Race week started with a pretty radical taper. Lots of 16 hours+ training weeks leading up to my A race. I felt a pretty strong "taper hangover," when my body realized that it was no longer going to get it's exercise fix. I like a radical taper the last week because I know I am not really losing fitness but I am shedding some cumulative fatigue. By Friday I was feeling edgy and by Saturday I had started to feel shaky with excess energy.
Saturday night I was ready for the race. Coach and I had my traditional pre race pizza dinner. She drank the beer and I had water. I slept until about midnight and then woke up excited and ready to race. Only problem was that I was about 7 hours early. I tried to go back to sleep and dozed off an on until the 4:45 wake up call.
Pre race breakfast was caffeine, oatmeal with soy milk, half a bagel with PBJ, and a banana.
The race had over 2000 participants trying to funnel into one isolated area. Coach suggested we pick up Bob (my training partner and fellow participant) at his hotel and head over earlier. Great idea.We got to the race site and set up our transition area. Unfortunately, my deep dish SRAM wheel would not inflate again. Thankfully, we were early and I was able to get some help at the support tent. I decided despite some forecasted wind to go with a disc on the back wheel.
The temp was in the 50's and I put on my sleeveless wetsuit for the swim. 30 minutes before the race started I consumed 100 calories of EFS grape and one scoop of EFS Pre-Race (basically a caffeine burst). Each swim wave went off in 5 minute increments with the women's 40-44 wave leaving 4th. Our wave had 88 people in it. The course was a counter clock wise triangle. The swim was uneventful. No current and minimal pushing. My swimming has really improved as I moved out of the slow group. I have a lot of work to do to catch the draft of some of the fast women. Unfortunately, I ended up in no where land with no draft. I would say that my swim effort started easy and eventually became steady with some mod-hard periods. Towards the end of the swim I passed some folks in the earlier waves and some women in my wave. I loved my new sleeveless wetsuit and I was excited not to get out of the water exhausted. It was a bit cool but manageable. As I ran out of the water, Coach was cheering me on as usual. I PR'd the swim in 38 minutes and was 32rd in my age group. All those damn yards in the pool paid off as did my extensive swimming lessons with Dr. Louisa Raisbeck.
I got to my bike and loaded my gear. Next year, I need a better long course jersey to race in with the deep pockets in back. I had two small side pockets which were not helpful and took too much time to pack properly. Once again my T1 time basically was long enough to make a latte and toast a bagel.
Once I got on the bike I stuck with the plan of my coach, Gordo Byrn (endurancecorner.com). My goal watts through 30 miles were in my steady zone at 130. After 30 miles, if things were going well, I could lift a few watts. The bike had lots of little rolling hills and huge fissures on the road. I think some of them could have swallowed a small dog. The course required a great deal of focus due to the congestion from the other athletes and the road conditions.
The first 15 minutes, I let my body adjust to the cycling pace. After 15 minutes I started my nutrition plan which included lots of electrolytes for the forecasted high temp of 80 degrees:
Hour 1: 100 Calories of EFS Grape and 160 calories of EFS Vanilla gel
Hour 2: 100 Calories of EFS Grape and 160 calories of EFS Gel, 66 calories of Margarita Clif Gel Blocks
Hour 3: Water 160 Calories of EFS Gel, 66 calories of Blocks
The bike went great. I stuck to the plan the first 30 and average 134 watts, the last 20 I pushed a bit more at 138 watts (the wind picked up considerably). There was only one point in the bike where I felt a bit of fatigue and added the gel blocks for calories. The bike set up was great and I felt fast. It did get hot towards the end of the bike and I worked hard to hydrate and toss some water down my back. At the end of the bike I started to pass quite a few people who were sitting up out of their aero bars looking shelled. I finished in 3:04 and with a new cycling PR.
One problem with my bike was that my frame is so small I only have room for one bottle holder. I have been running a set up with the other bottle wrapped by an elastic band to the aero bars. The roads were rough enough that I had to focus on holding the bottle in place the whole time. The other problem was that the aid stations handed out water bottles that would not fit my side loading bottle holder. One popped out and almost took me out.
I arrived in T2 ready to run and left T2 in a faster transition time once I dumped all the luggage from my pockets. Every race and every ride I take my tire repair kit. In the last year I have never used it on training rides and never needed it in a race. There has got to be a better way to carry it!
I am always excited to get off the bike and hit the run. Gordo's focus for me was to make sure that I finished the swim and the bike in great condition to pass a lot of people on the run. I immediately hit my target pace of 8:15 pace but noticed that it was getting hot quickly. First water stop I grabbed a cup and doused myself.
The course was a 3 loop course with lots of long hills. After assessing the heat and the course topography I decided that I needed to maintain my pace and go on damage control with the heat. There were an incredible amount of aid stations. At one point in the course if felt like there was an aid station every 100 yards. I don't think I missed a single one! Every aid station I would sip water and douse myself or sip Gatorade Endurance. If there was ice, I would take off my hat, dump the ice in it and put it back on my head. At mile 3, I consumed a Cliff Gel Espresso (caffeine of course!) and at mile 10 I had another Clif Shot without caffeine. I passed so many people on the run that I gave up counting. I finished the run in 1:44 a new triathlon PR and a new stand alone half marathon PR! Given the right course, I think I have a faster half in me but I felt satisfied and ready to be done by the end of the race.
I finished the race in 5:35:39 (Coach had the exact same time on her watch!). I was 15th in my age group and the 6th fastest run in my age group. I had no idea how well I had done until the online results appeared! I was ecstatic...
I just reread the race report above and realized it is, well, boring. I thought a lot about why it is boring. Throughout my training (peak period and race prep training), Gordo assigned lots of workouts that were essentially race practice. The only difference is that the training pace seemed so much harder with all of my accumulated training fatigue. Essentially I would bike for 2-3 hours at race pace (sometimes harder) and immediately enter a transition run at race pace (sometimes easier). Race pace became the way I trained. Over time, I felt the race aerobic zone get deeper and wider. By the time the race rolled around, there were no surprises. Stay in your zones and execute the way you have trained. Patience and relentless forward motion.
How did I feel after the race…good and tired. The nice part about a half marathon is that you know it only takes a few days to recover reasonably well. My quads were slightly shredded from downhill running but I ended up in good condition. I have a feeling a few toenails are going to take a brief vacation…again. Ugh! My least favorite part.
Endorofun does a terrific job of putting on this race. It was one of the best organized races I have attended. They treat the athletes great and provide terrific service.
Over 70 pros attended the race vying for prize money and spots to the National Championship. Gordo ended up in first place for all age group men and first place in his age group of 40-44.
I am going to follow up this race report in the next few weeks with a full season assessment. All I can say right now, is that hiring one of the best to help me this season was a great choice. He raised the bar and elevated my game. I look forward to our next year together!
An update on Bob. He completed his first 70.3 well under 6 hours. He showed dedication and focus throughout the build up to this race and was ready to reap the rewards for all the work. He had a great swim, he got a little too excited on the bike and learned why perhaps you need to hold back a bit for the run. I am excited because I think he saw a glimpse of how good he could be with some patience and a plan. I am incredibly proud of him and so glad that we shared the journey.
Finally, Coach was incredible this weekend. She took great care of me and was there cheering me on every step of the way. She has officially been out of Big Ten coaching now for two years, but I realized in this race she will always be my Coach. Throughout it all she is there to make sure I am safe and striving to be my best. The newest addition to our team has been our 15 year old daughter, Willa. She has become an incredibly focused athlete. She is always there with her support and gentle reminders that she could take me at any moment in pretty much any athletic event. She is leading by example!
Ironman Wisconsin here we come...
Run, Bike, Swim, Live, Laugh, Love
