Sunday was the much anticipated Buffalo Triathlon for two reasons. One, I was really looking forward to watching Matt Payne and Patrick Parish battle for the first time this year. Two, I was hoping to regain my honor back from the new kid on the block Sam Janicki. Here is how the race went down.
With a new wet suit and a few more lessons under my belt I hit the water with a little more confidence this year. I new I was about tenth coming out of the water and felt very good. I had a good but not lightening transition and hit the bike course. I know I should try to lay off the first few miles to let my legs get in the groove but that is just not me. I hit it hard right off the bat and pounded the pedals as hard as I could. I knew I was going to have to smoke the bike to catch up to Sam, Matt and Patrick. Sure enough about 10 miles in I passed Patrick, but not with as much of a speed difference as last year. The scary thing is Patrick has been riding a 58 cm frame and should be riding at most a 54 cm. A few more miles up I came across someone walking his bike back to the last corner. It was Sam Janicki. Then another guy on the other side who happened to be Matt Payne. Unfortunately both of them happened to flat out on the same corner. I immediately started doing math in my head. I figured Sam, Josh Blankenheim and myself were going to battle for fourth behind the Pro Chris Legh, Matt and Patrick. All of a sudden I realized that as long as I could hold off Josh on the run I could earn a nice $250 paycheck for this one.
I kept hammering away and passed my good buddy Jose Rosales. We shared some words of encouragement as I passed and at that point I knew I was in the lead for the amateurs. About 20 miles in I ran out of HEED (my energy drink) and had to make a decision. Keep hammering or pull back a little and play it safe. There is great reward for those who risk more so I kept hammering. As I came into T2 I got caught behind some short coursers, got impatient and yelled GO! GO! GO! My mom was also yelling for them to get out of the way in a panicked mother tone of voice. Sorry to who ever I yelled at. I was in the heat of the moment and want them to know that is not my typical demeanor. Whom ever it was seemed to know my name and apologized as I got around him and I did get to reply with a "no problem" and no harm was done.
I had another decent transition and off to the run course. I knew Patrick would be coming for me and Josh behind him. Sure enough about 2 miles in Patrick caught me. Usually Patrick passes me like I am going backwards but for some reason he got about a 50 yard lead and then I hung in with him. I thought either he was holding back since he knew he had it and wanted to save a little gas for the end or... maybe he was hurt or cramping. Sure enough I saw him grabbing his side and thought, maybe I got a shot at this.
Coming up to the turn around I saw this younger girl huffing and puffing the other direction. I thought who the hell was that? I just figured it was an age grouper who accidentally took the short bike course. She was moving pretty good though and I didn't even know if I had enough gas to pass her. As I hit the turn around I was hoping to have a big gap before I saw Josh and then there he was. I had a gap but it was not as much as I would've hoped and he was moving pretty good. We went back down the hill and then took a turn into a neighborhood for another quick out and back. When I was turning right onto the main street taking us back to the finish line I knew I was a about a mile and a half out and Josh was just turning right into the neighborhood for his out and back. I figured I had a least a two minute lead and should be able to hold Josh off.
As I got to the finish line I heard Jerry say I was second and I had PR'd. I though he meant second amateur and looked at my time of 2:00:32 seconds. I had no idea what to expect for a time but low 2 hours was on th high end of what I was hoping for. After I finished someone told me that Chris Legh was hurt and only did the swim and bike. The girl I saw on the course was his teammate. That meant I was now $500 richer instead of $250. A very nice payday. Not to mention I was only about a minute and a half from Patrick. I feat I was very pleased with.
Buffalo certainly didn't turn out like I had planned or anyone would have thought. I was hoping to regain my honor against Sam and Matt and Patrick should have battled for first and second. It may have not been how I would liked the circumstances to have turned out. Believe me, I don't like to win by default, but as my dad says. "Son, that's why they run the race." It is indeed. If everyone came in when they were supposed to and there were no variables like blown tires or missing turns there would be no point in competing. My hats off to Sam and Matt. That was a really tough break and they both handled it very well. Sam is fresh in the game and I would have blown my top when I was starting out. I had one of my lesser moments at Mankato a few years ago when I missed a turn/no one was there to direct me in the right direction and it may have dropped me from 2nd to 4th. Luckily Sam has a long and very promising career ahead of him and will have plenty more races.
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