I have to say that I AM pleased with how I did here on Maui- although not fully satisfied.
My preparation was not without hiccups and I want to believe that I left everything out on the course. Due to the Canadian earthquake the night before the race we had to evacuate from our hotel to move to higher elevation. We were forced to sleep in the rental car until 1:30 am when were finally allowed to drive back. Of course, we packed everything up, luggages and bike, all in the car ready for anything. COming back to the hotel we had to unpack what was necessary then we slept 4 hours. I woke pretty tired but ready to race. The weather was 80 degrees plus at the start, high waves and not much wind. My mood? Even though it was my first World Championships I felt no different than before any other race. I knew it was more important than the rest of my races but I suppose I knew what I was capable of doing on a good day and I also knew that I was not there to compete with the best of the best- just yet. My goal was to have a decent swim followed by a strong but leg saving bike only to run as fast as I can and have no remorse on the run.
The swim was about what I can expect from myself at this point in my training. I wasn't too tired after getting out of the water and I could have certainly pushed it more but then I would have likely faded faster on the bike. Until the first mile on the mile everything went according to the "plan". What stirred things up was that snake winding through the bike course just ahead of me. Once we were on the single track it was really difficult to pass people. Instead of riding at an even pace it was more like a fartlek run with easier sections followed by surges to cover the distance. A fartlek run will get you more tired for the same time and so did this bike course. I arrived back to the transition area more tired than wished for but not exhausted. I have never done a triathlon yet where I wouldn't have one of the fastest run on the course. I told Anna before the race that I want the fastest run split out there, boldly thinking that I can outrun triathletes who can run under 30 minutes for the 10k after a triathlon in ITU racing. Well, I wasn't too far from them, in the end. I passed not one professionals, men and women as well to finish well under 3 hours. My overall time of 2 hours and 56 minutes is something I would have signed for before the race, too. My 28 minute swim time(1500m), 1 hour and 44 minute bike ride(18.89 miles) and 41 minute run (9.5km) is probably what I could do on that day.
The race was excellently organized. The swim course had enough lifeguards surrounding us for safety and dozens of camera guys filming us all along the course; even at the buoys deep under water. They could have not done anything about the current that kept taking us off-course. I probably swam a good 100m more because of that and I certainly spent some extra energy trying to stay with the swim field. The bike the course was well marked but the water stations were not really useful. At those speeds I rather not stop or slow down so instead I drank water only from my bottle. It seemed to be enough and I wasn't getting dehydrated nor had I cramps. What I wish the course had less was the fast and bouncy downhill sections. Those literally shook everything out of me. Having a hard tail bike comes with benefits on the uphills but I believe it cost me more on the long haul as the bike bounces all over the place and I can barely maintain balance on the downhills. Getting a decent full suspension bike is a must before the 2013 season as it will save me time, energy and probably stitches and hospital visits, too. Anyone interested in my 2010 (or 2011???) Specialized Stumpjumper EVO 29er bike let me know. It's an amazing bike for racing but not for me when I do XTERRAs.
The run course- I LOVED IT! I am not going to lie, there was sections where even I had to power walk uphill but I thrived on the rolling, not too steep and windy sections. Climbing 600 feet allowed me to catch up to my competitors and the downhill let me put minutes into them. This is one of the reasons I do XTERRAs because I love passing people on the run. I gain energy when they lose it. It was the icing on the cake that I won the fastest age-group run time award even with my 20 mile-a-week running leading up to this race.
One important thing to mention is that my knee was holding up pretty well. I don't have pain or discomfort even though I haven't run, biked or swam since the race.
With all the attention I have received from family, friends, colleagues and even students at United Tribes I have only one goal for 2013 is to repeat and out-do my 2012 season. I believe that with more time invested in serious swim training (perhaps with the Dennis Kemmesat-coached high school team) I will not only save time on the swim but by coming out of the water minutes earlier it will allow me to have a more laid back bike leg followed by a run with even more energy stored to run for even faster run splits.
I would like to thank my mom, Anya, my wife Anna, and rest of my family as well as friends and my extended family at United Tribes TC, Epic Sports to help me in my 2012 quest. As I have mentioned it many times I would've not competed here without your support and I do need your continuing support! I hope that my success will inspire more people to take up regular physical activity and create a life style that best fits them and most importantly challenges them!
Mahalo for reading,
Dani
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| Setting up transition before the race. |
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| They said they will calculate the best time to let us go when no waves are near... Does it seem like a calculated start? |
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| ..and we are on the way. . |
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| Leaving the transition area. 19 miles of biking and about 6 miles of running still ahead of me. |
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| Almost finished- fixing the bib number and jersey. This was the last few steps on the achilles-killer beach run just before the finish chute. |
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| Onto the bike course. I still had energy left here. |
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| Anna and me after finishing my toughest race to date. |
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| 2012 XTERRA World Champion, ITU Grand Final winner, 2012 Olympic Silver Medalist Javier Gomez from Spain |
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| Sebastian Kienle, Germany, one of the best full course Ironman athletes out there today. |
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| With Conrad Stoltz, the Caveman. 4-time World Champion, the winningest XTERRA athlete. |
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