We were both in our own little world racing hard and nothing else mattered. many of them tried to stay with us, but none could. Funny all the while this battle was going on, we were passing other younger athletes who started in the waves ahead, but we did not ever notice them. I had to keep fighting to the end as my own personal challenge and wanted him to know I was still there.
#Computrainer toronto plus
Again the inner voice was telling me Silver was fine, "let up, it hurts too much" plus there no one behind us for 5 minutes in our AG. From 6-7.5km I ran 5 meters behind him fighting hard to keep the string with the hope he would fade. It was the perfect tactics as I was a little gassed from my surge and he actually broke my string. But after 10 seconds of leading the event, he surged back and tested me. His paced slowed and I decided to test him and pushed hard and actually sensed I broke him. He surged 2 times during that time which I was able to match or at least eventually pull him back. I ran 2 strides behind him for 5km, making sure he knew I was there. It was almost like he was a waiting for me. As soon as I pull up beside him around the 800m after T2, he literally sprinted and did not allow the pass. I settled into my pace that I knew I could maintain and allow for a least a couple surges. We exited transition with Mical ahead and not running that fast (smart tactics as too fast could really backfire). I also had to block out that past as the past did not represent the present. I had to believe that he was not as fit or capable of running fast off the bike (he stands at 6'2" and often these big guys are stronger bikers than runners. I had to keep telling my inner voice to calm down and not settle for SILVER before the run. I also new it was going to hurt and I had to believe. the same head to head battle on two feet like in 2008. after exchanging passes many times to stay out of the draft zone, I decided to allow Mical dictate the pace as I grew confident that he was not going to outride me. The winds were strong on the way out and we had to push hard. we swam the same, and I was motivated to keep this monster in my sights on the bike (I knew I have been riding well all year, thanks to the power training we all have done this winter season). I always ground all my races to that battle.ĭeja vu. What more could I have done?! That race still to this day reminds me of how deep you can push if you believe you have a shot at winning or at least being proud of yourself for trying. I ran a sub 36 minute 10km that year off the bike. I stayed with him and dug as deep as I could only to lose the World Championship by 12 seconds. I was leading till about the 7km mark and Mical pushed infront.
We passed the USA and New Zealander to roll into first and second. Mical and I ran the first 3 km together, road the 40km bike in Stanley Park near each other and turned the outcome into a run off. The race actually turned into a duathlon that year. The last time we raced against each other was in the 2008 World Triathlon Championships in Vancouver. We go way back racing head to head at big events. It was my good friend Mical Hay from Toronto. As I neared the mount line I hear someone say my name as he mounted his bike. The mount line for the bike was quite a run which included a steep slippery up ramp to a pedestrian bridge. for pushing me hard each and every time I swim with the group. I pushed up the frequency of my swimming and I thank you LANE 1. I was swimming smooth and strong (something I rarely experience). It really helped and as I said, I never had that fatigue that comes after a fast start. I went out hard but within the first 400m I would just remind myself to relax and throttle it down. I knew it was going to be a good day after 200m as that piano never did jump on my back. It felt like I was holding 1:20-22 pace per 100m and came out of the water in the top 4 in my wave (40-49 largest wave in the race). Most of the fast younger guys would swim 18-19 minutes and were barely under 22. I had a smoking swim, going around 22.20 on a course that had lots of turns and slightly long. The water was chilly then warm depending where you swam in the Lake Ontario Harbour. I think the extra stress and running all over helped me in the swim for a warm up. It was actually latched on to my gear bag and out of site. AM of the race I misplaced my timing chip and had to scramble to find timing and get a new one.