After a someone outstanding race on Saturday, Michael, Stacey and Ryley Heafner let me tag along with them in Asheville. We stayed at the days inn and I even got to take a solid nap which was very much needed. For dinner we hit the olive garden and it was outstanding, I think I had 5 breadsticks because Michael kept count. Michael was very anxious to try out his new Felt road bike and to see what he had in the tank. I knew without a doubt he is one tough competitor and he would be difficult to beat despite his lack of triathlon experience.
We hit the road earlier this time and arrived with enough time to really set up our transitions which were basically next to each other. I was pretty tight from the day before and VERY tired but I tried to GEEK myself up. We hit the water and the field was MASS, i didn't realize we started with the aquathon as well. Once the gun fired Michael took off and that was the last of him I saw on the swim. I got in no man's land this time w/no feet to get behind and just tried to stay smooth. I felt like I had a decent swim even though my arms were burning the first 100m pretty good. Existing the water, I began running to my bike pretty quickly and noticed Michael was already gone from T1, oh no!
I grabbed my stuff, ran up the path and jumped on my bike. There were a couple relays around me, but I just took off w/them. I was rolling people up pretty quick and saw Michael after about 2 miles or so, I knew I had him. Once we hit a big decent, I took gamble and just ROLLED past him. 2 miles later, he was next to me on the bike along with 3 other guys. We basically all rode near each other the whole bike section and I decided to stay content around them because I wasn't feeling particularly great. When he hit the HUGE climb that killed me the day before I actually felt fresh and just started attacking, leaving everyone behind me.
I hit T2 quickly and had some trouble w/my shoe insert. The insert was folded up inside, so I said screw it and took off anyways. Today the goal was not to really hold anything back after the turnaround up the mountain. I passed a lot of people but had no clue what my position was because of the aquathon mixed in. After the turnaround I noticed a guy about 1/3m ahead of me and he looked about my age so I just took a breath and hammered. I looked at my garmin at one point and it said 4:18 for pacing on the last mile. I didn't run that fast but I still managed to pass the guy just before the line and also run 5:03 for the closing mile. All in all i ended up winning overall because that guy I was chasing was a relay and Michael Heafner came out of no where for a HUGE 2nd place showing!
Outstanding day, we even got to take a dip in the river to relax the legs after. Great effort Michael, keep it pumping buddy!
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