Duxbury Race Report

The weather had been pretty terrible all weekend leading up to Duxbury. The day before the race we got an e-mail saying that the swim was cancelled due to choppy waters, then later that day another e-mail was sent out saying the swim was tentative and a decision would be made on race morning. The race started at 10:30 AM. At 9:45, it looked like it would be too foggy to hold the swim (safety issues). But as luck would have it, the fog lifted at 10 AM and the rain let up, and it was go time.


When the starting horn blasted for the half mile swim I got off to a strong start. I looked over and Tony Delogne (former IM Lake Placid winner) was right next to me as was some dude not wearing a wetsuit (water was like sub-60!). By the time we got to the first buoy no-wetsuit-dude was half a body length in front of me! I began to suspect this was some ringer collegiate swimmer who decided to do a triathlon. I started to veer over towards him and was planning on getting in the draft behind his feet. As I was doing this he started fading... hard. I stopped drifting towards him and increased my kick. I dropped him easily and began to rapidly pull away. Turns out he just sprinted out waaaay too hard. So I continued my fast rhythm and exited the water 1st with Tony about 25 seconds behind.

I crushed the run from the swim exit to t1, going as hard as I could. I hopped on my bike, hammered over the 1/2 mile wooden bridge, let up for a few seconds to get my feet in my shoes, and then I went back to work. I put my head down and went for it on the bike. I knew Tony was a strong cyclist, so I kept checking behind me every few miles, but I never saw him. I pushed it hard on the bike and stayed as aero as possible. When I came back towards transition I again hammered over the wooden bridge - I thought I could gain time on people here as others might be cautious going over this.




I didn't have as quick a t2 as I did t1, but nevertheless I had a sizable lead and took off on the run course. I took it out hard, but my legs were definitely feeling the effort I put into the bike. I had to ease up on the pace a tiny bit but still was maintaining a strong tempo. The run course went by quickly, and before I knew it I had the wooden bridge back in site - just over a half mile left. When I got to the bridge I picked up the pace. It was easy with the crowds cheering for me. I got off the bridge and took the hard left and sprinted towards the finish. All in all, I felt strong the whole time.




A few minutes after I finished a little boy came up to me and gave me an award that he had made for the first place finisher. His dad was behind him and reminded him that he was supposed to shake someone's hand when giving them an award - so he stuck out his little hand. It was so cute! The best was the first line of the award he gave me - "Dear 1'th Place...". It was awesome. After the awards ceremony my dad and I headed over to a Team Psycho gathering that was in Duxbury. It was really fun - the food was great and there was all the Harpoon you could ever want. Later that evening I went for a 30 minute spin on the trainer to loosen up my legs. And then I slept for almost 11 hours!