Florida 70.3

short report, i wrote it on a flight with screaming kids, and disney music rining in my ears. I sort of ramble on a lot, i hope i didnt forget to thank anyone. Sometimes we dont say thank you enough, i can think of a few convience store owners in texas who have saved me once or twice while bonking in texas heat, when you just dont have that extra quarter to get a Dr. Pepper and the powerbar. Anyway good race, just a steping stone for season, looking forward to a good summer of training and racing a head. I will post some pictures once, i get them, and once i track down where my bike is.

Florida 70.3

Lining up on the beach in Florida I kept telling myself that I belonged. I told my self that they weren’t faster than me and I had every right to step up and race with the big boys. When the gun went off I ran in after a few dolphin dives and a few hundred meters hard, it turned into a very easy relaxed pace. After the past week swimming 20x100 sub 1:10 pace, I knew I was ready to at least hang with the leaders. Every so often I would look up and site and I would see there were 10 of us swimming comfortable. I could see Craig Alexander’s Green Cap beside me and I knew TJ was beside me on the other side. I was right where I wanted to be. I actually focused on my breathing pattern and stayed very comfortable. On the way back in I may have taken it too relaxed losing 10seconds to Bryan Rhodes and a couple of others. Coming out of the water, I hammered the run, to transition passing almost everyone; I put on my helmet and excited T1 in 3rd. Right away I rode up to the front and eventually settled into a pace. So I reached my goal of swimming with the leaders and second to make sure I was at the front before the pack got moving. A few miles, Craig passed and eventually took charge at the front. For the first 10miles I was chilling riding in 3rd-6th place depending on what was going on. There were a few out and backs and I may have been too hyper. After mile 20 I eventually calmed myself down and said it is going to be a long day if I ride too hard. After 40miles I was riding towards the back of the group, with Paul Amey (GBR), and Marcus Ornellas(BRA). I could see Craig Alexander was still working hard at the front and there was a nice pack of 10 or so riders. With two drafting motorcycles riding beside the group the whole time, the pack was evenly spaced out. Climbing one of the climbs I was riding up to close to a rider and one of the marshals told me to drop back or pass to the front. At this point in the race I dropped back and rode by myself trying to save a bit for the run, and realized there was no point killing the ride just to walk to the run. As soon as I decided to back off, I could see Paul Amey had made his move. Great work Paul! Great move and you deserve the win. At Mile 50 I could still see the lead vehicle and Courtney Ogden caught me. I knew his name from somewhere, I think he has won a few Ironmans and he helped pace me into Transition 2, regardless he was World Class. Running out of T2 Courtney and I ran together and by together I mean me looking at the sky saying, where are my running legs. I was so excited, like a kid in the candy shop because I knew Craig was 2.5 minutes up the road, and a large group of runners I knew I could catch. However, my legs weren’t there and I had to fake the run in the humidity and I ran smart so I could finish in the heat and take home a pay check.
I am very happy with my riding and my swimming, and before I used to come down 15 minutes or so off the bike behind World Class Athletes such as Craig Alexander and the lead groups, but this time i was less than 2minutes averaging 25mph and change with a 2:12 bike split. Out the run, I had lots of encouragement, from spectators, but at each turn around, I knew Bryan Rhodes and a couple of others were with in reach, but it was all I could do to put one foot in front of the other. ¾ of the run was on grass, and a little different to run on, but it will aid in recovery for this week for sure. It actually felt more like quick sand and every lap I was sinking more and more. If it wasn’t for Dave Cracknell (Lisa Bentley’s Husband) I am not sure I would have stayed sane out there. With 1mile to go I faded and started to wonder if I was going to live. I really need to toughen up, because if I was tough I would have been under 4hours fairly easily but running the last few miles over 7mins put a damper on that.
I crossed the line in 7th with one of my best races to date, I am happy with the race but at the same time I feel I could have been on the podium or closer too it if I had played my cards right, but at the same time, I wouldn’t have been in that position if I didn’t work hard on the bike.
I earned more than a pay check at this elite race, I gained the confidence I need to break through to the next level. I feel more than confident now that I can podium at major races. It’s amazing what a little rest to the body and some hard work can do. My first few races of the year were sub par but I trained through them and built up the mental toughness I needed. After the race, I realized what racing was all about, putting out a hard effort and enjoying interesting stories from other athletes, not to mention Rhodes is a pretty funny guy and kept me laughing. I would like to congratulate, all of the racers out there, especially Mike Hay for throwing it down in the pro field at the age of 40. Mike is a great Coach and Mentor and a great friend who let me crash with him in Disney. I would also like to thank Alister for Life Sport, and I am looking forward to progressing with Life Sport and hopefully turning into a World Class athlete like the great athletes that I had the opportunity to meet and race with today. I am now going to take some recovery time, and then start to build up my fitness leading into Buffalo Springs 70.3. in a little over a month time.
Thanks for reading,

p.s
I would like to thank Chuck from Racer Mate for taking a chance on me with Compu- Trainer, as well as Jack Weiss a fantastic cycling coach, Altitude technologies, SLS compression Socks and Wicked Fast Nutrition and of course my newest Sponsor LifeSport.ca. I obviously need to thank my Great Girlfriend and parents for all of there support. I feel like I am rambling on, however I have probably missed a lot of people to thank but I do not always say thank you enough to all of the great people along the way.

Cheers,Brent


Ford Ironman 70.3 FloridaWalt Disney World, FloridaMay 18, 2008S 1.2mi/ B 56 mi/ R 13.1 mi
Results
Elite men
1. Paul Amey (Gbr) 3:52:512. Santiago Ascenco (Bra) 3:56:333. Spencer Smith (Gbr) 3:59:344. Courtney Ogden (Aus) 3:59:425. Kevin Lisska (Fletcher NC) 3:59:566. Bryan Rhodes (Nzl) 4:03:107. Brent Poulsen (Can) 4:05:188. Andrew Hodges (Huntsville AL) 4:11:569. Brad Seng (Boulder CO) 4:17:3010. Marcus Ornellas (Bra 4:18:45