Tough Day in Monterrey

So here is what happened. Race morning I stuck to the plan; cliff bar and a coffee two hours before and head down to the course 90min before the start time. In spite of a slow leak on the back wheel I made it down to the course. (Thanks to Brook for lending me his race wheels) I set up transition and had a good 1km warm up on the course. Two gels 15min before the gun and I felt ready. The gun went off and with a mediocre start I was right in the thick. I have never been beat up so much in a swim. It was very frustrating. I was forced to slow up and find an alternate route. I re-focused and around the half way point I managed to get clear water and moved to the front. I then proceeded to push the pace at the front. I exited the water with a small but comfortable lead.

Onto the bike I quickly got up to speed and rode hard. I was joined by Collins and Fleishman until we were caught about 10km in by a pack of 7. Half way through the ride I was dropped and joined the peloton. I continued to struggle throughout the ride leading into the run. I did everything I could to find some energy including 2 gels and a bottle of Eload.

Off the bike I found the energy to run through some athletes in the first couple of Kms. However, leading into the weekend I had been struggling with an ‘Out-of-place Cuboid’ in my foot. The pain gradually increased until about 4km into the run when I made the extremely difficult decision to step off the course. As much as I wanted to finish, the thought of doing damage to my foot and missing training and further racing was enough encouragement to stop.

Not the way I had hoped to start the new season. I am making a list. It is a list of all the lessons I will take from this race because it is only a failure if I leave and take nothing from it. At the same time it is also important to make a mental note of what I did right.

Well I am en route home. A little quiet. Going over the race in my head and thinking about all that needs to be done when I get home.

That is all for now,
Hope all is well,
Andrew McCartney

Ps. Congrats to Paula on her Win and Aruss on his 11th place finish

Andrew Russell, Andres Feijo (Our New Friend) and I

Post Race Dinner.