2nd Place Soma Half Ironman

Forgive me if this entry is a little disjointed... I'm back in Durango after racing Soma yesterday morning, and then driving until midnight to get back home. It wasn't the ideal post-race scenario, but I needed to get back for work today, and I've still got another loaded week of training for Ironman preparation. The Soma triathlon has a rich history as one of the last competitive half ironman races for the season, and this year certainly added to that reputation. It's becoming near impossible to really discern who might be racing in the pro ranks just by looking at a start list posted on an event website, and any time decent prize money is offered pros emerge from their respective hideouts to compete for the cash. This race was no exception, as the men's field grew considerably in the final days, proving that it would not be any easy task to take one of the top 3 spots. Some of the notables were multiple Ironman champion Chris McDonald, IM Arizona champ Joszef Major, Bjorn Anderrson, and Olympian Paul Tichelaar. Chris McDonald and I were fortunate to share a great homestay with local Tempe resident and triathlete Karl Tunberg, and he made sure we had everything we needed to be prepared for race day. Most importantly, he taught us the nutritional value of coconut milk, let us swim in his endless pool, and drove us to the pro meeting in a Rock Racingesque black Cadillac Escalade with rims. With the race starting at 6:40, it was an early wake-up and breakfast before a short drive to the race start. Because Tempe Town Lake runs east to west, it's nearly impossible to avoid swimming right into the sunrise at some point on the course, and we had a stretch of about 500m where it was extremely difficult to navigate (for evidence, see swim times for ITU athlete Paul Tichelaar and consistent front pack swimmer Bjorn Anderrson). I was swimming strong at the start, holding onto Chris's feet until I lost contact trying to sight for the turnaround buoy. I still came out in good position (discounting the manfish Marky V) and immediately began chasing for the front pack. It didn't take me nearly as long as the last race in Austin before I was riding with Paul, Bjorn, Mark, and Chris, and I was feeling strong. I gave a good dig at the front of the race to gauge the strength of everyone, and when everyone followed, I decided to ride more conservatively than my last outing. I let Chris and Bjorn take some turns at the front, and when Bjorn finally jumped with less than 6 miles to go, I just stayed put and waited for the run. Unfortunately, I didn't have a stellar transition, and coming out of T2 I was trailing Chris by about 25 meters. We caught Bjorn within the first mile, and when I noticed that we were running through the first few miles around 5:45, I backed off a little and aimed for my goal pace of 5:55-6 minute pace. Chris stayed about the same distance in front of me for most of the rest of the run, finally putting a little more time into me near the end of the race, but I felt like I had given my best effort for the day and clocked a PR for the half-marathon with a 1:18:14 split, about 50 seconds down from Chris. Paul Tichelaar was chasing me through the first half of the run, but slowed a bit coming down the home stretch and finished third about 6 minutes back. Considering that I had some good, hard training right up until Thursday, I was excited with my performance, finishing in my best time for a half: 3:49:48. I'll be taking a couple of moderate days to recover from the concrete on the run and the subsequent 8 1/2 hour drive home before picking it back up for the last hard push of Ironman training. Congrats to all the race finishers and a big thanks to the whole Red Rock crew and volunteers for putting on another good race down in Tempe.