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October 12,
2005: Dave and I made it to the
underpants run. As soon as we dropped the over shorts I
could see Dave meant business. I must say, I was feeling
pretty proud of my Calvin Kleins but I could see instantly
that Dave was taking it to a new level. He was sporting a
pair of blue polka dot Euro style short-cut boxers. They
were eye catching. It threw me off for a moment but I
quickly got back into my game and was ready to rock when the
gun went off. Actually there wasn’t a gun. Huddle said
“Start running!” And start I did! My plan was to begin
comfortable and try to negative split the day.
Dave hooked up with
Pete’s friend Homer and the two of them were keying off each
other. I hung in as best I could and preyed I had something
left in the tank after the turn around at Lava Java.
Shortly after the coffee
spot Homer was gone. He must have popped! Dave was still
looking strong. I sat on his shoulder. The pace was
getting intense. I was red lining. As we approached the
finish line I noticed Dave looking around for his wife
Petra, who was filming the entire event with Pete’s camera.
I guess he was feeling pretty confident and wanted to make
sure she caught the moment on tape. He looked to the right
and I made my move to the left. I let go with everything I
had. My vision was beginning to blur as I entered the
parking lot. This day would be mine. I knew it. Suddenly
he was there beside me. We crossed the finish line step for
step. It was one for the judges! To our utter dismay,
there was Homer already half way through a Gatorade. It
seems he hadn’t popped after all, but had secretly surged
when our attention was elsewhere! I timed my taper badly
for this one. Next year I won’t make that mistake!
After a huge breakfast
and some shopping we went back to the pad.
Pete had some meetings
lined up and I was tagging along. The first was a press
conference and he wasn’t looking forward to it. It sounded
like he was kind of over reacting. I mean, how bad could it
be? They ask you a few questions, take a few pictures and
we slip out the back. No harm, no foul. Sweet mother of
pearl was I wrong!
Pros like Cam Elford from
Triathlete Mag are great. They know the questions to ask
and how to ask them but some of those dudes are completely
agro! They swarmed him and asked really rude questions!!
Can you say covert hostility! “You’ve been sick and you
missed a lot of training this year, why are you even here?”
I’ve never been one to
keep my mouth shut. I had to bite my lip and sit still.
Pete handled it well but you could see he would have liked
to place a few Power Bars where they aught not to go.
We eventually got out of
there with no blood shed and made our way to the pro
meeting.
Pete spit out the bad
after-taste from the press conference and by the time we sat
down he was back focusing on the race.
The pro meeting was a
somber affair. Many of the athletes were upset about one
thing or another – rule changes and the what have you. As I
heard Stadler say when he was leaving – “Too much blah,
blah, blah.”
I will say this though,
Jimmy Riccitello can come to any party I’m throwing. He’s a
funny guy. He’s the head referee of the race and was
fielding some of the more urgent questions. Pete and
I were chuckling like a couple of idiots at his dry quick
wit but no one else seemed to get it. I guess drafting is a
pretty serious topic for some guys.
Pete and Norman were the
first to slip away.
After the meeting it was
back to the pad.
I jumped on the mountain
bike and went back to the athlete’s village. Pete and I had
been talking about those Endless Pools so I agreed to take
one for a test drive. They have two set up in the village.
Those suckers work great! After my swim I got back to the
house just as Kevin and Ryan from Specialized were coming by
to dial in Pete’s ride. All systems go on that. Then Dave
and I grilled some Ahi Tuna on the barby. Don’t cook that
stuff too long!
Pete’s off getting a
massage and then it’ll be an early night.
I have no idea what’s on
the agenda tomorrow.
Two more sleeps!
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