally) into the road that was CLOSED to the traffic. It got between me and the cheaters group so I lose contact. I tried to pass the truck who was taking the entire lane we were riding on but he almost hit me when I tried this and to avoid crossing the middle lane I felt behind again, I this point I was riding much slower avg only 20 mph cuz I couldn’t pass the fucker. I tried to pass it again but it was dangerous so I felt back again. As I was coming close to the turn around for the 2nd loop a marshal saw me that I tried to pass the truck and yet he rode next to me and gave me a drafting penalty cuz I was drafting the truck!!! A mile ahead was the penalty tent so I stopped and argued with the marshal. I asking him if he missed the cheaters ahead of me and at that moment a Tour de France pack (20-30 guys) passed us and he just have me the “I cant do anything about that” excuse. I was pissed but swallow my word, did my time and rode away. I was disappointed and spent the next 10 miles riding faster of my goal to try to make up time which was a big mistake cuz I felt I extended my legs above my goal. After that I lost interest for the race and just focused on getting back to T2. the head wind back was tough dropping my speed to 20.7 mph but I didn’t care much anymore

make sure to have my bars tigheten properly and maybe carry a bb gun to shoot cheaters

my sisters told me I was like 15 on my AG and the top places were like 10 min ahead hence if I could post a solid run I might have a chance so I got ready and headed out with new motivation

nothing

I began the run and I felt good. I was avg like 6:40s which was slower of what I thought I could hold but I also felt the effort from the bike and the heat was relentless (mid 90s and 80% humidity) hence I focused on running at a pace that felt comfortable. I caught some of the cheaters and that made me feel rejuvenated. I began waking up and thinking I might have a chance to at least climb onto the top 3 places. The heat was making me work harder but I was doing ok until mile 4ish when the my achilles tendon injury who has troubled me all year falred up yet again. The pain was making running very tough and withing minutes my pace felt to like 8:30s, I tried to speed up more than a few times but I just couldnt handle the pace/pain. I yet again lost interest for racing and was set on quiting at the turn around. When I got there my family was there coping with the heat and cheering very loud. I told them I had no chance to place but they just told me to shut up and race. At that point I figured that was going to be my last race for the season even if I was lucky to get a Clearwater slot so I kept on going. It was very hard for me to run/walk on the aid stations and see guys passed knowing I can run much faster than them when healthy. I then just switched my mind off, joked with the volunteers and focused on finishing.

get a new leg

ice for my leg


aerobars, BS drafting penalty and fucked up leg


this race explains how frustrating this 2008 racing season was. I just never was able to get into good racing shape due to my leg injury and it made for a frustrating year. Oh well, time to relax, recover, heal and focus on coming back stronger than ever next year... I WILL :)