Budapest World Championships Race Report

Budapest World Championships Race Report

After a short training camp with some very cool and inspirational people, all with different stories, I was very ready to race on Sept. 11, 2010.
My alarm was set for 0400 but I was awake at 0300. I lay in bed thinking about what I had to do. I was pretty much finished my preparation and only needed to mix my morning breakfast drink and get my kit on.
We met in the lobby at 0445 and had cabs waiting for us. When we got outside, it was drizzling a little. Enough to be called rain I suppose but what could we do, it was race day and as I have been saying, “it is what it is”. We were dropped off right at the entrance to the Expo/transition area and had a 200m walk to the main transition area.
Wandering through massive puddles and muddy grass, we finally arrived at our bikes and began the prep to get our T1 and T2 gear ready. I brought two large bags from the hotel and they were very handy. I asked the nearest ITU person if my ‘handler’ would be able to get my gear out of my bag for me after I finished each leg of my race and was told normally no, but today, yes. By this time it was full on pouring too, making our wet transition area even soupier.
I could not find my handler, MC, who said she would be at the TZ by 0530. I was getting antsy so I asked our coach, Carly, to help me find someone. I feel bad that I cannot remember his name but he was an ex-pat Brit. I told him my needs and everything was in order. I only needed him to yank off my wetsuit and then pull my gear out of the plastic bag so I could transition with somewhat drier gear. There’s nothing like pulling on wet shoes.
I was already soaked so I just got my wetsuit on and put my jacket and shirt into a plastic bag and began the 100m trek to the start of the swim. My helper was right next to me the whole way. I looked at my watch to see that I had only 15 minutes to the start and I debated making a short trip to the porta-potty. I quickly decided that it was probably a good idea and I ran over, unzipped my wetsuit, and did what I needed. As I was walking back toward the start, I pulled my wetsuit zipper up on my own (before, my helper did it for me). This would come back to bite me as I exited the water.
I went down to the pontoon for the start. We would have a deep water start so I was kind of bummed that we couldn’t dive in but I guess some of the para’s wouldn't be able to. I sat down next to my team mate, Kimberly, gave her a hug, wished her luck, and slipped into the water……DAMN it was cold! I only had a short sleeve suit. I had been in colder water with that suit but I knew it was going to be a torturous 13-15 minutes.
They counted us down from 2 minutes every 30 seconds or so and before I knew it, 87 paratriathletes were off. Man, there are some fast swimmers in the paratriathlete division. A couple times I felt someone pulling on my thigh and hitting my feet, probably trying to draft me, but either they went around me or I dropped them. Either way, after the first turn, I had free water.
I finished the swim in under 14 minutes but by the time I cleared the water and hit the timing mat, it was an even 14. I was happy with that but not ecstatic. I sort of “gorilla hopped” (to me, somewhat sideways with my weak leg to the back) to T1. As I was running, I was attempting to undo my wetsuit zipper. Apparently, my tri-top zipper lanyard was stuck in my wetsuit zipper and it was not going well and my transition time was slower than I would have liked.
By the time I got to my bike, I had undone the zipper and had it off my hips just in time for my helper to yank it off me. I quickly dried my feet and put my shoes and helmet on and I was running out of the TZ.
Running in the wet grass with road shoes wasn’t too bad however, we also had a 50m run on pavement. With the grass and mud plus the pebbles on the pavement it made for a difficult time clipping into my pedals. On the way out, I almost got hit by a handcycle and while I was trying to get started, two others passed me, one guy in my category.
By the time I was clipped in and up to speed, I had caught one of the guys and was gaining on the other. Within five minutes, we were at the first 180 degree turn. I got to the turn immediately after the guy directly in front of me and I stood up and powered out of the turn, passing him and never looking back. My next mission was the handcycle but man, those guys are FAST!!!
I picked off him and 5 other handcycles before the next U-turn and passed numerous others. I got passed by two tandems but otherwise, held my own. Coaches Carly and Vincent later told me I looked great on the bike and was flying which made me feel pretty good.
On my last lap, with about 2km to go, my buddy Joel from Portland passed me and I didn’t see him again til the finish. He did well but there were a lot of fast guys in the arm injury/TRI4 category. He said he was happy with his bike and run but said his swim and transition put him back a bit.
By T2 the rain had all but stopped. I got to my chair and my helper had all my run gear out, ready for me to have a fast transition. I'm not sure how long it took but I felt that I had a quick transition. As I left T2, I was passed by 2-3 others, one I know was in my category. Charles and Jody passed me around 2km and Pierre rolled by at 3km. A few others passed me, mostly people in other categories but there were at least two TRI5’s as well. I felt great for the first 3.5km or so then I started to fade but after I got on to the bridge leading to the finish, I upped my pace and had a very good last 750m.
As I was on the downhill portion of the bridge, I looked back and saw a few age groupers coming up behind me. I wanted to beat them to the line so I picked up my pace again. There was a 180 degree turn around 75m from the finish and when I made the turn I all but sprinted as only a 1.6 legged man can sprint, very awkwardly.
I crossed the finish line and stopped my watch. I was too exhausted to look at it. I was given my finisher medal and wandered out of the finish area to find my friends that had already finished. I found Joel, Craig, Jody, and Devin. No one knew where they had placed but most people were happy with their performance. Devin said he cramped on the bike but he felt good overall.
I finally looked at my watch…..1:27:20. Wow. I had started my watch around 20 seconds before the swim so I figured I was sub 1:27. I had never gone that fast before, even before my injury. I beat my Nationals time from 3 weeks before by 8 minutes and my previous PR was 1:31:58 at Blue Lake in 2002.
Overall: 1:27:01
Swim – 14:00
T1 – 2:19
Bike – 34:22
T2 – 3:45
Run – 32:36
I cannot complain too much. I had a good race and even if I was classified as a TRI3/Les Autre, I would have come in 6th. I need to re-read the rules and see if I can get classed as a TRI3 for next time. While I might have quicker transitions than most of the BK amputees, I surely cannot keep up with them on the run as most of them (warning, stereotype ahead) have strength all the way to their stump, including their knee and hip muscles while I have some weakness there.
The description of the lower limb categories are not those of amputations but rather “moderate” or “severe” leg impairment. Given that I have weakness in my hip flexors, knee flexors, and knee extensors, I feel I fit in with the AK’s more so than the BK athletes. My run and bike seems to be more on par with those guys.
Anyway, as I said, I'm happy with myself and my performance, I believe I did my best and represented my country well.
I hope to post some pics later so if you are reading this and want to see some, check back at a later date.