Legged Out Again

The wind was brutal for the second year in a row at Waconia this weekend. I knew the swim was going to suck but had no idea of the carnage that was about to take place. At the start I got close to Brian Bich to try to draft off him as long as I could. That lasted about ten seconds as I soon found myself in a near fist fight with the rest of the field. My goggles got knocked off, I got smacked, kicked, scratched. It was awesome! I haven't felt that alive in a long time. I was swimming over people and people were swimming over me. Somehow I managed a great swim and came out of the water in 8th place. I had a much improved T1 and decided to put my shoes on in transition instead of trying to fight the wind while putting them on in the bike. I was right behind Matt Payne out of T1 and was able to stay a few hundred meters behind him. As he came up on Patrick Parish I looked down and when I looked up there was only Patrick. I thought, holly shit Matt went off course! It was my opportunity to get a little distance on Matt before the run. Then just as I was about to pass Patrick I tried to go to my small ring on a hill and my chain fell off. It took me about thirty seconds I'm guessing, but it was just enough for Matt to catch back up. A minute later he passed me just as I was coming up on Patrick again. Once I got around Patrick, Matt and I, being careful not to draft, flip flopped a few times then Matt took the lead for good. I kept him with in a few hundred meters for the rest of the bike but he had about 15 seconds on me coming into T2. I had another much improved T2 and managed Matt from gaining any ground on me. The first mile of the run was brutal and Matt just kept gaining ground. I new Patrick would be coming for me eventually and at the turn around both him and Brooks Gossinger looked like they might be able to catch me. Then it happened again. Patrick caught me with about a quarter mile to go. Patrick ran at Duke University and we are both on the TCMC team so I know him and know I am not going to keep up with him. Although I am not one to give up and I new Brooks was coming so I gave it my all but Patrick took me by about five seconds. I did manage to keep Brooks at bay and take fifth in another fantastic race.
Being my fourth top five finish of the season in some tough races people are starting to notice me. After the race race Matt Payne, Patrick Parish, Chris Frykman and I were about to do a cool down run around the course again and Jerry Mcneil stopped us. Jerry is a local legend that announces at most of the big races and wrights a blog called Tri Minnesota News that I follow religiously. Jerry, with a big grin, said he was becoming a fan of mine. A fan, I'm starting to gain fans? I know my friends and family are fans but to have him as a fan is awesome. Hopefully I will give him more to cheer for in the future and maybe gain some more fans.
Last year I really only had two races that I though went well, Brewhouse and Buffalo, At very race something seemed to go wrong or I just didn't do as well as I hoped. For some reason this year I feel much more relaxed and when my chain falls off I still feel amazed that I could come in fifth at The Best of the Midwest Tri. I guess being relaxed maybe just what the doctor ordered. I'm going to take this weekend off from racing to focus on training for Lifetime on the 11th. Hopefully I will give Jerry something to write about.