Well, last night marked the end of the Texas A&M regular season. I personally think the 6-6 record is good when one considers where the team was last year and how many true freshman started this year. I think Jesse Palmer said something (last night) along the lines of “80% of TAMU production this season (sacks, rushing yards, passing yards, etc.) came from freshman.” I have no idea of the accuracy of that statement, but I get the idea: the team is young.

The low points of the season came against Arkansas, Kansas State, and Oklahoma. TAMU was an absolute disaster in these games (particularly against KSU and OU), but I get that. At least, I understand how someone can have days when they don’t even recognize themselves. I’ve certainly experienced it in my own racing. I’ve toed the line on some days in the past where anyone with a pulse could have kicked my ass. However, I do believe that over time I have consolidated these moments to one or two times a year (Boise 70.3 would take the cake this year). If they could reduce this to 1-2x next year, and less the following year, then I think they are right on track for being the team they want to be. (Especially when the team is lined with Juniors and Seniors that have been playing TOGETHER for 2-3 consecutive seasons).

The middle ground for TAMU was beating Utah State by 8; losing a close game to OSU at home, and losing an OT game to CU on the road. I suppose on paper it would seem that the CU game was the worst, but CU is an interesting ball club. I get to see them play more than any team, since I live in Boulder, and I honestly cannot understand why they have the record that they have (but that’s a whole other story).

The high points of the season came with the other five wins (obviously) and clearly the victory over Texas Tech in Lubbock was the highest of all. It certainly saved Kines and Sherman from a lot of severe scrutiny (they still get plenty). If you had swapped that Tech victory with a loss againt KSU or CU I don’t think folks would be as confident in Sherman and co. He needed one stand-out victory and that was it.

Now its time to wait for bowl selection. It looks like it might be the Texas Bowl versus Navy or the Independence Bowl against Tenn or Georgia. Hopefully they can close out the season with a victory to make 2009 a winning season.

Thanks for the Season TAMU. Keep it rolling in 2010.

jd

I always find it difficult to write about races that really did not go as I would have preferred. I sit around and try to think of writing a race report in a way that doesn’t sound like I’m making excuses, but it never works out. Ultimately I will read my draft and toss it aside. Having said that, I will try to explain the race as I remember it without really trying to read (too much) into why things did not work out.

The Swim: In the 24 hours before the race the east winds had picked up and we had a nice chop/surf on race morning. I prefer nice, flat water as I tend to have a lower swim turnover than some of my other colleagues. I had a less-than-ideal start, but eventually I felt better and started to swim with a nice rhythm. Unfortunately the group I was originally with gapped me when we turned east into the swells on the first loop and I ended up exiting the water about one minute behind them.

The Bike: I felt good for nearly the entire bike (its impossible to feel perfect the whole way, but this is probably as good as it gets for me in the pro race). There were times that were more heated than others, but I never felt weak, bonked, wrecked, etc. It was one of my better rides and after exiting the water in the 16th place, I came off the bike in 6th with 5th only a minute or so ahead of me. I also set a new 180K PR which was 4:32 (fastest of the day was 4:28 which was done by the eventual winner).

The Run: I was optimistic about how the day was going as I set out on the run. I know this run course very well and its easy for me to break it up mentally. I moved into fifth place around the 2nd mile of the run and kept rolling along at a pace of 6:30-35/mile. I set out to hold better than 2:54 marathon pace and everything was working out nicely. I was under the impression that places 1-4 were further up the road, but by mile 4 I had moved into 4th and I could see 3rd place was shortly up the road.

Things were going very well and I remember consciously thinking “be calm.” I just wanted to keep rolling along at my pace as everything seemed to be coming together nicely. I was within 20 seconds of 3rd place when eventual 3rd place finisher, Massimo Cigana, caught me and ran by. No worries. He caught 3rd place quickly and they began to pull away together.

Even though they were pulling away, it was not because I was slowing down. I kept seeing 6:30/mile splits and as their gap grew I felt their was a good chance they would blow each other up. At any rate, I was still on pace to have a great race (for me) regardless of how they performed. However, just as I was reaching the turnaround I started to feel really lousy and by the end of Mile 14 I had gone from running to slowly jogging. I assumed I was experiencing some sort of bonk so I pounded sugar at the next aid station. These episodes are not common for me, but like most athletes, I have bonked while racing.

I kept this up for a couple more aid stations, but then it became clear that this was something more than blood sugar; I was just straight up slowing down. Regardless of having a good day until then, it was clear I was going to have to do everything I could to try and consolidate any spot in the money I was still in. However, soon enough I was pushed out of the top 8 and the last 7-8 miles of the day was really just some personal time as I tried to get to the finish line.

I finished the day in 8:48 and 11th place.

That is basically everything as I remember it. I can speculate about why I slowed down, but I cannot come to any definitive conclusion other than the undisputed one: just wasn’t my day.

2009 has been all over the place for me and I am ready to put all my lessons of this season to use in 2010.

The season starts early next year: Challenge Wanaka (NZ) in January. See you all then,

jd

I will be traveling for the better part of the day to Panama City Beach, Florida. I am racing Ironman Florida on Saturday morning @ 6:45 CST. You can follow live web updates during the race on www.ironman.com.

You can also follow me on twitter (though not actually during the race):

www.twitter.com/justindaerr

See you in fl,

j