Although I thoroughly enjoyed Silverman last year despite the stormy conditions, I had no intention of being a participant this year because I was going to Kona.  It wasn't a question; it was a matter of fact.  So when I melted down on the second lap of the run course at Lake Placid, I was devastated.

Over the next three months, I picked up the pieces of my ego and tried to understand what had gone wrong.  To be honest, I'm still wrapping my mind around this but I can tell you that I made some mistakes and there were factors that played a role which were not in my control.  In the end, I put it all on the line to win big and I lost.  It was a tough lesson and I'm surprised to hear myself say this but I think it's one I had to learn.

In the time between Lake Placid and Silverman, I did what I do best -- I trained.  Training is many things to me including therapy and I needed it.  Unraveling the pieces of the puzzle over the many miles, I tried to understand the factors which were in my control that played a part in my demise.  There is an entire blog entry dedicated to this so I'll save it for another day but I will say that I am trying to remove some of the emotional components which I believe have been interfering with my progress.

I placed 14th overall last year so when I started to think about what I wanted out of Silverman, the phrase top 10 started to rattle around my head.  Despite trying to get away from goal setting, I found myself fantasizing about a top 10 finish.

In the final weeks leading up to Silverman, I sent my coach an unrelated email asking him what kind of weekly volume I would need to hit in order to get my swim time under an hour.  In his reply, he said (and I'll paraphrase) -- Hey Dumbass! (He didn't actually call me a dumbass but he should.)  Stop focusing on round numbers and just train.  I actually had a reply where I tried to rationalize my question but caught myself before hitting the send button and I took his advice and I went back to training.

When I completed the last race simulation prior to the taper, I felt good.  Actually, I felt really good.  In fact, I don't think I've ever felt this prepared going into a race.  Throughout the two weeks of the taper, I nailed all of my workouts and tried to contain myself because I felt like I could explode with power.  Just "save it for race day" is what I kept telling myself.

Although top 10 kept floating around in my head, it wasn't a goal like going to Kona was.  It was just speculation more than anything else.  I thought that if everything went well, I "could" finish in the top 10.  A day or two prior to the race a friend asked me about my race goals and I reluctantly wrote them down.  I've been fairly superstitious over the last three months and writing any sort of goal is something I've been trying to avoid.

While standing at the water's edge waiting for the start of the race, top 10 had left my head and what remained was the feeling that I was ready to race.  And that was it.  I didn't care about breaking an hour in the water and I didn't care about whether I would finish in the top 10.  All I really wanted was to have a good race.

I jumped into the water prior to the start and did a warm-up which was more like a cool down or perhaps I was just a bit nervous but boy did I pickup a chill.  Fortunately the race start was only a few minutes away and I was plenty warm after that.

This course is difficult all by itself but the weather can add an extra layer of difficulty so I planned on swimming at a relaxed pace.  When the race started, I took off for about 200 yards to open a small gap but I quickly settled into a comfortable pace and found a small group of about 6 people to draft with.  A couple of times during the swim, I attempted to breakaway from this group because they couldn't swim straight to save their lives but as soon as I pulled out, I could see they were going to leave me so I decided to swim with the crooked bunch.

When we arrived back at the shore, I saw the time and I immediately thought the course was short but at the banquet ceremony the next day, I was told by "The Man", Dave Scott, the swim course was accurate.

I zipped in and out of transition and was off on the bike.  My plan was to go easy for the first hour while I took in nutrition and hydrated.  From a wattage perspective, I set a range of 170-200 watts.  After the first hour, the plan was to narrow the range to 180-200 watts until the turnaround point.  On my way out, there were a few riders passing me but I had no idea where I was in the overall standings.  Once I got near the turnaround though, I started to see riders coming the other way and I started to count them.  Excluding relay riders, I had determined that I was in about 20th place.

At this point in the race, I started to think about the overall standings and was a little nervous about how many riders were in front of me.  But then I thought... I'm racing my own race, I feel good, and let's just make it a good day and see where the chips fall.

When I hit the turnaround, I felt great.  My nutrition was spot on, my legs felt strong, my power looked good, and my heart rate was where I wanted it to be.  All systems were go and with a nice tailwind, I decided to increase the pace and I narrowed the range to 190-200 watts.  On the way back, I caught up to a few riders and by the time I hit the "Three Sisters" I was in 16th place.  After the "Sisters" my legs were starting to feel somewhat fatigued but nothing to cause alarm so I maintained the effort for the remaining miles and I got back to transition in one piece.

I was in and out of transition in a flash and for the first time ever, I remembered to hit the start button on my watch while crossing the timing mat for the start of the run.  Within the first quarter mile, I looked at my pace and it was much faster than I had expected.  I decided to slow down a bit but my heart rate came down so I decided to lift the effort.  Over the next few miles, I settled in and due to the ups and downs of the course, I used heart rate as my guide rather than pace.  My plan was to stay within 150-159 bpms for the first half but not make any changes until I hit the hill at mile 14.

Within the first few miles, a fellow racer ran up beside me and we started to talk.  He mentioned how I passed him on the "Three Sisters" and he said I looked great.  I was actually thinking about how strong he must feel since he ran me down.  We chatted for a mile or so but I felt like I was holding him back so I suggested he go on ahead but he was content running along beside me and dismissed the idea.  Somewhere around mile 10 he stopped for a bathroom break and my running buddy was gone.

By the time I got to the halfway point, I figured I was somewhere in the neighborhood of 13th place.  Prior to heading back through transition, the run course passes through an outdoor mall where the shoppers and diners cheer you on.  I saw my wife there which brought a smile to my face and then a few minutes later I was through transition and out on my second lap.

At mile 14, there's a right turn which has a long but gradual climb.  I figured this would be a good test to see how my legs felt.  Once on the climb, I felt great and the pace felt right so I just maintained what I was doing and I decided that I would reevaluate at mile 20.

On the second lap, it was really hard to tell which athletes were in front of me and which were on their first loop.  But to be honest, I really didn't care because it just seemed like a great race.  My swim was good, I had a solid bike, and now I was out on the second lap of the run and it looked like I was going to be able to wash away the baggage I'd been carrying with me since Lake Placid.  I felt a huge burden lift away and 13th place or even 30th place didn't seem to matter anymore.  What mattered was that I was having a good day.

There are two tough sections on the run course with long climbs and as I approached the second section, I got through it and my pace had only dropped slightly.  I was going to wait until mile 20 but when I got to 19.5, I started to lift the effort to hold the pace.  I was still feeling great but I was fading a little and all I wanted to do was maintain the effort and finish strong.

The last mile takes you up a small hill, through a bike path, and then back to the finish.  Once on the bike path, I didn't see any racers in front of me nor did I see any behind me so I just kept my rhythm and waited for the finishing chute to appear.  As I came around the turn, I entered the chute (saw my coach standing on the side... very cool!) and realized I would get in under 11 hours.  I sprinted to the line, crossed it and was immediately greeted by my screaming wife who shouted:  "You're in second place!"  About 10 seconds after she said it, I heard the announcer say it as well.  I couldn't believe it; I thought I was in 13th place.  I didn't really care though because it was such a great race.  A few moments later my coach came over and congratulated me and then I proceeded to talk him into submission.  (Sorry... I was excited!)

2nd place overall, 1st place age group

00:57:42 - Swim
00:02:39 - T1
06:18:05 - Bike
00:01:10 - T2
03:38:24 - Run
10:57:57 - Total

What a great race!  But it was a great race even before I finished and 2nd place overall was just the icing on the cake.

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