So qualifying for the World Championships came down to Ironman 70.3 Cancun. The Spring 2010 training and race season went well with solid performances @ New Orleans and Ironman St. George. Those races set me me up perfectly for the "race of my life" in Cancun.Then, Murphy's Law...
It started with some weird stomach virus that forced me to take a week off in early June...I lost 10 pounds and literally didn't eat anything for 7 days. Finally recovered, I headed north to drop JJ off at camp and managed to put my elbow through a glass table at a Bike Store in Richmond, VA. This required 4 stitches. Then, there was a severe case of Strep Throat that I caught on July 4th in Ocean City, NJ. This required 3 trips to Urgent care and 4 rounds of antibiotics, steroids and inhalers to knock out the bacteria and build back my lung capacity. Then there was a Levaquin (antibiotic) scare where I mysteriously tore my right calf muscle on an LSD training run.
Not to mention the economy sucks, the family businesses are struggling and Baby Ben recently entered his terrible twos. Never a dull moment!
So - I was obviously NOT 100% entering Mexico for Ironman 70.3 Cancun in mid-September. I was gimpy with calf pain and officially had viral pneumonia on race morning. Wasn't Cancun the official incubator for Swine Flu in 2009??? Nice!
What else could go wrong? Well the day before the race, I brought my bike case to the mechanics for assembly. Low and behold...they were gone. Only in Mexico. The Program says they would be there from 10 Noon to 5 PM. It's 2 PM and they were now where to be seen. Panicked, I asked a diminutive security guard to hold my bike as I tried to put it together. Ninety minutes go by. It was 96 degrees outside the Expo. I am drenched, coughing, hungry and thirsty.
So Pepe spoke no English and just sat there patiently holding the bike as I cut my hands on the chain and stripped two bolts in my aero bars. You really can't make this stuff up. We finally got it together and I rushed to transition to park my bike. Of course, I broke my back bottle cage on the transport bus...so I had nothing to hold my water bottles. That's okay because race day averaged 93 degrees and 95% humidity. Who needs liquid nutrition?
So on race day morning, after another night of fake sleep, I take my medicine (albuturol, symbosis, steroids, antibiotics, Flonase and ibuprofren) and head to race start. International racing is a trip. No one knows where to go and no one likes Americans. This was "Viva Mexico" and Mexican rules all the way.
Gun blasts and I am off. First 800 meters of the swim were solid but the salt air and heightened heart rate started to get the best of me...I was laboring with my breathing...A little panic but all in all, a solid first half. I missed the far buoy and lost a minute...but the second half was down-current and I flew.
I get out in just over 31 minutes which is my best swim for a half Ironman. It was a 500 meter run to transition which was tough...but I had a GREAT spot and was out on the bike course in no time.
The Cancun bike course was Booooorrrriiinnnggg!!! Through the back bush land. But it was fast. It started with a 15 mile straight course with a tail wind and then 13 back into the wind ... double loop. There was HEAVY drafting...Big packs heading into the wind and no officials to regulate the cheating. As Coach Angie warned, "you have to draft or you are toast"...I tried here and there for a few miles but I am just NOT into drafting. It's more fear of crashing vs. fear of being penalized. I had fun dumping water on competitors who tried to draft off of me.
My goal was to average 21 mph. If I could do this and then a sub-2 hour half marathon, I would have a shot at qualifying for Worlds...At 45 miles, the clouds opened and there was a torential down-pour...and this was into the wind. I couldn't see anything and my speed decreased to 18 mph...
But, I rolled into T-2 @ 2:39 which is 21 mph on the BUTTON. Unfortunately, my Newtons and socks were "floating" about 5 feet from my bike slot. It was a flood in T-2. As I laced em up, the sun came back out and the black-top was "steaming" - It was surreal.
I noticed in T-2, that there were 10 bikes on my rack...which meant I was in 10th place. I knew that there would be 4-6 slots for Worlds with a few roll-downs...I had a shot...First mile was about 8:15. Not good. I was in trouble early. The sun was blazing and the roads were jet black. No wind. Official temp. was 93. I was getting passed by 1, then 2 and then 3 40-44 year olds...My hopes were fading. Is it possible I was so good on the bike but would choke on the run?
Thank God for the volunteers and aid stations. They were at every kilometer...I dumped water on my head and drank at every station. At about Mile 3, I started to have a feeling that walking was a possibility...But then at Mile 7, after the turn around, I got a second wind. I started sensing that more people were slowing down and I could pick em off. I saw 5 competitors passed out cold on the side of the rode. They were toast.
Maybe the summer training in Fort Myers would pay off.
I felt strong at Mile 10 and sped up. No chance I would walk. I passed 1, then 2, then 3 4o year olds. Every time I passed them, I tried to pass them with authority to break their heart. At Mile 12, I passed a 41 year old "wobbler" who was in trouble. I calculated that I was probably in 14th place in my age.
I then caught a Mexican guy just before Mile 13 and I said, "let's do this"...I sprinted. He sprinted. He dropped me like a bad habit. I asked him if he was trying to qualify for Worlds and he said "yes - but we have no shot." Not good. Running through the finish, I felt let down. I felt good that I finished and good that I nailed the Swim and Bike. I felt good that I dealt with injury, pain and sickness and didn't flagger out. But I ran a 2:06 half marathon which is lame for me...a runner by nature with a 1:34 PR. Five months earlier, I went 1:52 in a hot New Orleans run venue.
Total time was 5:26. My goal was 5:10 - which would have been 6th place.
Turns out, I finished 13 out of 133 in my age group. Good but probably not good enough.
Then, the fun begins. I go to the awards assembly and learn that due to the number in my AG, they are letting 6 go to Worlds instead of 4. I then learn that only 2 of the first 6 finishers took the slot. So now I have to wait for the awards and then they start the roll-down. That means there are 6 guys in front of me for 4 slots. The first 3 go immediately. Then they call the 10th place guy...Not there. 11th place....NOT THERE. OMG. They call the 12th place guy and it was like slow motion...An eternity - "Please God - Call my name..." Then, it happened - "In 13th place, John Gamba from USA, are you here"....YES, YES, YES...I am here!!!
I'm in. I made it to the World Championships. I'm hyperventilating...Despite the pneumonia, bike woes, torn calf, hot conditions, tough competition, lack of sleep, lack of food, I make it in. I am going to the Worlds in Clearwater!!!! Frantically, I call Mel, call T-bart, text everyone I can think of..."I am going to Worlds"...I am going to compete against the best triathletes in the world!!! That was the best night sleep ever!!!
Yes I can!!!
