Our RTS pros have been busy as always, and here is a selection of their recent race experiences in their own words:
1. Marc 2nd at Challenge Beijing (non-draft Olympic distance)
I hope all is well! Just wanted to share a quick recap of the 2nd place finish at Challenge Beijing. It was an incredible race but has my mind all over the place!
On one hand, I feel like I missed a great opportunity for the win, but on the other, I’m proud of snagging 2nd place against some of the world's best—while riding a rental bike. Honestly, I lean more towards feeling like I missed out because I was so good about not letting that lost bike mess with my head. I gave it everything I had, with zero self-imposed barriers, and that’s exactly what I want "the Shark" to stand for.
At the same time, I’m pretty stoked about another podium and a swim-bike-run I can be proud of. The last few months have been tough, so this felt like a solid step back into race form.
With a small field of six, anything could have happened, and I knew it’d likely be five of us sticking together out of the swim, with Fred Funk eventually rocketing past up to us on the bike. I had a good start, led to the first buoy, and after about 500 meters decided to play it smart and let someone else take over. Henry moved up, and we split a bit by the end of the swim, but by the time we hit the end of the 700-meter run to transition, we were all back together. I exited the water 5th but rolled out of T1 in 1st.
Considering I hadn’t touched the rental bike until race day, I didn’t go crazy right off the bat. But I could tell the legs were good, I followed the early moves pretty easily. We dropped one guy, and for the first lap, the four of us stayed together. Fred did what Fred does when he caught our group. He came through and broke things up, but I managed to keep the gap within reach—about 1:25 to Freddie and 35 seconds to Aaron Royal and Kyle Smith. Honestly, I was so relieved to get off that bike!
On the 10k, Henry and I traded off leading. We caught Aaron, then Freddie, and by 5k, we reeled in Kyle. I put it a few surges but nothing crazy. Kyle and I were side-by-side until the last 1k when he surged, and I just didn’t have an answer. I kicked hard enough to drop Henry but couldn’t quite close on Kyle. I laid down the fastest run of the day with a 30:22 but didn't have the strength on the last 1k.
It’s one of those races that leaves me with mixed emotions—frustration for what could’ve been, but pride for what I delivered. This was a solid step forward, and I’m pumped for what’s next.
Thanks as always for the support!
I'll be deciding in the next few days whether to race Cozumel 70.3 on September 22nd, but I’m all booked for Augusta 70.3 on September 29th.
2. Jackson 1st at 70.3 Michigan!
Ironman 70.3 Michigan was my best race of 2023 and I was keen to take a shot at defending that win again this year. Although my training wasn't geared as much toward the race this year, I had some good confidence going in as my workouts in the last 14 days before the race showed signs of the fitness coming back just in time.
The swim start didn't go too well as I lost several positions right away, I think I didn't get a good enough warm up and will be sure to have a better warm up plan for the next one. Aside from that, the race went very well. I settled into a good rhythm and stayed with the chase group for the remainder of the swim, with about a 1:25 deficit to the front group which included Ben Kanute, Justin Riele, Matt Sharpe and Matt McElroy. Greg Harper was an additional minute ahead of them.
I did have a few guys near me in transition and in the first couple minutes of the bike, but I pretty much focused entirely on my own pacing right from the start of the bike. Justin Metzler shouted a split that I was 1:30 back from the lead pack just before the mount line, I think he knew my main concern would be the strong duo of Ben Kanute and Justin Riele working together on the bike. This was useful information as I did have a chance to see the gap at the 10km U-turn. At that time I had lost a few seconds to Ben and Justin. This wasn't surprising as I was focusing on an evenly paced effort and figured they would be riding harder early on to try to break away from the others in their swim group. I honestly wasn't sure if I would be able to catch up, but I knew I would at least pass most of the guys who swam ahead of me, so I just kept focused on catching the chase group behind Justin and Ben as a first goal. I caught that group of 4 at around 26km, and put in a big effort to make sure they didn't try to go with me as I passed.
Once I saw they weren't coming with, I settled back into my 330 watt target power and just kept chugging along. I honestly didn't know if I would make up any time on Justin and Ben working together, but knew if I kept charging the whole ride I would at least be in striking distance on the run. Fortunately, I did start to catch glimpses of them ahead at around 45km into the ride, and once I had them in my sights I knew I could close it. I caught them at 55km, and decided to take the pressure off a bit and ride with them before making my next move. I could tell they were starting to fatigue, especially Ben since he didn't go to the front for the entire 20km I rode with them. I decided to attack at 75 km with a hard 2-3 minute surge, and was able to break away and get about a 1 minute gap off the bike. 1:55:55 for the bike split (which was even a touch over 90 km) was my fastest ride ever, I was really happy with the new bike and the new position I started using just a couple weeks ago (moved the seat and aero bars forward about 3cm each). I felt more comfortable and more aero at the same time. I still think some small improvements can be made with the position but I'm certainly in a great spot at the moment so I don't want to change much!
I started the run with a 52 second lead. Knowing Ben Kanute can pull off some great runs, I was grateful to have the buffer. I tried to run conservatively for the first lap so I could increase the pace if Ben did manage to catch me, plus it was getting warm and I wanted to not be overheated for lap 2. After the first lap I saw that he was a little further behind, and I still felt really smooth and relatively comfortable. At the last turn around, I saw Ben had lost quite a bit more time to me so I was able to relax a bit and really enjoy the last 5km. I saw Nicole and Nick were having a great days as they headed towards the far turnaround, and I passed Lisa on her 1st lap when she was still leading! It's a huge bonus when you get to see your teammates crushing it too.
I really enjoyed the cheers through town and the finish chute. Michigan is just such a great event and getting the win again was a thrill! Can't wait to have my first attempt at a three-peat when I go back next year.
3. Lisa Shows Her Building Strength with 4th at 70.3 Michigan!
Happy to have a solid day and finish 4th at Michigan 70.3! It was a positive step in the right direction and plenty was learned!
A critical loss of all my sodium on the bike AND the run, put me into damage control mode trying to get as much sodium from on course nutrition as possible! I will definitely find another place to store my salt capsules before Augusta 70.3!
A highlight of the race for me was when I was still in the lead on the run and Jackson came past with a couple miles left in his race in the lead! It's always so much fun racing with so many teammates and even more fun when we all have good days!
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