Rev3 Branson + introduction

Ok, this will be my first blog post in English. I have no idea where to put the commas, but I'll try my best to make it readable for the native English readers.

Since it's my first post in English I'll briefly introduce myself, even though this blog has had more than 1000 international readers the past 2 years (I have no idea what they got from reading my blog in Danish, but some of the pictures are defiantly worth a look):
I'm a 22 year old Danish triathlete from Birkerød who competes only in short distance races (Sprint and Olympic distance). I've been doing triathlon for 3 years and so far my best results are a gold medal at the European sprint championship, bronze at the Danish sprint championship for U23 elite and a bunch of victories and podium finishes in smaller races + a number of medals in Age group championships in Denmark in both swimming and Triathlon.

My big goal for 2014 is to qualify for the Danish national youth/development team, which requires me to run a 10k in 33 min and swim 1500 in 18 min. This is a very ambitious goal, but I have the will, power and time to reach it. I have already made some very interesting plans and agreements for 2014, so stay tuned for more info (uuh a cliffhanger in the very first post - he is really trying to catch the reader's attention, well done).

Let's get back on track. This weekend I did my last triathlon of 2013 in Branson, Missouri. It was also the last race in the collegiate division, so valuable points were on the line for the winner.

It was a 11 hour drive, and we arrived in Branson at 11 pm Friday night. We had a nice breakfast with Honey Boo-boo people (actual quote by Peter) and headed out to do a training swim and bike before checking in at the 2 transitions.

4:30 Sunday morning, and I'm not ready to leave my warm bed, but Peter and Summer were already up and going. Their start waves were 45-30 min before mine, so I had plenty of time to get my transitions set up.

Swim:
With the words of my coach printed in the back of my head I was standing in the first line at the swim start. He had told me that I belong in the first group, and if I wasn't there I was going too slowly. Bang! Run! Dive! I looked to the side, no one there, looked to the other side, no one there. I was leading the swim for about 150 meters before a torpedo passed me, and another guy was at my side. I let him by and hung on to his feet for 2/3 of the swim. When we turned the last bouy we were swimming straight into the sun. I lost track of the guy in front of me and tried to find the course. I was passed by 3 guys without noticing them and lost a lot of time to the leader + i swam 200 meters more than everybody else.

I'm the guy in the Blue Seventy Helix to the left on the top picture and I'm the one in front on the bottom one

Bike:
After the crazy bike course in Iowa I decided to have a more conservative bike and save some energy for the run. That plan didn't work, and I just rode it like a time trial. They had closed a highway for the triathlon and we had 4 lanes to bike on - nice! When I took the exit on the highway to do the last 10 km (6mi) to the transition I suddenly had a motorcycle in front of me and another athlete right behind me. I knew what that meant, I'm leading the race but there is another guy right behind me that might be a killer on the run. I stepped on the pedal and rode the old Focus a bit harder and gained about a minute on him before T2.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/380278316

Run:
I had a little electric car in front of me on the first 5 k of the run and it was a nice pacer. After 2.5 k I had a 2 minute lead and I began to believe in myself and that I could win this one. After 5 k

I couldn't even see number 2 and I had a 4 minute lead when i crossed the finish line and was announced the winner of the Olympic Rev.

It was a really nice way to end the season especially after my last two races that didn't work out as I had hoped.

My training for the national team tryouts starts now and I look forward to training with the tri-team in Madison and I think that the next couple of months in the US will be unforgettable.

PS: big thanks to MN Triathlon team for great pictures and for cheering on the course!