1 Down...2 To Go

Last weekend I raced in the Vancouver World Cup. It was awesome to go to a race and not have to get on a plane and travel for a full day or two to get to the destination. All it took was a quick ferry ride over and we were there. It couldn't get any better than that! Before the race I was worried that this was not going to be a good race considering how the race course was laid out...wetsuit swim, no sharp corners on swim, 1 big swim loop...all these factors usually mean everyone exits the water together and the bike packs come together fast. Well needless to say, I could not have dreamed for a better outcome to the race.

I had an awesome start to the swim. It was a run in start...a couple quick strides, dive in and flail the arms around like you are posessed by the same demond as Kirsten and hope that you are faster than the others around you. Well Kirstens demond sure helped me and after a couple strokes I had clean water and was heading towards the first buoy in the lead. Andy Potts came around me after the first third and I hopped on his feet and it stayed that way for the remainder of the swim. I exited the water in second...ran to transition as fast as my chicken legs would take me and hopped on my bike in third. Potts and a young Russian got away immediately and by the first time up the big climb (8 laps), 5 of us had quickly formed a fast charging chase pack. There were two Americans and two other Canadians (Whitfield and Tichelaar) in the same pack as me and by the end of the second lap we caught the leaders and immediately started gel and work like a well oiled machine. We would get time updates at the top of the big climb each lap (25 seconds, 45 seconds, 1:15, 1:30....) and by the end of the last lap we had made about 2min on a duo and almost 4min on the main chase pack. Wow...wow...wow...wow. That is probably the biggest lead that a mens field has seen in a World Cup in who knows how many years but that is very rare. Lots of time means that no one will be catching you on the run (I hope not!!!!) and that the race was between the 7 of us. Well lets just say that my skinny legs do not move as fast as the other 12 legs in the pack when we get on land. I ran as hard as I could for most of the run....was able to stay with one other athlete for half the run with a couple others just ahead. By the last lap of three I slowed up a bit to not take everything out of me on the run (still have two more races in two weeks to do) and finished the race in an awesome seventh place! Man I was excited....my first top ten in a World Cup! Holla!!!!

That result moved me up around 15 places in the Olympic Rankins. I am now ranked 57th...still need to move up a lot more to secure Canada a 3 man team to Beijing. Right now we are fighting with Spain for the last spot to be able to send 3 men to the games. There is still a whole year left of races so lots can happen between now and then.

After the race we jumped on the late ferry back to Victoria and I was able to sleep in my own bed after a good effort. It was wicked not to have to pack up and hop on a plane all sore and tired. Love it! A couple old friends showed up to the race to cheer me on. Gord and his brother that I met while at school at LU (on the swim team) were at the top of the hill cheering me on each lap...it was wicked to see them both again...thanks for coming guys! Also one of the support staff was a friend of mine that I knew from doing triathlons in Ontario back in the day....Jenn Turner. We used to be coached by the same guy when I first started the sport.

Well now I am all packed up and ready to go. We fly out of Victoria at 5:40am and start our trip to Des Moines, Iowa. I am meetin my girlfriend Lisa in Des Moines...she is flying out to be on my support team! A VALUABLE member of the team! This is one of our Olympic Selection races and there is $700,000USD on the line (the biggest prize purse in ITU history). The winners each get $200,000 and a H3 (Hummer). Lots on the line! There will be live audio and video coverage of this race on Sunday. My race starts at 4:30 local time (2:30PM Pacific, 5:30PM Eastern, 10:30PM BST for all of you in England following me) so check out www.triathlon.org for all the coverage.

Off to bed now...it is going to be an early morning!

P.S. Here are some pics from the race last weekend in Vancouver: