Almost 2 months ago (I know, I know super late as usual) I went to Cancun for my first World Cup
race. I was excited about this race for a number of reasons; first off, I
wanted to redeem myself after Buffalo. Also, it was a sprint race on a fast
course, and most importantly, it was in Cancun!!
I don’t need to sit here and rub it in your face with fall
already here and winter well on its way… but I am going to anyway! Cancun is
gorgeous if you haven’t heard, I literally felt like I was in a postcard the
whole time. White sand beaches giving away to clear blue water, palm trees, and
warm breezes welcomed us as we landed.
The airport proved to be a lot nicer than Mazatlan (go
figure!) and my parents were tempted by some slippery dude trying to give us a
tour of his hotel, as well as like 7 bottles of tequila, a free day at a spa,
and a free stay there next time we come. Do you smell that bull sh*t? Maybe its
just our generation who has been getting spam emails from the time we were 14, but I am so skeptical of anything like this that sounds too
good to be true… Find some other white people to scam,
dude. Traveler’s tip: When in Cancun, if anyone asks, tell them you’ve already
been there, and that you don’t want to tour their damn hotel! Ok, done ranting.
We stayed at an all-inclusive resort, which was very nice
and perfectly located, if the room was a bit musty. The pre-race meeting was on
Friday, and as always it was good to see my triathlon buddies. Saturday I swam
the course, got a step count on the entry, walked transition, and took a couple
laps on the bike course. The water was very clear and not very deep. Watching
fish swim away as my shadow passed overhead, I now know how hawks must feel
when they fly over mice.
This course familiarization is always an important
preparation for me. I like knowing where I am going to race, even more than who
I am going to race. To quote Frederich the Great, “It is pardonable to be
defeated, but never surprised.” I definitely do not want to be surprised by the
course on race day, although your opponents will always surprise you, one way
or another.
After an easy bike to the hotel (which was only about 2
miles away!) and an easy jog, we ate dinner and were actually able to watch the
Huskers play Ohio State! And it wasn’t even in Spanish! Tragically, Nebraska
did not execute as they should have.
Their head coach, Bo Pelini, always talks about “executing,”
which to me means focusing on doing your job and letting the chips fall as they may. I like this idea, control what you can and don't dwell on what you can't.... and fortunately for me I do not have to rely on 10 other guys on the field to
also execute!
Race day I was actually up early since the race started at
11. I had breakfast and biked down to the course. After watching the women (but
mostly Flora Duffy, whom I’ve realized I have a huge junior-high crush on…)
swim I took a light jog and did a few strides. I watched the women finish and
headed down to the water to double-check my step count and warm up.
Since I have no WTS points, I my number was 50, and I had to
start way off to the right. This meant I had to fight the current to get to the
first buoy, and was not ideal. It also means you can see me at the start, I am
the big gringo in red! Click below for a 3 minute video recapping the race, I've got a couple nice cameos in there, but *Spoiler Alert!* I don't win....
My step count proved solid and I had a great swim to the
first buoy. I was leading the
group to the right, you can see me in like 2nd or 3rd
place in the video, but coming into the buoy the current pushed everyone into
me and I got tangled in the melee. After this, I stuck with the pack and
finished out the swim just hard enough to make the pack.
And make the pack I did! I executed, Bo Pelini would be so
proud! The first kilometer out of transition I pushed my way up to the front of
what had become a massive group. I found myself behind Joe Maloy, and figured
that meant I was in pretty good position.
I think of Joe sort of like my triathlon older brother, largely
because he has been at all the ITU races I have, so he’s been there for my
“growing up” in the sport. I remember the first time I made a pack, in Dallas,
and I caught up to him, grinning like an idiot. Just like my real older brother Will when I told him I'd lost my virginity, Joe gave me a nod and a smile like, "Yeah, its pretty cool huh?"
So there I was, grinning like an idiot again, racing in
paradise, taking a few pulls at the front in a pack loaded with Olympians and
WTS racers. How do you know when you’ve made it? I don’t know, but I feel like I could see it from there. I was living the dream.
Yes, the run was decent, but it was not what I should have
gone or even close to what I wanted to go. Sure, it was hot and humid, but what
it really came down to was losing position into transition (say that 5 times
fast!) and not packing up with the right guys. Still, I look at this race as a
success. I executed everything to plan. I placed top 40 at my first World Cup
which means I got points, and I PR’ed on a sprint course (56:28) and it was in
freakin’ Cancun!
After a couple more days relaxing on the beach drinking Dos
Equis we came home, back to fall weather, and back to training. I did one more race this season, a Rev3 in Florida. I will give a brief recap on that, and then a season recap and a plan for next year! Until then, FOLLOW THE PACE RABBIT!!
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