20 Sept 2015-
I had originally planned on doing Challenge Weymouth on September 13th, but after really looking at the schedule I wasn't feeling too confident about that race. I was taking a 4 week break after IMUK, with two of those weeks spent on a cruise ship. That would only leave a 4 week block of training for Challenge Weymouth. Around June, I noticed that they had moved 70.3 Incheon from July to late September, which sparked an idea that made a lot more sense. I would head to Korea for 3.5 weeks, race Incheon 70.3 on 20 September and then Gurye 70.3 on 4 October. I would spend the time in between the races with friends near Osan, where I was previously stationed. After Gurye, I planned to stick around and check out the Military World Games which were taking place in Korea and I had a lot of friends competing in.
So after removing myself from the Challenge Weymouth start list, I registered for both Korea 70.3s and booked my ticket. All in all, I thought it would be a fairly inexpensive trip since I had a place to stay in between the race. Well, it was cheap until I got to the airport to check my bags and rather than charging me for my bike, they charged me for excess weight which ended up costing $495USD. So that was how the trip started.
I got into Korea and everything went fairly smooth the first few days. The Incheon 70.3 staff had covered airport transportation to the hotel and our hotel room, which ended up being an amazing hotel, with the lobby on the 36th floor and my room on the 47th! Each day after arriving it seemed it was one thing after the other for me, problems at the race briefing, getting double charged for dinner, and then the last adventure was spending 8 hours roaming through Korea by train and bike attempting to get my visa sorted which was originally screwed up by the Korean Embassy in London. Since the visa issue, it has been great with no issues!
I showed up to Incheon a bit tired as we had put in a big 4 week block of training. While on the 4 week break I had put on 20 lbs, I went from 164 lbs to 184 lbs, and I was struggling to drop weight the first week. Then it started falling off really fast! It was pretty easy considering my wife and I cut out alcohol (other than our anniversary night) and desserts (we are big dessert lovers). I showed up to Incheon back down to 164 lbs and was feeling fit, just a bit tired. I struggled to adjust to the time zone and was up at 3am the first night (4 hrs of sleep), 1 am the next night (5 hrs of sleep), and then I actually got about 6 hours of sleep the night before the race.
Swim- 25:04
I was able to get in a good warm up, which helped me get a good start. We started off a pontoon and swam through a shallow 5 ft deep man-made river that ran through the park. I got out and was able to stick with a small group for about the first 300 m. Then a gap opened up and I fell off the small group and was on my own. Mary Beth Ellis came by me around 500 m and I attempted to swim on her feet and lasted about 100 m. Around 1 km, I looked back and I was pulling along 2 other guys and had 1 guy about 20 m in front of me. I slowly closed the gap to that guy and we came out of the water as a group of 4.
Bike- 2:15:34
I had a quick transition and was out in front of the small group I exited the water with. I came
I had originally planned on doing Challenge Weymouth on September 13th, but after really looking at the schedule I wasn't feeling too confident about that race. I was taking a 4 week break after IMUK, with two of those weeks spent on a cruise ship. That would only leave a 4 week block of training for Challenge Weymouth. Around June, I noticed that they had moved 70.3 Incheon from July to late September, which sparked an idea that made a lot more sense. I would head to Korea for 3.5 weeks, race Incheon 70.3 on 20 September and then Gurye 70.3 on 4 October. I would spend the time in between the races with friends near Osan, where I was previously stationed. After Gurye, I planned to stick around and check out the Military World Games which were taking place in Korea and I had a lot of friends competing in.
So after removing myself from the Challenge Weymouth start list, I registered for both Korea 70.3s and booked my ticket. All in all, I thought it would be a fairly inexpensive trip since I had a place to stay in between the race. Well, it was cheap until I got to the airport to check my bags and rather than charging me for my bike, they charged me for excess weight which ended up costing $495USD. So that was how the trip started.
I got into Korea and everything went fairly smooth the first few days. The Incheon 70.3 staff had covered airport transportation to the hotel and our hotel room, which ended up being an amazing hotel, with the lobby on the 36th floor and my room on the 47th! Each day after arriving it seemed it was one thing after the other for me, problems at the race briefing, getting double charged for dinner, and then the last adventure was spending 8 hours roaming through Korea by train and bike attempting to get my visa sorted which was originally screwed up by the Korean Embassy in London. Since the visa issue, it has been great with no issues!
I showed up to Incheon a bit tired as we had put in a big 4 week block of training. While on the 4 week break I had put on 20 lbs, I went from 164 lbs to 184 lbs, and I was struggling to drop weight the first week. Then it started falling off really fast! It was pretty easy considering my wife and I cut out alcohol (other than our anniversary night) and desserts (we are big dessert lovers). I showed up to Incheon back down to 164 lbs and was feeling fit, just a bit tired. I struggled to adjust to the time zone and was up at 3am the first night (4 hrs of sleep), 1 am the next night (5 hrs of sleep), and then I actually got about 6 hours of sleep the night before the race.
Swim- 25:04
I was able to get in a good warm up, which helped me get a good start. We started off a pontoon and swam through a shallow 5 ft deep man-made river that ran through the park. I got out and was able to stick with a small group for about the first 300 m. Then a gap opened up and I fell off the small group and was on my own. Mary Beth Ellis came by me around 500 m and I attempted to swim on her feet and lasted about 100 m. Around 1 km, I looked back and I was pulling along 2 other guys and had 1 guy about 20 m in front of me. I slowly closed the gap to that guy and we came out of the water as a group of 4.
Bike- 2:15:34
I had a quick transition and was out in front of the small group I exited the water with. I came
out of the water 7th and knew I had my work cut out for me on the bike. I found a good rhythm and slowly started passing guys. There were a few out and back sections so it was good to know what the gaps were and slowly get through the field. Unfortunately my seat post slipped around 70 km and I noticed a drop in my power, which may have been from the seat post or my lack of fitness, or a combination of both. Either way, something happened around 70 km and I wasn't able to push as hard. I made my way up to 3rd and came off the bike about 5 mins down from the leaders.
Run- 1:26:36
I had put a decent amount of time into the rest of the guys behind me and came off the bike about 1:30 ahead of Mitch Kibby (AUS). I wasn't feeling great on the run, but wasn't feeling horrible. Mitch caught me just at the end of the first lap and we ran side by side for the next 2 laps. He pulled away at one point, and then I pulled him back. I then tried to pick up the pace and he stayed with me. He then picked up the pace and I dropped off, but kept him in my sights. At the same time, Alistair Eeckman and Paul Amey were charging hard from behind. For the last 3 km, I was more worried about getting caught from behind rather than trying to catch Mitch. So I ran hard to not get caught and figured maybe I could catch Mitch in the process. I fell short at catching Mitch, but was able to hold onto 4th, 37 seconds ahead of 5th, and lost 3rd by 41 seconds.
Bike- 2:15:34 /
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/396288717 TrainingPeaks: http://tpks.ws/H8dH
Run- 1:26:36 /
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/396288691 Trainingpeaks: http://tpks.ws/HxpC
Total- 4:09:52 / 4th
Pro
Results: http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/coverage/athlete-tracker.aspx?race=incheon70.3&y=2015#axzz3nTYX3xC3
Congrats to Matt Trautman, Freddie Croneborg,
Mitch Kibby, and Alistair Eeckman
At the end of the day, it was a bit bittersweet to come in
4th. It was my best result to date, but it would have been great to get
my first pro podium in Korea, where everything started in this sport.
Luckily, I will have another chance at Gurye 70.3 on 4 October. So as
tough as it was to miss out on the podium by 41 seconds, it has left me hungry
and focused to continue on the path and hopefully find a step on the podium in
the near future.
A big thanks to Des Slote and his wife Parichat for coming out to
support me during the race. Des has been a huge part of my triathlon
career and you may remember him if you have been following along, his previous
"job" was "Korean Logistical Support Agent," basically he
was the one that sorted all of the race entries and travel for me during my
time in Korea. It was great to see him again, have a meal together and
catch up over a few beers.
Thanks to my wife, family, friends and sponsors for the continued
support. If you would like to support the companies that support my
triathlon career check out this page for some great discounts: http://www.bw-tri.com
The amazing hotel that we got put up in!
One of my favorite parts about being back, THE FOOD!
View from the run course and swim course.
Out on the bike course
The morning sunrise over the Incheon/Songdo sky line
1 comment:
I know right, Korean food is so nice.
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