I’m back from the bayou and have good news to report! After 3 trips to New Orleans to race the Ironman Oschner 70.3, I’ve finally landed a podium 2nd, just one minute out of first, and behind 70.3 World Champion, Andy Potts. I have been putting this race on the schedule nearly every year, making the trip down to see family friends, and to race alongside my dad, and it’s one of my favorites. The deep south of Louisiana is truly another universe, unlike anything else in the world.
After the disappointment of Oceanside, I was hungry to get out and prove that my racing and fitness have gone up a level since last year. My approach this season has been to knock out some consistent racing early and get good points for Kona, culminating with my attempt at a title defense in Coeur d’Alene. So far, things are on target with only a couple races left, so hopefully I will have the entire back half of my season to train and prepare for Hawai’i.
After spending a little over a day in Baton Rouge with the Crowell family, executing some light training and eating shrimp and grits, we packed up and headed down to NOLA. Somewhere during the registration and pro meeting portions of my day, I learned about the tragedy that befell two Ironman athletes training on the bike course, having been struck by a car. One athlete was killed, and the other critically injured, so my heart was certainly heavy thinking of them and their families. As an aside,
you can donate to the families here: http://www.gofundme.com/89mhhs
and here: http://www.gofundme.com/89yriw
In their spirit, we all came together to have a fair and challenging race on Sunday, taking a moment of silence before the event to honor Frank and send energy to Andrew. Shortly after allowing us into the water for a warm up, the air horn sounded when we were still getting into position! The race was underway. Unfortunately, I didn’t get quite the start I hoped for, and ended up towing a larger group of swimmers behind me. Andy was gone, but I kept my focus and exited just in front of the main chase pack.
I had seen Trevor Wurtele and Chris McDonald in transition as I was leaving, so I decided to give a hard effort in the first half to see if I could bridge and to make them all work to catch me. After about 17 miles, Trevor came by like a man possessed. I briefly entertained the idea of going with him, but it was out of the question for me on this day. Instead I concentrated on my race, battling the winds and trying to stay as aero as possible aboard the Shiv. We all hoped for the tail wind home, but it really never came, save a 4 mile section. Swirling, cross headwinds were the order of the day. One of the most honest bike sections I have seen in recent memory.
Into T2 a couple minutes down to the leaders, I knew it would be a hard run for everyone after we were tossed around on the bike. I stayed even, slowly reeling in Trev, and stopping quickly at a port-a-let just before passing him. I went by easily and gave him kudos for a hard effort in chasing and catching Andy. Good practice to put himself in contention and have a shot, but ultimately too hard an effort on the day. I had some great crowd support, including one spectator who kept yelling, “There’s opportunity up there! Get after it!” And I did. Or at least I tried. I pushed hard to close the gap to around 50 seconds with a few miles to go, but I had to stop again at the toilet.
It’s been years since I had gastric woes on the run, Ironman or half, so I’m not sure what went wrong. I’m not certain that I would have had a real shot at beating Andy on the day even if I didn’t stop twice, but it was definitely a small disappointment and nuisance. After pressing into some solid headwinds on the run too, I entered the final mile with plenty of real estate behind me, and I took a moment to soak in my second podium of 2014, and likely my best start to a season in many years. I dedicate this effort to Frank Guinn and his family, as well as the Powell family.
After a little chill time chatting with the top finishers, I cheered my Dad in for a very respectable 5:41 finish. Not bad for a 60 year old! We celebrated a little in New Orleans, and then got back to Baton Rouge so we could race go karts and enjoy a day of relaxation before heading home.
A wonderful trip with family and friends.
A tremendous thanks to all my support for making this all possible. I really do have the best gear a man could ask for, so thanks for everything Zoot, Specialized, Clif, Tender Belly, Infinite Monkey Theorem, Zipp/SRAM, SportPump, Oakley and Vector 450. I made a last second decision to return to my triathlon racing roots, so I am off to Missoula, Montana to compete in the Grizzly Triathlon, April 19th. This was the first race I ever did, 10 years ago! Looking for a 6th title to add to my resume, I will report back soon…