We saw Brett Favre in San Juan while eating breakfast one morning. We didn't bother him, but we did snap a shameless photo bomb while he was posing with others for a photo.
It's hard to do much pre-race riding so we kept loose on the local exercise equipment in the park. The locals made it look substantially easier than I found it to be.
San Juan has a lot of historical landmarks all over the city making for some pretty awesome backdrops. This is looking across the final few hundred meters of the swim course.
The Race:
I made a decision just before the Endurance Corner Tucson camp to come down and race San Juan for the third time (raced in 2011+13). I would have preferred to wait a little longer post-camp, but I felt this race had the best dynamics as it relates to IMTX, with a non-wetsuit swim and a warmer run. Plus, I just like this race and was excited to go back.
Time goals should never be set in stone, but I make them anyway:
For this race:
Swim: 25:29, Bike 2:09:59, Run 1:19:59 (this run course is challenging). I thought those three would combine for a podium finish.
My actual splits:
Swim: 26:04, Bike 2:10:40, Run 1:23:35.
The swim and bike times weren't too far off target, but the run certainly was. That had less to do with run fitness and more to do with feeling a bit worked on the bike. I felt fine through 70K, then tired the last 20K. I thought it might just be low blood sugar so I hit the calories a bit harder on the run, but I still never felt like I came back to life. As it is, it's really just a sign that more bike fitness was needed, not more sugar.
Regardless, I managed to hold onto the last money spot with a 6th place finish and was able to get some good insight into how my fitness is really stacking up. It's one thing to feel good about your training, but racing shows you so much more.
I'll now be moving into the meat of my IMTX training and it looks like I have a good bit of work to do. I'm looking forward to returning to The Woodlands for my fifth consecutive year.
Thanks to NINOX, Shimano, Javelin Bikes, Voler Apparel, On Running, SLS Compression, Xterra Wetsuits and Powerbar.
-justin