first a huge thanks to all that helped me with the run: heather catchpole, heather wosoogh, mike, randy, stephanie, and brian. despite the fact that i came up short and none of you got to enjoy as much of the scenic beauty of the course as i'd promised, your efforts and support are greatly appreciated.
the day started out early, up a little before 4am, ate some eggs and cheese drank lots of water, and started heading east to the run start. Got to the run start at camp cuyamaca shortly after 5am checked in and ate a bit of the pre run food.
Got the last of my things lined up, filled my nutrition and water bottles, and i was ready to go. the run began at 6am, a very easy shuffle would be sufficient for me. there were a couple groups that took off at faster paces, i just kept reminding myself, it's a long day, there will be lots of time for things to settle out. the most important thing was to keep my pace nice and easy.
the lead up to the sunrise aid station was choc full of climbing goodness, so i was very content to put forth a slow jog up it. As it leveled off the pace picked up a bit. i still wasn't feeling it though, so kept my effort nice and slow. i ate a little bit, drank a bit, but not as much as i planned to eat and drink. coming up over the summit and around into the first aid station, i was feeling flat, nothing wrong, just hadn't found the groove i was hoping for. At the aid station, i refilled my bottles, grabbed a bagel, and was on my way again.
the next section was a bunch of single track with some little rolling hills, i took it pretty conservatively, remembering that there were numerous training runs which took 10 - 12 miles for my legs to come around and get over the initial lethargy. so i kept plodding along, content to do my thing for another couple aid stations and wait for me legs to come around.
i increased my calorie intake, eating wasn't exactly what i wanted to do at this point, so it took some effort, but i wasn't goign to let my nutrition ruin my day, i was dedicated to getting enough calories and maintaining a good effort for the entire run. so in went a bunch of shot blocks (essentially gummi bears) and lots of water and carbopro (carbohydrate drink mixture).
the pedro fages aid station was a welcome site, time for more food, some m&m's, cookies, water melon, and cantaloupe refill my water bottles take a quick bathroom break and on my way again. the 3rd section started out with some rollers, before dropping back down to where the run started. this section went a bit better, but still feeling less than ideal, more food, more liquid, and it's getting hot by now.
coming back through camp cuyamaca i stopped at my truck to grab my refills, lots of carbopro, and 5 more packs of shot blocks, then on to the aid station for more food, refill my water bottles and off again to see how difficult the next section would be. by now the temperatures have gone above my comfort zone and i'm starting to feel the heat. lovely, time to start taking thermolytes and the rest of my tablets as planned.
the next section would prove to be the most difficult for me, it was a good climb out of camp cuyamaca, and nice and toasty at this point. i spent most of this section walking up the climb, i'd run the flats and downhills, but thigns weren't feeling good, i'm over 20 miles in at this point, and my legs aren't coming around. just keep moving, i'm not too far off my estimated pace.
when i get into the paso picacho aid station, the heat was really getting to me, i dumped my hat into the ice water, grabbed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a glass of coke, and some gatorade. 1 of the volunteers offered me some salt tabs, i took 4, drank some more and asked for 3 more salt tablets. after some hemming and hawing on her part she gave in and provided me with the additional tablets. another of the volunteers had taken my bottles to refill with ice and water and added ice to my hat on my way out.
that was it, my legs started to come around and i began making good time through this section. all of a sudden i was hungry, and eating a bit ahead of schedule, before i was begrudgingly taking in roughly 400 calories an hour, at this point i was happily consuming 500 - 600 calories, and going through my water just as quickly. my pace was pretty steady through this section and my spirits were lifting, despite the fact the temperatures were climbing, i was doing well.
at the big bend aid station was feeling good. i was suprised to see the same volunteer that refilled my water bottles and filled my hat with icy goodness at paso picacho was waiting at big bend as well. she took my hat and water bottles. i ate some watermelon, cantaloupe, m&m's, cookies, more coke, and several cups of gatorade.
on the way out of big bend, i heard the promise of lots of climbing. nice, we are about to embark on a 1200+ foot climb over the next 2 miles give or take. eduardo, who i spoke with before the race and new from some of the other races, remarked that this climb was the toughest for him, and made him hurt severly the last time he did it. i put my head down and started my ascent.
my legs were feeling good, so i walked pretty aggressively, and jogged when the course leveled out and on minor inclines. i continued to catch and pass runners, chatting briefly as i went by. before long i was at the top, and ready to begin the descent into the milk ranch aid station. i could feel the sun getting hotter, and my sunblock wearing off, i'd need more sunblock soon, and ice.
i held a pretty solid pace through the descent and continued it through the little climb up into milk ranch. refill both water bottles, more food, strawberries were added to the usual fare and i was all too happy to sample some of them. sunblock, hat in the bucket of ice water, douse my head with icy water, ready to head out.
there was a mild climb then a long descent into the sweetwater aid station. my legs felt as they were getting stronger, so i continued to let it go a bit and enjoy the miles passing by. along the way, i found my energy building, my appetite was growing, and i was going through my food quickly, i was up to 600-700 calories an hour, mostly solids, and giong through my 2 water bottles faster than anticipated. this could get interesting, do i try and pick up the pace to get to sweetwater faster, or slow down so i don't need as much water?
to much thinking, i'll just run comfortable and let things work themselves out. within 1/2 mile i had found an unopened bottle of water. that's convenient. i picked it up and refilled my water bottle. 1 problem solved, no if i can just find a collection of food to add to my resevoir i'd be set. the heat was again getting to me, i'd need to remember to add ice to my hat before i leave the sweetwater station.
no such luck, i finished off this section out of food, and with just enough water. more food, and some more food to go. i loaded up my pockets with cliff bars, a couple gels, and had my bottles refilled, my hat socked in ice water. added sunblock, and i was off again. i bit premature, i knew i needed to drink and eat more before i left, but keeping to my true form of neglect, i left before completing the things that would make the next 7.5 miles easier.
this definitely bit me hard. within a couple miles i'd gone completely through my 2 water bottles, and eaten all the food (mental note cliff bars need a substantial amount of water to wash down, and are a bad idea to eat when you have no water. i was still catching and passing people, trying to stay conservative (looks like i'm not the only one that underestimated this section).
then it happened. that niggling little thing in my right achilles tendon let loose. running became uncomfortable at the good parts, the worst of it was my legs are still pretty fresh, i'm getting pretty significantly dehydrated, but that's easy to recover from. it's the shooting pain in my achilles that has me concerned.
if i don't figure this out soon, i'm going to be having a lot shorter day than anticipated. it's not long before i'm noticably limping, any kind of strain on my achilles hurts severely. i spend a good hour walking the rest of the way back into camp cuyamaca, where my first pacer will be waiting.
it's finally starting to cool down, but not looking like i'm going to get to enjoy the reprieve. i finally make my way into camp cuyamaca, and can hear heather catchpole's shouts of encouragement. i get to the tent and sit down, hand off the water bottles, throw my hat in the ice water and begin planning my course of action.
heather c. and brian are extremely helpful, providing me with chicken soup, oranges, i should have gotten some quesadillas too, but i was being stubborn. i drank lots ate lots, laid down and heather went to work on my right leg. whenever she got near the achilles i had shooting pain, and would wince. it was ridiculously tight, and noticably inflamed.
i laid there for over an hour hoping the rest would resolve the woes of my achilles. around 6pm i decided it was time to do a check and we loaded up and headed out for the sunrise aid station. my legs were a bit stiff, and the achilles didn't do what i'd hoped it would do. the questions start, do i press on and see where things go really bad? do i quite and finally admit there are some things that are out of my control?? i spend the better part of the next 1/2 mile or so goign back and forth over this in my head. i can still shuffle through the flats, i'm ok. it's only the ups that hurt (never mind i have a 5 mile climb ahead of me).
before long it's undeniable, even the slightest grade sends shooting pain through my achilles, my stride is far from normal, and will definitely increase the likeliness of other injuries if go through the next 50 miles, and the downhills hurt far wors than the climbs.
i pull over to the side of the course sit down and think for a couple minutes. it's official, i'm done, my run is nearly completed, though i've failed to complete the entirety of my run, i accept it at face value, it's not happening today. good days and bad days. today is both a good day and a bad day. i bounced back from my dehydration and insufficient nutrition, but i'm not bouncing back from the achilles in time to finish what i set out to do.
as i sit there, i am forced to accept the fact that there are things i just can't do. there are circumstances beyond my control, despite the fact this was amongst the most prepared i've been for any of my undertakings, it's playing out to be my first DNF. there is still 18+ hours in which i can likely hobble through most all if not all of the remaining 49 miles, but what kind of a set back will that cause? how important is my achilles tendon.
no more questions. it's time to walk back to camp cuyamaca, surrender my number and inform my support crew there is no need for support. heather c is very supportive an asks several times if this is what i want to do. when we get back to camp cuyamaca, i hand over my race number, the final step in officially dropping out. my day is over.
now it's time to start my next adventure. figuring out what i did to my achilles, and starting to fix it. i've got lots of stuff to do, and repairing myself is at the top, once that's complete i can get back to marking off the rest of the items on my list.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Thursday, June 5, 2008
San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon
a couple days before the race i spoke with an acquaintence who had signed up for the rock and roll marathon hoping to qualify for boston. He would need to run under 3:21:00 to qualify, a 7:39 min/mile pace or better would do.
I agreed to pace him through at least the first 1/2 in 1:35:00, after which i'd go as far as i could and wish him well when i blew up.sunday morning i woke up early, and headed down to balboa park and the start line. i parked on the other side of the park so i wouldn't have to deal with street closures plus then i could get a little warm up in before the run. i grabbed all my things and started jogging to the start. when i got the the start i realized i'd left my timing chip in my truck, almost 1 mile across the park. mmm, no chip no time? how important is the time for me?
i decided to go back and get the chip in order to officially document my first sub 4 hour marathon. a brisk jog back to my car, pick up the chip, and jog back to the start line, i'm good and warm now, all i have to do is wait for the race to start. about 10 minutes before the start i thought it would be a good idea to visit the bathroom 1 last time before the start, then i saw the lines and decided i could wait a couple hours.i met up with mark a couple minutes before the start. and that familiar pre-race feeling started to creep up on me, it's been so long since i raced i almost forgot how much i enjoy this stuff.
the gun went off and we started at a pretty brisk pace. 7:09 through the first mile, 7:24 pace for mile 2 and then a good downhill on the course brought us through mile 3 right around 7:15. i ran into some people from the shop i new, so chatted with them a bit, then switched the focus back to pacing mark. i let him know we were pacing a bit fast, on pace for a 3:10:00 marathon we settled in a bit and got comfortable. nothing too exciting for the next couple miles, we pulled back slightly on the pace, but were still running around a 3:10:00 pace through most of the first 12 miles. at mile 7.5 i decided the bathroom was a necessity, i told mark i was going to drop off and i'd be back in a mile or 2, i stopped and took a pee break.
i was back up with mark around mile 8.5, still ahead of his 3:20:00 pace and looking fresh.right around mile 12, mark's parents and sisters were shouting encouragement, it helped give him a little boost. somewhere around here the sun broke through the cloud cover and things began to heat up. just past mile 17 a couple of mark's supporters ran with him for a bit. this is were things started to get tougher and the pace suffered a bit. around mile 18.5 another of mark's friends joined the run, he would stay with us until just before the finish. at this point mark definitely began showing early signs of blowing up, his heart rate was climbing but his pace was staying pretty steady, we pulled back a bit more to try and help him settle into a more comfortable pace, but his pace was already beginning to look like it would be close to pull out a 3:20:00 finish.
we came through mile 21 at 2:38:29, on 7:33 min/mile pace. after mile 21 things got more gloomy, the heat was getting to mark, so we doused his hat in water and tried to cool him down through the aid stations. we walked for a bit to let mark get some gel and liquid in and settle his stomach a bit then resumed the running. mile 23 and mark was getting dizzy, we adjusted the pace again. he was experiencing tunnel vision and had become pretty dizzy, it was obvious he was pushing hard and digging deep to do what he came to do. he hit the 24 mile mark at 3:06:00, dropping his pace below what he needed to get in under 3:20:00. We had 2.2 miles to make up almost 3 minutes.
It was time for mark to dig real deep and see how the cards were to fall. we went a bit aggressively, hoping it would snap mark out of his funk and get his legs going again. marks friend went ahead to get some accelerade and water at the next aid station. i stayd with mark and we walked a bit to let him settle in before we made our last go for his 3:20:00. he got some liquid in and doused in water to cool him down.we came through mile 25 just over 3:17:00, 3:20:00 wasn't happening today, it was a bit hard to swallow, after such a strong start and huge display of heart, mark blew up severely.
he pushd himself harder than i've seen anybody push, and dug down deep, but it wasn't happening sunday. with about 3/4 of a mile to go, he dug even deeper and pulled together a solid effort to jog the remainder of the race, crossing the line in 3:27:44, nearly 5 minutes better than his previous best.he was a bit dissappointed he fell short of his 3:20:00 aspirations, but he was happy with the personal best he set, and from what i saw he laid every bit of what he had out on the line on sunday and dug deep down inside to find everythign he could find. it just wasn't in teh cards for sunday.
congratulations mark, i'm going to remember that effort for a long time, and am sure i'll use it as a source of encouragement to help me through some difficult times.you can see mark crossing the finish line on the far left of the screen at 3:27:54 on the race clock, he has a red shirt, white hat, and black shorts.
I agreed to pace him through at least the first 1/2 in 1:35:00, after which i'd go as far as i could and wish him well when i blew up.sunday morning i woke up early, and headed down to balboa park and the start line. i parked on the other side of the park so i wouldn't have to deal with street closures plus then i could get a little warm up in before the run. i grabbed all my things and started jogging to the start. when i got the the start i realized i'd left my timing chip in my truck, almost 1 mile across the park. mmm, no chip no time? how important is the time for me?
i decided to go back and get the chip in order to officially document my first sub 4 hour marathon. a brisk jog back to my car, pick up the chip, and jog back to the start line, i'm good and warm now, all i have to do is wait for the race to start. about 10 minutes before the start i thought it would be a good idea to visit the bathroom 1 last time before the start, then i saw the lines and decided i could wait a couple hours.i met up with mark a couple minutes before the start. and that familiar pre-race feeling started to creep up on me, it's been so long since i raced i almost forgot how much i enjoy this stuff.
the gun went off and we started at a pretty brisk pace. 7:09 through the first mile, 7:24 pace for mile 2 and then a good downhill on the course brought us through mile 3 right around 7:15. i ran into some people from the shop i new, so chatted with them a bit, then switched the focus back to pacing mark. i let him know we were pacing a bit fast, on pace for a 3:10:00 marathon we settled in a bit and got comfortable. nothing too exciting for the next couple miles, we pulled back slightly on the pace, but were still running around a 3:10:00 pace through most of the first 12 miles. at mile 7.5 i decided the bathroom was a necessity, i told mark i was going to drop off and i'd be back in a mile or 2, i stopped and took a pee break.
i was back up with mark around mile 8.5, still ahead of his 3:20:00 pace and looking fresh.right around mile 12, mark's parents and sisters were shouting encouragement, it helped give him a little boost. somewhere around here the sun broke through the cloud cover and things began to heat up. just past mile 17 a couple of mark's supporters ran with him for a bit. this is were things started to get tougher and the pace suffered a bit. around mile 18.5 another of mark's friends joined the run, he would stay with us until just before the finish. at this point mark definitely began showing early signs of blowing up, his heart rate was climbing but his pace was staying pretty steady, we pulled back a bit more to try and help him settle into a more comfortable pace, but his pace was already beginning to look like it would be close to pull out a 3:20:00 finish.
we came through mile 21 at 2:38:29, on 7:33 min/mile pace. after mile 21 things got more gloomy, the heat was getting to mark, so we doused his hat in water and tried to cool him down through the aid stations. we walked for a bit to let mark get some gel and liquid in and settle his stomach a bit then resumed the running. mile 23 and mark was getting dizzy, we adjusted the pace again. he was experiencing tunnel vision and had become pretty dizzy, it was obvious he was pushing hard and digging deep to do what he came to do. he hit the 24 mile mark at 3:06:00, dropping his pace below what he needed to get in under 3:20:00. We had 2.2 miles to make up almost 3 minutes.
It was time for mark to dig real deep and see how the cards were to fall. we went a bit aggressively, hoping it would snap mark out of his funk and get his legs going again. marks friend went ahead to get some accelerade and water at the next aid station. i stayd with mark and we walked a bit to let him settle in before we made our last go for his 3:20:00. he got some liquid in and doused in water to cool him down.we came through mile 25 just over 3:17:00, 3:20:00 wasn't happening today, it was a bit hard to swallow, after such a strong start and huge display of heart, mark blew up severely.
he pushd himself harder than i've seen anybody push, and dug down deep, but it wasn't happening sunday. with about 3/4 of a mile to go, he dug even deeper and pulled together a solid effort to jog the remainder of the race, crossing the line in 3:27:44, nearly 5 minutes better than his previous best.he was a bit dissappointed he fell short of his 3:20:00 aspirations, but he was happy with the personal best he set, and from what i saw he laid every bit of what he had out on the line on sunday and dug deep down inside to find everythign he could find. it just wasn't in teh cards for sunday.
congratulations mark, i'm going to remember that effort for a long time, and am sure i'll use it as a source of encouragement to help me through some difficult times.you can see mark crossing the finish line on the far left of the screen at 3:27:54 on the race clock, he has a red shirt, white hat, and black shorts.
Oceanside 70.3 2008
This year proved to be a bit of a challenge. As usual, I didn’t sleep very well the night before the race, I was up late organizing my race gear and then up early driving to oceanside. I got there, found my place in transition, it was very empty, lots of room to set up, but this would soon change as the hordes of participants showed up.
I made my way into the lineup to funnel down to the swim start, and waited to enter the harbor. 3 minutes before the wave start, we were allowed into the water for warmup and whatever else needing doing. I got in, a bit chilly, allowed me to find new tears in my wetsuit. guess it’s about time to retire it. the horn sounded and we were off, I started out a bit wide and near the front, quickly settled into a pretty comfortable pace, and worked my way into the center by the buoys. I’ve given up on predicting my swim pace, and have accepted I am a poor judge at best of swim performance. the entire swim felt good, I was sure I was holding a pretty good pace, and moving along. my effort felt pretty good, not overly hard, and not too relaxed. before long I was at the turnaround, and on my way back in. I was back by the start line seemingly sooner than anticipated, maybe I will actually string together a solid performance today. out of the water, through transition, back to my rack to pick up my bike and get down to business. swim time: 35:09, about 5 minutes slower than my usual time.
when I got back to the racks, they were very empty. hmmm, maybe that swim wasn’t as fast as I thought it was. granted I didn’t expect a blazing swim time, but figured there would be more bikes around when I got back.
I had some trouble getting my wetsuit off, so sat down for the struggle. One of the volunteers offered to help me peel it off, I accepted, and as she bent over to help out she hit my bike, knocking it off the rack and to the ground, my water bottle, full of my nutrition, skated across the transition area. “I’m sorry”, as she chased after it. and I’m still struggling to get my wet suit off. what the?? guess I need to actually swim and practice taking the wetsuit off. phew, finally got it off, the volunteer had recovered my nutrition, put it back in the water bottle cage, and set my bike upright. ok, the fun part. T1 time: 3:28, by no means blazing fast, but not too far from what I would have expected had things gone well.
now the bike, from here on out it’s good, nothing but chasing people down. out of t1, time to mount, I couldn’t get on the bike. guess I need to practice that one as well. it took me 3 or 4 tries to find the pedals and actually get moving. ok, it’s a bit chilly, there are lots of people out ahead of me on the bike, and I’m struggling with silly things which I usually do well. good thing I’m having fun out here, or this could be a bad day. immediately I start working my way through the field (not hard to do when you start out so poorlyJ ) and settling into a comfortably fast rhythm on the bike. drink some water, take in some nutrition. that’s the stuff. it’s pretty cold for the first 10 – 15 miles, but my legs are feeling pretty good, I seem to be making good time.
I pick up some water and refill my supplies at the first aid station, then settle in, the first 22 – 25 miles are pretty flat, and a good opportunity to make up some good speed before the climbing starts. around mile 22, the head wind starts. that’s a lot earlier, and a lot heavier than usual. through the first set of rollers I notice a peculiar noise when I put any real power through the pedals for climbing. I look back, and am pretty sure the rear wheel is deflecting and rubbing on the frame under heavy load. at least there are lots of hills to verify this hypothesis.
generally I’ll wind up going back and forth with a couple people on the bike, but not today, today was going to be a solo effort for whatever reason. despite the setbacks so far, things seem to be going well, I feel like I’m holding a good pace on the bike, and should be close to where I want to be come time to run. that’s where I’ll make up the bulk of my time. over the climbs, and through the descents, I’m smiling inside, and laughing to myself, this feels good, I’m having fun out here. the climbs aren’t passing as easily as I’ve become accustomed to, I chalk it up to the extra noises I’ve got coming from my rear wheel and bottom bracket, and laugh. so much neglect going into the race, and now it’s paying me back. but the downhills and flats feel very strong. I take a couple thermolytes as proactive cramp prevention.
onto the backside which is deceptive, though it’s pretty flat, there is a lot of wind, particularly today, so I tuck into a nice comfortable aero position, and click off the miles, mile 45, 11 miles left, no worries, it’s almost time to test out my new running skills. the remainder of the bike is uneventful, and seems to go by quickly. coming down into t2, I hear mike “go liam”, and am feeling good, my legs are still fresh and ready for the next hour and a half. a smooth t2, and onto the run. on top of that I don’t have to worry about any weird noises coming from my bike. bike time: 2:41:11
T2 is much smoother and faster than t1, that’s what I’m used to. I’ve gone through all 1200 calories on the bike, and am feeling good, I rack my bike, sit down, pull my shoes on, look right at my nutrition and electrolytes I’ve allocated for the run, and decide, I don’t need those, I’ll be back in less than 1:30:00. this would prove to be a giant blunder. t2 time: 0:1:33
shoes on, ready to go, I come blazing out of t2, this feels like it might be a little fast, but lets see where it takes us. though it seems like I might be coming out a bit quick, I feel very comfortable. after ½ mile, the story of the run starts to unfold. twinges start shooting through my quadriceps. mmm, guess I should have had more thermolytes on the bike, and grabbed my bag of run goodies in t2. it’s only 13 miles, let’s see how things unfold. 2 cups of gatorade at the first aid station, 2 sponges. still running, either my legs will cramp, or they won’t. my pace is still solid, and I feel comfortable other than the twinges.
mile 2, 2 more gatorades, I should get something with salt, maybe pretzels, or power gel. I definitely should do a gel before too long. but I’m still feeling good except the twinges. mile 3, my feet fall asleep, I’m still taking 1 or 2 gatorades every mile to fight off the cramps. but have yet to get any real calories. I’m running a solid pace, nobody is catching me, at the turnarounds, people are falling further behind, I just keep running people down. things are good.
mile 4, mile 5, mile 6, almost to the 2nd turnaround. I’m starting to feel things a bit. mike and my dad are there, mike feeds me my split: “you’re on pace for 1:28:00”. now I’m thinking I have to make up 3 minutes. time to start picking things up see what’s in the cards. how deep can I dig?
on the way out for lap 2, I pick up the pace slightly, more gatorade, more water. I need a gel, it’s stupid to pass them up. but I keep passing them up. mile 9, almost time for the last turn around. mile 10, need a gel, legs are cramping more, but anybody can fake a 5k. and it’s mainly downhill to flat from here. hey wait, is that my feet I can feel now. nice, at least they aren’t numb anymore.
mile 11. game over. that gel would have been real nice had I eaten it 3 – 5 miles ago. I’m still running, but more of a 9 min/mile pace instead of the 6:45 min/mile or so I was holding up to that point. time for damage control, I grab some oranges and start chewing on them, walk the aid station to get some gatorade and water in me. put my head down, and back to running. still painfully slow.
as hard as I try, there just isn’t anything in there. I keep reasoning, it’s 2 miles, 14 minutes, that’s easy you do it all the time. then my left hamstring starts to twinge. added to the collection of both quads threatening to cramp, and I have no energy. aaah yes, I miscalculated by 15 minutes. so close. only 2 miles. start digging, gotta hold off some people. in the last 2 miles, I dropped roughly 6 spots in my division, and probably dozens overall, but it’s not about that right now, it’s about running, as bad as I want to stop, I keep telling myself run faster, it will be over sooner, as hard as I try, my legs refuse to turn over faster, I watch a dozen or so people pull away, and have nothing to answer with. 1 mile left, ¾ of a mile, and I’m through the last aid station. nothing here will help now, just keep moving on. ¼ mile left, it’s now that I find out how much my body lied, or how much truth there was. I let it all out, digging in for a solid run down the finishing chute. 2 people ahead of me, 200meters to catch them, I can do this, I always have something left for a strong finish. here I go, my sprint. but I’m unable to go any faster than I’ve been going for the last 200 meters. what the? 2 people. and I manage to pull up even, but don’t have it to get ahead. the finish. run time: 1:34:27
my hamstring is cramped, my quads are cramped, I’m tired, I’m thirsty my legs are going to explode. but there is a smile deep down inside, I blew up 2 miles early, but in doing so, I learned a huge lesson. I laid it all out there, I wasn’t afraid of falling short, there were no questions, no doubts, just the here and now, each step on that run was done in the here and now. never holding back and wondering if I could keep that pace the whole way, just going with what felt right. not thinking about the possibility of coming up short, because there was no way that could happen (except perhaps if I didn’t eat anything for the entire run).
each race over the past year has brought me a new understading of what it means to lay it all out there, and to hurt like I’ve never hurt before. after lake placid I hurt more than I’d ever hurt before, after silverman, I raised the bar a bit more, after catalina, my legs were worse than I could imagine them feeling, and on saturday, I raised the bar a bit more. I’m starting to race closer and closer to my potential. with enough persistence, and attention to detail, it’s only a matter of time until everything falls into place, and I race the race that I know is in me. until them, I’m going to keep searching and reveling in my ability to push through the lies my body feeds me.
I made my way into the lineup to funnel down to the swim start, and waited to enter the harbor. 3 minutes before the wave start, we were allowed into the water for warmup and whatever else needing doing. I got in, a bit chilly, allowed me to find new tears in my wetsuit. guess it’s about time to retire it. the horn sounded and we were off, I started out a bit wide and near the front, quickly settled into a pretty comfortable pace, and worked my way into the center by the buoys. I’ve given up on predicting my swim pace, and have accepted I am a poor judge at best of swim performance. the entire swim felt good, I was sure I was holding a pretty good pace, and moving along. my effort felt pretty good, not overly hard, and not too relaxed. before long I was at the turnaround, and on my way back in. I was back by the start line seemingly sooner than anticipated, maybe I will actually string together a solid performance today. out of the water, through transition, back to my rack to pick up my bike and get down to business. swim time: 35:09, about 5 minutes slower than my usual time.
when I got back to the racks, they were very empty. hmmm, maybe that swim wasn’t as fast as I thought it was. granted I didn’t expect a blazing swim time, but figured there would be more bikes around when I got back.
I had some trouble getting my wetsuit off, so sat down for the struggle. One of the volunteers offered to help me peel it off, I accepted, and as she bent over to help out she hit my bike, knocking it off the rack and to the ground, my water bottle, full of my nutrition, skated across the transition area. “I’m sorry”, as she chased after it. and I’m still struggling to get my wet suit off. what the?? guess I need to actually swim and practice taking the wetsuit off. phew, finally got it off, the volunteer had recovered my nutrition, put it back in the water bottle cage, and set my bike upright. ok, the fun part. T1 time: 3:28, by no means blazing fast, but not too far from what I would have expected had things gone well.
now the bike, from here on out it’s good, nothing but chasing people down. out of t1, time to mount, I couldn’t get on the bike. guess I need to practice that one as well. it took me 3 or 4 tries to find the pedals and actually get moving. ok, it’s a bit chilly, there are lots of people out ahead of me on the bike, and I’m struggling with silly things which I usually do well. good thing I’m having fun out here, or this could be a bad day. immediately I start working my way through the field (not hard to do when you start out so poorlyJ ) and settling into a comfortably fast rhythm on the bike. drink some water, take in some nutrition. that’s the stuff. it’s pretty cold for the first 10 – 15 miles, but my legs are feeling pretty good, I seem to be making good time.
I pick up some water and refill my supplies at the first aid station, then settle in, the first 22 – 25 miles are pretty flat, and a good opportunity to make up some good speed before the climbing starts. around mile 22, the head wind starts. that’s a lot earlier, and a lot heavier than usual. through the first set of rollers I notice a peculiar noise when I put any real power through the pedals for climbing. I look back, and am pretty sure the rear wheel is deflecting and rubbing on the frame under heavy load. at least there are lots of hills to verify this hypothesis.
generally I’ll wind up going back and forth with a couple people on the bike, but not today, today was going to be a solo effort for whatever reason. despite the setbacks so far, things seem to be going well, I feel like I’m holding a good pace on the bike, and should be close to where I want to be come time to run. that’s where I’ll make up the bulk of my time. over the climbs, and through the descents, I’m smiling inside, and laughing to myself, this feels good, I’m having fun out here. the climbs aren’t passing as easily as I’ve become accustomed to, I chalk it up to the extra noises I’ve got coming from my rear wheel and bottom bracket, and laugh. so much neglect going into the race, and now it’s paying me back. but the downhills and flats feel very strong. I take a couple thermolytes as proactive cramp prevention.
onto the backside which is deceptive, though it’s pretty flat, there is a lot of wind, particularly today, so I tuck into a nice comfortable aero position, and click off the miles, mile 45, 11 miles left, no worries, it’s almost time to test out my new running skills. the remainder of the bike is uneventful, and seems to go by quickly. coming down into t2, I hear mike “go liam”, and am feeling good, my legs are still fresh and ready for the next hour and a half. a smooth t2, and onto the run. on top of that I don’t have to worry about any weird noises coming from my bike. bike time: 2:41:11
T2 is much smoother and faster than t1, that’s what I’m used to. I’ve gone through all 1200 calories on the bike, and am feeling good, I rack my bike, sit down, pull my shoes on, look right at my nutrition and electrolytes I’ve allocated for the run, and decide, I don’t need those, I’ll be back in less than 1:30:00. this would prove to be a giant blunder. t2 time: 0:1:33
shoes on, ready to go, I come blazing out of t2, this feels like it might be a little fast, but lets see where it takes us. though it seems like I might be coming out a bit quick, I feel very comfortable. after ½ mile, the story of the run starts to unfold. twinges start shooting through my quadriceps. mmm, guess I should have had more thermolytes on the bike, and grabbed my bag of run goodies in t2. it’s only 13 miles, let’s see how things unfold. 2 cups of gatorade at the first aid station, 2 sponges. still running, either my legs will cramp, or they won’t. my pace is still solid, and I feel comfortable other than the twinges.
mile 2, 2 more gatorades, I should get something with salt, maybe pretzels, or power gel. I definitely should do a gel before too long. but I’m still feeling good except the twinges. mile 3, my feet fall asleep, I’m still taking 1 or 2 gatorades every mile to fight off the cramps. but have yet to get any real calories. I’m running a solid pace, nobody is catching me, at the turnarounds, people are falling further behind, I just keep running people down. things are good.
mile 4, mile 5, mile 6, almost to the 2nd turnaround. I’m starting to feel things a bit. mike and my dad are there, mike feeds me my split: “you’re on pace for 1:28:00”. now I’m thinking I have to make up 3 minutes. time to start picking things up see what’s in the cards. how deep can I dig?
on the way out for lap 2, I pick up the pace slightly, more gatorade, more water. I need a gel, it’s stupid to pass them up. but I keep passing them up. mile 9, almost time for the last turn around. mile 10, need a gel, legs are cramping more, but anybody can fake a 5k. and it’s mainly downhill to flat from here. hey wait, is that my feet I can feel now. nice, at least they aren’t numb anymore.
mile 11. game over. that gel would have been real nice had I eaten it 3 – 5 miles ago. I’m still running, but more of a 9 min/mile pace instead of the 6:45 min/mile or so I was holding up to that point. time for damage control, I grab some oranges and start chewing on them, walk the aid station to get some gatorade and water in me. put my head down, and back to running. still painfully slow.
as hard as I try, there just isn’t anything in there. I keep reasoning, it’s 2 miles, 14 minutes, that’s easy you do it all the time. then my left hamstring starts to twinge. added to the collection of both quads threatening to cramp, and I have no energy. aaah yes, I miscalculated by 15 minutes. so close. only 2 miles. start digging, gotta hold off some people. in the last 2 miles, I dropped roughly 6 spots in my division, and probably dozens overall, but it’s not about that right now, it’s about running, as bad as I want to stop, I keep telling myself run faster, it will be over sooner, as hard as I try, my legs refuse to turn over faster, I watch a dozen or so people pull away, and have nothing to answer with. 1 mile left, ¾ of a mile, and I’m through the last aid station. nothing here will help now, just keep moving on. ¼ mile left, it’s now that I find out how much my body lied, or how much truth there was. I let it all out, digging in for a solid run down the finishing chute. 2 people ahead of me, 200meters to catch them, I can do this, I always have something left for a strong finish. here I go, my sprint. but I’m unable to go any faster than I’ve been going for the last 200 meters. what the? 2 people. and I manage to pull up even, but don’t have it to get ahead. the finish. run time: 1:34:27
my hamstring is cramped, my quads are cramped, I’m tired, I’m thirsty my legs are going to explode. but there is a smile deep down inside, I blew up 2 miles early, but in doing so, I learned a huge lesson. I laid it all out there, I wasn’t afraid of falling short, there were no questions, no doubts, just the here and now, each step on that run was done in the here and now. never holding back and wondering if I could keep that pace the whole way, just going with what felt right. not thinking about the possibility of coming up short, because there was no way that could happen (except perhaps if I didn’t eat anything for the entire run).
each race over the past year has brought me a new understading of what it means to lay it all out there, and to hurt like I’ve never hurt before. after lake placid I hurt more than I’d ever hurt before, after silverman, I raised the bar a bit more, after catalina, my legs were worse than I could imagine them feeling, and on saturday, I raised the bar a bit more. I’m starting to race closer and closer to my potential. with enough persistence, and attention to detail, it’s only a matter of time until everything falls into place, and I race the race that I know is in me. until them, I’m going to keep searching and reveling in my ability to push through the lies my body feeds me.
Catalina 50 mile run
talk about a long day. We headed over to Catalina island on Doc's boat around 5pm friday evening, the crossing was uneventful, we moored the boat, went and ate, then back to the boat for sleeping, saturday would be an early start. i didn't sleep very well, too many things on my mind, oddly enough the race wasn't really one of them. I knew i was in for some serious hurting, as my training had been far less than i hoped for.
i had a decent base coming off of the silverman in november, took a couple weeks off, and early december, after 1 week of that i got sick. I wouldn't be able to run again until january 2nd. 10 days to build back up. that would prove to be an interesting experience.
after some napping here and there around 4 am, i decide enough laying around, i'm getting up and making my way to shore to get ready. Andy came over with me in the kayaks. and would bring my stuff back to the boat. very helpful. the plan was easy, i'd be at the isthmus between 10 and 11, they would take the boat up and yell encouragement, maybe take some of my things i didn't need, and then head back to see me at the finnish.
got there, filled up my gel and water bottles. promptly at 5 am, the run started, still dark and would stay that way until around 6:30 or so. the first 3 - 4 miles were a slight climb, and could be jogged slowly, then the climbing started, and the jog became a walk - 1600' (550m) of climbing over 2 imles (3.2 km). the first aid station came at mile 11.9, 2:12:00 after my start (11:04 min/mile - 6:53 min/km). more water, oranges, pretzels, banana, and i'm off another 7 miles to aid station 2. these miles would be rolling hills and a descent down into the aid station. things felt pretty good, just gotta focus on a very slow pace so i can maintain through the end. my mind would wander amongst the many things going on these days, but always came back to the details at hand. on the way down there was a buffalo, sitting by the road, eating some grass. those things are huge. it was an interesting site.
the downhill was pretty good, there was 1 more climb, then the final descent into and shortly after reaching the top of that climb, the road dropped back down close to sea level, and we were welcomed into the 2nd aid station, little harbor - 1:12:00 after leaving the last aid station, and 7 miles later (10:17 min/mile - 6:23 min/km), and a total of 18.9 miles down. oh boy, my legs are starting to feel the lack of preparation. water, gatorade, fill the water bottle 1/2 water, 1/2 gatorade, pretzels, bananas, potato and salt. off again.
there was a long climb out of this aid station, and a lot of walking. on the way up, another runner joined me, and i was able to run a bit with him. after a mile or 2, it became obvious this pace was entirely too fast for me to maintain, so i bid him well, and began walking again. 10 minutes or so later, another runner joined me. i would stay with her until roughly 33 miles, at which point she would take off ahead never to be seen again. at the top of the climb, we were greated by another buffalo down by a pond drinking and eating, and a few miles later an incredible view looking down onto the isthmus (a harbor on catalina). i was thinking about everythign i could except the fact that my legs were hurting something awful. only some minor coughing, so i was please with that part of it. we ran the 3 miles or so down to the isthmus aid station, and another 1.5 - 2 miles to the turn around. and back to the isthmus: 7.8 miles in 1:51:00 from the little harbor (14;13 min/mile - 8:50 min/km). yep, legs are definitely revolting. more oranges, pretzels, potato, bananas, and lots of liquid, then on our way back to little harbor. i was a bit saddened that there was no sign of andy or doc, but c'est la vie. turns out they had some boat trouble, and missed me at the isthmus by 10 minutes.
the climb out of the isthmus was brutal, hot, uphill, and steep. lots of walking. the good news is the worst is yet to come. at the top, the jogging resumes, letting gravity do what it can do to help out, at this point, i can no longer intelligently speak, just 1 syllable and i doubt it's very understandable. my usual joy for the downhills is lost, my legs threaten to buckle with every step. but keep going, one in front of the other, finally things flatten out, and we arrive at the little harbor aid station - 6.5 miles in 1:22:00 (12:36 min/mile - 7:49 min/km). banana, potato, pretzel, oranges, water, gatorade, refill the water bottle. salt and i'm on my way again.
a bit of a climb out, then a great view of little harbor and the ocean, a quick descent, and the brutal promise of several miles over which here is where things will climb some 600 - 1000 feet (200 - 350 m). doesn't sound like much, but looking at it, and wlaking up it at this point is increasingly difficult. i take solace in the fact that i should be around 40 miles into the race at this point, 1 or 2 aid stations left, and i get that lovely 3 mile descent into avalon, and the cold ocean to immerse my legs in. my ambition is long gone, thoughts of calling it a day are threatening me, and my legs are slowing significantly. then the crushing blow, i reach the next aid station which i'm absolutely confident is bewteen mile 42 and 45, 2 more miles after this, and it's all downhill, not a great thing, but a promise of the pendign finish. i get closer to the aid station, and am pretty much devastated. mile 38.8, 11.2 miles to go, that's a far cry from the 5 or so i was expecting. they have buffalo burgers and lobster at the eagles nest aid station, status check 5.6 miles mainly climbing in 1:11:00 (12:40 min/mile - 7:52 min/km) from little harbor. my stomach protested at teh thought of either lobster or buffalo at this point, so my standard fair, banana, oranges (did i mention i love these things for long races), pretzels, and potato. ooh red gatorade, something different, fill the water bottle with red gatorade please. and several cups of water and gatorade. back on the trail, another 5.2 miles (8.4 km) to the next stop.
to give you an idea of what catalina is like, these 5.2 miles (8.4 km) climbed 400' (320m), and at this point in the sufferfest (it's no longer a run) i was completely convinced this was flat. i was reduced to a walk, mainly due to the additional 7 miles (11.3 km) i was gifted at the last aid station. head down, and pretty well beaten for the time being. then kathryn came along: "you can't walk this, you won't get anywhere, come on, we are going to run walk. running to the 3rd set of tall trees". at the 3rd set of trees, another point would be set, we will walk to the white sign. we'd walk and run like this until the pump house aid station, at the bottom of a 600' (300m) climb which lasted 1/2 mile (0.8 km). finally, 5.2 miles (8.4 km) in 1:22:00 15:46 min/mile (9:47 min/km). at the aid station, no dilly dallying, water, gatorade, refill bottle, oranges, and a banana. off we go
kathryn told me about several other 50 mile (80km)runs she had done, and some people she had pulled through the final miles. she told me she did a 50 miler (80 Km) in october or november, and since hadn't run more than 3.5 miles (5.6 km). she explained how she is married to a air force person, and many of her runs are done around the base, which is fenced off, and how the guards would frequently drive out to ensure she isn't trying to break in. i suggested she have them bring her water and food. before you know it we were at the top of pumphouse hill, some rollers and then the 3.3 mile (5.3 km) descent into avalon (1600' - 490m). we ran most of the rollers and started down the descent. my legs have yet to protest a downhill section like they did that one. i couldn't muster any sort of a pace, even gravity couldn't help with that. "there is a gate, then the bell tower, at the bell tower, it's 1/2 mile (800 m) to the finish" kathryn was offering me hope. it wasn't a question at this point, downhill i can do (generally much better than this one, but i can do those). there was the gate, and a bit after that the bell tower. Kathryn chimes in, "and then there's the sprint to the finish". "have fun with that". finally the road levels out, we are in avalon, so close to the end.
kathryn checks her watch "if we hurry i can make it under 11:30". i'm thinking and with a long run of 3.5 miles over the past 3 months??? "ok, here we go, here's the sprint you wanted". so we go. Doc and Andy are there on the right side of the course cheering and taking photos. a very welcome boost. i offer kathryn to the opportunity to finish first, she declines, so we cross the line together, as discussed throughout the past 2.5 hours. 6 miles from pumphouse in 1:19:00 (13:10 min/mile - 8:10 min/km)
the aftermath. first thought through my head, where is Hilde-Karin, i look around and slowly realize she won't be there, she is in Norway, sleeping. a bit of sadness creeps into my heart. Doc and Andy greet me at the finish, and offer congratulations. you should sit down, get some food, i just want to stand in the ocean and enjoy the cold water.
this is a pain i have never felt. though that crosses my mind after many hard efforts, and eventually fades. this time my legs are destroyed, beyond past experiences. 7300' (2200 m) of climbing over 50 miles (80 km) will do that. i'm wobbly, disoriented, and determined to get in the ocean. after standing in the ocean for a while i come out, next order of business, shower and food.
Official numbers: 50 miles (80 km) in 10:29:00 average pace 12:34 min/mile (7:48 min/km). legs are more destroyed then ever, feet hurt, and i'm so hungry and thirsty, and smell incredibly horrible.
thank you to everyone for being there for me, and helping me in many ways. a special thanks to Hilde-Karin for helping me to find something i lost a long time ago, and being so patient with me jeg elsker deg.
i had a decent base coming off of the silverman in november, took a couple weeks off, and early december, after 1 week of that i got sick. I wouldn't be able to run again until january 2nd. 10 days to build back up. that would prove to be an interesting experience.
after some napping here and there around 4 am, i decide enough laying around, i'm getting up and making my way to shore to get ready. Andy came over with me in the kayaks. and would bring my stuff back to the boat. very helpful. the plan was easy, i'd be at the isthmus between 10 and 11, they would take the boat up and yell encouragement, maybe take some of my things i didn't need, and then head back to see me at the finnish.
got there, filled up my gel and water bottles. promptly at 5 am, the run started, still dark and would stay that way until around 6:30 or so. the first 3 - 4 miles were a slight climb, and could be jogged slowly, then the climbing started, and the jog became a walk - 1600' (550m) of climbing over 2 imles (3.2 km). the first aid station came at mile 11.9, 2:12:00 after my start (11:04 min/mile - 6:53 min/km). more water, oranges, pretzels, banana, and i'm off another 7 miles to aid station 2. these miles would be rolling hills and a descent down into the aid station. things felt pretty good, just gotta focus on a very slow pace so i can maintain through the end. my mind would wander amongst the many things going on these days, but always came back to the details at hand. on the way down there was a buffalo, sitting by the road, eating some grass. those things are huge. it was an interesting site.
the downhill was pretty good, there was 1 more climb, then the final descent into and shortly after reaching the top of that climb, the road dropped back down close to sea level, and we were welcomed into the 2nd aid station, little harbor - 1:12:00 after leaving the last aid station, and 7 miles later (10:17 min/mile - 6:23 min/km), and a total of 18.9 miles down. oh boy, my legs are starting to feel the lack of preparation. water, gatorade, fill the water bottle 1/2 water, 1/2 gatorade, pretzels, bananas, potato and salt. off again.
there was a long climb out of this aid station, and a lot of walking. on the way up, another runner joined me, and i was able to run a bit with him. after a mile or 2, it became obvious this pace was entirely too fast for me to maintain, so i bid him well, and began walking again. 10 minutes or so later, another runner joined me. i would stay with her until roughly 33 miles, at which point she would take off ahead never to be seen again. at the top of the climb, we were greated by another buffalo down by a pond drinking and eating, and a few miles later an incredible view looking down onto the isthmus (a harbor on catalina). i was thinking about everythign i could except the fact that my legs were hurting something awful. only some minor coughing, so i was please with that part of it. we ran the 3 miles or so down to the isthmus aid station, and another 1.5 - 2 miles to the turn around. and back to the isthmus: 7.8 miles in 1:51:00 from the little harbor (14;13 min/mile - 8:50 min/km). yep, legs are definitely revolting. more oranges, pretzels, potato, bananas, and lots of liquid, then on our way back to little harbor. i was a bit saddened that there was no sign of andy or doc, but c'est la vie. turns out they had some boat trouble, and missed me at the isthmus by 10 minutes.
the climb out of the isthmus was brutal, hot, uphill, and steep. lots of walking. the good news is the worst is yet to come. at the top, the jogging resumes, letting gravity do what it can do to help out, at this point, i can no longer intelligently speak, just 1 syllable and i doubt it's very understandable. my usual joy for the downhills is lost, my legs threaten to buckle with every step. but keep going, one in front of the other, finally things flatten out, and we arrive at the little harbor aid station - 6.5 miles in 1:22:00 (12:36 min/mile - 7:49 min/km). banana, potato, pretzel, oranges, water, gatorade, refill the water bottle. salt and i'm on my way again.
a bit of a climb out, then a great view of little harbor and the ocean, a quick descent, and the brutal promise of several miles over which here is where things will climb some 600 - 1000 feet (200 - 350 m). doesn't sound like much, but looking at it, and wlaking up it at this point is increasingly difficult. i take solace in the fact that i should be around 40 miles into the race at this point, 1 or 2 aid stations left, and i get that lovely 3 mile descent into avalon, and the cold ocean to immerse my legs in. my ambition is long gone, thoughts of calling it a day are threatening me, and my legs are slowing significantly. then the crushing blow, i reach the next aid station which i'm absolutely confident is bewteen mile 42 and 45, 2 more miles after this, and it's all downhill, not a great thing, but a promise of the pendign finish. i get closer to the aid station, and am pretty much devastated. mile 38.8, 11.2 miles to go, that's a far cry from the 5 or so i was expecting. they have buffalo burgers and lobster at the eagles nest aid station, status check 5.6 miles mainly climbing in 1:11:00 (12:40 min/mile - 7:52 min/km) from little harbor. my stomach protested at teh thought of either lobster or buffalo at this point, so my standard fair, banana, oranges (did i mention i love these things for long races), pretzels, and potato. ooh red gatorade, something different, fill the water bottle with red gatorade please. and several cups of water and gatorade. back on the trail, another 5.2 miles (8.4 km) to the next stop.
to give you an idea of what catalina is like, these 5.2 miles (8.4 km) climbed 400' (320m), and at this point in the sufferfest (it's no longer a run) i was completely convinced this was flat. i was reduced to a walk, mainly due to the additional 7 miles (11.3 km) i was gifted at the last aid station. head down, and pretty well beaten for the time being. then kathryn came along: "you can't walk this, you won't get anywhere, come on, we are going to run walk. running to the 3rd set of tall trees". at the 3rd set of trees, another point would be set, we will walk to the white sign. we'd walk and run like this until the pump house aid station, at the bottom of a 600' (300m) climb which lasted 1/2 mile (0.8 km). finally, 5.2 miles (8.4 km) in 1:22:00 15:46 min/mile (9:47 min/km). at the aid station, no dilly dallying, water, gatorade, refill bottle, oranges, and a banana. off we go
kathryn told me about several other 50 mile (80km)runs she had done, and some people she had pulled through the final miles. she told me she did a 50 miler (80 Km) in october or november, and since hadn't run more than 3.5 miles (5.6 km). she explained how she is married to a air force person, and many of her runs are done around the base, which is fenced off, and how the guards would frequently drive out to ensure she isn't trying to break in. i suggested she have them bring her water and food. before you know it we were at the top of pumphouse hill, some rollers and then the 3.3 mile (5.3 km) descent into avalon (1600' - 490m). we ran most of the rollers and started down the descent. my legs have yet to protest a downhill section like they did that one. i couldn't muster any sort of a pace, even gravity couldn't help with that. "there is a gate, then the bell tower, at the bell tower, it's 1/2 mile (800 m) to the finish" kathryn was offering me hope. it wasn't a question at this point, downhill i can do (generally much better than this one, but i can do those). there was the gate, and a bit after that the bell tower. Kathryn chimes in, "and then there's the sprint to the finish". "have fun with that". finally the road levels out, we are in avalon, so close to the end.
kathryn checks her watch "if we hurry i can make it under 11:30". i'm thinking and with a long run of 3.5 miles over the past 3 months??? "ok, here we go, here's the sprint you wanted". so we go. Doc and Andy are there on the right side of the course cheering and taking photos. a very welcome boost. i offer kathryn to the opportunity to finish first, she declines, so we cross the line together, as discussed throughout the past 2.5 hours. 6 miles from pumphouse in 1:19:00 (13:10 min/mile - 8:10 min/km)
the aftermath. first thought through my head, where is Hilde-Karin, i look around and slowly realize she won't be there, she is in Norway, sleeping. a bit of sadness creeps into my heart. Doc and Andy greet me at the finish, and offer congratulations. you should sit down, get some food, i just want to stand in the ocean and enjoy the cold water.
this is a pain i have never felt. though that crosses my mind after many hard efforts, and eventually fades. this time my legs are destroyed, beyond past experiences. 7300' (2200 m) of climbing over 50 miles (80 km) will do that. i'm wobbly, disoriented, and determined to get in the ocean. after standing in the ocean for a while i come out, next order of business, shower and food.
Official numbers: 50 miles (80 km) in 10:29:00 average pace 12:34 min/mile (7:48 min/km). legs are more destroyed then ever, feet hurt, and i'm so hungry and thirsty, and smell incredibly horrible.
thank you to everyone for being there for me, and helping me in many ways. a special thanks to Hilde-Karin for helping me to find something i lost a long time ago, and being so patient with me jeg elsker deg.
Silverman 2007
Carine, my Mom, my sister Tracy, my niece Shania came out to provide support and try to motivate me to a solid finish. Saturday i checked in most of my gear and my bike. Just got a new cassette, chain, tires and tubes, cleaned it up, and am ready to post a solid ride.
Sunday morning wake up around 4 am, eat a little, drink a little, grab the last of my things, and we head over to the swim start. i spend some time doing last minute preparations, and then relax and focus on the upcoming day. i'm feeling pretty good, legs are slightly tired, but that should shake out in the first 10 miles of the bike.
at 6 am i put on my wetsuit hand off my excess clothes and what not, and head over towards the swim start. the morning air is a bit cool, and the water slightly cooler, or at least that is how it feels.
6:30, the canon goes off, and swimming begins, i'd positioned myself towards the front, hoping to come out pretty hard for the 1st 500m, then settle in with one of the faster packs. it didn't take long before things went poorly. it was somewhat crowded, but not nearly as packed as lake placid; however, for some reason, it was too much for me, i came out hard, but quickly faded. i was having difficulty breathing, couldn't find a rhythm, and wound up pulling back and letting people go by until things thinned out. after nearly 600m enough people had swam by me for things to open up, and i was able to fall into a rhythm. it felt good, but i kept it very relaxed. i was moving along steadily, and was passing people. but i knew it would not be a fast swim, i'll get to make up time on the bike and run.
at the turn around we were swimming directly into the sun, so sighting was difficult. then the final turn in towards shore, only 800m to go and i was feeling good. i quickened my pace slightly, and exited the water feeling a bit too good. i need to get comfortable swimming in a pack. swim time: 1:13:04 (10 minutes slower than anticipated).
out of the water, up the ramp, the wetsuit is stripped off rather quickly, grab my T1 bag and into the changing tent. don my helmet, throw my goggles, cap, and wetsuit into the bag hand it to the volunteer, and i'm onto the bike.
it's a slow climb up to the road. once i make the right turn, i start moving along. 1 rider goes by me, i make an effort to keep him in sight and try to pace off him; however, my legs are not up for it, if i keep pace, i will pay dearly in the later miles. so i settle back into my comfortable pace.
i stop at the first aid station for a bathroom break and grab a water. then i'm back on my way. the nutrition is going down easy, and i'm slowly making up ground. the climbs seem comfortable, i'm maintaining a good pace, and feeling comfortable. about mile 20 i pass a small group.
within a mile or 2, 1 of the riders from the group comes by and comments that we will probably be seeing a lot of each other today. that would be good, it's nice to have someone to keep you honest and help you through the tough spots. we go back and forth, maintaining a strong pace for the course, and continue passing people. another cyclist keeps surging to pass us, then slows down. he managed that 3 or 4 times before he dropped off our pace. on the next climb, my companion pulls alongside and we do introductions, Daniel and i would keep each other honest and moving up to around mile 70 or 75.
somewhere between miles 25 and 30 my legs come around and i'm able to pick up the pace a bit. then i begin to get a twinge in my back. i've done some long rides, and only seem to aggravate this nerve or muscle in a few events - the last 3 silvermans, and the norseman. perhaps it's all the climbing and the position on my bike. not sure, but i do know i can generally go 5 - 6 hours without this problem. This would linger through mile 90 or so. Around mile 35 i pass Victor, whom i met in norway a couple years ago. he offers some encouragement and we wish each other well.
Daniel and i continue putting time into people up to the turn around, somewhere around mile 52. on the way back through there is the bike special needs bag (a collection of odds and ends, or snacks you may want on the bike). my nutrition is holding up as planned, so i have no need for my bag, and will leave it (this turns out to be good, because the volunteers offer me rider 175's bag, i'm 176). Daniel drops back slightly to grab his bag, but it's not there. He is understandably upset. i offer him what i have. he declines at that point.
Up to this point things have been pretty good, some wind, but nothing too severe. at the turn around, there were 10 - 12 riders ahead of me, and a small pack had formed behind me. most of the riders behind me were new. Daniel noticed this too, and commented that they were trying to chase us down. i smiled and said they are going to have to work hard, the worst is yet to come, some hard climbs, and a strong head wind. for a moment a doubt creeps in and i almost think some of the riders have a chance of passing me. than i shake it off, i've put in time on the climbs and building my bike, it's strong, and i'm ready to go. bike split at 52 miles: 2:39:21
as we start up the first climb, Daniel asks if i have any e-caps (electrolyte pills). he felt some muscle twinges, and doesn't want to cramp. I give him 1/2 the thermolytes i'm carrying (different electrolyte mix, but essentially the same). we pass several more riders on the climb out. around mile 70 or 75, my legs are really coming around, and i'm going well up the climbs.
the course gets faster, and i let it go a bit. around mile 80 or so, it's been a while since i've seen or heard Daniel, i glance back, and there is nobody there. i hope he didn't flat, he wasn't carrying anything except nutrition.
around mile 85, my back is tightening up, and really beginning to bother me. i have to pee as well, but i'm concerned some of the riders will catch me if i do. after a bit, the debate is over, i stop to pee. as i'm getting back on the bike, i see a rider coming up, so i hammer it pretty good for a couple miles to create a gap. as i'm coming out the last of the long climbs, i see a white truck off in the distance, parked at the turn. wouldn't that be great if it were my cheering section. my back is really starting to spasm and tighten up. i remember peter reid had said, my bike isn't comfortable, it's fast, and hope my bike is fast enough to get me off it before my back gets much worse.
as i'm climbing out, i hear the cheers for me, and when i turn, they are all happy to yell encouragement. i read the sign they have made, and draw a little bit of energy from them. my back is really getting bad, i have to stand up and pedal to try and loosen it up, while sitting up, and being aero my back seems to be tightening more. 22 miles, anybody can fake 22 miles right?
my truck drives by and there is more cheering. i'd see them once more in a couple miles as i turn onto the bike path. which would turn out to be quite torturous. it's good to hear them cheering me on, and see them.
as i come onto the bike path, a relay rider passes me, only the 3rd rider i know of that has gone by me. here come the 3 sisters (short steep climbs that can really kill your quads). i'm not looking forward to this, back spasms are making it hard to push the pedals. the first isn't so bad, i spend a lot of time standing in the pedals and get through all 3. mile 95 greets me at the top of the 3rd. the remaining section of bike path is roughly 7 miles of undulating and twisty sections with a strong head wind. many people would comment on how brutal that section was. my back is incredibly painful now, and keeps protesting more and more.
the past 2 years i've succumbed to the pain, gotten off my bike and stretched. this year i resolve not to do it, i'm staying on the bike into T2. mile 100 comes, and i know i'm almost off the bike path, 12 miles, 40 minutes left then i get to run. my legs are starting to become very tired, only a few climbs left, and some fast descents. i enjoy these, trying to take the opportunity to stretch my back and rest my legs. mile 105, i finish the last of my nutrition, over the course of the bike i take in 2000 calories in liquid form, 2 gels (roughly 300 calories), and 2 bananas, somewhere around 2500 calories, right around what i expected. i likely could have squeezed in a couple more, but i wasn't in too much of a deficit. bike split: 6:19:39
i get into T2, put on my shoes and socks. Dave Scott is in there, he looks right at me and asks how the ride went. i inform him it was pretty solid, but i have some serious issues with my back right now, i probably need to consider my fit, especially for this race. i ask him how his day is going. he chuckles, shakes his head, and says we'll talk about it after the run. fair enough. i'm off to start the fun part of the day.
i come out feeling pretty strong, my back no longer bothers me, and my legs are doing all right. then again, the first 1.3 miles are downhill, then the climbing starts. i keep conservative going over several things in my head: - when it feels good, go with it, - it's a long day, don't go out too hard; - the race starts at mile 10 of the marathon; - i'm a runner, this is where the pleasure of all those 50k's comes in and pays dividends.
i keep things moving pretty well, but not too fast, i don't want to explode. grabbing water on odd miles and gatorade on even miles. i take a couple thermolytes to make sure things keep moving, and a motivator (come caffeine and herb pill). my pace is pretty good, i'm making up time, passing people. feeling strong. at mile 3 i stop for a bathroom break.
around mile 5 i grab some pretzels and gatorade. eat a bit of gel. things feel good, steady pace keep the feet moving. now the fun starts. i get to the dirt connector around mile 7, i've never seen this in the daylight, it's a great sight, i'm happy to have the opportunity to see what it looks like through here when it's light. up and to the turn around, and coming back through i see the first of Daniel, since the bike. he is about 2 miles behind me, we exchange some encouragement. a mile later i see victor again, he comments on how strong my run looks, i wish him well and offer encouragement.
around this point, the lead women passes me, she is running strong, i try to hold on to her for a bit, but decide it's best if i sit back and save some for the 2nd loop. at mile 11, i see my mom cheering me on and wishing me well. i'm still feeling good through the 1/2 way point. and it's still light.
around mile 14, things get tough, i take a bathroom break. ok, back to running, my head is starting to spin, i need to start taking in nutrition, more gel, 1 orange slice at the next aid station. not really working, i walk briefly then attempt to run again, am reduced to a walk again. this happens 4 or 5 times before i decide there shall be no more walking. mile 17, i see the sign and that's where i run from. more gel, more gatorade, a banana, gotta get some energy back in me. some thermolytes, no more motivators.
i shuffle my way up through mile 20, it's time to push the pace and see how much those 50k's really help. several people at the aid stations recognize me, and remind me, this is my last time past here, the finish is coming. the turn around and mile 21. Daniel and i pass again, a couple aid stations, and then i see victor again. at this point, i'm digging so deep, i can't form words. speaking isn't an option.
mile 22, 1 small uphill, 3 miles of downhill, and a medium climb back up, then the finish. it's time to let things go and see how much i can really hurt. my legs have been burning for several miles at this point, and i'm exhausted, but there is always something left. so i go harder. the last 2 miles are it, i dig deep, and go hard, i must be doing 7 - 7:30 minute miles at this point. including the climb back up to the jogging path. down the path, i can hear the finish line, i can see the lights, i know i am close, i push harder.
as i approach the end of the jogging path i see the 26 mile sign. i push harder, slight downhill, into the last turn, and i can see the finishers chute, nobody behind me, nobody in front. i go harder, and give it the last of what i have. i cross the line and am drained. run split: 4:18:36. total race time: 11:56:09
i get a finishers medal, they take my timing chip, and i hug my cheering section. grab my t-shirt. the day is complete, now it's time for food and massage. thanks to mom, Tracy, Shania, and Carine for getting me food, my clothes, drink, and being there to help me through some tough sections.
Sunday morning wake up around 4 am, eat a little, drink a little, grab the last of my things, and we head over to the swim start. i spend some time doing last minute preparations, and then relax and focus on the upcoming day. i'm feeling pretty good, legs are slightly tired, but that should shake out in the first 10 miles of the bike.
at 6 am i put on my wetsuit hand off my excess clothes and what not, and head over towards the swim start. the morning air is a bit cool, and the water slightly cooler, or at least that is how it feels.
6:30, the canon goes off, and swimming begins, i'd positioned myself towards the front, hoping to come out pretty hard for the 1st 500m, then settle in with one of the faster packs. it didn't take long before things went poorly. it was somewhat crowded, but not nearly as packed as lake placid; however, for some reason, it was too much for me, i came out hard, but quickly faded. i was having difficulty breathing, couldn't find a rhythm, and wound up pulling back and letting people go by until things thinned out. after nearly 600m enough people had swam by me for things to open up, and i was able to fall into a rhythm. it felt good, but i kept it very relaxed. i was moving along steadily, and was passing people. but i knew it would not be a fast swim, i'll get to make up time on the bike and run.
at the turn around we were swimming directly into the sun, so sighting was difficult. then the final turn in towards shore, only 800m to go and i was feeling good. i quickened my pace slightly, and exited the water feeling a bit too good. i need to get comfortable swimming in a pack. swim time: 1:13:04 (10 minutes slower than anticipated).
out of the water, up the ramp, the wetsuit is stripped off rather quickly, grab my T1 bag and into the changing tent. don my helmet, throw my goggles, cap, and wetsuit into the bag hand it to the volunteer, and i'm onto the bike.
it's a slow climb up to the road. once i make the right turn, i start moving along. 1 rider goes by me, i make an effort to keep him in sight and try to pace off him; however, my legs are not up for it, if i keep pace, i will pay dearly in the later miles. so i settle back into my comfortable pace.
i stop at the first aid station for a bathroom break and grab a water. then i'm back on my way. the nutrition is going down easy, and i'm slowly making up ground. the climbs seem comfortable, i'm maintaining a good pace, and feeling comfortable. about mile 20 i pass a small group.
within a mile or 2, 1 of the riders from the group comes by and comments that we will probably be seeing a lot of each other today. that would be good, it's nice to have someone to keep you honest and help you through the tough spots. we go back and forth, maintaining a strong pace for the course, and continue passing people. another cyclist keeps surging to pass us, then slows down. he managed that 3 or 4 times before he dropped off our pace. on the next climb, my companion pulls alongside and we do introductions, Daniel and i would keep each other honest and moving up to around mile 70 or 75.
somewhere between miles 25 and 30 my legs come around and i'm able to pick up the pace a bit. then i begin to get a twinge in my back. i've done some long rides, and only seem to aggravate this nerve or muscle in a few events - the last 3 silvermans, and the norseman. perhaps it's all the climbing and the position on my bike. not sure, but i do know i can generally go 5 - 6 hours without this problem. This would linger through mile 90 or so. Around mile 35 i pass Victor, whom i met in norway a couple years ago. he offers some encouragement and we wish each other well.
Daniel and i continue putting time into people up to the turn around, somewhere around mile 52. on the way back through there is the bike special needs bag (a collection of odds and ends, or snacks you may want on the bike). my nutrition is holding up as planned, so i have no need for my bag, and will leave it (this turns out to be good, because the volunteers offer me rider 175's bag, i'm 176). Daniel drops back slightly to grab his bag, but it's not there. He is understandably upset. i offer him what i have. he declines at that point.
Up to this point things have been pretty good, some wind, but nothing too severe. at the turn around, there were 10 - 12 riders ahead of me, and a small pack had formed behind me. most of the riders behind me were new. Daniel noticed this too, and commented that they were trying to chase us down. i smiled and said they are going to have to work hard, the worst is yet to come, some hard climbs, and a strong head wind. for a moment a doubt creeps in and i almost think some of the riders have a chance of passing me. than i shake it off, i've put in time on the climbs and building my bike, it's strong, and i'm ready to go. bike split at 52 miles: 2:39:21
as we start up the first climb, Daniel asks if i have any e-caps (electrolyte pills). he felt some muscle twinges, and doesn't want to cramp. I give him 1/2 the thermolytes i'm carrying (different electrolyte mix, but essentially the same). we pass several more riders on the climb out. around mile 70 or 75, my legs are really coming around, and i'm going well up the climbs.
the course gets faster, and i let it go a bit. around mile 80 or so, it's been a while since i've seen or heard Daniel, i glance back, and there is nobody there. i hope he didn't flat, he wasn't carrying anything except nutrition.
around mile 85, my back is tightening up, and really beginning to bother me. i have to pee as well, but i'm concerned some of the riders will catch me if i do. after a bit, the debate is over, i stop to pee. as i'm getting back on the bike, i see a rider coming up, so i hammer it pretty good for a couple miles to create a gap. as i'm coming out the last of the long climbs, i see a white truck off in the distance, parked at the turn. wouldn't that be great if it were my cheering section. my back is really starting to spasm and tighten up. i remember peter reid had said, my bike isn't comfortable, it's fast, and hope my bike is fast enough to get me off it before my back gets much worse.
as i'm climbing out, i hear the cheers for me, and when i turn, they are all happy to yell encouragement. i read the sign they have made, and draw a little bit of energy from them. my back is really getting bad, i have to stand up and pedal to try and loosen it up, while sitting up, and being aero my back seems to be tightening more. 22 miles, anybody can fake 22 miles right?
my truck drives by and there is more cheering. i'd see them once more in a couple miles as i turn onto the bike path. which would turn out to be quite torturous. it's good to hear them cheering me on, and see them.
as i come onto the bike path, a relay rider passes me, only the 3rd rider i know of that has gone by me. here come the 3 sisters (short steep climbs that can really kill your quads). i'm not looking forward to this, back spasms are making it hard to push the pedals. the first isn't so bad, i spend a lot of time standing in the pedals and get through all 3. mile 95 greets me at the top of the 3rd. the remaining section of bike path is roughly 7 miles of undulating and twisty sections with a strong head wind. many people would comment on how brutal that section was. my back is incredibly painful now, and keeps protesting more and more.
the past 2 years i've succumbed to the pain, gotten off my bike and stretched. this year i resolve not to do it, i'm staying on the bike into T2. mile 100 comes, and i know i'm almost off the bike path, 12 miles, 40 minutes left then i get to run. my legs are starting to become very tired, only a few climbs left, and some fast descents. i enjoy these, trying to take the opportunity to stretch my back and rest my legs. mile 105, i finish the last of my nutrition, over the course of the bike i take in 2000 calories in liquid form, 2 gels (roughly 300 calories), and 2 bananas, somewhere around 2500 calories, right around what i expected. i likely could have squeezed in a couple more, but i wasn't in too much of a deficit. bike split: 6:19:39
i get into T2, put on my shoes and socks. Dave Scott is in there, he looks right at me and asks how the ride went. i inform him it was pretty solid, but i have some serious issues with my back right now, i probably need to consider my fit, especially for this race. i ask him how his day is going. he chuckles, shakes his head, and says we'll talk about it after the run. fair enough. i'm off to start the fun part of the day.
i come out feeling pretty strong, my back no longer bothers me, and my legs are doing all right. then again, the first 1.3 miles are downhill, then the climbing starts. i keep conservative going over several things in my head: - when it feels good, go with it, - it's a long day, don't go out too hard; - the race starts at mile 10 of the marathon; - i'm a runner, this is where the pleasure of all those 50k's comes in and pays dividends.
i keep things moving pretty well, but not too fast, i don't want to explode. grabbing water on odd miles and gatorade on even miles. i take a couple thermolytes to make sure things keep moving, and a motivator (come caffeine and herb pill). my pace is pretty good, i'm making up time, passing people. feeling strong. at mile 3 i stop for a bathroom break.
around mile 5 i grab some pretzels and gatorade. eat a bit of gel. things feel good, steady pace keep the feet moving. now the fun starts. i get to the dirt connector around mile 7, i've never seen this in the daylight, it's a great sight, i'm happy to have the opportunity to see what it looks like through here when it's light. up and to the turn around, and coming back through i see the first of Daniel, since the bike. he is about 2 miles behind me, we exchange some encouragement. a mile later i see victor again, he comments on how strong my run looks, i wish him well and offer encouragement.
around this point, the lead women passes me, she is running strong, i try to hold on to her for a bit, but decide it's best if i sit back and save some for the 2nd loop. at mile 11, i see my mom cheering me on and wishing me well. i'm still feeling good through the 1/2 way point. and it's still light.
around mile 14, things get tough, i take a bathroom break. ok, back to running, my head is starting to spin, i need to start taking in nutrition, more gel, 1 orange slice at the next aid station. not really working, i walk briefly then attempt to run again, am reduced to a walk again. this happens 4 or 5 times before i decide there shall be no more walking. mile 17, i see the sign and that's where i run from. more gel, more gatorade, a banana, gotta get some energy back in me. some thermolytes, no more motivators.
i shuffle my way up through mile 20, it's time to push the pace and see how much those 50k's really help. several people at the aid stations recognize me, and remind me, this is my last time past here, the finish is coming. the turn around and mile 21. Daniel and i pass again, a couple aid stations, and then i see victor again. at this point, i'm digging so deep, i can't form words. speaking isn't an option.
mile 22, 1 small uphill, 3 miles of downhill, and a medium climb back up, then the finish. it's time to let things go and see how much i can really hurt. my legs have been burning for several miles at this point, and i'm exhausted, but there is always something left. so i go harder. the last 2 miles are it, i dig deep, and go hard, i must be doing 7 - 7:30 minute miles at this point. including the climb back up to the jogging path. down the path, i can hear the finish line, i can see the lights, i know i am close, i push harder.
as i approach the end of the jogging path i see the 26 mile sign. i push harder, slight downhill, into the last turn, and i can see the finishers chute, nobody behind me, nobody in front. i go harder, and give it the last of what i have. i cross the line and am drained. run split: 4:18:36. total race time: 11:56:09
i get a finishers medal, they take my timing chip, and i hug my cheering section. grab my t-shirt. the day is complete, now it's time for food and massage. thanks to mom, Tracy, Shania, and Carine for getting me food, my clothes, drink, and being there to help me through some tough sections.
Mission bay Sprint 2007
Sunday morning comes awfully early, once again, up several hours before the sun, grab my gear and head west this morning. i get to the race, park and ride my bike over to transition. my legs are a bit tired from yesterdays run, but i did manage to eat a lot and sleep a fair amount, so hopefully once i get swimming they will loosen up and come around, otherwise it will be an exercise in self control and pacing. i pick out my spot in transition, rack my bike, and lay out my gear in preparation for the race.
now to walk through my transitions, i go to the swim in, walk through to my bike trying to make note of what i'll pass and how to easily find my bike, but i keep getting distracted, ooh elites, i wonder what tricks i can gain from watching them get ready. put your race number on before the swim and tuck it in your shorts, good call. oh yeah, walking to my bike. i do this several times, then decide i should try an easy run to see how things go.
oh yeah, my legs are really tired, my breathing is heavy, and that's not even a hard pace. it should be interesting. once again i'm hoping the swim loosens things up and brings my legs around. back from my warm up run (all of about 1/2 mile and it was painfully slow). i put my wetsuit on and head down for the swim start. i'm in the 5th wave, so i get to see a couple groups go off before getting in the water. it's a bit chilly this morning, and it seems my wetsuit has acquired several new holes since i last remember. why am i here again? oh yeah, i love racing. drift over to the swim start, and notice there is a good current in our favor. excellent. then the gun goes off, and all fades away.
i get stuck behind some slower swimmers for a bit and jostled mildly, but nothing compared to the usual swim start. i never seem to find a rhythm on the swim, i am becoming an endurance athlete, it takes me absurd amounts of time to find a groove, mental note, next time swim 1000 meters or so as a warm up before the actual race. finally as i 'm nearing the buoy to indicate it's time to turn into shore i start to flow slightly (or perhaps i'm just excited to know my bike is waiting in transition).
out of the water, peel the wetsuit down to my waist, a moderate jog up to T1, goggles and cap come off, looking for my bike, all the way at the other end of transition, which is fine, that means i'm that much closer to riding once i get my bike. the asphalt is beginning to hurt my feet. a little further and i get to struggle with removing my wetsuit (i need to work on this a lot more, i have gotten very bad at taking off my wetsuit). all right, don my helmet and sunglasses, grab my bike, and let the fun begin.
i leap onto my bike, and immediately begin picking up places. there is little i enjoy about racing more than passing people. there are a couple sections on the bike course that consist of some good sharp turns, i enjoy these immensely, especially if they are clear of other riders so i can really make up time. coming out onto the road there is an overpass to climb and come down, 2 more good things, i climb and descend well. a hard left then right at the bottom, even better, it's pretty clear so i carry a good amount of speed through. i am able to hold a pretty solid pace for the ride, granted it's flat, but i'm passing people, and nobody is passing me, so i must be doing better than average. i also made a decision to go a bit harder on the bike as i wasn't sure i'd be able to put together to strong a run after yesterday. my plan was go hard on the bike, put as much time into people as i can, and just try to hold them off on the run.
about 1/2 way through the bike another rider passes me, unacceptable, so i grab onto his wheel (staying at least 10m back to avoid a drafting penalty), and just hold on for a mile or 2, then i make a move and try to push him a bit. if i'm working, so is he. this doesn't go quit as well as i expect, as he passes me shortly thereafter. so i'm back to just keeping him within reach and trying to make up some time in the technical section and going back over the overpass. into the parking lot and tight turns i am able to catch up to him and would be able to pass if there is room. since there isn't i sit back and let my legs come around for the climb. i pass on the climb, and enter T2 ahead of him. unfortunately i am not prepared for the dismount line, about 50 feet from it i notice it, and am able to slip my right foot out of my shoe; however, not my left, so i stop at the line and put my right foot down while i take my left shoe off (did i mention i have to work on transitions, and paying attention???).
into t2, i rack my bike, and slip into my running shoes. the guy that passed me on the bike is 10' in front of me. i run through my options in my head sit back and let him dictate the pace until i want to make a move, or let things go and see if/when i blow up.
legs feel pretty good, so i'm going to see if i blow up. i quicken the pace and overtake him. surprisingly my legs are feeling pretty loose and good at this point. so i might as well take advantage of it. 1 mile down, it feels like i'm holding a good pace, and nobody appears to be catching me. about 1/2 way through the run, i'm still going strong, pace feels about the same, and i'm the one doing all the catching. good stuff, how long will it last?? hopefully another 1.5 miles. then there is the overpass from the bike course (get to do this twice on the run too). i hold a good pace over it, and relax into the descent allowing gravity to work for me. at the bottom, the course offers a chance to see who is following and how close. all the faces i see are recently passed, and falling further off my pace. that is good news. mile 2, only 1 more mile, time to try and pick up the pace.
coming around back towards the overpass, i start to settle into a comfortable pace, mmm, not today, with roughly 1/2 mile left, i decide that today is a good day to get used to pushing really hard, so i increase the pace again, over the overpass 1 last time, then down the other side and 1/4 mile to the finish. it's definitely uncomfortable ascending the overpass, and i manage to make the descent a bit of a push as well, then holding that pace for the last 1/4 mile, and the finish. that feels good.
i'm done, and still feeling pretty good. now if i can just figure out how to muster that kind of an effort for the better part of my next long course event, i'll be very happy.
now to walk through my transitions, i go to the swim in, walk through to my bike trying to make note of what i'll pass and how to easily find my bike, but i keep getting distracted, ooh elites, i wonder what tricks i can gain from watching them get ready. put your race number on before the swim and tuck it in your shorts, good call. oh yeah, walking to my bike. i do this several times, then decide i should try an easy run to see how things go.
oh yeah, my legs are really tired, my breathing is heavy, and that's not even a hard pace. it should be interesting. once again i'm hoping the swim loosens things up and brings my legs around. back from my warm up run (all of about 1/2 mile and it was painfully slow). i put my wetsuit on and head down for the swim start. i'm in the 5th wave, so i get to see a couple groups go off before getting in the water. it's a bit chilly this morning, and it seems my wetsuit has acquired several new holes since i last remember. why am i here again? oh yeah, i love racing. drift over to the swim start, and notice there is a good current in our favor. excellent. then the gun goes off, and all fades away.
i get stuck behind some slower swimmers for a bit and jostled mildly, but nothing compared to the usual swim start. i never seem to find a rhythm on the swim, i am becoming an endurance athlete, it takes me absurd amounts of time to find a groove, mental note, next time swim 1000 meters or so as a warm up before the actual race. finally as i 'm nearing the buoy to indicate it's time to turn into shore i start to flow slightly (or perhaps i'm just excited to know my bike is waiting in transition).
out of the water, peel the wetsuit down to my waist, a moderate jog up to T1, goggles and cap come off, looking for my bike, all the way at the other end of transition, which is fine, that means i'm that much closer to riding once i get my bike. the asphalt is beginning to hurt my feet. a little further and i get to struggle with removing my wetsuit (i need to work on this a lot more, i have gotten very bad at taking off my wetsuit). all right, don my helmet and sunglasses, grab my bike, and let the fun begin.
i leap onto my bike, and immediately begin picking up places. there is little i enjoy about racing more than passing people. there are a couple sections on the bike course that consist of some good sharp turns, i enjoy these immensely, especially if they are clear of other riders so i can really make up time. coming out onto the road there is an overpass to climb and come down, 2 more good things, i climb and descend well. a hard left then right at the bottom, even better, it's pretty clear so i carry a good amount of speed through. i am able to hold a pretty solid pace for the ride, granted it's flat, but i'm passing people, and nobody is passing me, so i must be doing better than average. i also made a decision to go a bit harder on the bike as i wasn't sure i'd be able to put together to strong a run after yesterday. my plan was go hard on the bike, put as much time into people as i can, and just try to hold them off on the run.
about 1/2 way through the bike another rider passes me, unacceptable, so i grab onto his wheel (staying at least 10m back to avoid a drafting penalty), and just hold on for a mile or 2, then i make a move and try to push him a bit. if i'm working, so is he. this doesn't go quit as well as i expect, as he passes me shortly thereafter. so i'm back to just keeping him within reach and trying to make up some time in the technical section and going back over the overpass. into the parking lot and tight turns i am able to catch up to him and would be able to pass if there is room. since there isn't i sit back and let my legs come around for the climb. i pass on the climb, and enter T2 ahead of him. unfortunately i am not prepared for the dismount line, about 50 feet from it i notice it, and am able to slip my right foot out of my shoe; however, not my left, so i stop at the line and put my right foot down while i take my left shoe off (did i mention i have to work on transitions, and paying attention???).
into t2, i rack my bike, and slip into my running shoes. the guy that passed me on the bike is 10' in front of me. i run through my options in my head sit back and let him dictate the pace until i want to make a move, or let things go and see if/when i blow up.
legs feel pretty good, so i'm going to see if i blow up. i quicken the pace and overtake him. surprisingly my legs are feeling pretty loose and good at this point. so i might as well take advantage of it. 1 mile down, it feels like i'm holding a good pace, and nobody appears to be catching me. about 1/2 way through the run, i'm still going strong, pace feels about the same, and i'm the one doing all the catching. good stuff, how long will it last?? hopefully another 1.5 miles. then there is the overpass from the bike course (get to do this twice on the run too). i hold a good pace over it, and relax into the descent allowing gravity to work for me. at the bottom, the course offers a chance to see who is following and how close. all the faces i see are recently passed, and falling further off my pace. that is good news. mile 2, only 1 more mile, time to try and pick up the pace.
coming around back towards the overpass, i start to settle into a comfortable pace, mmm, not today, with roughly 1/2 mile left, i decide that today is a good day to get used to pushing really hard, so i increase the pace again, over the overpass 1 last time, then down the other side and 1/4 mile to the finish. it's definitely uncomfortable ascending the overpass, and i manage to make the descent a bit of a push as well, then holding that pace for the last 1/4 mile, and the finish. that feels good.
i'm done, and still feeling pretty good. now if i can just figure out how to muster that kind of an effort for the better part of my next long course event, i'll be very happy.
Noble Canyon 50k
saturday was my opportunity to run long, with lots of climbing and some good scenery. I woke up early (it was dark out for some time after i got up), grabbed my bag of stuff, and headed east towards the mountains for the noble canyon 55k trail run. I showed up, gathered my entry swag, a duffle bag, t-shirt, hat, socks, and some other things which are still somewhere in my car. in addition to all this good stuff, they had breakfast, cantaloupe, bananas, water melon, breakfast bars, yogurt, juices, cereal and probably more that i've forgotten. i grabbed some yogurt, a banana, cereal milk, and juice. ate up, sat through the meeting/course description, filled up my water bottle, and then lined up for the start.
at 7:00 am things were under way, the first 1/2mile was on the road and brought us to the base of our 10mile climb from 2000ft up to nearly 6000ft. for nearly 2 miles, the trail was pretty narrow and i was content to settle in to my place in line at a nice liesurely pace, i figured it was good to take it easy as i had 5 or 6 hours of running to look forward to, and lots of climbing. when the trail opened up a little bit i started working my way up, still conscious of my pace and making an effort to keep it very easy. the first aid station of five (the provide food and liquids roughly every 5 miles) came sooner than anticipated, when i got there, it was very congested. since i had hardly touched my water, i decided i would be fine until mile 11 and the next aid station.
on top of that, i remembered to stuff some gels in my pockets in case i needed some calories before the next aid station. on the climb up, a runner i had seen at the 50k in august ran by and commented how we did this through much of the bulldog (august's 50k). i agreed and he continued to remind me that i had finished before him at the bulldog, but that wasn't going to happen this time. i wished him luck and thought to myself, my legs are tired this time, i won't be surprised if i finish behind him. we went back and forth until around 7 miles or so, then he dropped off the pace, and i didn't see him the rest of the day. the trail meandered through some of the best mountain biking in san diego county, working it's way up.
i sat in behind a couple runners for another couple miles before passing them on some switch backs. there were a couple steeper sections which i opted to walk up in hopes of keeping my legs semi fresh, as well as providing an easy pace for eating my gel. i reached the top (at least for now), and began my descent to the 2nd aid station, marking 11.3 miles behind me, and around 20 left. i stopped, refilled my water bottle and my have grabbed a banana, then off again in search of the 3rd aid station, this loop on the course would prove to be the most difficult for me. another gel, some salt tablets. there were no real hard climbs, but with 11+ miles behind me, and having worked my way up from 4000' to somewhere around 6000' my body was tiring.
so i alternated between walking and running, enjoying some of the views, and asking the ever popular: when did i think this was a good idea? after winding through the hills for some time and passing several groups of hikers, i came across a couple that was out watching the race, only a couple hundred yards to aid station 3. nice, that's half way, and it's pretty flat to downhill from there on. so my spirits lifted a bit, i picked up the pace, and as the yards past, i started asking if anybody had explained to them that 1/2 mile is more than a couple hundred yards. though they may have been right, it seemed closer to 1/2 mile than 2 or 300 yards.
at this station, more water, i went through the entire bottle in the last 5 miles (it was starting to warm up) and once again on my way. i decided to test out my motivator capsules (essentially caffeine and other stimulants intended to provide a little kick when you are tired). that only succeeded in making me dizzy and shaky. mm, those might take some time to get used to. hopefully it has something to do with the 6000' or so of altitude.
the next 5 miles back to the 2nd aid station (which also serves as the 4th) were slightly better than the previous 5. i was able to tag along with a couple different runners over the course. that helps the mileage go by a bit faster, but also tends to pick up the pace a bit, so drains me a bit. my 3rd and last gel was required to help maintain. there were also several sets of hikers, many of whom provided cheers and welcomed encouragement. a slight climb back up to the road, across the road, and an easy descent into aid station 4. some oranges, refill my water bottle, and try to muster the ambition for the remaining 11 miles.
all right, i'm off again. on the climb up before i get to enjoy the downhill, 4 mountain bikers came up and passed me, so i figured it was a good motivation to stick with them, i picked up the pace slightly and hung on. we conversed briefly: 'how long a run are you doing''31 miles or so''holy ----' then 1 of them lost his balance on the climb and fell, after seeing he was fine, i carried on. i wouldn't see them again for pretty close to 8 miles, which was nice (there are some really technical sections that only really good mountain bikers can cycle through). regardless, it was nice to be able to hold them off for so long. the run down was good, pretty mellow descents the only drawback was a fair amount of half buried rocks and uneven ground which made for difficult footing along most of the trail.
now i'm just trying to stay ahead of the mountain bikers and get to the final aid station (which also served as the 1st). i'm out of food, and running low on water, so i try to let the downhills go as quickly as i can without tripping. it took slightly longer than i expected to get to the last aid station. i grabbed several orange slices, a banana, and a couple gels to get me through the final miles. ok, only 5 miles left, you can fake 5 miles right (funny what goes through your mind when you are tired). the last 5 miles was pretty uneventful, some ups and downs and a bit of walking some of the ups, but pretty much just a shuffle that was somewhere between a jog and a walk.
this lasted until i recognized that i was within 1.5 miles or so, at which point i mustered my remaining energy and increased my pace to a respectable jog. once i got on the road i felt a slight relief. then the final turn into the parking lot, and roughly 0.1 miles left, finished, just under 6 hours, slightly slower than i hoped, but a good day.
on top of that, they had showers there, so i had an opportunity to rinse before i sat down to eat. i enjoyed some pasta salad, sandwiches, salad, drinks, m&ms. very tood stuffs. then it was off to pick up my registration for sunday's sprint triathlon.
at 7:00 am things were under way, the first 1/2mile was on the road and brought us to the base of our 10mile climb from 2000ft up to nearly 6000ft. for nearly 2 miles, the trail was pretty narrow and i was content to settle in to my place in line at a nice liesurely pace, i figured it was good to take it easy as i had 5 or 6 hours of running to look forward to, and lots of climbing. when the trail opened up a little bit i started working my way up, still conscious of my pace and making an effort to keep it very easy. the first aid station of five (the provide food and liquids roughly every 5 miles) came sooner than anticipated, when i got there, it was very congested. since i had hardly touched my water, i decided i would be fine until mile 11 and the next aid station.
on top of that, i remembered to stuff some gels in my pockets in case i needed some calories before the next aid station. on the climb up, a runner i had seen at the 50k in august ran by and commented how we did this through much of the bulldog (august's 50k). i agreed and he continued to remind me that i had finished before him at the bulldog, but that wasn't going to happen this time. i wished him luck and thought to myself, my legs are tired this time, i won't be surprised if i finish behind him. we went back and forth until around 7 miles or so, then he dropped off the pace, and i didn't see him the rest of the day. the trail meandered through some of the best mountain biking in san diego county, working it's way up.
i sat in behind a couple runners for another couple miles before passing them on some switch backs. there were a couple steeper sections which i opted to walk up in hopes of keeping my legs semi fresh, as well as providing an easy pace for eating my gel. i reached the top (at least for now), and began my descent to the 2nd aid station, marking 11.3 miles behind me, and around 20 left. i stopped, refilled my water bottle and my have grabbed a banana, then off again in search of the 3rd aid station, this loop on the course would prove to be the most difficult for me. another gel, some salt tablets. there were no real hard climbs, but with 11+ miles behind me, and having worked my way up from 4000' to somewhere around 6000' my body was tiring.
so i alternated between walking and running, enjoying some of the views, and asking the ever popular: when did i think this was a good idea? after winding through the hills for some time and passing several groups of hikers, i came across a couple that was out watching the race, only a couple hundred yards to aid station 3. nice, that's half way, and it's pretty flat to downhill from there on. so my spirits lifted a bit, i picked up the pace, and as the yards past, i started asking if anybody had explained to them that 1/2 mile is more than a couple hundred yards. though they may have been right, it seemed closer to 1/2 mile than 2 or 300 yards.
at this station, more water, i went through the entire bottle in the last 5 miles (it was starting to warm up) and once again on my way. i decided to test out my motivator capsules (essentially caffeine and other stimulants intended to provide a little kick when you are tired). that only succeeded in making me dizzy and shaky. mm, those might take some time to get used to. hopefully it has something to do with the 6000' or so of altitude.
the next 5 miles back to the 2nd aid station (which also serves as the 4th) were slightly better than the previous 5. i was able to tag along with a couple different runners over the course. that helps the mileage go by a bit faster, but also tends to pick up the pace a bit, so drains me a bit. my 3rd and last gel was required to help maintain. there were also several sets of hikers, many of whom provided cheers and welcomed encouragement. a slight climb back up to the road, across the road, and an easy descent into aid station 4. some oranges, refill my water bottle, and try to muster the ambition for the remaining 11 miles.
all right, i'm off again. on the climb up before i get to enjoy the downhill, 4 mountain bikers came up and passed me, so i figured it was a good motivation to stick with them, i picked up the pace slightly and hung on. we conversed briefly: 'how long a run are you doing''31 miles or so''holy ----' then 1 of them lost his balance on the climb and fell, after seeing he was fine, i carried on. i wouldn't see them again for pretty close to 8 miles, which was nice (there are some really technical sections that only really good mountain bikers can cycle through). regardless, it was nice to be able to hold them off for so long. the run down was good, pretty mellow descents the only drawback was a fair amount of half buried rocks and uneven ground which made for difficult footing along most of the trail.
now i'm just trying to stay ahead of the mountain bikers and get to the final aid station (which also served as the 1st). i'm out of food, and running low on water, so i try to let the downhills go as quickly as i can without tripping. it took slightly longer than i expected to get to the last aid station. i grabbed several orange slices, a banana, and a couple gels to get me through the final miles. ok, only 5 miles left, you can fake 5 miles right (funny what goes through your mind when you are tired). the last 5 miles was pretty uneventful, some ups and downs and a bit of walking some of the ups, but pretty much just a shuffle that was somewhere between a jog and a walk.
this lasted until i recognized that i was within 1.5 miles or so, at which point i mustered my remaining energy and increased my pace to a respectable jog. once i got on the road i felt a slight relief. then the final turn into the parking lot, and roughly 0.1 miles left, finished, just under 6 hours, slightly slower than i hoped, but a good day.
on top of that, they had showers there, so i had an opportunity to rinse before i sat down to eat. i enjoyed some pasta salad, sandwiches, salad, drinks, m&ms. very tood stuffs. then it was off to pick up my registration for sunday's sprint triathlon.
Heartbreak Ridge 1/2 Marathon
woke up early, and headed up to camp pendelton for a good exercise in running. got my race number and sat around for a bit waiting for the start.
i lined up towards the front, anticipating being in the faster portion of the race (out of nearly 1,000 people, i'm hoping to pull a top 50 or so). They have the pre-race meeting, basic rules, and what not, then they raise the flag and honor those that serve and have served the country.
then it starts, of course everybody is caught up in the excitement, and comes out at a fast pace, so i just hang around a pace that is slightly faster than i anticipate being able to hold the entire time. i figure i'll hold this for 1 or 2 miles, then settle into something that is more comfortable.
which worked out well, because just past 2 miles, the race course began climbing for a couple hundred feet or so. this proved to be an interesting climb, i held a good effort up the climb, and was rewarded with a nice downhill on the other side, i let things go, and made some good time on the descent. the first 7 miles were difficult, my calves were pretty tight, and i couldn't really find a rhythm.
at about 7 miles, i decided i would pick up my pace every mile until i either blew up, or finished. it was a bit uncomfortable, but felt good, the rewarding part was i just kept running people down, i'd see them off in the distance, and know that it was only a matter of time until they would be watching me pull away from them.
then at mile 9, there was a bit of a climb, my legs were beginning to revolt a little, but i pushed them through it, and at the top the pace quickened a bit more. then some descents and that is always good for my average speed. i ran down a couple people, and somehow missed the 10 mile sign, then there was the last of the climbs, which is followed by a nice descent and flats to the finish.
so i tried to push up the climb, and was able to make up a little ground, then on the descent i once again let it go, 1 of the other runners tried to hold me off on the downhill, i came up on his shoulder, and i could hear he was breathing hard, so i doubted he would be able to hold me off. i just relaxed into it, let gravity do the work, and watched him fall away. at the bottom, there was the 11 mile sign, and i was able to pick up the pace yet again. as i came around the corner, i saw a slew of people, maybe 10 or 12, within 2 miles, i had almost 1/4 mile to make up on these people, difficult, but plausible.
so i kicked it up a notch, and could feel my legs revolt a little, and my breathing was harder. but the group was getting closer, and their was only 2 miles left. a couple more corners, and i was within 1 mile of the finish, and the people are within a couple hundred meters, a little more push, and i am through the group. a couple more people to pick off in the last mile.
finally i come around the corner into the finish chute, my legs where pretty tired, and definitely burning, but i mustered a bit of a increase in pace to finish strong. a good effort and exercise in being uncomfortable. i need more running time on my legs to get them used to continuing when i'm tired, so a decent pace becomes almost second nature.
i lined up towards the front, anticipating being in the faster portion of the race (out of nearly 1,000 people, i'm hoping to pull a top 50 or so). They have the pre-race meeting, basic rules, and what not, then they raise the flag and honor those that serve and have served the country.
then it starts, of course everybody is caught up in the excitement, and comes out at a fast pace, so i just hang around a pace that is slightly faster than i anticipate being able to hold the entire time. i figure i'll hold this for 1 or 2 miles, then settle into something that is more comfortable.
which worked out well, because just past 2 miles, the race course began climbing for a couple hundred feet or so. this proved to be an interesting climb, i held a good effort up the climb, and was rewarded with a nice downhill on the other side, i let things go, and made some good time on the descent. the first 7 miles were difficult, my calves were pretty tight, and i couldn't really find a rhythm.
at about 7 miles, i decided i would pick up my pace every mile until i either blew up, or finished. it was a bit uncomfortable, but felt good, the rewarding part was i just kept running people down, i'd see them off in the distance, and know that it was only a matter of time until they would be watching me pull away from them.
then at mile 9, there was a bit of a climb, my legs were beginning to revolt a little, but i pushed them through it, and at the top the pace quickened a bit more. then some descents and that is always good for my average speed. i ran down a couple people, and somehow missed the 10 mile sign, then there was the last of the climbs, which is followed by a nice descent and flats to the finish.
so i tried to push up the climb, and was able to make up a little ground, then on the descent i once again let it go, 1 of the other runners tried to hold me off on the downhill, i came up on his shoulder, and i could hear he was breathing hard, so i doubted he would be able to hold me off. i just relaxed into it, let gravity do the work, and watched him fall away. at the bottom, there was the 11 mile sign, and i was able to pick up the pace yet again. as i came around the corner, i saw a slew of people, maybe 10 or 12, within 2 miles, i had almost 1/4 mile to make up on these people, difficult, but plausible.
so i kicked it up a notch, and could feel my legs revolt a little, and my breathing was harder. but the group was getting closer, and their was only 2 miles left. a couple more corners, and i was within 1 mile of the finish, and the people are within a couple hundred meters, a little more push, and i am through the group. a couple more people to pick off in the last mile.
finally i come around the corner into the finish chute, my legs where pretty tired, and definitely burning, but i mustered a bit of a increase in pace to finish strong. a good effort and exercise in being uncomfortable. i need more running time on my legs to get them used to continuing when i'm tired, so a decent pace becomes almost second nature.
Pacific Coast Triathlon
where to start on this one. seemed like a good idea at the time, i've been focused on long course, so why not squeeze in a sprint to get in some speed work.
arrive at the race site early, and had to park about 1 mile away, so a nice easy bike ride over to transition, pick out a spot, get thing set up, and then go for an easy spin with some higher efforts to guage how my legs are feeling (did a longer ride yesterday with some good efforts on the climbs). legs are a little flat for the climbs, but i'm sure it will work itself out.
rack my bike again, and set it up for transition, then an easy little run to spin my legs out a bit. now it's about 20 minutes until the racing begins, time to put on the wetsuit, and get in a little pre race swim.
the water is pretty chilly, it's been some time since i've experienced these temperatures (probably in march at ralph's 1/2). but it's ok, so lets see, 800m swim (1/2 mile), 12 mile bike over some hilly terrain, and 5k (3.1 mile) run. i'm generally just getting warmed up at these times, but speed is a totally different ball game, so let's have at it.
the swim starts on the beach with a 25 m dash to the ocean then making your way through some minor bumps and swim.
I'm lined up and ready, the horn sounds, and it's a faster jog to the water, a couple porpoise dives and onto swimming, unfortunately i neglect to sight the buoy i should be chasing and swim a bit off course, no big deal, i work my way back to the turn buoy and make the turn, then start churning some water, not an incredible swim, relatively uneventful, I round the last buoy and turn in for shore, make a semi surge for the beach, as i am coming out of the water, i see a familiar race suit, Thorin is about 5 seconds ahead of me out of the water.
the run up to transition is a bit of a climb, i chat a bit with him on the way up, then into transition, as usual, i am a little slow getting the wetsuit off (i haven't worn a wetsuit since lake placid 5weeks prior), as i get out of my wetsuit, thorin is off on his bike, no worries, i'll be 10 - 15 seconds back on him (actually it was closer to 30 seconds).
i come out pretty good on the bike, down the first hill, and then the climbing starts, generally i love this part, but my legs just aren't having it today, there is a deep lingering tiredness in there (perhaps they aren't completely recovered from my 50k run 2 weeks ago). regardless, it's a lovely day, so i'll keep turning the pedals, and on the flats and dowhills i can get a bit of speed, it's just the climbing that i'm suffering a bit on.
these efforts are significantly higher than i am used to, so i'm breathing a little hard, and my muscles are warming up pretty quick. just before the turn around, i see thorin blast by, i'm still about 30 seconds behind him, there are a couple more hills in the other direction which take a bit of a toll on me, the 2nd turn around and thorin has put some time in on me, maybe 45 - 60 seconds up on me now.
1 lap of 2 completed, and my legs are still feeling sluggish. the climbs are pretty much the same on lap 2, then after the 2nd turn around, my legs start to come around a bit, still have a deep tired feeling, but they are turning a bit better, just in time to enter T2 and get ready for a run.
as i am coming in to T2, the 2nd cyclist of the day passes me, i have a decent T2, and come out running pretty strong, there aren't many people on the run yet, and the few that are there i'm reeling in pretty well. just past the 1/2 way point, the guy that past me on the bike coming into
T2 goes running by, i could make an effort to hold on to him for the remainder of the run, and do keep him in sight until we hit sand. what the ??? this is a pleasant suprise, or not.
everybody else gets the same course, so i slow my pace slightly, and try to stick to the hard pack sand by the waters edge. at this point i can hear a runner sitting just on my heels, he's been there for long enough that i'm sure he is in my division, and just sitting back there waiting to move in the final sprint to the finish.
do i pick up the pace and turn myself inside out to drop him, or hold out for the finish and try to outsprint him? at this point i'm pretty well beyond my comfort zone, so i'll just sit on it, maybe make a small surge on the climb back up off the beach and see what happens.
on the climb, my legs are starting to hurt, there is no coming around for them on the run, and this brutal climb to finish things off isn't helping, so my surges are very short lived, and rather pathetic (more hill running to come in training). then it levels off, and my tail whips around for a 200m sprint, he goes, and i start to follow, but my legs aren't turning over like they should.
this is peculiar, as i am generally game for a good sprint into the finish, and rarely come up on the short side of these, but looks like todays effort is just a bit higher effort than my body is ready for, so he slips away to finish 3 seconds ahead of me. now had there been another 20 or 30 miles on the bike, that would have been more my game, or the hills could have killed me just as easily?
all in all it was a good race, my stomach was twisted, my legs were burning, and my mind was trying to figure out why my body wouldn't respond to it's requests for speed. the answer, very simple, i have been focusing on slow steady efforts lasting hours, not short bursty efforts lasting just about 1 hour.
the remedy: more speed work during my workouts, not a lot, as i am still focusing on long course, but i do plan on throwing in a spattering of extra high efforts.
as for thorin, he went on to pull 4th place in a very tough division, and acredits his success to cheetos, beer, and hanging out with his newborn daughter.
personally i think he just has a better stomach for going well beyond his comfort zone than i do, i can go a little out of it, and stay there for a long time, but seem to have a little trouble going terribly far out of it even for short periods.
arrive at the race site early, and had to park about 1 mile away, so a nice easy bike ride over to transition, pick out a spot, get thing set up, and then go for an easy spin with some higher efforts to guage how my legs are feeling (did a longer ride yesterday with some good efforts on the climbs). legs are a little flat for the climbs, but i'm sure it will work itself out.
rack my bike again, and set it up for transition, then an easy little run to spin my legs out a bit. now it's about 20 minutes until the racing begins, time to put on the wetsuit, and get in a little pre race swim.
the water is pretty chilly, it's been some time since i've experienced these temperatures (probably in march at ralph's 1/2). but it's ok, so lets see, 800m swim (1/2 mile), 12 mile bike over some hilly terrain, and 5k (3.1 mile) run. i'm generally just getting warmed up at these times, but speed is a totally different ball game, so let's have at it.
the swim starts on the beach with a 25 m dash to the ocean then making your way through some minor bumps and swim.
I'm lined up and ready, the horn sounds, and it's a faster jog to the water, a couple porpoise dives and onto swimming, unfortunately i neglect to sight the buoy i should be chasing and swim a bit off course, no big deal, i work my way back to the turn buoy and make the turn, then start churning some water, not an incredible swim, relatively uneventful, I round the last buoy and turn in for shore, make a semi surge for the beach, as i am coming out of the water, i see a familiar race suit, Thorin is about 5 seconds ahead of me out of the water.
the run up to transition is a bit of a climb, i chat a bit with him on the way up, then into transition, as usual, i am a little slow getting the wetsuit off (i haven't worn a wetsuit since lake placid 5weeks prior), as i get out of my wetsuit, thorin is off on his bike, no worries, i'll be 10 - 15 seconds back on him (actually it was closer to 30 seconds).
i come out pretty good on the bike, down the first hill, and then the climbing starts, generally i love this part, but my legs just aren't having it today, there is a deep lingering tiredness in there (perhaps they aren't completely recovered from my 50k run 2 weeks ago). regardless, it's a lovely day, so i'll keep turning the pedals, and on the flats and dowhills i can get a bit of speed, it's just the climbing that i'm suffering a bit on.
these efforts are significantly higher than i am used to, so i'm breathing a little hard, and my muscles are warming up pretty quick. just before the turn around, i see thorin blast by, i'm still about 30 seconds behind him, there are a couple more hills in the other direction which take a bit of a toll on me, the 2nd turn around and thorin has put some time in on me, maybe 45 - 60 seconds up on me now.
1 lap of 2 completed, and my legs are still feeling sluggish. the climbs are pretty much the same on lap 2, then after the 2nd turn around, my legs start to come around a bit, still have a deep tired feeling, but they are turning a bit better, just in time to enter T2 and get ready for a run.
as i am coming in to T2, the 2nd cyclist of the day passes me, i have a decent T2, and come out running pretty strong, there aren't many people on the run yet, and the few that are there i'm reeling in pretty well. just past the 1/2 way point, the guy that past me on the bike coming into
T2 goes running by, i could make an effort to hold on to him for the remainder of the run, and do keep him in sight until we hit sand. what the ??? this is a pleasant suprise, or not.
everybody else gets the same course, so i slow my pace slightly, and try to stick to the hard pack sand by the waters edge. at this point i can hear a runner sitting just on my heels, he's been there for long enough that i'm sure he is in my division, and just sitting back there waiting to move in the final sprint to the finish.
do i pick up the pace and turn myself inside out to drop him, or hold out for the finish and try to outsprint him? at this point i'm pretty well beyond my comfort zone, so i'll just sit on it, maybe make a small surge on the climb back up off the beach and see what happens.
on the climb, my legs are starting to hurt, there is no coming around for them on the run, and this brutal climb to finish things off isn't helping, so my surges are very short lived, and rather pathetic (more hill running to come in training). then it levels off, and my tail whips around for a 200m sprint, he goes, and i start to follow, but my legs aren't turning over like they should.
this is peculiar, as i am generally game for a good sprint into the finish, and rarely come up on the short side of these, but looks like todays effort is just a bit higher effort than my body is ready for, so he slips away to finish 3 seconds ahead of me. now had there been another 20 or 30 miles on the bike, that would have been more my game, or the hills could have killed me just as easily?
all in all it was a good race, my stomach was twisted, my legs were burning, and my mind was trying to figure out why my body wouldn't respond to it's requests for speed. the answer, very simple, i have been focusing on slow steady efforts lasting hours, not short bursty efforts lasting just about 1 hour.
the remedy: more speed work during my workouts, not a lot, as i am still focusing on long course, but i do plan on throwing in a spattering of extra high efforts.
as for thorin, he went on to pull 4th place in a very tough division, and acredits his success to cheetos, beer, and hanging out with his newborn daughter.
personally i think he just has a better stomach for going well beyond his comfort zone than i do, i can go a little out of it, and stay there for a long time, but seem to have a little trouble going terribly far out of it even for short periods.
Bulldog 50k 2007
my last adventure found me up in the mountains above malibu. it was a great experience, and one that will hopefully help me figure out how to run through the discomfort and fatigue which have caused me so much difficulty in past events.
i got to the race check in around 5:30 am, got my number and goodie bag. the race starts at 6:30, so i have some time to work out the details and plan my strategy. a strategy that was comprised of running really slow for a really long time. 6:30 rolls around, and we are off, its a nice trail run, the first 3-4km (2-3 miles) was relatively uneventful, then came the beginnings of the promised climbs. this continued in a pretty consistent fashion for 5-8km (3-5 miles) which bore witness to me walking most of it (this was a strategic choice at this point, i figured there is a lot left in the day, so i will try to save a bit of my legs for later).
then there was a fun section along the ridgeline with some undulating hills and fun single track stuff. followed by a pretty good downhill which i am extremely fond of. i generally let gravity do the work, and just turn my legs over as quickly as possible. that joined up with a good climb lasting about 1 km (.7 miles) then was followed by a brutal downhill, very steep, and lasting 3-5km (2-3miles), then it got flat for a bit followed by some uphill switch backs for approximately 1.5 km (1mile), then it dropped into a parking lot, and the last 2 km (1.5 miles) was on fire road. that was pleasant. then it was time for round 2. that's when things got tough, i kept chugging along at a bit of a diminished pace until the start of the major climb, then i was reduced to a walk.
i would walk much of this, every so often mustering a bit of energy for a run on the flatter portions. at the crest, i enjoyed a bit of the downhill, but at a significantly slower clip than my general vigor with which i embrace the descents. at 32km (19 miles) my legs were ready to explode, but somehow i managed to keep them turning over and moving forward. at this point something strange happened, my legs were terribly tired, but seemed to resign themselves to a slow but steady shuffle somewhere between a walk and a run, this continued, speeding up slightly for the downhills and slowing to a walk for the climbs. then the last 4km (2.5 miles) i was able to dig deep and pick up the pace to a respectable run, picking off 4 places in the process. i was within my expected finish time 5:42:19 (i was hoping for between 5 and 6 hours), and had pushed through some of the worst exhaustion my legs have been subjected to.
though my pace was fairly moderate at 6:49 min/km (10:58 min/mile), i came through the marathon point within 10 minutes of my previous best for that distance (i ran a 4:30:12 marathon at lake placid - 6:24 min/km = 10:19 min/mile), and then tacked on another 5 miles in about 1 hour.
results can be found here:http://www.trailrunevents.com/bd/2007-results-50k.htm
here is an ariel view of the course: http://www.trailrunevents.com/images/google_earth_bulldog_loop.jpg
i got to the race check in around 5:30 am, got my number and goodie bag. the race starts at 6:30, so i have some time to work out the details and plan my strategy. a strategy that was comprised of running really slow for a really long time. 6:30 rolls around, and we are off, its a nice trail run, the first 3-4km (2-3 miles) was relatively uneventful, then came the beginnings of the promised climbs. this continued in a pretty consistent fashion for 5-8km (3-5 miles) which bore witness to me walking most of it (this was a strategic choice at this point, i figured there is a lot left in the day, so i will try to save a bit of my legs for later).
then there was a fun section along the ridgeline with some undulating hills and fun single track stuff. followed by a pretty good downhill which i am extremely fond of. i generally let gravity do the work, and just turn my legs over as quickly as possible. that joined up with a good climb lasting about 1 km (.7 miles) then was followed by a brutal downhill, very steep, and lasting 3-5km (2-3miles), then it got flat for a bit followed by some uphill switch backs for approximately 1.5 km (1mile), then it dropped into a parking lot, and the last 2 km (1.5 miles) was on fire road. that was pleasant. then it was time for round 2. that's when things got tough, i kept chugging along at a bit of a diminished pace until the start of the major climb, then i was reduced to a walk.
i would walk much of this, every so often mustering a bit of energy for a run on the flatter portions. at the crest, i enjoyed a bit of the downhill, but at a significantly slower clip than my general vigor with which i embrace the descents. at 32km (19 miles) my legs were ready to explode, but somehow i managed to keep them turning over and moving forward. at this point something strange happened, my legs were terribly tired, but seemed to resign themselves to a slow but steady shuffle somewhere between a walk and a run, this continued, speeding up slightly for the downhills and slowing to a walk for the climbs. then the last 4km (2.5 miles) i was able to dig deep and pick up the pace to a respectable run, picking off 4 places in the process. i was within my expected finish time 5:42:19 (i was hoping for between 5 and 6 hours), and had pushed through some of the worst exhaustion my legs have been subjected to.
though my pace was fairly moderate at 6:49 min/km (10:58 min/mile), i came through the marathon point within 10 minutes of my previous best for that distance (i ran a 4:30:12 marathon at lake placid - 6:24 min/km = 10:19 min/mile), and then tacked on another 5 miles in about 1 hour.
results can be found here:http://www.trailrunevents.com/bd/2007-results-50k.htm
here is an ariel view of the course: http://www.trailrunevents.com/images/google_earth_bulldog_loop.jpg
Lake Placid 2007
After much preparation and planning, Lake Placid has come and gone. lots of lessons taken away from this one:
PRE-RACEi left san diego late wednesday night, arriving in albany thursday around noon. my dad, sister and nieces were waiting for me. no bike, that could be a problem, fortunately they have a couple days to work out the details on that, so off to lake placid we go.
it's raining pretty steady for most of the first evening. got my registration packet and checked in to our cabin thursday, ate a bit of dinner. the airlines dropped my bike off during dinner, so things are on the up and up. sleep was a bit disrupted the first night.
got up and lounged around for a bit, it rained off and on most of the day, so outdoor activity will be limited (san diego has spoiled me). drove parts of the bike course and part of the run course (i had some problems accurately following the bike course). what i did see looks like it will suit my training very well, no real tough climbs, a couple moderate grades, but all said and done, should be a fast bike course.
as later evening rolled around, most of my family began arriving, with the last couple trickling in around 2 or 3 in the morning ( i was in a haze of half sleep half awake).
saturday morning was rather uneventful, i rode the last 12 miles of the bike course to the pancake breakfast and bike drop off. this is the worst of the climbing, and isn't bad at all, fairly fast and should be fun. spent much of the day enjoying the sun and relaxing with the family.
RACE DAY
woke up around 4, had some breakfast, bagel and infinit drink before heading over to the swim start. got to the transition area dropped off my bags, put my nutrition on my bike and filled my water bottles, then headed over to mirror lake.
SWIM
whoever thinks starting 2000+ swimmers in a mass start must enjoy watching salmon swim upstream. each leg is a 2loop affair, and it took all of the first 1.2 miles (split around 0:31:30) for me to find some open water on the swim. it was entirely too crowded to find a pair of feet to hang on. after running and getting back in for the second loop, i was able to hit a good groove, i wound up hooking on a couple different pairs of feet on the way out, then coming around the turnaround, i found a new set of feet that went very wide on the turn (on the bright side, lots of open water 20-30 meters outside the buoys). i worked my way back towards the course and picked up the effert the last 200-300 meters coming out of the water slightly slower than ideal, but still in good form (1:03:39), the strippers had some issues getting my suit off, no worries, it's a long day, what's 10-20 seconds. a nice jog into transition where i am excited to have my bike waiting at the end of the row for me to pick up.
T1
through the transition tent, number, helmet sunglasses, good to go, all right, now to pick up my bike. unfortunately my number was not relayed to the bike grabbers, so i had to fish mine out of the racks on my own.
BIKE - loop 1
here is where the fun really starts, the beginning has some short steep descents followed by hard turns, fun stuff, i really enjoy these and they provide me with an opportunity to make up a little time, coming out of town it's time to shift into the big ring and get things moving. bad news, that frayed cable i was going to change before the race, didn't change it, and it's broke (<5miles into the bike and breaking things already, good times).
so now i'm on keen lookout for the sag wagon, or somebody that may be carrying a derrailuer cable. there are some light rollers, then a long fast descent over the first 20 miles. despite not having a big ring, only 2 people pass me on the descent, and i am hanging with a pack of riders through the first 2 aid stations, feeling pretty good. i decide to stop at the 3rd station and see about getting my cable replaced, the downhills and flats will be worth the downtime to replace it. no luck, while i'm waiting for them to check for a cable, i eat several bananas, take a bathroom break, and down some water. no cable. ok, looks like today will be a lot of high cadence work.
while i was checking on my cable, dozens of people blow by the aid station.
hmmm, that's unfortunate. all right, back on the bike, back to picking up places. the climb out of jay is pretty good, i'm picking off people as anticipated. in a little bit, there will be an out and back section for me to guage how much time i lost to the group i was with up until i stopped for a derrailleur cable. so to the best of my guesses, i'm 15 minutes down form the group i was with. 40 miles into the race, now i've got to pee pretty bad, hope there are toilets soon. nothing around, so i improvise, now i'm a bathroom break and a 10-15 minute rest at an aid station on loop 1. coming back into lake placid was an absolute blast, several tight turns, ups and downs, a real technical section, i was moving through here picking off people. despite the misfortunes thus far, i was able to split at the 1st loop at 2:46:22, a little off pace, but once the stops are factored in, i'm golden.
BIKE - loop 2
still feeling pretty good, legs are a little heavy from the fun i had going through town, but once i get down into keen (the bottom of the long downhill), they will be ready again. uh oh, i'm way ahead of pace on my nutrition, i'm set to run out around 80 miles or so at this rate, and i've been conservative taking in the calories. instead of being smart and grabbing all the calories i can at the aid stations i blank and am just picking up water. then around 80 miles it happens, nutrition is gone, and my legs go flat, just before i get to start climbing back out of the lowest point on the course. jolly good.
so the climb is a bit painful and slow, and of course i neglect to get any nutrition at the 1st aid station i pass, so it's another 10 miles and i need to start taking on nutrition. next aid station i grab 3 or 4 gels, stash them in pockets and grab water, refill the water, start eating gels. repeat at the next aid station. around mile 95 my legs start to come around, and i start to return to form. attacking more so on the hills, still a bit leary because i am far behind on caloric intake. the last aid station i take another 3 or 4 gels and space them out over the remaining 6 miles. one more pass through town, a bit slower than last time, but still fast and fun. a great way to finish off the bike, i come into T2 with a big smile on my face despite having used 5:52:08 to complete the 112 mile bike (3:05:45 for the 2nd loop).
T2
hand off my bike, grab my T2 bag, and into the tent, shoes on, helmet off, good to go, except that pesky cramping in my left hamstring, so i get it rubbed out before setting out on my run.
RUN - loop 1
coming out of T2, i'm feeling pretty good, the run starts with a good dowhill, then about 1 mile of flat and a 2nd good downhill. as usual, i let gravity do the work, and am going by people. i turn down river road, it's about 3 miles out to the turn around, and now the tricky part, i need to keep a nice comfortable pace that i can maintain for the next 3+ hours, i settle in to a pretty comfortable pace, and am taking in 2 cups of liquid at each aid station, and a gel here and there. at 8 miles, i am feeling pretty good and go by the personal message sign (my family took this opportunity to tell me they love me, a very good pick me up at a needed time), at 10 miles, i get to start up the hills, when i reach the top, i get a boost of energy, so the pace is picked up and held pretty solid until mile 14, then things begin to crumble again. the first 13 miles were split at 1:55:38 (a bit behind pace, but i'm running)
RUN - loop 2
the downhills aren't quite as fast as they should be, and the flats are a shuffle, not really much more than a brisk walk, but still in the form of a jog. i'm parched, so i up the liquid intake (2 gatorade cups, and 2 waters at each aid station). throw in a gel pack to try and up the energy levels. now it's time to see how deep i really want to dig? is it time to walk??
1 mile at a time, mile 15, and i get to turn around at mile 18, i'm shuffling, struggling to keep moving forward and battling the desire to walk. so the games begin, if each aid station is 50m long, and there are 26 in the race, i walk every one of them in it's entirety, that means i've walked 1300m, just over 3/4 of a mile, so if i'm at mile 16, and i walk the rest of the way, that's less than 11 miles of walking, this continues up until mile 20, where i see the motivating sign from my family again.
that provides a little boost, and the pace quickens for about 1 or 2 miles. just before i get into the uphills again, it's time for another bathroom break (2 for the run). now it's the last bit of challenge, uphill, then it flattens and my pace quickens a bit. still only walked the aid stations and maybe 1/4 mile of the regular course. here comes the last of the uphills, my sisters are there to run with me for a bit, that helps. now if at absolute worst, i can wind up walking 2 miles, not gonna happen.
the worst of it is i have to go by the finish turn off, past this by almost 1 mile, and i get to turn around again to come back to it. this is usually where i shine, normally i throw in a good kick for the last mile, and a sprint to the finish. past mile marker 25, and it's time to pick up the pace, but it doesn't go, i'm still shuffling, though it may be slightly faster, it's still shuffling. i'm usually good to pick up 6 or 7 places in the last mile, but not today, i am humbled yet again, and content to shuffle into the last 200meters, as i step onto the speed skating oval, i find a bit of energy and start my finishing sprint, my niece and dad join me for the last 150meters. 2nd loop split at 2:34:33 for a 4:30:11 marathon (a personal best, but still a far cry from where i was hoping to be).
POST RACE
as i said lots of things learned, prior to lake placid, i had been very stringent about keeping my gear in top form; this time, i let a couple things slide, and they bit me. previously, i'd always carried an extra 25% of my calculated caloric requirements, today, i had to have botched the numbers and came in 25% short, and didn't acknowledge it and begin correcting until it was too late.
so when i tally the damage, broken cable (did this save my legs for the run? or cause me to spin out burning up more than i anticipated? i don't know and don't particularly care). the important thing is i had several downs, which i managed to pull through and come out with significant improvements over past experiences.
a big thank you and i love you to all that came to support me, including those there in spirit and my thoughts.
PRE-RACEi left san diego late wednesday night, arriving in albany thursday around noon. my dad, sister and nieces were waiting for me. no bike, that could be a problem, fortunately they have a couple days to work out the details on that, so off to lake placid we go.
it's raining pretty steady for most of the first evening. got my registration packet and checked in to our cabin thursday, ate a bit of dinner. the airlines dropped my bike off during dinner, so things are on the up and up. sleep was a bit disrupted the first night.
got up and lounged around for a bit, it rained off and on most of the day, so outdoor activity will be limited (san diego has spoiled me). drove parts of the bike course and part of the run course (i had some problems accurately following the bike course). what i did see looks like it will suit my training very well, no real tough climbs, a couple moderate grades, but all said and done, should be a fast bike course.
as later evening rolled around, most of my family began arriving, with the last couple trickling in around 2 or 3 in the morning ( i was in a haze of half sleep half awake).
saturday morning was rather uneventful, i rode the last 12 miles of the bike course to the pancake breakfast and bike drop off. this is the worst of the climbing, and isn't bad at all, fairly fast and should be fun. spent much of the day enjoying the sun and relaxing with the family.
RACE DAY
woke up around 4, had some breakfast, bagel and infinit drink before heading over to the swim start. got to the transition area dropped off my bags, put my nutrition on my bike and filled my water bottles, then headed over to mirror lake.
SWIM
whoever thinks starting 2000+ swimmers in a mass start must enjoy watching salmon swim upstream. each leg is a 2loop affair, and it took all of the first 1.2 miles (split around 0:31:30) for me to find some open water on the swim. it was entirely too crowded to find a pair of feet to hang on. after running and getting back in for the second loop, i was able to hit a good groove, i wound up hooking on a couple different pairs of feet on the way out, then coming around the turnaround, i found a new set of feet that went very wide on the turn (on the bright side, lots of open water 20-30 meters outside the buoys). i worked my way back towards the course and picked up the effert the last 200-300 meters coming out of the water slightly slower than ideal, but still in good form (1:03:39), the strippers had some issues getting my suit off, no worries, it's a long day, what's 10-20 seconds. a nice jog into transition where i am excited to have my bike waiting at the end of the row for me to pick up.
T1
through the transition tent, number, helmet sunglasses, good to go, all right, now to pick up my bike. unfortunately my number was not relayed to the bike grabbers, so i had to fish mine out of the racks on my own.
BIKE - loop 1
here is where the fun really starts, the beginning has some short steep descents followed by hard turns, fun stuff, i really enjoy these and they provide me with an opportunity to make up a little time, coming out of town it's time to shift into the big ring and get things moving. bad news, that frayed cable i was going to change before the race, didn't change it, and it's broke (<5miles into the bike and breaking things already, good times).
so now i'm on keen lookout for the sag wagon, or somebody that may be carrying a derrailuer cable. there are some light rollers, then a long fast descent over the first 20 miles. despite not having a big ring, only 2 people pass me on the descent, and i am hanging with a pack of riders through the first 2 aid stations, feeling pretty good. i decide to stop at the 3rd station and see about getting my cable replaced, the downhills and flats will be worth the downtime to replace it. no luck, while i'm waiting for them to check for a cable, i eat several bananas, take a bathroom break, and down some water. no cable. ok, looks like today will be a lot of high cadence work.
while i was checking on my cable, dozens of people blow by the aid station.
hmmm, that's unfortunate. all right, back on the bike, back to picking up places. the climb out of jay is pretty good, i'm picking off people as anticipated. in a little bit, there will be an out and back section for me to guage how much time i lost to the group i was with up until i stopped for a derrailleur cable. so to the best of my guesses, i'm 15 minutes down form the group i was with. 40 miles into the race, now i've got to pee pretty bad, hope there are toilets soon. nothing around, so i improvise, now i'm a bathroom break and a 10-15 minute rest at an aid station on loop 1. coming back into lake placid was an absolute blast, several tight turns, ups and downs, a real technical section, i was moving through here picking off people. despite the misfortunes thus far, i was able to split at the 1st loop at 2:46:22, a little off pace, but once the stops are factored in, i'm golden.
BIKE - loop 2
still feeling pretty good, legs are a little heavy from the fun i had going through town, but once i get down into keen (the bottom of the long downhill), they will be ready again. uh oh, i'm way ahead of pace on my nutrition, i'm set to run out around 80 miles or so at this rate, and i've been conservative taking in the calories. instead of being smart and grabbing all the calories i can at the aid stations i blank and am just picking up water. then around 80 miles it happens, nutrition is gone, and my legs go flat, just before i get to start climbing back out of the lowest point on the course. jolly good.
so the climb is a bit painful and slow, and of course i neglect to get any nutrition at the 1st aid station i pass, so it's another 10 miles and i need to start taking on nutrition. next aid station i grab 3 or 4 gels, stash them in pockets and grab water, refill the water, start eating gels. repeat at the next aid station. around mile 95 my legs start to come around, and i start to return to form. attacking more so on the hills, still a bit leary because i am far behind on caloric intake. the last aid station i take another 3 or 4 gels and space them out over the remaining 6 miles. one more pass through town, a bit slower than last time, but still fast and fun. a great way to finish off the bike, i come into T2 with a big smile on my face despite having used 5:52:08 to complete the 112 mile bike (3:05:45 for the 2nd loop).
T2
hand off my bike, grab my T2 bag, and into the tent, shoes on, helmet off, good to go, except that pesky cramping in my left hamstring, so i get it rubbed out before setting out on my run.
RUN - loop 1
coming out of T2, i'm feeling pretty good, the run starts with a good dowhill, then about 1 mile of flat and a 2nd good downhill. as usual, i let gravity do the work, and am going by people. i turn down river road, it's about 3 miles out to the turn around, and now the tricky part, i need to keep a nice comfortable pace that i can maintain for the next 3+ hours, i settle in to a pretty comfortable pace, and am taking in 2 cups of liquid at each aid station, and a gel here and there. at 8 miles, i am feeling pretty good and go by the personal message sign (my family took this opportunity to tell me they love me, a very good pick me up at a needed time), at 10 miles, i get to start up the hills, when i reach the top, i get a boost of energy, so the pace is picked up and held pretty solid until mile 14, then things begin to crumble again. the first 13 miles were split at 1:55:38 (a bit behind pace, but i'm running)
RUN - loop 2
the downhills aren't quite as fast as they should be, and the flats are a shuffle, not really much more than a brisk walk, but still in the form of a jog. i'm parched, so i up the liquid intake (2 gatorade cups, and 2 waters at each aid station). throw in a gel pack to try and up the energy levels. now it's time to see how deep i really want to dig? is it time to walk??
1 mile at a time, mile 15, and i get to turn around at mile 18, i'm shuffling, struggling to keep moving forward and battling the desire to walk. so the games begin, if each aid station is 50m long, and there are 26 in the race, i walk every one of them in it's entirety, that means i've walked 1300m, just over 3/4 of a mile, so if i'm at mile 16, and i walk the rest of the way, that's less than 11 miles of walking, this continues up until mile 20, where i see the motivating sign from my family again.
that provides a little boost, and the pace quickens for about 1 or 2 miles. just before i get into the uphills again, it's time for another bathroom break (2 for the run). now it's the last bit of challenge, uphill, then it flattens and my pace quickens a bit. still only walked the aid stations and maybe 1/4 mile of the regular course. here comes the last of the uphills, my sisters are there to run with me for a bit, that helps. now if at absolute worst, i can wind up walking 2 miles, not gonna happen.
the worst of it is i have to go by the finish turn off, past this by almost 1 mile, and i get to turn around again to come back to it. this is usually where i shine, normally i throw in a good kick for the last mile, and a sprint to the finish. past mile marker 25, and it's time to pick up the pace, but it doesn't go, i'm still shuffling, though it may be slightly faster, it's still shuffling. i'm usually good to pick up 6 or 7 places in the last mile, but not today, i am humbled yet again, and content to shuffle into the last 200meters, as i step onto the speed skating oval, i find a bit of energy and start my finishing sprint, my niece and dad join me for the last 150meters. 2nd loop split at 2:34:33 for a 4:30:11 marathon (a personal best, but still a far cry from where i was hoping to be).
POST RACE
as i said lots of things learned, prior to lake placid, i had been very stringent about keeping my gear in top form; this time, i let a couple things slide, and they bit me. previously, i'd always carried an extra 25% of my calculated caloric requirements, today, i had to have botched the numbers and came in 25% short, and didn't acknowledge it and begin correcting until it was too late.
so when i tally the damage, broken cable (did this save my legs for the run? or cause me to spin out burning up more than i anticipated? i don't know and don't particularly care). the important thing is i had several downs, which i managed to pull through and come out with significant improvements over past experiences.
a big thank you and i love you to all that came to support me, including those there in spirit and my thoughts.
Duecman 2007
got into arizona early friday afternoon and picked up my race packet. woke up early saturday, water is 67 degrees, i get to use my wetsuit today. I'm in the 2nd wave of 3.
I was curious to see how i would deal with the elevation (the race is between 5600 and 6500 feet), the swim being situated at an elevation of 6200'. my goal was to come in around 5 hours on this course, that would put me on target for lake placid. I lined up near the middle of the swim start. i had some significant issues the first 200 - 300m. i was unable to find a rhythm, i had trouble with my breathing, and wound up stopping completely 2 or 3 times to try and relax. after the 3rd stop, i decided i was going to just put my head down and keep swimming, breathing will happen. i found a pretty good groove, and cruised pretty comfortably back into t1.
The swim turned out to be pretty quick, especially considering my issues the first several hundred meters (0:32:26). out of the water, and i have the pleasure of wetsuit strippers (it's good stuff, i take the top of the wetsuit off, then lie down and bam, they yank it off the rest of the way). then a slight uphill to the transition area.
There are still lots of bikes here, that's a good sign. T1 went smoothly, ran out dropped my swim gear, adorned my helmet and locs, grabbed my bike on my way. The bike course was pretty hilly, and i was already breathing pretty heavy, so i settled into a decent pace and started taking in some water and nutrition (carbopro infinit blend). the hills started almost immediately, slight rollers, nothing too challenging, just enough to keep everybody honest.
the real climbing doesn't start until mile 40 ish.i took in nearly 6 water bottles of liquid on the bike course. the temperatures were pretty warm (mid 80's), and exceptionally dry. around mile 20 my legs started to feel better, so i picked up the pace slightly, and around mile 25, i hooked onto another rider and stayed with him for roughly 15 miles, then we got to the hills and it was time to start climbing. i made some good time on the climbs, and my legs were still feeling pretty solid. I took in 8 - 10 salt tablets during the bike, one of which broke on me, salt tastes really bad, and takes a fair amount of time to wash completely out of my mouth.
The last 5 miles or so i pulled back slightly and picked up the cadence to start preparing for the run. I came off the bike with a decent split, right around 12th place overall, 2:37:35 (21.3mph), slightly slower than i would have liked to see, but still on target to come in under 5 hours. the good news is my stomach is pretty comfortable so far, no nutrition problems. i had some minor troubles in T2 (some minor issues tying my shoes, but it's all good).
the first 4 miles of the run would have roughly 1/2 of the climbing on the course, and they seemed to go all right. the run started out fine, mile 1 was around 7:30 min/mile, mile 2 a little closer to 8:00 min/mile, after 4 miles, i was pretty close to a 7:30 min/mile pace. i was taking in 4-6 oz of water at every aid station, and 1 or 2 salt tablets.
At mile 4, i decided to try the hydroboom (the sports drink they had on the course). that sent my stomach into the verge of fits, i had acid reflux, and some significant sloshing deep down in my stomach (generally i get the sloshing right in the middle, but this stuff seemed to work on either extreme). i dropped my pace a little, to try and settle my stomach. in addition, my legs started to fade. damn i forgot to get some gels, they are supposed to be at every other aid station, so maybe 2 miles before i can get some nutrition in me. mile 5, no gels, or i forgot again, mile 6 definitely didn't have any gels, and mile 7 had no gels.
my pace probably dropped to 8:30 min/mile or so at this time. i'm still taking in 4-6 ozs of liquid at every aid station, and some salt tablets. shortly before mile 8, the aid station purports to have everything, until i ask for a gel, oooh, we are out of those. damn it, 2 more miles?? lesson learned, pick up nutrition before i need it, and always carry a spare. at this point, i'm pretty much overheating and dehydrating pretty good. i have been getting cold water dumped on me at nearly every aid station to try and cool down, and drinking, but it's not working real well.
mile 9 goes by slowly, at the aid station, they are giving out gatorade, which turns out to be more of that damned hydroboom, some fo the same effects. lesson learned, little kids call sports drinks gatorade, much like i call bandaids bandaids, regardless of what brand (see, i don't even know how to refer to them without the brand name) the run is starting to turn into a shuffle, i walk up some of the rollers between mile 10 and 12.
finally get a gel at mile 10, it provides a little help, but is hard to swallow with so little water. after mile 12, there is a bit of a downhill, and then minor climb then a short distance to the finish. i muster a slightly more respectable pace for the downhill, and begin to pick up the effort on the climb, to finish strong. probably need to work on better heat dissipation and more consistent nutrition during the run. the run was done now, 1:57:17 (8:57 min/mile).
time to start putting in the miles. lessons learned: - more liquid on hot days- more nutrition on the run (try 2 or 3 gels) stockpile these early- remember the boost before the swim next time- no hydroboom sports drinkthings i learned in florida that helped:- more electolytes on hot days- no accel gel
times can be found at: http://www.doitsports.com/newresults3/client/171767_201330_2007.html
photos at: http://www.fotojack.com/race/index.htmrace=950&sid=3fe1e998275804ac35adf85da6b6318d
(race number 128)
I was curious to see how i would deal with the elevation (the race is between 5600 and 6500 feet), the swim being situated at an elevation of 6200'. my goal was to come in around 5 hours on this course, that would put me on target for lake placid. I lined up near the middle of the swim start. i had some significant issues the first 200 - 300m. i was unable to find a rhythm, i had trouble with my breathing, and wound up stopping completely 2 or 3 times to try and relax. after the 3rd stop, i decided i was going to just put my head down and keep swimming, breathing will happen. i found a pretty good groove, and cruised pretty comfortably back into t1.
The swim turned out to be pretty quick, especially considering my issues the first several hundred meters (0:32:26). out of the water, and i have the pleasure of wetsuit strippers (it's good stuff, i take the top of the wetsuit off, then lie down and bam, they yank it off the rest of the way). then a slight uphill to the transition area.
There are still lots of bikes here, that's a good sign. T1 went smoothly, ran out dropped my swim gear, adorned my helmet and locs, grabbed my bike on my way. The bike course was pretty hilly, and i was already breathing pretty heavy, so i settled into a decent pace and started taking in some water and nutrition (carbopro infinit blend). the hills started almost immediately, slight rollers, nothing too challenging, just enough to keep everybody honest.
the real climbing doesn't start until mile 40 ish.i took in nearly 6 water bottles of liquid on the bike course. the temperatures were pretty warm (mid 80's), and exceptionally dry. around mile 20 my legs started to feel better, so i picked up the pace slightly, and around mile 25, i hooked onto another rider and stayed with him for roughly 15 miles, then we got to the hills and it was time to start climbing. i made some good time on the climbs, and my legs were still feeling pretty solid. I took in 8 - 10 salt tablets during the bike, one of which broke on me, salt tastes really bad, and takes a fair amount of time to wash completely out of my mouth.
The last 5 miles or so i pulled back slightly and picked up the cadence to start preparing for the run. I came off the bike with a decent split, right around 12th place overall, 2:37:35 (21.3mph), slightly slower than i would have liked to see, but still on target to come in under 5 hours. the good news is my stomach is pretty comfortable so far, no nutrition problems. i had some minor troubles in T2 (some minor issues tying my shoes, but it's all good).
the first 4 miles of the run would have roughly 1/2 of the climbing on the course, and they seemed to go all right. the run started out fine, mile 1 was around 7:30 min/mile, mile 2 a little closer to 8:00 min/mile, after 4 miles, i was pretty close to a 7:30 min/mile pace. i was taking in 4-6 oz of water at every aid station, and 1 or 2 salt tablets.
At mile 4, i decided to try the hydroboom (the sports drink they had on the course). that sent my stomach into the verge of fits, i had acid reflux, and some significant sloshing deep down in my stomach (generally i get the sloshing right in the middle, but this stuff seemed to work on either extreme). i dropped my pace a little, to try and settle my stomach. in addition, my legs started to fade. damn i forgot to get some gels, they are supposed to be at every other aid station, so maybe 2 miles before i can get some nutrition in me. mile 5, no gels, or i forgot again, mile 6 definitely didn't have any gels, and mile 7 had no gels.
my pace probably dropped to 8:30 min/mile or so at this time. i'm still taking in 4-6 ozs of liquid at every aid station, and some salt tablets. shortly before mile 8, the aid station purports to have everything, until i ask for a gel, oooh, we are out of those. damn it, 2 more miles?? lesson learned, pick up nutrition before i need it, and always carry a spare. at this point, i'm pretty much overheating and dehydrating pretty good. i have been getting cold water dumped on me at nearly every aid station to try and cool down, and drinking, but it's not working real well.
mile 9 goes by slowly, at the aid station, they are giving out gatorade, which turns out to be more of that damned hydroboom, some fo the same effects. lesson learned, little kids call sports drinks gatorade, much like i call bandaids bandaids, regardless of what brand (see, i don't even know how to refer to them without the brand name) the run is starting to turn into a shuffle, i walk up some of the rollers between mile 10 and 12.
finally get a gel at mile 10, it provides a little help, but is hard to swallow with so little water. after mile 12, there is a bit of a downhill, and then minor climb then a short distance to the finish. i muster a slightly more respectable pace for the downhill, and begin to pick up the effort on the climb, to finish strong. probably need to work on better heat dissipation and more consistent nutrition during the run. the run was done now, 1:57:17 (8:57 min/mile).
time to start putting in the miles. lessons learned: - more liquid on hot days- more nutrition on the run (try 2 or 3 gels) stockpile these early- remember the boost before the swim next time- no hydroboom sports drinkthings i learned in florida that helped:- more electolytes on hot days- no accel gel
times can be found at: http://www.doitsports.com/newresults3/client/171767_201330_2007.html
photos at: http://www.fotojack.com/race/index.htmrace=950&sid=3fe1e998275804ac35adf85da6b6318d
(race number 128)
Florida Half IM 2007
got into florida early thursday morning to make an attempt at acclimating to the heat and humidity. I was pleasanty suprised by moderate heat and only moderate humidity.
Picked up my race packet and checked my bike in saturday afternoon, and gorged myself for dinner (not the brightest idea, but this did not adversely affect my race.
up early saturday, water is 80 degrees, no wetsuit today. I'm in the 2nd to last wave, starting 1 hour after the 1st wave. no boost this morning before the swim start (going forward there will be nutrition 30 - 60 minutes before the swim)
I lined up near the front outside of the swim start (acceptable with the wetsuit to aid in body positioning, but a poor choice without my crutch). i wound up stuck in the pack for close to 700m. love the feeling of swimming upstream. i had to constantly remind myself to attempt good body position head down, legs up. the swim took a bit longer than i was hoping (0:38:37), but the bike is flat and fast, so i can make up some time there.
T1 has a long run from the beach to the bike, but this went pretty smoothly, ran out dropped my swim gear, adorned my helmet and locs, grabbed my bike on my way.
despite the course being pretty damn flat, i came out conservative on the bike. and kept hung with 3 riders from pretty early on. between mile 15 and 20, my legs started to come around, and i began putting time into people. around mile 25, we came into some moderate rollers (not much in the line of climbing in florida), and i couldn't help but smile a bit. though the hills proved to be insufficient to allow me to explore my strengths.
i made up some time on the minor climbs, but not enough to make a lasting impression. between miles 35 and 45, i was able to keep things around 25mph. then i was feeling a bit hungry so took an accelgel. that twisted up my innards for a bit, and i chose to pull back on the effort and let my guts sort through things before i started running.
around mile 52 my stomach settled down, and i ramped things back up to 25mph into T2. came off the bike at 2:30:48 (22.3mph), 0.3 mph faster than oceanside, on a much easier course. hmmm. can you say my legs are tired??
i blew through T2 pretty well (some minor issues tying my shoes, but it's all good)
the run started out fine, first 4.3 miles clocked in at 32 minutes (around 7:30 min/mile) second loop saw things starting to unravel. the heat started to get to me around mile 5. i stopped for a bathroom break at mile 6.5 and dumped a cup of ice down my shirt. that cooled things down for a bit. loop 2 clocked in around 37 minutes (around 8:30 min/mile). finished off with a 1:49:36 run (8:22 min/mile), slower than hoped for.
the last lap was a bit of an experiment. up to this point i was taking in a cup of water at even miles and gatorade at odd miles, that worked pretty well. now it was time for a little experiment: i drank a cup of coke at mile 10, hoping the sugar would kick in and give me a boost into the finish. didn't quite work, but i got to burp a lot and once again, the heat began wearing on me, so mile 10.5 was celebrated with more ice down my shirt. and some water. that was the last of anything from the aid stations. i kept turning my legs over planning to pick it up starting at mile 12, and about 0.3 miles from the finish to lay it all out and see what was left. there wasn't much left until the last 0.1 miles, at which point i was able to muster a modest sprint to the finish.
shortly after crossing the line, my legs began to cramp like never before. guess i should take in more salt (i had 4 thermolytes on the bike, 0 on the run). lessons learned:
- more electolytes on hot days,
- more nutrition on the run (try 2 or 3 gels)
- accel gel is retired from my racing nutrition plan
- remember the boost before the swim next time
i showed up, i put out almost all i could on the day, but the numbers weren't there. sometimes it happens that way. i've taken away some important lessons to be applied going forward. i think my legs are a bit tired from all the hard efforts i've been putting in. all in all, it was just a slow day for me. likely overtraining, but as long as i don't get injured or burned out, i will reap benefits. had a good mental race, and figured out good stuff about nutrition. i pushed through some stuff that in the past would have crippled my pace.
i was able to dig a little deeper and find something that hasn't been as strong these days. my heart is coming back. making these efforts now will pay dividends come july.
Picked up my race packet and checked my bike in saturday afternoon, and gorged myself for dinner (not the brightest idea, but this did not adversely affect my race.
up early saturday, water is 80 degrees, no wetsuit today. I'm in the 2nd to last wave, starting 1 hour after the 1st wave. no boost this morning before the swim start (going forward there will be nutrition 30 - 60 minutes before the swim)
I lined up near the front outside of the swim start (acceptable with the wetsuit to aid in body positioning, but a poor choice without my crutch). i wound up stuck in the pack for close to 700m. love the feeling of swimming upstream. i had to constantly remind myself to attempt good body position head down, legs up. the swim took a bit longer than i was hoping (0:38:37), but the bike is flat and fast, so i can make up some time there.
T1 has a long run from the beach to the bike, but this went pretty smoothly, ran out dropped my swim gear, adorned my helmet and locs, grabbed my bike on my way.
despite the course being pretty damn flat, i came out conservative on the bike. and kept hung with 3 riders from pretty early on. between mile 15 and 20, my legs started to come around, and i began putting time into people. around mile 25, we came into some moderate rollers (not much in the line of climbing in florida), and i couldn't help but smile a bit. though the hills proved to be insufficient to allow me to explore my strengths.
i made up some time on the minor climbs, but not enough to make a lasting impression. between miles 35 and 45, i was able to keep things around 25mph. then i was feeling a bit hungry so took an accelgel. that twisted up my innards for a bit, and i chose to pull back on the effort and let my guts sort through things before i started running.
around mile 52 my stomach settled down, and i ramped things back up to 25mph into T2. came off the bike at 2:30:48 (22.3mph), 0.3 mph faster than oceanside, on a much easier course. hmmm. can you say my legs are tired??
i blew through T2 pretty well (some minor issues tying my shoes, but it's all good)
the run started out fine, first 4.3 miles clocked in at 32 minutes (around 7:30 min/mile) second loop saw things starting to unravel. the heat started to get to me around mile 5. i stopped for a bathroom break at mile 6.5 and dumped a cup of ice down my shirt. that cooled things down for a bit. loop 2 clocked in around 37 minutes (around 8:30 min/mile). finished off with a 1:49:36 run (8:22 min/mile), slower than hoped for.
the last lap was a bit of an experiment. up to this point i was taking in a cup of water at even miles and gatorade at odd miles, that worked pretty well. now it was time for a little experiment: i drank a cup of coke at mile 10, hoping the sugar would kick in and give me a boost into the finish. didn't quite work, but i got to burp a lot and once again, the heat began wearing on me, so mile 10.5 was celebrated with more ice down my shirt. and some water. that was the last of anything from the aid stations. i kept turning my legs over planning to pick it up starting at mile 12, and about 0.3 miles from the finish to lay it all out and see what was left. there wasn't much left until the last 0.1 miles, at which point i was able to muster a modest sprint to the finish.
shortly after crossing the line, my legs began to cramp like never before. guess i should take in more salt (i had 4 thermolytes on the bike, 0 on the run). lessons learned:
- more electolytes on hot days,
- more nutrition on the run (try 2 or 3 gels)
- accel gel is retired from my racing nutrition plan
- remember the boost before the swim next time
i showed up, i put out almost all i could on the day, but the numbers weren't there. sometimes it happens that way. i've taken away some important lessons to be applied going forward. i think my legs are a bit tired from all the hard efforts i've been putting in. all in all, it was just a slow day for me. likely overtraining, but as long as i don't get injured or burned out, i will reap benefits. had a good mental race, and figured out good stuff about nutrition. i pushed through some stuff that in the past would have crippled my pace.
i was able to dig a little deeper and find something that hasn't been as strong these days. my heart is coming back. making these efforts now will pay dividends come july.
Wildflower 2007
woke up early, put some breakfast foods in my stomach, gathered my gear, and headed down to prepare my place in transition.
The pro men went off at 8am, the pro women at 8:05am, then a new wave every 5 minutes. i went off at 8:25am. the swim started off pretty strong, i kept hooking onto the feet of people that were opposed to swimming in a straight line. Left should felt a little weak through the swim, but I was still able to finish it feeling pretty good, (time 0:34:41, slightly slower than expected, but well within acceptable limits considering the conditions and my lack of swimming)
entered T2 pretty quickly, got my left leg out of the wetsuit, and was hit with severe vertigo. I opted to sit down and get my right leg out. Added my helmet and race number, grabbed my bike, and out to do some climbing. (total time elapsed in T1 - 0:01:59)
the first 2km of the bike were pretty damn bumpy, lost my splash guard for my profile drinking bottle (it was only a matter of time). Then the first climb starts, a bit windy, and fairly steep. I just kept spinning got to the top, and picked up the pace a bit. My legs felt a pretty flat until kilometer 40 or 45 (about 1/2 way point). After wich they started coming around, and i was able to make up some of the spots i'd dropped in the earlier portions of the bike. I spent the next 15km waiting to get to the hard climbs, that was were i was going to let things loose and see how the day was to be.
Things worked as planned, i was able to pass a grip of people over the 10km climbs, and used the last 20km to pick up the pace a bit more, and loosen my legs up for the pending run.
The last 2kms leading into T2 are downhill, so i tucked in and let it fly (gravity is a good thing). I stepped off the bike after 2:53:45 (slower than expected, but still acceptable).
T2 went pretty well, i quickly found my spot, racked my bike, removed my helmet, put on my shoes, and grabbed my gel for the run. The first 6.5 kms went well, averaging somewhere around 4:40min/km, but i had some stomach issues waiting to surface. around 7km, they reared their ugly little heads, and began eating into my pace. I've decided my stomach pretty much shut down and the walking started around 7.5kms, primarily uphill, i was still running downhills (after all, gravity is a great friend most of the time), and flats, but significantly slower. It was decided, this day was officially converted to a hard training day, i could push through and probably save 10 minutes or so, but i have 2 more races coming up in the next 4 weeks, so losses are cut, i will be back at the drawing board to figure out what went wrong.
around 13km i was able to find some semblance of a rhythmn, and clicked off close to 5km at a slightly faster pace, then came the shuffle, that lasted until km 19.5 ish, then it was the same downhill from the bike earlier. thank you gravity, the last 1.5-2km was likely my fastest for the day. i was relieved to be done, the heat and hydration issues proved to be a bit more than i was prepared for. I managed to take a sweet 1:54:07 out there enjoying the run course (likely 20 minutes slower than i should be able to pull on the same course once i nail the nutrition portion). once again, nothing to stand up and shout about, but something i'm ok with for now.
all said and done, i was out there for 5:25:53, about 25-30 minutes longer than anticipated, but reasonable. the race is in the books, not a bad showing, and i have a new area to focus on, getting my head into things and working on the nutrition.
lets see how i deal with the heat and humidity on May 20th in florida. that will be a good indicator of my ability to figure out nutrition and hydration.
The pro men went off at 8am, the pro women at 8:05am, then a new wave every 5 minutes. i went off at 8:25am. the swim started off pretty strong, i kept hooking onto the feet of people that were opposed to swimming in a straight line. Left should felt a little weak through the swim, but I was still able to finish it feeling pretty good, (time 0:34:41, slightly slower than expected, but well within acceptable limits considering the conditions and my lack of swimming)
entered T2 pretty quickly, got my left leg out of the wetsuit, and was hit with severe vertigo. I opted to sit down and get my right leg out. Added my helmet and race number, grabbed my bike, and out to do some climbing. (total time elapsed in T1 - 0:01:59)
the first 2km of the bike were pretty damn bumpy, lost my splash guard for my profile drinking bottle (it was only a matter of time). Then the first climb starts, a bit windy, and fairly steep. I just kept spinning got to the top, and picked up the pace a bit. My legs felt a pretty flat until kilometer 40 or 45 (about 1/2 way point). After wich they started coming around, and i was able to make up some of the spots i'd dropped in the earlier portions of the bike. I spent the next 15km waiting to get to the hard climbs, that was were i was going to let things loose and see how the day was to be.
Things worked as planned, i was able to pass a grip of people over the 10km climbs, and used the last 20km to pick up the pace a bit more, and loosen my legs up for the pending run.
The last 2kms leading into T2 are downhill, so i tucked in and let it fly (gravity is a good thing). I stepped off the bike after 2:53:45 (slower than expected, but still acceptable).
T2 went pretty well, i quickly found my spot, racked my bike, removed my helmet, put on my shoes, and grabbed my gel for the run. The first 6.5 kms went well, averaging somewhere around 4:40min/km, but i had some stomach issues waiting to surface. around 7km, they reared their ugly little heads, and began eating into my pace. I've decided my stomach pretty much shut down and the walking started around 7.5kms, primarily uphill, i was still running downhills (after all, gravity is a great friend most of the time), and flats, but significantly slower. It was decided, this day was officially converted to a hard training day, i could push through and probably save 10 minutes or so, but i have 2 more races coming up in the next 4 weeks, so losses are cut, i will be back at the drawing board to figure out what went wrong.
around 13km i was able to find some semblance of a rhythmn, and clicked off close to 5km at a slightly faster pace, then came the shuffle, that lasted until km 19.5 ish, then it was the same downhill from the bike earlier. thank you gravity, the last 1.5-2km was likely my fastest for the day. i was relieved to be done, the heat and hydration issues proved to be a bit more than i was prepared for. I managed to take a sweet 1:54:07 out there enjoying the run course (likely 20 minutes slower than i should be able to pull on the same course once i nail the nutrition portion). once again, nothing to stand up and shout about, but something i'm ok with for now.
all said and done, i was out there for 5:25:53, about 25-30 minutes longer than anticipated, but reasonable. the race is in the books, not a bad showing, and i have a new area to focus on, getting my head into things and working on the nutrition.
lets see how i deal with the heat and humidity on May 20th in florida. that will be a good indicator of my ability to figure out nutrition and hydration.
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