Last weekend I got a chance to race Eagleman 70.3 for the first time.  Coming into the race I wasn’t sure how I would feel since I had raced Florida 70.3 three weeks before and I had never done two races this long this close together.  On the morning of the race though I put the negative thoughts out of my mind and just thought about EXECUTING my race. 

The swim started out relatively mild and pretty soon I found myself a good pair of feet as I began my quest to hold on to the front pack.  The pace felt pretty hot but I really thought I could come out of the water in the first pack if I had a good swim so I was determined to try and push it a bit.  About a third of the way through I tried to look as far ahead as I could and from what I could tell I was sitting in about 5th or 6th position in the first pack, which I was happy about since my efforts were paying off.  Then about two thirds of the way through a couple guys got off the front but I was in no position to chase.  So I maintained my pace and was really pleased to hear that I was the 5th guy exiting the water. 

Out onto the bike and the Trek was feeling smooth, as always.  It’s such a responsive ride that it is really effortless to get up to speed which is so nice after a hard swim.  After riding alone for quite some time, a group of three guys passed me about an hour into the race.  Unfortunately, I was hoping to see these guys much later on as I was hoping I had put more time into them in the swim.  So after that I really had to focus to make sure to lose as little time as possible.  The rest of the ride was uneventful and I came out of T2 in 11th or so place.    

Ahh, the run.  Time for me to attempt to have a respectable result.  Within the first couple of miles I had passed two guys and was feeling good, probably a little to good in retrospect as my splits for those were 5:38 an 5:23… a little too fast.  I finally settled into my pace (between 5:40s and 5:45s) which I felt good about since it was overcast and still pretty cool.  Then I got an update from someone on the course that I was in 8th.  8th! That means I only have to pass one more guy to get some money… and I can see that guy!  About a mile later I passed him and was feeling good heading into the turn.  At the turn I noted that the next person was two minutes up the road and I immediately thought I had a chance of catching him and moving into 6th.  On the way back however I ended up just trying to maintain my pace as my hip flexor started acting up.  Unfortunately I wasn’t gaining any ground on the guy in front so I just focused on keeping my form together and finishing strong.  Another bonus was that I noticed that I was on pace to finish under 4 hours and have a huge run PR so I was pretty stoked.   

Crossed the finish line in 3:58:xx, a new PR good for what I thought was 7th place.  As it turns out, I was in fact 8th.  Bummer.  No beer money for me.  But wait, there was a prime for the fastest run of day.  I checked the preliminary results and I had posted the fastest run of the pros which was also a huge new run PR of 1:14:32.  So surely that was good enough for the prime?  Nope, nipped again.  As I found out hours later an amateur ran 1:13 which meant I was one place out of the money once again.  Still, with a new 70.3 PR and a new run PR I couldn’t be too upset.  Plus, they had some decadent Sara Lee carrot cake at the finish which was being served by one of the kindest old ladies I’ve ever met.  Good for you?  Not exactly.  Delicious? Absolutely.  And after 4 or 5 pieces of that, I certainly couldnt complain.