Where to start with a recounting of one of my most enjoyable trips to date? Probably from the beginning...

After racing Ironman Pucon 70.3 in 2008, I had always wanted to make my way to the southern hemisphere again for a chance to soak in the beauty of northern Patagonia and give my body an early season fitness boost. So plans were laid starting almost a year ago, and I eagerly awaited my return to the paradise that is Pucon. I was lucky to have my father along, and his energy for the trip and being race support made everything more enjoyable. He even managed to track down contact cement and a brush for me at a local hardware store so I could replace a tubular, without much Spanish.  Add to it that a good high school friend, Luke Sorrick, was heading down from his home in Santiago to watch me compete, and I was in good company for the weekend.

Our travel down was almost completely without incident, and having slept somewhere close to 4 or 5 hours during the flights, I settled into the long daylight hours of the Araucania region. Having the added advantage of understanding and speaking the language, we made our way around without incident, preparing for the race and meeting the organizing crew. Over the years, I have come to appreciate the ease of staying right near or at the host hotel, and this was no exception. The Gran Hotel Pucon provided a great base for all of our activities, and made race prep a breeze. One of the highlights for me was watching the kid’s race and then handing out their awards. Brilliant stuff.

It’s easy to say that you didn’t have high expectations after a race is over and you didn’t win or podium, but I was very realistic about where my fitness was and what my goals were for this race. I wanted to make this a true vacation event; giving my best effort for where I was on the day, and focusing on enjoying the travel and experience as a whole over any vision of being on the top step this early in the year. After taking significant time off of running after my injury, I was just happy to be in a position to complete the distance again and kickstart my real training for 2012.

The race doesn’t need much recounting, but as it is billed as being the most beautiful race in the world, it certainly deserves a little attention. The swim starts in beautiful lake Villarrica, and I was assured that the pristine waters could be consumed without ill effect if one so desired. I got off to a great start, and at about 200 meters, I discovered the only real issue with the lake: a loose line hanging between the smaller buoys wrapped around my arm and I had to take a couple seconds to pull the loop from my arm. It happened two more times, and by the time I exited the water, I was down to the leaders by a bit over a minute. Onto the bike, a two-loop affair with a steady power climb and rollers out, I could tell instantly that my power wasn’t there. It’s hard to know in your mind where you have been in peak form and not be able to reproduce it, but I took time to enjoy the views of the smoking, snow-capped volcano, massive forests, and hundreds of fans lining the main street on each lap. It’s not to say that I didn’t try, but my best effort wasn’t enough to match the other athletes on the day.

Still, I hung tough and came off the bike in the top ten. The run was a question mark, but after sitting on the shoulder of my friend Mario de Elias for the first loop, I settled into a good pace and kept clicking off miles. I was well clear of the pursuers, and Mario was in sight, but even as a dug deep at the end, I couldn’t quite pull back his small lead for fifth. The punishing three loop run course is one of the hardest around, in my opinion, and I was just content to keep things pretty even and come in with one of the better runs for the day. A long story shortened, I was happy with my effort, felt like I went hard all day, and I produced a respectable time and placing for such an early season race.

So, with the race in the bag, we rolled into the celebration phases of the trip, joining the race crew out for a good night of pisco sours, vino tinto, and cervezas. I called it a night long before the real partiers, but we still had fun exchanging stories from the race and getting to know each other better. The next day brought a wonderful asado at the lake house of Francisco and his family in Calafquen, complete with wakeboarding, jetskiing, and plenty of “recuperation” in the form of various Chilean adult beverages. Fortunately, my dad and I called it quits early enough that we could be ready to summit the volcano the next day… which we did. The climb isn’t particularly hard, and we lucked out by having our own small group for the ascent with our guide Nicolas and a pleasant day in terms of weather. After reaching the peak around noon, we had a little food, felt the instant panic that rises from breathing sulfur from the most active volcano in Chile, and then slid down snowfields to the bottom. Of course this was not the end, as the theme of warm hospitality carried on through our time there, and we were invited to spend an afternoon and evening at the lake house of the former race director, Pedro. Sitting on the dock of lake Colico in the breeze of a perfect summer day, I hope, will be a memory that never escapes me.

The end of our trip came as rapidly as the beginning, and now I am back in the familiar surroundings of my winter training grounds. I feel refreshed, more aware, and ready for the season ahead. A huge thanks to all my sponsors, my family, training partners, and the race crew in Chile. I have a feeling it’s going to be a good year…