A week after finishing up the Lifetime Triathlon Series, I headed to Miami to prove that I could finish a half ironman. I chose Miami because I wanted to compete against the best field (there were two smaller 70.3 races to choose from the same weekend) and because I LOVE racing in Miami.

I finished in 3:45, but that was only strong enough for a 5th place on the day. I rode 2:02 and ran 1:16, which were both about four minutes slower than my goal times, but when we get to the end of October it’s good just to be fit enough to race.

The short version of the play-by-play is this: I swam with the front pack, I went solo on the bike and had a 3 minute lead at the turnaround. Unfortunately I gave up a bunch of that time on the second 28 miles and by the second mile of the run I had already been passed. My first mile was under 6 minutes, but then I ran about 5 miles in the 6:40 range and dropped to seventh place before recovering enough to resume fast running and move into 5th.

Memorable moments of the race:

I was blown sideways at one point by a helicopter filming me that got too close.

There was a Ferrari on the course that drove next to me for a short period of time while I was leading the bike.

Even though I wasn’t sure I could run when my legs started cramping off the bike, the second half of my run was in the 5:40 pace range where I wanted to be – I didn’t know that could happen!

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I’m pretty happy with the race. Anyone who has been following me knows that the half-iron distance has been frustrating for me this year, and while I certainly wanted to ride 56 miles in less than 2 hours again, I’m really happy just to prove that I can ride hard and still finish a half marathon. Plus, the effort was there for a sub-2 hour bike ride, even if my end-of-season strength was less impressive than the 1:58 I posted in San Juan (on my way to nearly killing myself).

Next up is the UWC Bahamas Triathlon next weekend, which is the last race of an awesome year of racing. I’m learning so much this year, and I can’t wait to put it together in 2014. Until then I have to finish up racing and school.

The seventh and final race of the 2013 Lifetime Fitness Triathlon Series was the most unique experience of the series. I came into the weekend feeling secure about finishing top three in the series, but knowing that I could move up into second or first if I earned three points more than Hunter Kemper or Cameron Dye.

At the final each finishing place is worth 2 points less than the place ahead, and each prime (fastest swim, bike, or run) is worth one point and a tie is settled by the finishing place in the final. Thus, if I had the fastest bike and finished one place ahead of Hunter or Cameron AND that person didn’t get a prime, then I would tie that person’s score and beat them in the series. I was hoping to beat both of them and to do it with the fastest bike split.

The morning of the race was beautiful, but right as the race started a thick fog moved in. We were swimming in a harbor and were never far from shore, but in the middle of the first leg of the race I couldn’t see anything. I remember spotting, but seeing only white with the silhouettes of arms in front of me. Even though I was near the front of the swim group I couldn’t see the lead paddle boarder, and I had no idea where the buoys were until we were right on them. I just had to trust that the person ahead could see a paddle board and wouldn’t get lost.

We came out as a big lead group and within a few miles on the bike it was the usual suspects, plus a couple young guys. Joe Maloy and Eric Lagerstrom were riding really strong. Cameron had the lead, and much like in Dallas he wasn’t up for being passed. We were riding really hard, but every time we hit a turnaround those young guys were still with us and Stuart Hayes was right on their wheels. In that moment at a turnaround where I could see Cameron’s face I could tell he was as shocked as me that people were hanging with us.

The fog was thick throughout the race and there were times on the bike that, much like in the swim, I couldn’t see beyond a few meters. It was eerie, riding over rolling hills with no clue of our surroundings. The air was cold too, and the thick fog condensed onto my bike and legs at such a quick rate that water was running down my P5 frame.

I entered T2 side-by-side with Cameron, but managed to claim the fastest bike split. In the last 10km we had put a sizeable gap between us and the young guys plus Stuart. I did a quick pep talk to myself, “you’re a running Ben, it’s your race to lose”.

Exiting T2 we heard the time gap of just over 3 minutes. This was an equalizer format race, which meant that the women started 10 minutes ahead of us and if I beat her to the finish line there was an extra $50,000. That made for a 95,000 difference in prize money between winning the race and catching Alicia versus finishing behind Cameron and Hunter and finishing 3rd in the series.

I thought about the money for a second, but then refocused – “you’re a runner”. Cameron took the lead and I decided to run on his shoulder until I got my legs under me. I felt pretty good, and my mantra seemed to be translating to reality.

But then reality set in. Rather than sitting on Cameron’s shoulder I started falling back. He slowly drifted away a few meters at a time and by a mile in I was running on my own.

The run course went out and back North from transition, then out and back South, twice around. This meant we saw spectators a bunch. Normally this is good, but today I felt like I was letting them down. Half way through the first lap I was running in second. The next time we passed I was third and on the final pass before the finish I had faded to 5th. Stuart ran to the lead and won the race, Eric ran to second, and Joe finished fourth behind Cameron. Hunter finished sixth behind me.

For the series this meant that Alicia won the equalizer and the women’s race, Cameron won the men’s series, and Stuart passed me to finish second. Thus, even though I managed to stay ahead of Hunter and earn a prime over him, that ended up allowing me to stay in third rather than moving up. Looking back I don’t know why I discounted Stuart’s ability to move up in the series, but I should have known a crafty guy like he is would be a serious threat.

I finished third in the series for the second year in a row, but I’m much more proud of that result this year. In 2012 I was devoted to Triathlon. I spend the majority of the year living at the Olympic Training Center and had all the services and resources an athlete could ask for. This year I’m a student, I live on my own. I shop for groceries and cook and walk my dog. I pay for my massage and physical therapy and doctor visits. This year I did just as well as last year, in some ways better (I won three races this year, up from one in 2012) but I did it from the real world. I learned a ton about myself this year – about what I need for recovery, about how to train with a busy schedule, about stress management and life balance. Finishing third in the Lifetime series is no small feat, and to be able to do that with everything else I added to my life this year is awesome. Yes, I wanted to win the race and walk home with $108,000 (if I didn’t want that then I shouldn’t be racing), but I was beaten by great athletes and I beat great athletes. I’m happy that I get to be a factor in the race.

Next weekend I race the Miami 70.3, followed by the UWC Bahamas Triathlon November 10th.

Before my heart rate could drop from the Vegas Super Sprint on Thursday night I hopped in a rental car with Jarrod Shoemaker and headed down to Arizona for the Lifetime Fitness Tempe Triathlon. This new addition to the Lifetime Pro Series is held at the same venue as the Ironman Arizona. The race just doesn’t get so far out into the dessert.

I had an awful race. but I (re)learned a lot.

In the swim I found myself fighting with TJ Tolekson after 800 meters of futile attempts to get him to stop physically landing on my hip every stroke. I learned my lesson about fighting in the swim back in 2009 at my first World Cup in Mooloolaba, but perhaps lessons need to be reiterated every few years. Being rough in the swim slows everyone down. In Mooloolaba it cost me the breakaway, in Tempe it cost me about a minute to the swim leaders.

I spent the rest of the race trying to catch up. Passing a big pack of contenders, then starting the run in noman’s land – minutes back from Cameron Dye and Joe Maloy, and a hard-earned minute up from the pack of runners. Starting the run I immediately felt the fatigue left over from Thursday’s race. My legs were heavy and offered little support in my quest to catch the men ahead. Stewart Hayes passed me at 5k and I finished in 4th place.

Lessons learned:

• Thursday to Sunday is not enough time to recover from races if you’re trying to train through. Cameron did well, but he came in from a big training block and Thursday was his “shake-out” session after a few days of rest. My training block, on the other hand had ended with the Super Sprint, and the race had pushed me into the depths of fatigue that required a solid rest week to recover.
• Etiquette in the swim is a wonderful thing. But since it’s not enforceable, be strong enough to get away from the guys who don’t follow it. Don’t fight, just swim faster.

Next up is Lifetime Fintess Dallas Triathlon. Great course, and I have a couple of weeks to get my legs back under me.

This week I raced in Las Vegas on Thursday at the Super Sprint Grand Prix, then again on Sunday at the Lifetime Fitness Tempe Triathlon. I was 6th place in Vegas and 4th in Tempe.

The Super Sprint, which is broadcast by Universal Sports in October was different and fun. The race was held in the parking lot outside the Las Vegas Convention Center. The swim was in a 10 lane, 25 meter, portable pool, while the bike and run were on a criterium course that wound it sway around the parking lot. Each “hit”, as they call it in the Grand Prix world, was a 300 meter swim, a 7-lap 5 mile bike and a 3-lap 1.5 mile run. Since the pool could only accommodate 10 athletes at a time, there were three single “hit” qualifying heats in the morning where the top 3 athletes from each heat would return for finals.

I won my qualifying heat and progressed to finals.

At 9pm that night, under flood lights and in front of cameras and spectators we raced a two-hit final. This means that after the first hit we ripped off our running shoes, grabbed a pair of goggles and dove right back into the pool for a second round.

In finals I had a terrible swim. The way the pool was designed it was really hard to execute a proper flipturn and after nearly missing the wall on the first two turns I found myself behind the wake of the men around me. I exited the water last, but transitioned quickly and found myself on the back of a train being pulled by Cameron Dye. We bridged up to the small breakaway and the group started the first run together. I took the lead after the first lap and pushed the pace into T3. Diving back in I felt the familiar pain of the Super Sprint Sink – where your legs fall to the bottom of the pool and you feel like you’ve forgotten how to swim. Lucky for me, the other 9 guys felt the same way and I came out of the water right in the middle of the pack.

This time Cameron let some other guys take turns pulling, but the group entered T5 together again. Pulling my feet out of my bike shoes I accidentally unclipped a shoe and with only a few meters left before dismount I had to clip back in and get my foot out. I slowed and went from the front of the pack to the back. Worse, when I got to my running shoes I found the insoles pulled out and I had to shove them back in before I could get my shoes on. I left transition last with a gap in front of me, and my shoes were still not on properly. The first lap I heel striked to try to get my feet to seat into the heal-cup properly and wished I had taken the extra half second to adjust before I started running. Still, I’d lost about 5 second in transition and the group was running harder than on the first hit. I fell to 8th place and was looking at a gap in front of me. The second lap I started moving toward the stragglers and entering the third lap, with 800 meters left, I decided an early kick was my only shot. I passed Tommy Zafares, I caught Cameron Dye and heading into the final turn I reached the shoulder of Luke Farkas. But my kick was in it’s twighlight and those guys were ready to respond. Luke left me in what felt like a drag race between a corvette and a a smart car. I leaned toward the finish but Cameron came back from behind and edged me out. I finished sixth, but the top 7 were only about 7 second apart.

I love the Super Sprint format. It’s exciting, the spectators are close enough to be part of the entire race, and the high pace leaves no room for error. It’s great to have enthusiastic race organizers pushing the envelope of triathlon as a spectator friendly sport.

Here’s a promo video from the event: