Backdrop
I entered this race long before I was even considering Ironman Texas in late May. I raced here last year b/c it was close to home and I ended up winning my AG and placing 5th OA (4:26:xx) time, so I thought I'd come back. Thanks to some serious local smack talk, I signed up for the Elite wave...and I probably won't do that again. But more on that later.
Regardless, this race was exactly four weeks to the day after Texas. I rode and ran a few times at the LP Rally, but only swam twice. Basically zero training or thoughts towards the race. In fact, I was thinking aobut not racing as close as Thursday....but then I rememberd I'd be racing with my wife (first time since before kids!) and so many others...so I sucked it up!
Race Morning
It was great to be in transition and to see so many folks I knew. From last year, from Endurance Nation, from FuelBelt Race Team...the list goes on. Totally pumped about how great our sport is. I do my best to ruin this vibe by stressing out about all the things I need to do before my wave start, which is #1 because I am in the Elite wave. :(
The Swim
I can see the local studs are in attendance for the race, so I resolve to do my best to represent. When the gun goes off I am with the group for the first 300 yds, and when I settle in they drop me. The water was relatively choppy and I was (am!) so uncomfortable swimming in a wetsuit that my form was awful. Straight up bad. I just survived it...resolving to really focus on my swimming for the rest of the year. Final time was 34:xx, which was only 3 minutes down on my usual group but just too...plain...slow...for my group. Net time was about 3 minutes slower than last year's time.
T1
A total debacle! I was dizzy, almost fell over twice....couldn't get my swim cap off...and my bike got stuck on my rack. How this didn't take me six minutes I'll never know. It felt like an eternity...
The Bike
Given my experience on the course last year, I was ready for the terrain and knew where to push the pace. The biggest difference was that while last year had no wind, this year was quite windy. Some of the open sections by the water were actualy dnangerous with the wheelset that I had on my bike (808 + wheelcover in the rear).
I knew I wouldn't feel great, and tried to be as steady as possible. I rode the race in 3 x 45 minute segments (it took me 2:27 though!) and my IF was roughly .68, .73, .71. The .73 section in the middle was when I had one or two of the faster AG folks come by and I could roll with them. Another strike against the Elite wave is the fact that I had very little folks to actually race with on the bike!
My nutrition was good and my back/legs felt good enough, so I just tried to be as steady as I could overall. Net was a bike time that was only 2' slower than last year.
T2
Much better here, but I was in the furthest corner so I had a lot of running to do. Took a snapshot of the folks around me and prepared to get to work.
The Run
I wasn't sure how I'd feel here given the cramping in my adductors and hamstrings all week. But my massage and lots of stretching helped as I felt pretty solid. My early miles were mostly 6:30s, which I knew was about as good as I could do. I could only see one person on the road in front of me and I caught him at mile 4. Then it was solo running in the heat, managing my nutrition and my HR.
The pace started to come up a bit as the heat & workload combined to put the hurt on me. I was running more in the 6:40s now, with the odd 7:0x mile because of heat and a dropped bottle.
About mile 7 I saw another person barely in front of me. I began to work the pace and by mile 10 he was only 1/2 a mile in front of me. I started to bare down, putting in some more 6:30s...and by mile 12 I thought he was in reach. I really started to bust a move at this point and caught him with about 100 yds to go. Turns out I ran a 6:03 final mile for a 1:26:47....just 30 seconds slower than last year.
Overall
I am pretty glad I raced but I don't know if that's becuase I had a good day, had fun with so many peeps or becuase it means I can take another easy week off. :)
I still think racing a half four weeks after an Ironman isn't a great idea...but clearly it can be done.
Time to rest up for a few more weeks before I begin the Kona prep cycle!!!
Random Photos
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