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BrianGuThis space intentionally left blank. May 12 PIR 32nd monday night PIR (http://www.obra.org/), 3rd PIR race.
14 laps, 25mi. Race time: ~1hr (avg 25mph, awww yeah)
Goal: Hide in the pack, conserve; Keep an eye on the lead pack to make sure they don't get away. On the last few laps, start working towards the top 10. Stay with the top 10 pack to sprinting distance and go for it!
Actual: I did a much better job at hiding this race. I learned that there are a lot of false sprints that quickly get reabsorbed into the pack, so don't bother surging with them. There was one point where I was feeling strong and found myself moving through the pack quickly and semi-accidently found myself in the breakway pack. Once I realized this wasn't going anywhere I dialed back to conserve. It was a big breakaway attempt, so maybe it wasn't too dumb. But it tought me how easily I'm seduced into those things... I recovered and refocused. Last lap was super fast and I moved up to the top 10. Came up to about top 5 on the final turn and hid. There were 3 team riders working together, so they went hard. I kind of got boxed in and had to get in the wind early, but overall I came across somewhere towards the front. I was super excited on a much better result than last week.
Side note: I had a n-used crank and bottom bracket put on to replace my worn one. That thing rocks. FSA K-Force carbon cranks. (Thanks http://www.AthletesLounge.com, my tri-team sponsor.) I also had on my race wheels (HED 60s) to deal with long straights of PIR. My bike was so much lighter than I was used to, that I had to learn how to corner again, as it was drifting in hard turns. But i think the gear helped reduce my overall effort required and let me keep that edge for the finish.
April 13 Spring Classic Duathlonhttp://www.racecenter.com/results/2008/scdu08.htm 5k run/15mi bike/5k run on a windy, flat course. 38th/231 overall, 14th fastest bike split. bib #61, time: 1:28:44 (goal 1:35)
This was my first running race since Clearwater in Nov, 2006. I started running again in December with a mix of water running and treadmill. A couple of weeks ago, I added flat trail running to the mix. This was my first time on pavement. Hence, I pretty much expected to turn about 30+min 5ks, as that's about what I had been running in training. Adding up my expected times, i thought a 1:35 would be awesome. My race plan was simple: run, bike hard, run. Ideally, I wanted a negative split on the run to force myself from going out too hard.
With that in mind, I started up at the front of the pack for the race, cuz I wanted to be with the cool kids :) Strangely enough, whent he gun went off, I hung with the group. My HR was ramping slowly and I was under threshold so I knew I cold hold my own. Yet, my first reaction was that "this sucks" as I began to experience running "work" - something I'm not quite used to yet. Soon though, my legs loosened up and I was comfortably holding a solid tempo. I had no intentions of racing the runs, so I didn't question my speed until I saw on my garmin I was crusing around 9.5mph - and figured it was wrong. At about mile 3 some guy announces to a neighber that we've been running 7:08's. I was shocked :)
I had planned on hammering the bike hard. Compared to my normal training rides, even the hardest 15mi ride would not empty my tank. So I got on my bike, turned the corner into a solid head wind. Flat out, i was moving 17-19mph in full aero gear. Once I hit the turn-around, I hovered just below 30mph - hittting a max of ~32. AWWW. YEEAH. Off run 1, I was about 76th. On the bike, I reclaimed about 47 positions with the 14th fastest bike that day. A solid ride in my book.
Run 2 was fairly easy cuz I knew I was nearly done. Race position damage control. The first two miles I just slowly ramped my speed. Once I realized I could finish under 1:30, I focused on making that happen and then cranked it up with about .5 to go. To finish under 1:30 was crazy satisfying.
This race was a real eye-opener for me on all the good training I've been doing. Now that I'm self-coaching, I don't always have that reference point to understand where I stand. Group training rides are one thing, but it seems until you have a race, it's hard to know how it's all adding up. I'm really pleased with this milestone.
Additionally, this race was the first time I got to meet a lot of my fellow teammates from the Ironheads tri team. It's inspiring to see a group of friendly and well-conditioned athletes really kick ass.
Note: aside from those down in IMAZ, this race is chock full of local Portland talent...so this is another reason I feel great about my result. September 10 Mt Baker Hill Climb 2007Well, back at it again, are we? How about we make the first race of the season a race up Mt Baker? Why not...I like a challenge. Hell, it's only 24.5 mi...(did I mention the 4000+ ft net elevation gain?)
Actually, I like to think of this race report as moral support for all those who have had or are going to have surgery and wonder if they'll race again. For me this race was a huge psychological victory and in the end I was rewarded with a finish far better than I expected. I couldn't have done this without my friends. (You know who you are.)
time 1:48:48: (30th?) goal was to finish, no idea of time.
This is only ~3 min slower than last year. Wow!
I signed up for this race June'ish, as I needed a goal for training. With my surgery in December 2006, it was June 16th when i made my first outdoor ride - 1 loop around lake wash in about 4:15. My training strategy was partly determined by my knee and partly determined by my new philosophy - very low intensity, high volume. I targeted about 12-15hrs/week with a goal of an estimated 250mi/week. It took some time to ramp up the volume, and playing with intensities so that i would not aggravate my knee. I agreed to have some litmus tests along the way to see if this race was feasible.
My "peak" training period was at IMC, when i did the course twice over 3 days (1 day rest). My knee hurt a bit afterwards, so i took 2 days off, then a few days later i went on 5days vacation and did some water running in a pool during this time. When I returned from vacation, i wasn't sure i would do this race. It wasn't until spin class Thursday night that I realized I really *needed* to do this race. So there it was, I would give it a shot. Didn't know what would happen...just go for it.
My pre-race prep consisted of (unplanned) partying Friday night (tequila and beer) followed by a semi-stupor combined with hydration therapy on Saturday. I used muscle-milk...that stuff is amazing.
I coordinated with a fellow SBR'r, Michael, to get a ride and we were off to Mt Baker. Fortunately for me, we were about the same level which would be useful for us both later in the ride. During our warmup ride, I watched my HR rise and thought, "Dang, this first climb is pretty tough...this may be a long day." Our warmup ride got us back late and we started way in the back of the ~300 rec riders. Once we were off, it was fun to sift through the mass and head to the front. Within a few miles, Michael and I were within reach of the front. I kept pushing forward and soon, I was about 20th. By mile ~10 I was in the lead - not entirely by choice, as people kept peeling off after pulling.
During the second climb, I fell back a bit, as I couldn't hold the wattage I needed to keep up. Micheal and I found ourselves in no-man's-land, so we started slingshotting each other until we caught up to the lead pack. This sucked, but it was worth it. My HR data shows a big drop in HR for the next few miles before the main climb.
At about 10k to go, I looked at my watch and realized I was doing *really* well. I was very close to my time last year - and perhaps could even beat it!! My legs were feeling well, so from this point on, I focused on going my hardest sustainable pace. Knowing the course helped...but overall, it seemed easier than I remember. With 3k to go, I opened it up and at 1k, went as anaerobic as I could go.
I didn't leave much, if anything, on the table...My HR data shows I was 170-180's the whole way, peaking 192 at the finish. That's just how I roll.
As you might imagine, this ride was pretty emotional at times. There were times when I thought how it wasn't long ago, I couldn't even walk, let alone race up a mountain.
Thanks Shelly [Pro Club PT], you're the best! 'nuff said.
November 11 Ironman World Championship 70.3Overview:
Bib #: 316 Final time: 5:12:06
Swim: 34:00 Bike: 2:30:52 Run: 1:59:31 PreRace: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...kinda cheesy, but true
The final 8hrs before the race ranks way up in the list of hardest times I've ever had to go through. During the last few weeks prior to the race my right calf/achilles/ankle/heel facia were irratated, and I couldn't seem to shake the problem. I sincerely thank all who sent "good luck" email, as it meant a lot to me that night.
The day before the race I went to get a massage at the expo, and he helped me sort out what it was. At least I knew what I was dealing with, and that made me a lot happier. Neverthless, about midnight before the race, my calf was just screaming out and it became a serious question as to whether I would even start the race. I felt like the pain was inevitable; when would it come and how bad would it be? I willed myself to continue to the race, and it wasn't easy.
During the night I realized I had put too much pressure on myself to do well at this race. My conclusion was that, to some extent, the pain was aggravated by distress. Changing jobs at work, training, the "world championship," personal pressure seemed to take its toll. I hadn't realized how much changing jobs at work affected me; once I did, my calf calmed down quite a bit. Eventually, I got to the point where I was like, "I don't care about this race" and I fell asleep somewhat peacefully.
I got to the transition area 5:45 and was body marked, etc. Saw Chris Legh (#1), which was badass... I felt "sorry" (how can you feel sorry for a guy who races like that? :-)) for him because there was a camera crew staring him straight in the face as he sat there next to his bike getting into his pre-race zone. As I stood at the porta-potty line, the guy with no legs (front of Triathlete mag) was behind me. Well, I figured, this guy has no legs, so an achy leg should be managable. Later I also saw Sarah, which was baddass too.
Swim: (34:00, goal 35:00 or less)
The swim was a beach start. I stood there queued up in the pen and watched the pro's go and saw the helicopter flying around, and really began to feel like the race was actually gonna happen - whether I liked it or not. I was relatively detached at this point, as I could feel my foot ache a bit while standing in the sand.
Boom!! off we went, ran into the gulf flopping around until it was deep enough to swim. The first few hundred yards were really tough and congested and it'd be hard to call it swimming. About 400yds in, it was much better and the ocean swim was going better than I thought it would.
My right shoulder had some issues about a month ago, and I had to rebuild my stroke over the last few weeks. This was my 3rd open water swim since august. The good news about the shoulder injury was that it forced me to work on my form and efficiency, which is now higher. Hence, at the turn-around I was feeling very good with a lower HR than I had at Lake Stevens.
I calculated correctly, and the sun was in your eyes for the entire swim back. I used my dark goggles, and it was no problem. Getting onto the shore was nearly as tough as getting into the gulf, as people were everywhere and it was important to stay out of trouble.
T1: (3:36)
We had bags at transition, so you had to grab your bag, go into the tent, find a seat, etc. It was very slow and I wasted a bunch of time. The volunteers were great and would handle stuffing your bag with the swim gear, but I felt like it was glacially slow. I wasn't too concerned about the slowness of the T, because truth-be-told, I wasn't really looking forward to the aggravation of my calf muscle, so I was fairly relaxed. The bike corral was big and I ran in my cycling shoes...I need to master that pre-clip in trick. Bike: (2:30:52 22.27mph, goal 2:30 or less)
One word: peleton. I mean, Holy Cow. I saw monster packs of bikes in groups drafting like crazy. It was good I've done at least one bike race, because that's what this was. Drafting was the norm, by far. Nevertheless, I tried to avoid it. For me, the main key was to slowly ramp up my legs to avoid spikes and enflame my calf. I sat very comfortably in the 140-155 range, mostly in the 140's for the first 28mi. Then, something interesting happend. My mood changed changed at the half way point. Not sure why, but my mood changed much for the positive. I guess I realized I was doing it, and my calf was holding up while I was still crusing near my goal HR and pace.
With my rented 404's and my new aero helmet, I admit my efficiency was noticably higher. For the HR I was putting out, I avg'd 22.27mph!! I figured, I would have plenty left in the tank for the run, and I was right.
T2: (4:07, includes bathroom break)
OK, this is where things got very interesting. I opened up my bag and took out my shoes and "Oh My God" were the words the came out of my mouth as I looked at my shoes and realized I had forgotten to put my orthotics in the shoes the night before. There was nothing in the shoe, not even a stock insole. At this point, I had to make a choice between DNF and "give it a try." Without too much thought, I gave it a try. Run: (1:59:31 [9:07 pace], goal 9 min/mi pace)
sub-context: I've only done about 30 land miles for running since may; most of these have been in races. Today makes ~43mi. The majority of my training comes from water training.
The run started quite well, despite my shoe question. I told myself this is just like boot camp before my knee problem back in May. I had run 13mi before like this, I can do it again. I was right. Overall, the shoe issue may have been a blessing in disguise as I didn't have any calf problem other than (expected) fatigue over the run. Certainly, some stability issues were there; the outside of my right knee was really hurting at mile 9 and I had to will my form to stay stable.
For the run, my ideal goal was to see if I could shave off enough time to crack 5hrs; at the time, I thought 9min/mi would do it. So I found a pace that worked for me and hung out there. The first loop went by pretty quickly and I was pumped. Four trips over the causeway does take its toll, even though I was very careful not to overexert there. About 9mi in to the run, I had to dig deep and keep my legs moving and my form solid. I kept smiling as much as possible, because I was super happy to be making it, but it was hard - Thanks Shelly!!
Last trip over the causeway, 2mi to go. I turned my cadence way up and shortened my stride to be efficient as possible. It really worked. I was running pretty fast for my level of muscle fatigue.
I really enjoyed listening for the cow bells Meredith was ringing. I think she was the only who had them and I could pick them out and find her pretty easily. Very nice support when your cruising up the causeway. It was a great joy to tell her, "See you at the finish!!!" as I began my second lap. I was almost there!!!
The last mile was a real joy. I really took it in and enjoyed the final stretch. Mentally and cardio-wise, I was solid. My legs were shot, but I had made it. As I entered the final stretch before the shoot, I pumped my arm to the crowd to get them going. It was amazing how much this boosted me and I moved to a full sprint the rest of the way.
Summary:
Crossing the finish line was one of the best things I'v ever done. It was so hard to will myself to race knowing I had a inevitable source of serious pain, but I did it. It was hard to let people pass me on the bike, knowing the bike was my strength, but I leveraged my bike efficiency for the run. With the run, the crazy shoe issue tested me again, but I made it. Not only that, I PR'd by ~15 minutes.
Thanks to all my support folks, you know who you are ;-) It's been quite a year!!
Lessons learned:
1) it's not about your time, but more about realizing your potential on that day. the potential is more or less determined by many factors, some external, but you have control over how much you realize on that day.
2) when the top finishers draft on the bike, you are in a different race if you do not.
3) get another set of orthotics - alternatively, don't wear them when they should be in your race shoes.
4) smile a lot, it helps you enjoy the race a great deal more.
5) having a lot of support from friends is invaluable
P.S.
went to awards banquet. quite inspirational. got to see Blazeman!! there's nothing like Worlds.
September 24 Black Diamond Sprint TriRACE: Black Diamond Sprint Tri [.5mi swim, 11mi bike, 2.8mi run]
BIB #: 564
TIME: 1:08:18
PLACE: 7/230 overall, 2/15 in AG
OVERVIEW:
Same course as Cascade's Edge (CE) Sprint Tri (see below). My goal was to beat my previous time. It was a beautiful day, but the recent rains had definitely left the grass a bit wet around the start/finish. A pretty strong field, about 2x of Cascade's edge participants I believe.
NUTRITION:
[9am start]
Leave house @ 5:35 - have clif bar and protein shake with 27g protein.
get coffee on the way, nursed this a bit.
ate half clif bar about 7:15
ate carb-boom @ 8:40, as I didn't quite feel 100% on the carbs. It was cool out and I felt like I was burning energy just to stay warm.
SWIM: [12:55]
The 9am start turned into a 15min wait in 61F water. I was shivering in the lake as they waited to start the race...COLD! [it was a good thing I ate the carb-boom!]
I wanted to take the swim harder than I did for CE, so I started closer to the front. However, since I was cold, I didn't feel quite right until about the half-way point, at which I totally amped it up and worked to have a fast cadence with strong catch. Overall, the swim felt good but it's hard to get out of the lake and run up the hill after you've been going flat out in 61F water...go figure.
T1: [the official time appears to be horked; they seem to have given everyone 3min]
I lost tons of time @ CE in T1. I wanted to fix that. No socks, no gloves, no computer, nothing. Helmet, glasses, shoes. Gone. It felt much faster than CE.
BIKE: [30:01]
Goal: 30:00 or less
I wanted to ride the course harder than CE and take less time to dial-in at the beginning. I knew my legs could handle the effort, so I rarely looked at my watch and went primarily by RPE. This was my first ride with my new Helmet, LG Rocket. Took almost no getting used to, as it fit well and felt good. Much quieter than open helmet. I felt fast...that's always good. One guy passed me, and we traded places a couple times. He eventually pulled away, and it was going to be too much RPE to take him on again, so I focused on passing other people.
I saw the leader come back as I was still heading to the turnaround, and that annoyed me. Dave Treadwell was a bit behind him, so I knew my hope of chasing Treadwell was sort of dashed, but I wasn't *that* far behind. There was a bit of a headwind coming back, which slowed me down at times. I managed to reel in 1 or 2 guys before the end of the bik...All total, only one guy managed to pass me. When I entered into the transition area, I heard someone tell me I was 7-8 back, so I felt pretty good, but wondered how my legs were going to do on the run after the relativey hard bike.
NOTE: In general, the bike felt fast. If I could change one thing, it would be how i took the last hill before the turn-around...too big a gear. Also, my legs took what seemed forever to warm up after the swim. I would like to have did a standing climb/effort a bit earlier to warm them up. The cold was probably the biggest detractor of my performance.
T2: [1:37]
quite fast. off with helmet, on with shoes.
RUN: [20:45]
Again, since I only train/run in water, the run is always a mystery. I started with a nice effort [low 170's] to recover my legs and started to slowly reel in a competitor. My legs felt pretty good. As the lap went on, I felt better and I started to amp it up. I passed the rabbit I'd been chasing and started my sprint drills for the second lap. Just like at CE, I ran really hard the second lap. I worked really hard on the hills and pushed when I wanted to slow down or where I thought others would slow down. The slower sprint folks were in the mix now, so I didn't know which was which - who I was lapping and who was in my lap.
It seems my second lap was fast enough that I eventually caught the 7,8,9th place guys. However, I and they didn't realize it. After I passed the 7th place guy, I started my full sprint towards the finish. He realized I just passed him and went all-out too. We had a 200% effort 50ft race to the finish, and since I'd already been running hard, I was tired. We were side-by-side, and apparently he elbowed me and I lost a bit of balance on the wet grass and he got 7th by 1 second. My legs were so tired at that point, I didn't feel stable ... and also, i misjudged which mat to race for, and slowed down a hair after crossing the first one. Good thing he wasn't in my AG! :-)
NOTE: just looked at pictures of finish. No wonder I misjudged and went for the first timing mat, because that's where the big Red Bull arch was over...anyway, a day later I'm now much happier about the fact that I went from 10th to 8th in the last 1/8th mile than the sprint finish.
NOTE #2: Now that the official results are out, it appears my sprint "buddy" had a 4min drafting penalty and actually I moved to 7th!!! I find it interesting that my official time is slower than CE. It certainly didn't feel that way, however I probably was slower on the first lap than I realized.
SUMMARY:
The race went really well, I wouldn't change much. Considering I'm still fighing some sort of respiratory issue, I held together pretty well. I beat my CE time by almost a minute, which in a sprint race is a lot. Placing in my AG felt great and even more so because this was a tougher field than CE.
September 11 Mt Baker Race: Roadie For A DayOVERVIEW:
24.5mi, 4400 feet (~8k actual elevation, but yes, you do descend some on the way)
Time: 1:45:31 [www.norkarecreation.com/hcrelts2006.htm]
Cat: competitive
NOTE: This race was filmed for a show to be on Fine Living Network called Me vs. Me on Oct 8. They told us afterwards why there was a film crew...Turns out there was a guy, Carlos, in the race who was selected and trained by Chris Carmichael. Carlos chose this race as his A race and they filmed it.
PLAN:
My race plan was to race this as a half marathon. The duration and intensity would be very similar, so I divided the race up into 3 segments. First 6mi, warmup and keep HR in the low 160s. Next 15mi, get a solid pace going and hold it. Last 3mi, the hardest part of the climb, basically, just go wide open.
REPORT:
This was my first real road race...what, no running afterwards?...so I was a bit nervous. It didnt help that I was still recovering from a lung infection, so I had no idea how I would respond come race day. My stretch goal was to approach 1:30, although I new that would be tough. I had done Apex Mtn in Penticton a couple weeks ago, which has almost the same profile in 19mi, and I did it in 1:47-ish. I figured come race day, I could push harder and go faster. It seems, the added miles do add time :-)
At the mass start, I started in the back. Not knowing what I was doing, this seemed like a smart move. Once I realized life was good, I quickly moved up and was towards the middle of the pack. As we strung out, I carefully moved my way through the pack and found myself towards the front of my chase pack...I'm a Triathlete, I'm trained to be in the wind...I'm not used to relying on a peleton, so the idea of pulling didnt scare me. About 6mi out, just for fun, I did a big pull and tried to drop a bunch of people. I was psyched as a film crew pulled up next to me and was shooting me as we went...could be that this had something to do with me hitting 30+mph during this stretch...although I didnt look back, I could tell my plan was effective because someone rode by me after I peeled off and said,"Great Pull." There were less people around and we could see the lead pack (or maybe just another chase pack, not sure).
I'm pretty sure Carlos was in the pace line when I started pulling, because later I could see the film crew setting up to shoot - and they said, "Here he comes!" Would explain why the camera was on me when I was pulling. Who knows...
For the rest of the approach, I hung onto the draft knowing the real work was yet to come. We got to the big climb (~50min), and I settled in. Pretty much the entire pack dropped me...I stuck to my plan. In addition, I was not feeling great - lungs - and felt a bit weaker than I'd like. About 1hr from the start, I came around and was a new man. My plan worked, and at the top of the climb, I saw a big flat and was feeling good. I dropped into aero and proceeded to attack. One of the guys who I paced off of for many miles (and then dropped me) saw me, sighed and jumped on my tail...Soon after, I stood up to shake him. It was fun to play this game, especially when you get to drop someone.
At 22, Meredith was waiting, so I counted down to 22, which also happened to be at the base of the steep switch backs. I was feeling solid and strong at 22, and further amped it up. I picked up my cadence and just went hard for the last 2 or so mi. As I turned up one switch back, I could see way above me the road still climbing and wondered if I went hard too soon. Turns out I was fine, and when is sort of flattened out a bit, I went into aero [as this is where a lot of my power is] about .5mi from the finish. The finish actually came up as a surprise, but I made my final sprint feeling really good.
Given all the circumstances, this was a really great race...I considered it a solid training day, which eased my nervousness at the beginning. My legs aren't really trained to cycle race and dump everything in the bike part, so I was pretty happy with my overall cycling effort. In general, I really enjoyed the mixture of roadie style sprints/pulls and hill climbing and thought it was a great training mixture.
July 24 Lake Stevens 70.3OVERVIEW:
This was my first half-ironman; the race I originally set out to do back last November. As of about 3-4 weeks ago, it wasn't even on my radar because of my knee issue. Since I had already paid for it, I figured I'd do the swim/bike and have a go at a good bike split. We planned out a walk-run strategy (instead of DNF) and off I went. It was quite HOT - especially for us NW folk. The Lake Stevens water temperature was 1 degree (77F) below the wet-suit cutoff (78F). That would have sucked to suddenly have to swim open-water without one. We all knew the heat was coming...I started hydrating days before the race.
RESULTS:
5:27:00, 26# in Age Group, 108th overall (of ~500 ?) PRE-RACE:
Up at 3am. Eat 2 clif bars at 3:30, 3 endurolytes, water. 5:30am, Eat powerbar, clif bar, 4 endurolytes, water water water water... I left the house with 5 bottles of water, 3 8oz flasks of black cherry vanilla coke (decarbonated) for the run.
SWIM: 34:49, 1:49/100m, [28th AG], 124th exiting water
Water start. This was the bumpiest swim I've had at race time. After getting whacked in the head, it occured to me that this is what they meant by tri-swims. No big deal...After .5 mi, I was on my own again.
I noticed my HR was up pretty high - adrenaline, I assumed since the exertion felt about the same as a good swim in lake samm. In any case, I decided I should draft to try reducing it anyway and eventually pulled a draft off a guy who was doing a slightly faster pace. Thus, I'd go faster for less energy.
This was my longest race swim ever, and it went pretty fast mentally...the return trip was in the sun, which sucked.
I saw the yellow caps passing me (they started 10min later) towards the end of the swim, so I knew I was doing reasonably well in time - I assumed I'd finish 35-ish since these guys typically finish in the 20's. Just for fun, I tried drafting off a couple of them. I got Luke Bell's autograph when I was out there...Nice guy.
T1: 2:03
nothing special. off with suit, on with bike gear. BIKE: 2:45:09, 20.35mph, [19th AG], 80th off the bike (passed 44
people on bike?)
2 laps, 28mi each. I knew this course well by now, having done it 4 times before. Since I planned on walking the first two miles of the run, I planned on pushing the bike harder than normal. My goal time was 2:45 (~1:22 per lap, 20.3mph avg). I followed HR and perceived exertion and tried for a negative split.
I ate my endurolytes on the half hour - 3 'lytes for every 30min, and then 4 on the last. I carried 3 bottles initially; 1 water, 2 carb-mix (my own). My plan was to drink 1 water first half-hour, then carb the next hour ('till bottle exchange). There was no bottle exchange on the course, so you had to go a whole lap to get new water. [they had a lame water station at 14mi, but it was with twist-top water bottles...not opening bottle at 20+mph, thank you]. I ate 2 gu's, the first after about 20min into bike (still on water bottle), and the next at the beginning of the lap. Target carb consumption was about 300cal/hr. [which works out to about 80g carb/hr, given my carbs were about 3.75 cal/g]
I finished the first lap circa 1:22. I was super happy about that. I've never gone through a bottle exchange on bike before, so I expected chaos...I threw out 2 bottles (carefully), then picked up 1 water (stored), and then picked up another to drink and pour on myself. You don't realize how hot you are until you pour water on yourself...WOW.
After the first lap, I went through a bit of a bad feeling phase for a few miles...I seriously wondered if I pushed too hard the first lap and was in trouble. My legs were feeling pretty tired/unresponsive. I used the trick I learned watching the tour this year (thanks Landis)...find a nice steady rythm and just hang out there. I dialed in a steady pace and hung out there for a few miles. I never know what emotions or unplanned self-talk may come up during races, but during this rhythm phase I dug a little deeper and found my real fuel for the race. My legs turned on again, and I was off. I think I passed the majority of people on this lap - my knowledge of the course was immeasurably helpful, as I knew when I could crank the big gear and when to sit in the little gear and spin my legs. My back got a bit sore during the second lap...It made me think of a break-away I saw in the tour where the guys had hammered all day and their backs were sore towards the end. I basically decided that the pain wasn't important as raised my spirits by seeing I was doing 30+mph down the road.
I was super super super happy to pull off my 2:45:09 time. I couldn't believe it...the overall winner last year (Dannonman) had 2:42:02. Not bad for having just gotten my bike in January.
T2: 1:17
no problem...left station jogging. RUN: 2:03:44, 9:26/mi
Ok, this is where things got interesting...I just came off the 20mph bike ride...my legs were feeling pretty good and instinctively (from sprints), I jogged out of the transition area. The thing is, I kept running. I tried walking about a half-mile in, but after riding, walking (even power-walking), felt UNBELIEVABLY slow. I might as well have been crawling.
The day before, I had worked out a "master plan" for the run based on route topography. When to run, walk, etc. based on going up hill, down hill, etc. It was beautiful. I even taped a copy to my one of my coke flasks. In the end, the data I used was what the course was like and what to expect - which turned out to be nearly as useful.
Here was my plan:
walk run (totals) start stop 5.25 7.85 walk 0 2 2 run 2 4.25 2.25 walk 4.25 5 0.75 run 5 5.5 0.5 walk 5.5 6 0.5 run 6 8 2 walk 8 9 1 run 9 10.75 1.75 walk 10.75 11.5 0.75 run 11.5 12 0.5 walk 12 12.25 0.25 run 12.25 13.1 0.85 My HR was way up after the ride and I wanted to give my knee a break, so by 1st mi, I realized I should walk. So by mile 1, I was back on plan. At mile 2, I started to run again. I walked up the big hill...There was a guy cheering people on. He cheered the group before me, then he didn't cheer me (I figured maybe he was cheered out), then he cheered the group behind me. That pissed me off...and made me think of how that news crew told the "Warrior Poet" his race was over during Kona last year. At the top I started running again. I kept running. There were a few small areas where I walked down sharp descents, but for the most part, I ran...I didn't care how fast I was going, I just saw that it was working and I was still moving.
The first lap was good. I felt strong. Chris Tremonte was kind enough to say Hi as he finished his second lap...I thought that it was cool that: A) I'd seen him before he finished, B) he was really flying and still had some breath to cheer up others. I returned the favor when I could to others when I saw them going by...we were all suffering, a few words can make a big difference in morale.
The second lap, I could start to feel the effects of my day coming - and the fact that I, frankly, hadn't run this far in months. I knew it was going to be an all-will-power second lap...this is where the race got interesting.
At about mi 8, I heard these two guys talking...I was pissed because I was suffering and they were chatting...but then one guy said (about me, I'm sure), "that i've been trying to catch this guy all day...so frustrating." Eventually, they got me...there was one 35yr old there, and another 4x who I'd paced off of earlier. They took long breaks at the water stations, so every station, I'd grab my stuff and keep running reclaiming my position. Again, the 35 got me...this time, I had to decide if I was "in it to win it" and I just literally moved behind him and matched his steps 1 to 1. It hurt, a lot. I had no idea what position I was in, but I wanted to have a chance at going to the championship...so every place mattered.
I followed him to the base of the "wall," and passed him again...There was 5k left, my legs were on "will-power" but it was almost over. As Josh says, you can do anything for 5min...so I thought, I could do anything for 5k. I went into sprint race mode...run up the hills, accelerate when others would rest. It worked. I passed at least one other guy in my AG during this effort. I ran pretty hard down the long hill - it wasn't tough on my knee because of the gradual grade. I had started sipping a Gu sometime around mile 10 or 11. It helped a great deal, as the coke seemed to make my body hurt every time I drank it...I'd take a sip and a few seconds later, my entire body would light-up and ache.
I was about .3 mi from the finish and frankly, my legs were almost totally gone. It was apparently obvious to others that I was starting to shutdown, as a woman behind me yelled, "Pick it up! You're almost done!" I turned around and looked at her and was thankful for the pep talk and doubly thankful because she was right. I floored it and ran as fast as I could home.
One thing that helped me get through the run was about mile 9 or so, I began visualizing myself having a sprint finish. It worked to boost my morale, help budget energy, and apparently it worked because that's what I did.
I was shocked to see a sub-5:30 time...This time would have placed me 4th last year in my AG. (last year's results are all anyone had to judge against, and certainly it was inspiring to see these times 9mo ago)
SUMMARY:
My nutrition plan worked...the plan worked...using my perceived exertion worked...in short, my training worked. OK, I didn't follow the run plan, but I believe all the other plans made that possible. Thanks Jill!!! (see more stuff @ www.tricoachjill.com)
I wouldn't have been able to run the way I did without Shelly Hack's (@ PRO Club) aggressive Physical Therapy (read as endless muscular support building exercises :-). [Can't forget water treadmill support, Jamie, thanks!] Even though I didn't have the traditional "land" miles in for the half-marathon, I had the muscular stability. Shelly has been a great inspiration and help through my running...Thanks Shelly!
I think the story of each discipline is summary enough...I couldn't have asked for a better day. Frankly, as I told Jill, having that bike split and then doing that run was a miracle. P.S.
I REALLY wanted to go to the 70.3 World Championship race. It was 1 of my 4 goals I had set out for Triathlons when I started. I had thought that this option was gone last may...Jill and I had pretty much decided to focus on sprint/Oly races, and perhaps do a points series for tri-nw as the main thread of plans.
Sometime ago, I read on a forum that the 70.3 slots weren't as attractive to people as the Kona slots, and sometimes there were extra, unclaimed slots at the very end - you had to hang around long enough to get them. There were 14 slots in my AG, I was 26th...I figured "it's possible," anything is possible...So I hung around 3hrs after the race. Turns out that was a smart move...I picked up a rolldown slot!!! (The sorted those interested in the slots by finish order, so it still matters where you finish...) I was in shock that I was carrying a slot back to my car...
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