iron eyes for the normal guy

moose-ie part deux

the mooseman half-iron is basically my 4-weeks-out race simulation for QCR - although i didn't have any concrete performance goals, i did have some expectations based on my training to gauge how i should pace myself for the big race

pre-race:

i felt more relaxed than ever before the race - thankfully no jitters - i had gone to a bikram yoga class on thursday night to de-compress from a stressful workweek and to do a "system-check" on my body

friday before the race patrick (my coach) helped me analyze my power tap data to determine how to push on the bike based on power - not speed - so that i could be more efficient and have fresher legs for the run

the days before, i spoke with family and friends who offered me their support, "fast vibes" and good-luck wishes

drove up the day before to the mud-fest that daniel outlined in his report, signed in, ate a delicious dinner at a great restaurant, the italian farmhouse, with kerry, dave and daniel (highly recommend it!)

came back to the hotel, slept for a bit, woke up to the f-bomb fight (see daniel's report below) and went back to sleep. woke up surprisingly HUNGRY at 5 and immediately had a bagel with pb - whew - passed the first test of the day (last year i could not eat before the race) - felt pretty relaxed - went to the race, parked far away, and rode our bikes to the transition area

at transition, was happy to see familiar faces including the PTS and TE gangs - i suited up and went to the beach where i saw even more familiar faces

the race:

the swim was decent - was hard to get into a rhythm - i think my body had a shock b/c of the cold water so for the first 1/4 of the way, it was hard to breathe - then on the way back i got decked by someone in the hand - and it was very choppy - it was 9 mins better than last year, so i'm happy with that

t1 took FOREVER - i got out of the water very dizzy and then i was very cold and my hands had limited mobility since they were so cold and had gotten kicked hard - was difficult getting my wetsuit off and the other things on - definitely the longest transition i've ever had - brain wanted body to move but body wouldn't and had to hold on to railing to not fall

the bike was rough - as soon as i got on my heartrate was very high b/c i was freezing and i think my body was working hard to keep warm - i was still really dizzy. i had a jersey on, but even so, having wet clothing did not help. on the first loop i was able to eat ok and was able to keep my wattage to what it was supposed to be, but on the second loop, the wheels came off - i didn't feel good AT ALL - i think i got a bit hypothermic - i felt like half conscious and kept wanting to fall asleep - i had a splitting headache and was kind of barely rolling along - cycling is usually my strongest and i usually love hills, but yesterday it was definitely my weakest and i swear my powertap read "negative watts" on the second loop - could not seem to get my heartrate out of zone1 for most of the time on loop2 - on loop 2 i was by myself most of the time and i couldn't wait to get done - it was a bit disappointing because my bike training has actually been going really well lately - oh well

the run ended up being the best - after not feeling good on the bike, i thought the run would be very slow and in "damage control" mode - BUT i think that since i didn't really use any energy (my average watts and my heartrate dropped a lot on the second loop of the bike so i didn't do much work), i guess that saved my legs and gave me energy for the run. i also think my body warmed up back to normal, so i was able to move ok - i was able to run around 8-minute miles without slowing down did 1:46 - i came within a minute of my stand-alone half-marathon PR - it was fun to shout-out jokes to my friends - "crush and destroy", "beefcake", "post-race bahgain shopping", "no pansy-asses" etc etc :) - i followed mariana's "stay focused no matter what" advice, kept up a high turnover, took "baby steps" on the hills and somehow managed to not crap-out

overall i did end up PRing in a half-iron (5:45) - i did this course 26 minutes faster than last year - so i was happy about that - my swim was right where i thought it would be, my bike was about 20 minutes slower, and my run was about 10 minutes faster - so i guess they sort of cancelled each other out

post race comments:

congrats to all who raced - am proud of all of you!

thanks to daniel for inspiring me to put in a good effort and being so supportive in my training - thanks to jorge, nisha, mariana and andrea for sending me "fast vibes" - they seemed to work! - thanks to patrick for all the great coaching advice - thanks to maura, joni and robin for cheering and taking pics - thanks to lisa c. for the "SUCK IT UP" mantra - helped me push through a tough bike leg to make it to the run - thanks to beth, tania, mary for well-wishing - congrats to nick for his win - and to friends/teammates who waved/cheered along the course - and thanks to kerry and dave for a great dinner and for providing your house post-race to clean ourselves and our bikes :)

:)
pam

posted by supersonique @ 10:36 AM