It's Been a Long Time Coming..... World Triathlon Yokohama.

On the line, I stood beside Jonathan Brownlee and Martin Van Barneveld. The two of them were having a very casual conversation as the race was to begin in less than 2 minutes. If Jonathan was nervous about the race, he sure didn't show it. Why did these two seem so calm? We have the Pirates of the Caribbean theme song playing and then the very ominous drum beat. I believe that Jonathan had a plan, knew exactly what he needed to do and was confident that he could get it done.

Through advise from Sharleen Hoar, I drew up a plan for myself. Not something I 'hoped' would happen, but a series of points that based off of training I know I am capable of. I was still quite nervous but I was confident in what I had to do to be happy at the end of the day.

I was ranked 34th out of 39 coming into the event, so with slim pickings on the line, I chose a spot on the line about 10 in from the left. The drums played, followed by silence, and then quite abruptly the horn went. I hit the water with three dolphin kicks and surfaced in the 'washing machine.' I drew from training and spun my arms as fast as I could and I broke free. I kept the pressure on for the next 200m to ensure good placement. I sat about 4th place for the first 750m on Brownlee's feet. We exited the water only to dive back in for the second lap. Another strong streamline moved me up the side. I found myself side by side with the russian Denis Vasiliev. I pulled ahead to make for a comfortable transition. I excited the water first in a time of 17.25. 

T1 was so smooth. My wetsuit came off easily and I was off. 

In the pouring wet conditions I rode well through the initial technical portion until the long straightaway when I was joined by 7 others including Brownlee, Gomez, Vasiliev, Silva, Shoeman, Shaw and Van Der Stel. The first three laps were very fast. Our lead increased to one minute and twenty seven seconds(1.27). The glassy wet roads made for some white knuckled riding but I was confident in my rainy cornering abilities. I did have a close call at one point when moving up in the pack. I was put into the rails unintentionally. I was a bit worried I'd get a pinch flat from riding over the feet of the rails. Luckily I stayed up and my tires held up.

I entered Transition 2 with the biggest smile on my face. The race was going well and I was sure to exceed my goal of top 30. I had a nice fast transition and was off.

I found my running legs early and with my Garmin in hand I set a pace that I was confident I could hold. The rain really began to pour half way through the run. It felt like I was home in Victoria. I ran my own run. I let go of pacing on the final lap and opened it up to the finish. I posted a run split of 31.53. I finished my second WTS in 7th place. Results Found HERE. With this result my current ITU World Triathlon Series rank is now 21st. Click Here.

The pieces have been there in training but on Saturday it came together. I stuck to a plan and I enjoyed myself. I raced with confidence. I believed I was capable and it was liberating. I left Yokohama with much more confidence in my ability to perform on race day. I am excited to be home and build upon this weekends performance. This was a great start, but there is much more training to be done!


Ciao for now,

Andrew McCartney