No I am not talking about a symptom of a night of imbibing in a few too many spirits, but better still a Triathlon in Ellensburg Washington that rides up and over a hill with that very name. I had heard how this was a notoriously hard bike course and after my near misses and progress at the last couple races, I was hungry for something big to happen. The wind was blowing at a good clip, about 20 mph when we arrived at the river where the swim portion was being held. My coach Daryl said, “This is your course Brent. It is a rough swim and a giant hill for 12 miles on the bike with a headwind the whole way, it was built for you” We started the swim and I was determined to not let the front group put too much time into me. I came out of the water in 29 minutes, for a mile swim it was not bad.Swim stats I got on the bike and went to work. As you can see from the bike file of the race, it was a rough slog up with the hill and I caught first place at about mile 10, from there I put it in my mind to put as much time as I could into everyone else. When I am in that much pain on the bike I always remember the words of one of my personal hero’s, world champ Sebastian Kienle, “If it is hurting me, it is killing them” I pushed on and after what seemed like an eternity, I saw the transition zone and hopped off the bike in a great state of mind. I would find out how far the others were behind at the turnaround point at mile 2. I ran at a good pace, and was feeling great at the turnaround point. I kept on the lookout for 2nd place. When I saw them I gained hope. They all looked tired and I knew all I had to do was finish. I hit the last hill and got a side ache but slowed a little and ran through it. When I saw the finish line I was overjoyed and hit the tape in Peter Sagan fashion.Run Stats I might have been watching a little too much Tour De France lately. Afterword I did a small interview with the local paper and it felt amazing when second place came in 3 and a half minutes back. I am always humbled and amazed at the support of my girlfriend Leslie, my coach Daryl Smith and everyone that works so hard at these events. Thanks to wander brewing with supplying me fuel for the journey. Looking forward to stepping up the competition at Lake Meridian here in August. Here are the links to the newspaper articles if you wish to see some quality journalism. http://www.yakimaherald.com/sports/recreation/bellingham-s-hartwig-wins-whisky-dick-triathlon/article_b1c47bf6-34f1-11e5-844a-33168d839f38.html
http://www.dailyrecordnews.com/members/whisky-dick-triathlon-returns/article_b5b717fa-34a1-11e5-816f-7be250897580.html