After coming back from WC 2019 in Nice, I was addicted, and so I looked at the HIM calendar for qualifying races, and I picked Indian Wells as it is a drivable destination. The challenge and the opportunity were that it was 13 weeks after Nice: a lot of time to rest and to try to get better. It did not work as projected. Despite following a pretty similar plan, I could not find the same power on the bike. I also hurt my shoulder 2 weeks before the race playing in the waves in Hawai’i with my daughter, and finally, an old injury from my right ankle reappeared during an easy track workout the Tuesday before the race. 

Anyway. I signed up, so I went. Sunday morning was cloudy and thus not so cold, and the water was 59.5F, which is better than Santa Cruz, where I train. I started fast and then settled in until I swam under a buoy! I saw it, and though I was on its left ... but not by enough. These are big when you are under them and small when you look for them!!! I finished the swim but then could not find my zipper leash. I caught it as I reached the wetsuit strippers. I went to transition and struggled with my socks and gave up on trying to put arm warmers. Note to myself: I need to train swimming with the arm warmers and with the calf compression in Santa Cruz and then go biking to see how it feels in training. Bottom line I spent too much time in T1. 

I started the bike well. I was in a low gear for the small hill just after the mounting point, but my front bottle fell twice in a row almost immediately. I turned back twice but then gave up as it did not hold anymore. I need to find a new one that enables me to have a 20deg angle on the tri-bar and that fits my computer in a way I can still read it in aero. The rest of the ride was eventless but with an interesting detour on a car racing track between mile 35 and 40. We all had a very smooth ride for this section. 

The run was mainly in a golf course with rolling hills paved with concrete or on a dirt path. It was hard as I probably pushed too much on the bike, had minor GI issues during the beginning of the run and possibly holding some power due to pain in the quad. However, since I strapped my ankle, I felt minimal pain in it while running. 

I finished in 4h54:31, 6 in my age group. 10 mins behind the first. 48 seconds from the podium and 57 seconds from Taupo! 7 seconds ahead of the 7th and 45 seconds ahead of 8th! 5 of us in 1m33 seconds! So I am disappointed to miss these goals of being on the podium and qualifying for Taupo. However, I learned by riding a flat bike course for the first time, running on rolling hills for the first time and how I should adjust in the future. 

Overall it was a great day, and I was lucky to have my wife with me as a sherpa, a photographer, and as an amazing supporter! We rented a home with two other friends who were racing, too, and it was great. Thanks, Cindy and Vilen. 

This concludes my 2019 season and I am very happy with it. Two second places on Olympic run, a 3rd and a 6th place in HIM, a 3rd place in an IM and the HIM WC!  Thank you #purplepatchsquad, #svtc