Aaron Scheidies has won four triathlon world titles, but his primary goal for the New York City Triathlon on Sunday is simply to finish without crashing.

The race started right on time, and Brian Fleischmann and I were lined up right along the far left side of the deep water start. I was hoping we would start early since they had us lined up in 14 degree water over two minutes before the gun (and since I was number one I had an extra two minutes in the water at least). For all my nervousness about a deep water start I discovered there was nothing to worry about. I pulled away from the line quickly and met up with Tommy Zafaras (also coached by Victor Plata) around 150m into the swim. He’s fast, so I stuck on his feet until the second buoy. At that point I started having trouble following his line, and I decided it was time to push the pace anyway. I took the lead (thought apparently I was swimming a line that looked like a seismometer reading) and never looked back.

I was first out the water, and was surprised that the group behind me was strung out and I didn’t recognize anyone. I started off on the bike slowly, putting on my shoes and hoping somebody would catch up to work with me. I didn’t want to let up too much because I figured if people had to work to get up to me it would weed out anyone without the firepower to do so. One guy finally caught up, though when he did and I tuned on the gas he lasted less than half the lap before falling back.

From there I turned the 25 seconds I had out the water on the main group into 45 seconds by the end of the 3rd lap, then gave up 15 seconds and finished my solo 40k bike ride about 30 seconds up on a group of 11 that had been working to catch me. I ran like I was being hunted, eleven wolves drooling for the taste of victory if they could catch me. After the first lap (of 3) I had 27 seconds left.

On the sidelines Victor was encouraging me, “you look better than all of those guys! You’re not giving up any time! You won’t give up any time!!” Next to him was my college friend Brandon Basso yelling, “Ben! You look like a runner!!!”

Both helped. I put my head down and a lap later I had 35 seconds over the next runner, but I could see that Steve Sexton had made a move and was running away from the rest of his pack. At the final turn around Steve had closed the gap back to 27 seconds, but with only 1500 meters to go I was starting to think about the finish. I had to snap myself back into the race twice in that final stretch, reminding myself to focus on the moment, “C’mon Ben!” I told myself. “It’s not over yet, endure it.”

And I did. I arrived at finish chute with time to spare, strutted up to the line and grabbing the ribbon with the pride of a lion. This is my first win in an ITU race. Heck, it’s my first win at a legitimate pro race! And I did it the hard way! Solo for 51 kilometers!! I don’t know if it was guts or stupidity (maybe both) but it worked. My parents were there to watch, Victor was there to watch, Tracy and Brandon and Christine and Kelly all made it out to watch me race… it was so exciting! I love having friends and family there for me, and it’s even better when I get to give them a show.

As for the little things: my bike showed up from Reno this morning (huh?) but the only way to get it before the race was to ask my parents to pick it up. Then I sliced my finger nearly to the bone on a metal part of the case. (after being charged both ways I’m realizing this case was a mistake. I’ll have to go back to my homemade no-charge bike case v2.0 – which really doesn’t get charged.) Later on I struggled to get out urine so long that Victor and my dad had yo pack the bike (I haven’t looked inside yet…), and by the time awards were given out my dad was waving his watch at me trying to cut my speech short. I had to ask my mom to drive like road warrior to the Oakland airport in order to get me there at 4:57 for a 5:45 flight back to Denver. I checked in within a minute of the cutoff time, then found a CO2 cartridge in my backpack and was given secondary screening because I gave it to TSA rather than chancing it through the bag scanner. I still made it to the gate, though it wasn’t until I took my seat I felt like the race was finally over. Woohoo!

From there I was forced to remember that Denver International has extremely long security lines. They twist around past exhibits and information signs like a ride at Disney. I was glad I had arrived with plenty of time to spare.

The extra time I had allowed before my flight also made me a little surprised when my bike didn’t make it to Oakland. Southwest is normally very good about baggage, in fact, this may be the first time in dozens of flights that I’ve had to file a claim with them. Here I found one downside to flying Southwest: other airlines reimburse baggage fees when the bags don’t show up, Southwest doesn’t. I wasn’t too worried It was a direct flight; one of many direct flights from Denver, and not the last one of the day. I figured it would show up later last night, but when I called yesterday evening, there was still no knowledge of where it was.

In the meantime, I drove to Tiburon and borrowed a bike from Ian Charles. It’s a Scott road bike that’s so light weight I almost hope my bike doesn’t make it. I mean, it’s a little small, and the crank length is off, and it’s always strange riding someone else’s bike, but still, it’s a really nice bike. I rode it around for an hour last night, and if I have to use it, it’ll do the trick.

The first non-bike related problem was when I found out the swim start is a deep water start. ITU races are not normally deep water starts, and the last time I did this race they had a pontoon for us to dive off. I’m not a fan of deep water starts because with this many guys they become unnecessarily rough. People will grab and jab at each other (hopefully unintentionally) and it’s starts like this that are the reason one should wear padded goggles in a race. And if that alone won’t make the swim rough, there’s only 250 meters until the first turn buoy, so we have about 70 men who will likely be 15 or 20 men wide at the first buoy all trying to make a 120 degree turn. That’s going to be rough.

Luckily, I’m start number “1″ so I get to pick my position on the start line first. I’m going for one of the sides. I really don’t want to be in the middle when all these guys start beating at the water trying to get a grip.

So with a crazy swim, and a bike that’s not mine, I’m thankful that the run is exactly as expected. I have my K-Swiss K-Ruuz to run in, and that’s really all I need for the last leg of the race.

The Han River Park in the heart of the Yeoido Financial Centre will act as race headquarters, providing athletes with sweeping views of Seoul’s world-renowned architecture throughout the race. Seoul was recently named the 2010 World Design Capital in recognition of the city’s stunning modern architecture.

Fifty-six women are on the start list for Saturday’s race and none are generating more pre-race buzz than 22-year-old Chilean Barbara Riveros Diaz, who pulled off the surprise win at the Series opener in Sydney. In Seoul, Riveros Diaz will have the opportunity to prove that her upset win Down Under was no fluke. One thing is for certain—if the fast-running Chilean can hang with the front pack off the bike, she’ll be a threat to take the race on the run once again.

As strong as Riveros Diaz was in Sydney, when it comes time to pick a race favourite in the women’s contest, it’s hard to pick anyone but defending ITU World Champion Emma Moffatt of Australia. Moffatt finished third in the Sydney, an impressive accomplishment given that her early season training was slowed by a broken shoulder in February.

But Moffatt won’t be the only Emma from Australia in Seoul, as 2008 Beijing Olympic champion Emma Snowsill looks to make her comeback this weekend. Snowsill has been sidelined with a virus and was forced to sit out the Mooloolaba World Cup and the Series opener in Sydney.

Another to keep an eye on is perennial podium contender Andrea Hewitt of New Zealand, who found herself in the middle of the three-woman sprint to the line in Sydney. Hewitt appears in top form entering this season, after starting off the season with a win at the Oceania Championships in Wellington and a runner-up finish in Sydney.

Others to watch for on Sunday include Sweden’s Lisa Norden, who finished as the runner-up to Moffatt in last year’s world rankings and Switzerland’s Daniela Ryf, who finished ninth in Sydney.

Sixty-five men are set to start in the men’s contest and all eyes are on Kiwi Bevan Docherty, who ran away from the field to win the Series opener four weeks ago. After a disappointing end to the season last year, Docherty will be anxious to score another Series win, which will put the veteran well on the way to bettering his 13th-place world ranking from 2009.

Making things tough for Docherty will be Spaniard Javier Gomez, who finished second in the world rankings last year but was forced to sit out the 2010 Series opener in Sydney due to a hip injury. The hip has since healed and that means Gomez will be looking to make up for lost points in Seoul.

Currently sitting in second in the world rankings is Russian youngster Alexander Brukhankov, who finished just six seconds behind Docherty in Sydney and posted the day’s fastest run split. While the Russian has yet to win a major event, a sub 31-minute 10K on a tough course in Sydney proves he can run with the best of them. Brukhankov’s countryman, Dmitry Polyansky is also looking strong after finishing fourth in Sydney, and he’ll no doubt look to push the pace in the swim and lead out of the water.

As was the case in Sydney, two Olympic champions are on the start list in Seoul in the form of Canadian Simon Whitfield and Germany’s Jan Frodeno. Whitfield had a solid 2010 debut, finishing fifth in Sydney, while Frodeno was relegated to a disappointing 32nd-place showing after a bike crash entering the second transition.

Competitors will also have their eyes on Americans Hunter Kemper and Matt Chrabot, both of whom managed brief breakaways in Sydney. Chrabot and Kemper went on to finish 9th and 10th, respectively.  Reigning duathlon world champion Jarrod Shoemaker rounds out the strong American contingent in Seoul.

While the Russians and Americans have fielded strong teams for Seoul, perhaps the toughest competition in the men’s race will come from the French squad, headlined by third-place Sydney finisher David Hauss. CountrymanTony Moulai was at the front for the majority of the run en route to finishing sixth, while France’s top performer from the 2009 season, Laurent Vidal, finished eighth Down Under.

Be sure to tune into triathlonlive.tv on May 8 to catch all the racing action from Seoul as it happens. The women’s event kicks off at 10am local time with the men to follow at 1pm.

A week after my season opener in Monterrey, Mexico, and armed with a far better strategic plan, I finished 10^th at the Ishigaki World Cup, held on the southernmost island of Japan. Ishigaki is an idyllic setting for triathlon, and it’s no wonder that this particular race is the oldest World Cup on the ITU circuit. And with 15 years of experience, the race organizers have gotten the details finely tuned.

The swim, a two-lapper in the fishing harbor (protected from the hammerheads by shark nets) set off at a surprisingly fast pace led by an Australian swimmer. For the second week in a row I was 4^th from the water and found myself in a small breakaway on the bike. Unlike in Monterrey, however, this group showed animosity towards each other from the start. Every time someone pulled, another person would attack. This led to a situation I can only think to call “dead fish”. When the first chase pack caught us the situation didn’t change at all. When the second chase pack caught us it became clear that one of the other athletes was planning to attack. When he did, I followed his lead and took off after him – dragging a Japanese athlete with me. When that Japanese athlete came by me and took a pull it became clear that he was not breakaway material. But when I started to come around him he showed that he was also not qualified to ride in a group – he turned to look back, and in doing so he turned his bars and took his bike clear across the road and into me. Because he was ahead of me at that point, when our bikes met it was a losing position for me. I leaned against him in hopes of saving myself, but my bike flipped forward and I rolled to the ground.

Standing in the road bleeding as I looked at my crooked handle bars, all that went through my head was anger that I had traveled way too far for my race to end like this. I began to walk my seemingly broken bicycle to the side of the road, when a spectator handed me the bottle that had been launched onto the sidewalk. I took it, but must have given her a strange look – I was confused as to why I would need my bottle back when clearly my race was over. The streets were lined with thousands of fans, and there seemed to be a consensus that I should suck it up and start pedaling again. I took the bottle, grabbed my chain to put it back on the chain rings, and mounted my bike to the thundering cheers of the crowd.

Within a lap I caught back on to the group, but I had missed my breakaway opportunity. I did my best to recover from the effort, and to ignore my swelling hip as we started what would prove to be among the most difficult run courses on the World Cup Circuit. I suffered a bad transition – a trend, which I have struggled to improve – and began the run with a small deficit. I sprinted up the bridge and nearly caught the leaders, but then proceeded to suffer through the next lap and half – being dropped from the first, then the second, and then the third running packs. Beginning the final lap I was in roughly 20^th position. I looked ahead and forced myself to focus on every individual step – to ignore the distance remaining and inch my way back to the group in front of me. Slowly I came back to the runners ahead, passed a few, and then a few more. In the final kilometer I passed a pack of 4 runners and never looked back. I emptied the proverbial tank and found myself crossing the line in 10^th. To give you an idea of how competitive these races are, I was 6 seconds behind 7^th, and 10 seconds ahead of 13^th. 40 seconds faster and I would have been on the podium, which is what I had hoped for. Still, tenth at a world cup is a very strong result, and one that has moved me from 100^th in the ITU rankings up to 57^th (my highest ranking to date), and much better than letting a bad cyclist hand me a DNF.

I’ve learned a lot in the last 3 months. More than I thought I could. So when it came time to devise a race plan with Phil, I sat down and made it clear to myself what I needed to do to race well.

24hrs out of the race I began to execute this plan and stuck to it. Here is how it went.

For Mexican standards this race was cold. Water at 22c, air 20-25c with a cool wind made it important to stay warm at the start. I warmed up with a borrowed wetsuit, thx McCharles, and kept it on right up until they began calling us onto the pontoon.

The swim for this race was the area I had concern over. I had not been hitting the usual paces I tap out for 10days leading into this race.
All that changed though when I dove in and found myself on the hip of the leader. I then had a section where I struggled a bit and the mob was soon all over me. From there on I just had to focus on limiting the blows and contact in an effort to conserve yet still maintain contact with the group.

Have a look these swim videos to get the picture 1 and 2

Out of the water in usual fine fashion, AMac had seriously stung things out on the back half of the swim. A lead group of 8 or so joined andrew at the front. I found myself settled into the main pack of 25 I’d say. It included some heavy hitters on the bike(graves ,colucci, chrabot, butterfield) which had the pace cranked for 10k. I felt strong but still never got near the front until things settled a bit. The gap between the two groups shrunk to 30-40s and then stayed there throughout the 40k.

One engrained memory I have of the race was anticipating 4 or 5 water bottles to pop out as we rode over a large speed bump. I smiled as my $3 MEC holders did their job.

An error I made was coming into t2. I was too content and entered in near the back. This may have cost me up to 3 positions as I now look at the results.

In previous races I would sometimes dread the run. On this day though I looked at the run as my time to showcase the hard work put in and all the advice and support on running I received in the last while from all sources.

Focusing on maintaining contact with the group we set out for a fast first k. From 2-6k I felt very fluid and strong working my way up to 8th. The last lap I faded and couldn’t match butterfield and a few others who came by.

Crossing for 11th I was elated and proud to have been able to express how if you stick to a process your goals can come to fruition.

Thank you Phil, my teammates, Noa, Jairus, Gibson, Dr. Guan, and my friends and family.

Next up: More hard work and the Vancouver Sun Run for a real good rip at 10k.

Clubs register with USAT on an annual basis, and the organization needed just over three months to reach this record total. USAT had 50 clubs registered in 2000.

Triathletes ranging from newbies to pros can enhance their multisport experience by participating in a club. Club members train smarter, harder and have more fun with people of a like mind.

“We’ve seen phenomenal growth in our club program in recent years,” said Tim Yount, USAT’s senior vice president, sport development. “We’ve worked hard to create some outstanding benefits for our official clubs. Our membership sees the benefit in training with like-minded individuals, and I only see continued expansion for our club program.”

Visit usatriathlon.org to learn more about the club program and its benefits or to locate a club near you.

About USA Triathlon
USA Triathlon is proud to serve as the National Governing Body for triathlon – one of the fastest growing sports in the world – as well as duathlon, aquathlon and winter triathlon in the United States. USAT sanctions 3,100 races and connects with more than 130,000 members each year, making it the largest multisport organization in the world. In addition to its work with athletes, coaches, and race directors on the grassroots level, USAT provides leadership and support to elite athletes competing at international events, including World Championships, Pan American Games and the Summer Olympic Games.