Huatulco Race recap

Huatulco once again served up a great, tough race for us all yesterday.

First up for Canada was Chantel Widney. Entering her first WC, she was as composed and collected as a wiley veteran leading up to the start. Her bike arrived with 12 hrs to go time and she remained unphased throughout. Hats off to her 10th place finish. One to look out for in the coming times as her swim improves with each race. Was great to cheer her on as she blew through girls on the run.

AP and I headed down to the race site about an hour before gun time. With the hot temps i find only a swim WU is needed to get ready. The waters were marvelous, 23C and calm. The swim however was the opposite. When the packs merged at 200m i found myself playing leap frog with the mass of bodies. I was using a lot of energy in this process, so i made the decision to relax and reposition myself as best as possible for the first upcoming turn bouy. This worked as i took the inside line and then hammered along the outside. Still after the first lap i found myself back further than i´d liked. The second lap i felt great and continually moved up to come out in the bunch.

On to the bike there was a small group with the big players like gomez and charbot ahead that took almost two laps to reel in. Once it all came together the pace really eased up. A very strategical bike unrolled with brazilian team tactics playing out in the ultimate break that took a minute on the pack into T2

Out of T2 the foot race began quite quick and i found myself not able to match the early turnover. I settled in and focused on keeping rhythm and momentum as much as possible. Staying cool was also a big priority. After 5k a lot of guys began to crack in the heat and i made up some places. In the closing stages i had a portuguese just ahead of me and a mexican closing in, the last k was 100% mental. Crossed in 28th, good, but needs to be better.

Cold towel, banana, e-load recovery, massage...feels good.

Nice race dinner on the beach ended a great day.

Chantel, Chrabot and I will stay in Huatulco with some light training and recovery before carrying on to Puerto Vallarta on Thursday. Will keep you posted.


Aside: Water consumption during run.

4laps X 6 aid stns per lap X 1 500 ml bottle (poured on head, body, mouth) = 12L!!!!

Multiply that by 120 elites and you´ve got a lot of water used for a 30-40 minute run!!