Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Good day, Good race

I almost nailed it.

Liberty Half Iron race report.
Sunny, high 70's, west wind 15-20 mph.

Keep in mind while reading this race report that this was a training race for me and I had specific goals in mind.
Nial my hydration and nutrition and start each leg slow and build into it but keep my heart rate low in the aerobic / strong aerobic zones (150-155 bpm).

Elite wave started at 8am
My wave was second at 8:03. I love having an early swim wave.
I nailed my swim start. 3 high steps, dive, dolphin dive, sprint for 50 yards (35-40 strokes) with no one on my feet. Sweet.
I lead my wave passed the first 2 buoys and then dialed it back for an ez cruise and let some faster swimmers pass me. I hung onto some feet a couple different times just to practice drafting but my intent was to keep my breathing ez and cruise with efficiency.
1.2 mile swim. 33:49. Now that was easy. Thanks coach.


The bike course was 2 loops with a short out and back section added on to get the full 56 miles.
I exited T1 cleanly. Strapped in and took an ez gear to let my heart rate settle into the 150's. That didn't happen until about mile 10. I must have been a little pumped-up running out of the water and the uphill into T1 and out to the bike course (all uphill).
Great bike course with some short climbs and rolling hills. I started to get passed by alot of the guys in my wave by mile 15 but I was fine with that. I was in my zone and enjoying the fantastic day.
Whooosh, the wind picked up on loop 2 of the bike to an average 15 mph with some stronger gusts. Crap, I hate that.
I felt a little gassy at mile 45 and then felt a need to poop. It wasn't one of those distressed feelings, just a normal need. I was all regular when I got out of bed so this surprised me. I decided I'd wait until T2
My mph ave. dropped a bit but I still managed to catch a few larger guys (read 'wind blockers') in the last 10 miles and eased into T2.
56 mile bike. 2:54.

The run was an out and back.
As I exited T2, I stopped at the potty and sat down. Mostly gas. No problems.
After exiting the potty, my heart rate was below 100. Sweet, talk about I nice recovery. Thanks coach.
My legs felt pretty darn good by then so I scurried out the first 1/3 mile to the start of the mushy soft wood-chipped covered uphill trail that was mud 2 days ago and was now an energy-sucking-muscle fatiguing-not what I needed-start to a half marathon. DAMN IT!
I walked most of this section and only jogged the last 50 feet of it up to the paved trail.



At the mile one aid station, my legs started to cramp up a bit. DAMN WOOD-CHIPS!
I took a water and HEED and downed a couple electrolyte capsules and eased into a jog. The cramps passed and I settled into a slow steady jog.
Plenty of aid stations along the way and at mile 5 I stopped to use the potty...again. No distress, just a normal deposit and again my heart rate dropped so I was fresh again. Off and jogging in my heart rate zone.
After the turnaround, I saw Dawn (teammate) coming up for her turn around. We high-fived and I gave her some shouts of encouragement. This was her first half iron and she was strong and steady. I thought she'd catch me soon so I just kept on my pace back to the finish.
At the next water stop, I looked back for Dawn and she was back a little ways, looking good but breathing hard. I waited for her and we chatted a bit while we drank down fluids. It was getting kinda hot by this time and we both felt about the same so we decided to run together. It was great having a teammate for company and pace. We did the same thing at each aid station. Walk, water, Heed, "let's go."
We went on like this to the 11.5 miles and then my hamstring locked up. DAMN THAT HURTS!
I immediately told Dawn to go and run her race. She did. I walked for a couple minutes and things improved and I was able to finish on my feet.
13.1 mile run. 2:22 (that included 2 potty stops and 1 hammy cramp).
Total time was 5:53.
I think I was a little behind on my fluids and I need more electrolytes. I guess I'm a heavy salt sweater.
Otherwise, my energy levels were good so the calories where pretty much on.


All's well.

Next up. A sprint this Saturday for a little speed work.

Good luck to all at Coeur d'Alene this weekend.

16 comments:

triguyjt said...

very strong time..considering, as you said it was a strong workout.... man those wood chips are a real bugger....

very good 1.2 mile swim time.. you have been listening to your coach....

Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom" said...

Congrats!!! BTW - your bike setup looks FAST!! Love the QR :-)

SixTwoThree said...

I so admire your swim! A great time and a great time! Way to go :-)

LBTEPA said...

Congrats on a good practice race - an on being a good teammate, I bet yyour friend really appreciated your help on her first IM

CoachLiz said...

SWEET!!!

Way to go on the energy sucking wood chips. I felt your pain with that Hamstring cramp.

Congratulations!

Kate said...

Great race! You make that half sound easy! My HIM race report is probably going to be filled with more adjectives that describe pain. :)

Steve Stenzel said...

Nice half time!!! And way to rock that swim!!!

Congrats!!!

IronMin said...

Congrats! Loved the race report. Sounds like you stayed strong and really pushed through. And what a great time!

Bree said...

nice job, my friend! thanks for the great race report.

Megan said...

Wow - that bike picture is AWESOME!!! Nice race, man. And a sprint this weekend? Race on, racer.

beth said...

great race report and great pictures! way to help out a first-timer friend...
and as for those damn wood chips- i can't believe they positioned the photographer on that stretch! how rude!

Rachel said...

Good job! You had a rockin' swim and bike. Sounds like the cramp was your undoing in the run. Do you think you had enough fluid/electrolytes? Those cramps can be downright crippling! Anyway, AWESOME job.

jameson said...

killer race man! I think "almost" nailing it kind of good thing right now.... your A race is still on the horizon... where you will NAIL it! Learning from each race and then applying that new knowledge is the key, but I don't need to tell you that.

keep it up!

Speed Racer said...

Awesome race! You are a MACHINE! I can't believe you broke 6:00 WITH 2 potty stops! I'm so glad someone else talks about pooping other than me!

Oh, and you look soooooooo cool in all your gear. I think if I saw you at a race I would be jealous.

rocketpants said...

Nice job!! Sounds like you are narrowing down your nutrition and all of that...that can be tricky at times.

SWTrigal said...

Dang that was fast!! Congratulations..
:)