LA International Triathlon - Bevan Docherty
6 October 2010
The last few months have been a roller coaster ride of emotions, but I’m very pleased to say that this roller coaster is going to end on a high…
With the frustration of “cooking” myself back in August, I was still not going to be content with just a great first half of the year. I wanted to finish strongly and prove to myself I still have what it takes.
After a much needed two‐week break, I actually bounced back very quickly. However, both my coach and I were very conscious about not putting myself back into that “hole”, so we put together a very conservative program. The whole goal was just to finish the season strongly, as the WCS finishes too early, and the LA and Dallas Triathlon were a great opportunity to push the season out.
Going into the race I wasn’t super confidant, but my training had been going pretty well and the weather in Santa Cruz was fantastic. I also had the ability to spend a few weeks on my TT bike and fine‐tune my aero position.
After my last non‐drafting race in Philly, I had received a few negative comments about how “aero” I was, which left me a little pissed as it was only my 3rd time on the TT bike that year. Determined to correct that, I made some adjustments. They seemed un‐natural at first, and it wasn’t until just a week out from the race that I became comfortable about that position.
Race day started with a 3:30 a.m. wake up, and the pre‐race negativity of “why the hell do I do this sport!” It didn’t get any better after setting up transition 1 in the dark at Venice Beach.
All those negative thoughts went out the door at 7 a.m. when the gun went off, as we crashed into the surf for the 1500m swim. The swim in these races is far more enjoyable than WCS races, as there are only 15 guys fighting for water, opposed to 70! I very quickly positioned myself in 3rd, and sat there for the rest of the swim.
By the time we reached transition, I was hot on the heels of my biggest competition and current World Champion, Javier Gomez. We had a small gap as we both jumped on the bike together, so I put my head down and went for it. After a few km’s, I looked over my shoulder to see that I had put 100m on Gomez! So, I went back into aero and hammered for as long as I could at a pace I knew I couldn’t hold, but this was too great an opportunity to throw away.
The 40km bike was a point‐to‐point, starting in Venice Beach and ending at the Staples Center downtown LA, with a loop to make up the distance. At the 20km mark, as I began to suffer from my earlier solid pace, I was joined by stronger cyclists; Cameron Dye and Andrew Starykowicz. However, they were weaker runners and I was up over a minute on my biggest competition. Again, I just had to put my head down and hurt! Non‐drafting races are a different sort of pain in comparison to these WCS races. It’s a long solid hurt throughout the entire race compared to the sharp intense pain to WCS racing. I’m still undecided as to which I like (or hate) more!
Onto the run, and I was happy to have my running legs. However, I was still faced with 2 challenges: to Catch the leader Starykowicz, who was 1:40 up on me; and to hold off Gomez and Bennett who were about 1:30 down on me. The 10km run was a particularly nasty run through downtown LA, which took us up a nasty climb to the Disney Concert Hall twice.
By the 5km Mark I had already reduced Starykowicz’s lead to 30’s, but I could also see that Gomez was storming through the field like an enraged Spanish Bull! Time to dig deep! I took the lead at the 7km mark, and this certainly lifted me and drove me home to take yet another thrilling win, with Gomez only 13 seconds behind. Nevertheless, I was very happy with my win, and to beat the World’s best triathlete, Gomez, was a huge a boost for my confidence.
Certainly it’s been a very interesting year emotionally, and at times I’ve wanted to just end the season and start fresh next year. However, sometimes a real test of an athlete’s character is how they deal with low’s, use them constructively, and come back as a more complete athlete.
Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive to me over the last few months. You have all helped me get through this year and achieve yet another great result.
Bevan
Back
