Going in to this race I had three levels of performance goals. Most importantly I wanted to beat my time of 6:30 I’d set at Vineman three months earlier. The next level was to break 6:15 and my final goal was to beat 6:00. I thought for sure I could beat 6:15, and thought 6:00 was possible. I had calculated all kinds of scenarios (omitting the transitions which is pretty dumb), but they were all pretty much based on me running a 2 hour half marathon. That was another mistake as I’ll point out later.
Although I hardly got a wink of sleep the night before, I wasn’t very nervous about the race until about 45 minutes before the start when there is nothing to do but stand around and wait. I was really wondering why I was doing this race and why I didn’t just go home and go back to bed! Then it was time to get in the water, and with only 2 minutes to get ready we were off.
The swim
I was excited that this race was wetsuit legal. I know that it makes me faster and I do so by expending less energy. I thought that at 73 it might be cold, but if it was I didn’t notice. Before the start I positioned myself in the group about where I expected to finish, about 2/3 of the way back. Once we got going it was like all hell broke loose. I was getting pummeled on both sides and from the front. The course was triangular shaped and for most of the way out and back it was like a gang fight. Several times I had people hit my arm as I was trying to bring it forward, preventing the stroke. I was fortunate that it never happened on a breath stroke.
It didn’t seem like it was all that long before I was climbing out of the water and up the hill. I’d thought before the race that the hill was pretty steep. I’m not sure what happened to it because I don’t remember it at all; only the strippers yelling at me to get on the ground and then to get moving again.
I saw my fan base on the way to my bike, and then again at the bike while I was trying to get ready. I’d forgotten to remove the safety tape I put on my gels so they don’t blow off when I’m driving and now the darn stuff didn’t want to come off! Finally I got it all together and was on my way.
The bike
I didn’t test drive the course before hand and the reviews told me that: the first 14 miles were pretty tough with mostly rollers after that, and that there was a sharp turn at mile 41 that if I wasn’t careful I’d run off the road. Everything Natasha told me was accurate, except I think the tough hills went though mile 15. They were tough, but not bad if that makes sense. My legs were fresh and I handled them without any problems. In fact, I had to tell myself several times to settle down that this was a long ride/race. I finished over 19 miles the first hour!
I was ecstatic with that time, and started extrapolating how this might end up. I was about 38 miles at hour #2, but somehow my math failed me and I thought I’d slowed down. I just now realized I was still at 19 miles per hour. Anyway, I was still doing math in my head, not being passed by many people, when we came up to a turn with volunteers telling us to slow down. They had done that on several other turns that I felt were unnecessary. I was quietly fussing at them while I rode by, thinking that they had no idea how much energy I was going to spend getting back up to speed. I started the turn and realized I was going much too fast. I hit the brakes as hard as I could, heck, I was worried the cable was going to snap. I held my lane until I had to swerve to miss a cone and then I was headed for the grass. Knowing I was going in the grass I decided to unclip and stop instead of trying to ride back up the shoulder without stopping. I’m sure it was very amusing for the policeman and all the cars that were stopped because of me! I clipped back in and was back off.
The most exciting part for me was being able to pee while still on the bike. Thanks Chris Lieto for showing me last weekend how to do it!
It really wasn’t that much longer before I was approaching transition. I didn’t see my fans anywhere as I jumped off the bike and took off running. They would have been proud to see how graceful I was (not!)
Transition
I spotted my fans near where my bike was supposed to go. They were wearing these crazy foam hats, which I used later on to spot them. My mind wasn’t working real well and it was very helpful to have them giving me directions to my bike. As I was getting ready I told them to go to the end, where I planned to stop for a minute and stretch my legs for a bit. Figuring on a 2 hour run I had lots of time to spare, so a few extra minutes in transition wouldn’t hurt.
I got to the end of my row and they weren’t there. In the fog I hadn’t been very clear about where I wanted them to go. I spotted my wife and mother near the run out and gave them high fives, and was informed that Dad was further up the road. I gave him a high five and was off. My break was probably 10 seconds, not what I’d planned or really needed.
The run
One little piece of information no one told me about the run was that half of it was a trail run. I quit doing trail runs after badly spraining my ankle on one last January. I’m still amazed at the conditions we ran on: tall grass, rutted dirt and rocky trails, all without the benefit of shade.
Because my legs were tight I started off slowly. I filled my water bottle at the first aid station. I had opted for a small bottle because it wasn’t that hot and I didn’t want to carry the bigger one for that long.
I passed mile marker #2 and thought to myself “just like that, 2 miles down”. The hills were hard and I did them without stopping, even the notorious Quadzilla! It got hotter so I started grabbing sponges at the aid stations to squeeze over my head and tuck in the back of my shirt.
I hit the halfway point and my fans in about an hour. I was really excited. At my current pace I had a chance of breaking 5:45 and qualifying for the Half-Max championships. That had never crossed my mind until then.
I planned to stop again, regroup and rest for a minute or two. I planned to tell them how well my times were going and that so far I’d had a really good day. All that came out as I gave them sweaty hugs was “We’re doing ok.” My wife told me later she knew I was hurting because as I hugged her I put all my weight on her shoulders. Aside from not being able to get words out, I also failed to take the planned break, again. This time it really cost me.
I hit the first of two big hills on the road and my body gave up. Frustrated I started walking up the hills and running down them. It really got bad once I hit the trail section. My stomach started acting up. At mile marker #8 I had 55 minutes before hitting 6 hours. I thought I could still make it, only my decline got worse. The second time around Quadzilla just about killed me, even though I was walking. I wasn’t breathing hard, but somehow knew I couldn’t breath much harder than I already was and God only knows what my heart rate was hitting.
My nutrition plan, which I’d stuck by pretty well, called for a gel at mile 9. I skipped it partly because of my stomach, partly because I didn’t want to carry they empty container to the next aid station, and partly because I was too tired. Finally, just after mile 10, I decided I’d better get it in me so I could finish, I needed the boost of energy. I got it in my mouth, only my body didn’t want to swallow it. I forced it down and immediately knew it was a mistake. I hurried to the side of the trail so I could, in the most masculine manner possible, deposit it on the ground. It was a short process as I had nothing in my stomach, and I actually felt much better afterwards. I started running again to show everyone behind me just how tough I was.
I don’t remember the road back at all. In fact, after cresting one hill I noticed that the turnoff was just ahead. I thought there was still another big hill to summit! Squeezing a couple of sponges over my head I took off running for the finish, not allowing myself to stop again. I finished in 6:08. The last 5.1 miles took me over an hour to complete.
Summary
I’m very happy with my time. I’d secretly talked to some of my friends about racing again next month if I didn’t do well and this time certainly scuttled those plans.
My honest assessment today (I should come back in six months and see if I still agree) is that I didn’t make any mistakes race day that led to my collapse on the last half of the run. I’d done exactly what I’d expected on the swim and bike, and paced myself exactly where I wanted to be for the first 7 miles. My mistake, if you can call it that, was in my training. While I spent lots of time biking in the hills, I didn’t get in enough run time in the hills. If the last 6 miles had been flat it would have been a very different story. I think it would also have been different without the trails.
Now that the season is over, where do we go from here? First up is some recovery time. I’ve been training hard without a break for 15 months. I need a little down time to recharge my battery and let my body heal and rest.
I want to tackle the half Ironman again. Now I’m confident that I can not only break 6 hours, but perhaps break 5:45 and make it to Half-Max Championships. That said, I will probably only attempt one next year, late in the year, perhaps Kerrville or Conroe. The rest of the year I’m going to focus on Olympic races. With another year to train, and training for speed and the shorter distance I believe I have a real shot at making the podium.
So my fans, I’m signing off for a bit of R&R. I’ll be back once I get bored, probably to tackle some winter running races. I have goals there too…
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