Waseca Triathlon

I was a little sketchy going into the race on Sunday. I had no idea what to expect as this would hopefully be the first time I would finish anything longer than an Olympic distance. Not to mention how I had to take a step back and reevaluate my race preparation entirely after Lifetime.
Unfortunately one of friends had baby shower that morning and Kelly needed to get back on track with her surgery studying. Luckily my ever supportive mother made the trip down to cheer me on. I must admit she is a trooper. I think we all get frustrated with our parents but that is multiplied by ten for me the day before a race. Especially when I need to travel and spend the night in the same hotel room with them . My mother put up with my short fuse and was a crucial part in my outstanding performance. During every transition she would run to where I was at and tell me where I was compared to everyone else. She was so cute as she would cheer me on out of the water and off the bike and then run to catch up to me in transition. She was a key part of my success.
I knew Dan was the favorite and to catch him I would have to hope for some sort of miracle to happen. Instead of trying to keep up with him on the bike I decided to keep a steady pace but was careful not to hammer it and cash myself for the run. I knew this would put me in a good position to have a good run and hopefully catch who I thought was going to be Bret Lovass on the end of the bike or run course. What I didn't know was their was a wild card named Doug Davis who would eventually be a serious challenge.
Here's how it unfolded. Doug was a little ahead of Bret on the bike when Doug was chased by three dogs. When Bret came to get up the hill the three dogs were all in the middle of the road waiting for him. Instead of trying to blast through them and risk getting bit Bret turned around to notify a sheriff who was directing traffic at the last intersection. While on his way back I was passing him and he yelled something at me. I couldn't make out what he was saying so I figured he flatted out. Luckily the dogs were gone when I got up the hill.
I felt fantastic on the bike and know I could have put more into it but wanted to see how my legs were going to react to a near 9 mile run after the bike. The result was one of the best runs I've ever had. My mom yelled I was a light year behind Dan but second place was only about 2 minutes ahead. Sure two minutes sounds easy to her but that is not a small gap. Luckily I found my stride right away instead of a couple of miles in like I was planning. At mile 4 I saw Doug about 200 meters in front of me and I knew I had him, but he would not go without a fight. He noticed me at the halfway mark and did all he could to keep the gap but I caught him between mile five and six. When I came up on him he sounded gassed so instead of recharging my batteries and catching a draft I decided to pass. I hoped this would either cause him to drop or gas out trying to keep up. After I passed I could hear his footsteps and was waiting for them to drop back...but they didn't. They just kept hanging in there. They would fall back gradually but not nearly as fast as I was hoping. I started checking how far back he was with about a mile and a half left. Doug was still there about two hundred meters back. I had enough gas in the tank just in case he tried to make a move but I would rather not have to use it. In the end he didn't have enough to make the move and I finished feeling great and felt like I could have done another lap around the lake. Doug finished about 40 seconds behind me and was able to easily take third.
After the race I met Dan Cohen and Doug Davis who are both on the Gear West team. Dan is a monster and it was great to finally get a chance to shake his hand after a race. Doug is also an ultra nice guy and we ended up taking a cool down lap (4.4 mile cool down lap) around the lake. I told Doug he is one tough SOB for pushing me after I passed him. Doug said he wasn't going to give me second and certainly did that. I hope to race with Doug again and I will certainly know his name the next time he pops up on the participants list.