VINEMAN 70.3 RACE REPORT

Living in Santa Monica for the summer meant a weekend away at Vineman 70.3 was going to be a road trip. You all know Amanda and I love a road trip! The Scott bikes on the roof and the truck packed to capacity with all sorts of triathlon paraphernalia. This was going to be a fun few days ahead. 

Saturday morning was filled with the usual pre race routines of bike course recognizance, registration and pro meetings while the afternoon was well spent watching several replays of the days Tour de France stage. 

Race day was a very early start having to drive the 45 minutes out to Guerneville where the swim takes place. The Vineman swim is in a very shallow and narrow portion of the Russian River and as usual the lead pack of men came out within seconds of each other and scrambled up the hill onto the bike course. Greg Bennett and Paul Matthews caught a few of us off guard really early going out at crazy speeds worthy of an Olympic distance race. Unfortunately this meant that ship had sailed and they quickly gained 2 minutes in the first 20km of the bike which was a huge effort considering the guys chasing including Joe Gambles, Terenzo Bozzone and myself ride strong. 

I felt I began to find my riding legs at around 60km and looked to try and make a move on the group I was riding with over the toughest climb on the course known as Chalk Hill. Unfortunately I wasn't successful and I came into T2 with Joe and Terenzo still about 2 minutes down on Bennett and Matthews. Joe set a cracking pace from the get go on the run and he soon dropped Terenzo and I and set off after the two ahead. I dropped off Terenzo not too long after and was holding 5th on the road for a few kilometers till I got myself in a a battle with Chris Kemp out to and around La Crema winery. I hit a rough spot for a while around 10-12km and soon got passed by Brandon Marsh and Graham O'Grady and all of a sudden I had gone from 5th to 8th. I wasn't happy! I didn't really feel like I was running too bad yet I was losing time and places. I recovered on the home stretch and finished strong but it wasn't enough to peg back the few guys ahead. I had to settle for 8th which I'd have to say was a decent result for my first US race of the season. The lack of running over the last few months was no doubt where I I've finally just started to finally train injury free so I know the race results will improve with some consistency. 


Congratulations have to go to the other Aussie boys that dominated the day. Greg and Paul went for it on the bike and Joe put together a phenomenal run! Meredith Kessler continued an amazing streak of racing winning the womens race. Inspirational stuff!!! 

I sat down with coach Siri last night and looked ahead for the rest of the season. We have decided that now we will head back to LA and hit a big block of uninterrupted training through till the end of August. It's possible I may not race again till September but I feel like that is the best approach to doing well in Kona which is my ultimate goal. 

So road trip back to LA now. After a relaxing day in Napa and a little wine tasting ... 

VINEMAN IRONMAN 70.3, July 15th 2012

 
1. Greg Bennett (USA) 3:45:492. Joe Gambles (AUS) 3:46:14
3. Paul Matthews (AUS) 3:47:55
4. Christian Kemp (AUS) 3:50:46
5. Terenzo Bozzone (NZL) 3:51:03
6. Brandon Marsh (USA) 3:51:09
7. Graham O'Grady (USA ) 3:53:33
8. Luke McKenzie (AUS) 3:53:41 
9. Ollie Whistler (AUS) 4:03:19
10. Mauro Cavanha (BRA) 4:05:42