iron eyes for the normal guy

moose-e

prerace thoughts: this was going to be my third tri ever and first half iron distance race. i always put pretty high expectations on myself so i was hoping to be under 5 hours, but under 5:15 would be okay. i’ve been feeling good on the bike so i thought i should be really able to have a great time on that segment.

prerace: we drove up saturday afternoon and it had been raining since friday afternoon so i was a little worried on how the transition area was going to be since it’s in the woods next to the lake. we picked up our race packet and meandered over to the transition area and there was mud and gigantic puddles everywhere. can you say MUD BOG RACING? i was thinking, this is going to suck, but i had a little optimism because the forecast said it should be dry with a few sprinkles on sunday. after that, we headed to the motel we stayed at for timberman last year which is about 20 minutes away and then met up with one of pam’s bike racing teammates who lives near by for a nice dinner.

arrived back at the motel around 9 and we went to bed 45 minutes later awaiting our 5am awakening. unfortunately though, because our motel has very thin walls you can nearly hear everything in our hallway to right outside our window and around 1:30 in the morning there were what i think 2 guys have an extremely agitated conversation. it was like f*&^ this f &^ that. i’m going to f*&^ing kill you. every other word had it. they were using it as nouns, verb, adjectives, you name it. and they were screaming as loud as they could. since we were in new hampshire whose state motto is live free or die, i was expecting to hear a gunshot or a loud smack as one of their faces connected with the other guys fist and that would be the end of it. after a few minutes pam called the front desk, no answer. she tried a second time, and still no answer. by this time it seemed that they had calmed down and it was over. so, we headed back to sleep.

woke up at 5am and looked outside and the roads were dry. sweet! as we arrived and looked over the transition area, still a little muddy, but way better than yesterday and they also put down some mulch to absorb some of the wetter spots which seemed to help. during prerace announcements they said that they were going to have a hose to rinse your feet after you got out of transition if you wanted to wait and put your cycling shoes on there. so, i decided i would do that as opposed to have mud caked cleats the entire ride. headed over to the start and since i haven’t had a chance to swim with this new wetsuit before, i thought i should splash around a bit with it and see how it feels. as i got into the water, it was COLD. my body with the suit felt okay, but my hand and feet were immediately freezing. i’m not sure what the exact temperature was, but for me growing up in florida, this was something only crazy people would get in to.

race: started near the front, i know i’m still not that fast, but i feel like i have improved so i should be fine. and we’re off. i’m sort of holding my own, but still being passed by many folks, just trying to be long and steady and follow other people. shortly after starting and for some reason my left shoulder is starting to hurt a tad. i don’t know if it’s from the cold, new wetsuit, or what, but i haven’t really had any sort of pain from any of my shoulders from swimming. eventually i do finish. i wasn't keeping track of my time so i had no idea how slow or fast it was. swim time: 37:21 (it's what i would expect to swim, but it felt like i was going slow)

T1: feel a bit groggy as i get out of the water. take it pretty easy into transition. as i’m attempting to take my feet out of the wetsuit, nearly fall over because i’m feel dizzy, but grab bike rack to save my fall. grab my things and put them on, grab shoes and socks and bike and head out. T1 time: 4:00, but felt like hours...

bike: go over the timing mats and wash my feet off, sit down put socks and cycling shoes on. i think i lost another couple minutes just doing that. head out on the bike, now, and the plan is to spin it for the first couple of miles to get the legs warmed up a bit before getting it rolling. after about 2 miles there is the first climb of the day and as i start to put a little effort to get over the hill, the legs feel empty. i'm thinking COME ON, i’ve been feeling great on the bike lately, why are my legs not feeling it today. there is nothing i can do now, but just keep on pedaling. so, i just try to really spin up the climbs and just try to roll as fast as i can on the flats and downhills. during the first lap, i pass around 150-200 people. it always helps me a bit to have all the carrot food in front of me. the other thing i noticed is that my heart rate is totally jacked. it’s in the 150-160’s and i’m really not going that hard. it seemed to be 20 bpm above training levels so i’m concerned i will be totally done by the time the run comes around. as the second lap arrives i just keep in rolling as before. as you would expect, it gets harder to pass people as you get closer to the front. at around 40 miles as i’m taking it pretty easy on a climb, this guy passes me. i’m thinking, do you know who i’m am??? as it flattens out, i re-pass him and i smoke it for awhile until the next hill where he passes me again. well, i guess he’s pretty strong. so, after that, i just use his pace for the next 10 miles or so. staying 3-4 bike lengths back. then it feels like he is slowing down too much in the last 5-6 miles and i just go off on my own from there. bike time: a slow 2:35:21, if i was feeling like i have been on the bike, it would have been 15-20 minutes faster.

T2: after feeling like crap on the bike, i think, the run is not going to be good. just finish is my motto. T2 time: 2:03

run: ¼ mile into the run and i realize i forgot my hr monitor on the bike. oh well. to begin with i’m being passed like i’m standing still. i actually feel okay, but many of these guys are just flying. after around 2 miles or so i kind of get in a groove and i think i’m finding my stride. see my teammate nick who looks to be in 4-5 overall at the moment, flying (he actually ends up winning the overall with a time of 4:19. way to go nick!!). see another teammate, patrick a little back from nick but doing very well too which helps me to just keep in going. see other people i know, lisa, joni, robin, maura all cheering me. a big thank you. on the second loop, i see my girlfriend pam going the other way and she yells, you can break 5 hours. i have no idea overall what my time is because i just wanted to do the best i could and whatever it was, was what it was, but the goal was to be under 5 which after the bike, i didn’t think was possible. so, i’m still feeling fine as the miles click by. i see pam for the last time around 10 miles and she says i’m doing great and if i keep going i’ll be under 5. as i get around 11 miles i’m starting to really hurt, but i think maybe around 14-15 minutes if i go fast enough. last couple miles were tough the whole time, but i could feel the end was near and the pain would end soon enough. as i finished, the time on the clock was 5:15 but i knew that was from the first wave. i didn’t know what the time between waves were, but i knew i was in the 4th wave so i thought my time was going to be a little over 5. run time: 1:45:35

total time: 5:04:19
i was pleased with the time, but it could have been much better, though. the swim was not good, also, the bike was way slower than i should have gone, but the run went as well as i could have hoped for. so, 4 weeks and we have the big one. quelle challenge in roth. a full ironman distance...

until next time,
dL

posted by supersonique @ 4:02 AM