The Triathlon.org video gives a pretty good synopsis of what happened, and since I was in the break, I got a little bit of face time.
I came in to the race with just slightly less than perfect preparation, having nursed an elusive patella tendon pain over the previous weeks. It wasn't enough to keep me from training, but it did make me cautious in workouts and I felt I lost a little bit of fitness, especially on the run. Regardless, I wanted to have my best showing ever, and while a breakaway was incredibly risky, being a hot race at altitude, I made a calculated decision based on the speed of the pack and the other athletes in the break. I felt this was my best chance for a top-10 finish and committed fully. Unfortunately, the fitness wasn't quite there and I faded on the run to 30th place. This is still my best World Cup finish in a field of this quality, but I am hungry for more especially after feeling the podium within my grasp. Congratulations to Jarrod Shoemaker on a great race, and a big tip of the hat to the race organizers for putting on a extremely high-quality event!
I've come home to Portland, Oregon now to fully heal my patella and resolve the root cause of it's injury with the specialists at here at P.A.C.E. I am very optimistic about the second half of the season and so far my workouts here have been very strong. My next race will most likely be the Kelowna Pan American cup on August 17th in Canada. I'll be shooting for my first Continental Cup podium.
Thanks for following!
