Blown Away!

Well, Detroit Lakes down WIM to go. Saturday was the much anticipated rematch of Sam Janicki and I. In the end it wasn't much of a rematch as much as it was more of an ass whooping.

Friday night I got in to register and volunteered to set up a fake transition area and help new athletes learn more about what to expect on race day. I had a great time helping people and answering questions. People seemed to be very interested in what info I had to offer and I really hope it helped out. I also saw Sam and we stopped to chat for a few minutes. This sport is full of great people and Sam is no different. Sam is a youngster compared to me at the age of 24 so if I call him a kid, please forgive me. Sam is a hoot and I really enjoyed getting to know him better.

Saturday morning started as all race mornings do. Sleep was moderate to good and I got to transition right when I like to with plenty of time to relax warm up and stretch. Before I knew it the race was about to start and the butterflies began to fly again. I knew I needed a great swim to have a shot at beating Sam to go along with a strong bike and a great run to finish. I asked my mom to tell me how far back I was when I came out of the water. I started strong and didn't hammer it like I typically do to try to save a little energy for the second half. Just after the first buoy I caught a draft off of two guys and realized that we were a three man chase pack behind Sam. Unfortunately Sam was way ahead of us. After the first turn the sun was right in our face and the glare made it nearly impossible to see what few buoys there were. I came out of the water in fourth and believe I was second out of T1. The swim was not as good as I was hoping for but compared to other times it was pretty good. As I ran by my mom she yelled four and a half minutes. I let out a little grown as I knew I was going to need help to catch Sam.

I got on the bike and started to push. I again started slower than I have lately to find a rhythm and save some energy for the last 20 miles. I felt strong and really started to feel it on the second lap. Unfortunately Sam never came into sight. That is until I was about a half mile from T2 when I saw him sprinting the other direction on the run course. I thought to myself there is no way that kid can keep that pace in the heat. I dismounted and picked a good start pace that felt very strong. Last year I had 5:55 splits on this course and I needed at least that to catch Sam and that would only happen if hew blew up. The run was extremely hot but I still felt strong coming up to mile 2ish. A short time later I saw Sam coming the opposite direction on his way back. As he was coming up I let him know he was having an incredible race. After Sam blew by me I started wondering how far I was from the turn around. After what seemed to be an eternity it finally came. I know I was a ways back but still had it in my mind that I wanted to break the 2 hour barrier. With as strong as I was feeling I though this was very possible. As I came up to the finish Sam was there cheering me on and looking like he hadn't even raced. As I crossed I immediately grabbed water and Powerade and started to rehydrate. When I saw that my time was nearly 2:04 I was a little surprised but not as surprised as when I talked with Sam and he said he went 1:55. 1:55! Holy Crap that is fast! Especially on a legit Olympic course. In fact the swim is even a little long. Granted the it is a fast course it is still 25 mile bike and 6.2 mile run. I don't care how flat it is 1:55 is blazing.

Sam and I talked a while as he was waiting for his girlfriend to come in. On top of being super fast Sam is super modest and very easy going. I think this kid is a legit contender to go pro very soon. Who knows maybe as soon as next year. I want to see him race against some tougher guys at larger events like Nationals, Dallas, Lifetime or Waconia but my feeling is he will do just fine. In fact I wouldn't doubt it if he wins. All the kid has done this year is win and set course records. This weekend he will probably destroy my record I set at Baxter last year. Mind you this is a record that was held by a very speedy Dennis Dane before myself. I though this record would stand for a while as there are not many guys out there that can break it. In fact maybe five in the state last year could have put in that kind of a race and they all tend to do larger races. Now comes a new era of Triathlon to our state with the likes of Sam, Patrick Parish and Dan Hedgecock. D1 athletes that decide to push themselves beyond the limits of their own sports and try triathlons. I've got some training to do.