to keep me a bit honest for the day, i did one good hard, short session on friday. consisting of 4 repeats of 15 minutes on the bike and 1 mile on the treadmill.
race morning started out very slowly. up around 4:30 to catch the shuttle over to the swim start. Got to the start, it was fairly nice weather, a bit windy, but not as cold as it's been in the past.
the full went off at 6:30 am sharp. i sat there and watched them go thinking i should be doing that, and remember i'm saving the long day for ironman arizona in 2 weeks. the 1/2 was scheduled to start at 8am. at 7:00 ish, the wind kicked up something vicious and the lake got incredibly choppy.
around 7:30 it began to rain and they announced the half start would be postponed. i was a bit upset, when the swimmers started coming in from the full, i was thinking i should be getting on my bike now and off riding instead of waiting to get in some windblown lake. then there was lightening, the kayakers were having trouble keeping track of themselves let alone the swimmers. 8:30 roles around, no word yet. finally they determine once the winds die down a bit we'll head out.
at 9 am we are finally in the water and swimming. i decided today was the day to have a decent swim, some redemption from soma. so i went out pretty strong, found a pair of feet, and latched on. after several hundred meters i saw a new pair of feet ahead, and decided to try and bridge the gap. that didn't turn out so well, i went for it, but used a lot of energy, and wound up picking up a pair of feet off to my left instead.
i hung on that pair of feet to the first turn buoy (roughly 1000 yards). then had my goggles 1/2 knocked off and had to adjust them. another surge brought me back onto the feet i had fallen off. i was there and pretty comfortable through the next several hundred yards and the final turn in towards shore. i switched off 2 or 3 pairs of feet on the way in, and came out of the water a bit tired, but feeling good. we'll see what the swim split turns out to be: 35:50 slightly better than my previous effort, 46th fastest on the day (obviously more focus will be put into this over the next 2 weeks.
onto the bike, and i'm thinking this is cold, i'm shivering slightly. better get some calories and start working. i got on the bike and hit it pretty hard from the outset to generate some warmth.
the wind was pretty ferocious in spots, and some spotty sprinkling was to be had as well. i was quickly catching and passing people, thinking make it stick: meaning if i passed someone i had to hold them off through the end of the bike, namely if i went by i had to do it strongly and not look back. this worked for me.
about 6 miles in, i came across Elizabeth Daubner, i slowed a bit to exchange greetings, and she shooed me on: 'don't slow down for me, go'. so off i went. to continue working my way up through the pack. at 11 miles i was feeling good, taking in nutrition and pills well, feeling pretty solid, and putting some good honest hurt into my legs, and more importantly some time into my fellow competitors.
the wind was doing it's best to blow me around, i was enjoying the ride too much to be terribly concerned. i just kept picking people off in the distance and watching them get closer and then passing them. at mile 20, i saw the lead pack coming back from the turn around (chris mccormack) and 2 or 3 other cyclist. they were at mile 25. i was pretty pleased with my positioning, and continued working on the bike.
around mile 35, some guy came by me pretty handily, i'm pretty sure he was a relay based on the days final outcome. the next 21 miles proved to be pretty brutal, a headwind that had me in my small chainring on some slight downhills, and using my smallest gear for the slight uphills. i picked up several more spots on the bike path, and the last 12 miles were a just as much of a bear, with me pulling in 3 or 4 more people. total time on the bike: 2:49:55, 4th fastest bike split on the day.
now the fun begins, the run course which has brutalized me the past 3 years, though this year i had an ace in the hole, i was only doing one loop, and had half the mileage leading up to it. the volunteer in the tent informed me there were 4 people ahead of me on the course. so i set out with a little fire burning.
about 1.5 miles in, some guy came blazing past me (found out after the finish he was a relay). i knew i wasn't holding his pace, so i watched him go. shortly after mile 2 i had my first carrot, i could see about 1 minute ahead was the next runner, so i kicked it up a bit, and started closing the gap. it took almost 2 miles, but i had the same rules as on the bike, all passes are final.
then the real climbing began, 2 miles up, a slight down, then back tracking. my pace slowed to a near shuffle, but i was still making up time, keeping nutrition coming every 2 or 3 miles and drinking every 1 - 2 miles. things were going well. up to the turn around, and i could see a relay runner coming up on me, if i can just hold him until mile 11, i'll be good.
i had a lemon hammer gel or something like that, and that twisted my stomach pretty good, no more lemon hammer gels. then at mile 9.5 things started to slow. i needed more nutrtition, grabbed some gel and water, ate a bit drank a bit, and told myself, it's a 5k, let it go, run strong.
miles 11 and 12 were tough, then a slight uphill. at the top, i picked the pace up and ran strong down through the finish. 3rd place, 5:03:14. if i would have found 2 minutes, i'd have been in 2nd place. if i had any dreams of catching chris mccormack and taking first, i would have had to go under 4:29:??. 34 minutes behind one of the fastest long course triathletes, i'm willing to be here for a bit. even if he didn't go all out, and he is not in peak condition. total run: 1:34:36 - 6th fastest on the day.
todays effort and results give me a bit of a confidence bolster for arizona. i understand a 1/2 is far different than a full, i also understand i am willing to go into a world of hurt to put myself up there in the standings and see what's inside. because when the day's over, it's what's inside that mattes, not what's in front, what's behind, to the left or the right. and i am finding out i've got a lot inside.
photos: http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=32538&BIB=554&LNSEARCH=1
results: http://www.silvermannv.com/downloads/08_RESULTS/SILVER08A-overall-half.TXT
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