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By the 5K mark, I am running OK. Not great but respectably. I am still too scared to look behind me, and spend most of the time focusing on quick leg turnover and proper running form. There are aid stations every 500 meters or so, and I am taking full advantage of ice and sponges. My stomach feels quite full, so I am not drinking more than the occasional half glass of water. I clock the Asian guy and see that his lead is down to 90 seconds. I am feeling better each kilometer, and figure that I might be able to real him in. Around this time the leaders come flying back at me. 1 - 2 - 3, no way I am going to be catching those boys. 4 - 5, running about the same speed as me but with eight minutes or so, too far to bridge in 7/8K. Then a long gap. Hmmmmm. As I am about 500 meters from the turnaround, I see 6 & 7 running side by side. Their strides are choppy, their expressions ones of deep pain and suffering. I smile at them and one guy looks over at me as if to say, what the hell are you smiling at. The race is on!
Through the turnaround area and back out on the road. On the road I ask if there is anyone behind me in the turnaround area. They tell me "no" and I now see that the closest guy is about two minutes down. I stop looking at my heart rate monitor and just focus on running as hard as I can without feeling too horrible. 7K is a long way to hammer, but I feel great. I have no idea how fast I am going but it feels like a solid pace, and I am pulling my Asian friend towards me. He goes at about the 6K mark. 6 & 7 have split and I am fairly quickly upon seven. Just as I get alongside him, hwaaaaaaaa! - epic chunder. Nothing hits me, but it was close. I focus on six. His stride is pretty good and we are more than 5K from the finish. I know that there is no way I will be passing #5 so decide to conserve energy for a bit. I back off when I am about 100 meters behind him to watch. He runs through an aid station without taking anything. I am not sure what to make of this and notice that I am still gaining. About the time we get to the final 5K marker, I decide to make my move and run by. I can't tell if he is staying with me or not, and just focus on more hard aerobic running. At the next aid station I look back and see that I have opened a small gap, but he is still a threat. I am starting to feel tired and have twinges running through my legs, probably from dehydration. Still, I seem to be running okay and nothing major is going wrong. 2K to go and my gap has grown. I look ahead and see a cloud rising from the road. There is a light drizzle falling and it is steaming off the hot asphalt. Oh boy that hurts, it is like running through a steam room as the sunlight bounces around inside the cloud and the air gets superheated. With 1K to go, I pass a guy who is walking back towards the finish with a race number on his jersey. I ask if he is in 5th place and he says, "you're in fifth place". I am stoked, a bonus pass at the end of the race. I turn the corner towards the finish, sneak one last look over my shoulder, and know that my position is locked up. I pass a photographer who comments that I look far too fresh. I feel fantastic. Just before the finish, I take my shirt off. Two years ago, Rob did this race and had an epic ab-shot going across the line. I wanted to see what I could muster. Towards the line and crunch!
My official splits - Swim 30 mins, Bike with Ts 1:41, Run 61 mins - overall 3:12:57. The winning time was 2:56:11 and I was about six minutes down on the next finisher. It turns out that the guy walking back was a DNF. So my official finish was 6th overall, good enough for US$200 and a nice trophy. As I sit here writing my report, I am eighty bucks up on the trip. Racing doesn't pay as well as venture capital but it's a start. As Chuck would say, it was a great gig. 1st to 4th were on average six years older than me. There is hope! |
The finish line crunch. |