Racing for Recovery Half Iron - Part 3

I was feeling pretty good starting the run. The brick workouts had paid off. My legs felt as normal as can be after riding 56 miles. I knew they would come around after the first mile. I could see Scott ahead of me. Looking at the results he had left transition 33 seconds ahead of me. I wasn’t sure if I would catch up to him or not. The first mile of the two loop course was in the open. After leaving the path that circled the reservoir the run course started to wind through the woods on asphalt. The majority of the run would be on this winding path. I quickly lost sight of Scott and was running very much alone. There was no way to see the aid stations before you reached them which made it difficult to use gels. I would come around a corner and there would be the table with water. I quickly forced down a Hammer Gel and grabbed some water, not the best way to get nutrition.

The second aid station was located at the beginning of an out and back section that was on a dirt path. My trail running paid off as I really liked this section. I could see the people ahead of me, especially when they turned around and headed back to the pavement. Prior to reaching the pavement and aid station I opened up another gel and put down some more energy. I followed that with water to drink and dump on my neck. The course continued to wind through the park. I completely lost sight of Scott and wouldn’t see him again until the finish line. I paid attention to my surroundings and made note of markers on the trail so I would know where I was during the second loop. All of the trails came together at the 5.5 mile mark and that is where Coach Angela, Aimee, Tina and Wesley were cheering us on. Everyone said I was looking strong. I was feeling comfortable with my pace. I was keeping my heart rate around 155 BPM. Angela wanted me around 150, no higher than 153, but I was fine at 155.

I wasn’t taking splits during the run so I don’t know my mile times. I was just moving forward to the finish line. I looped back out onto the course at the transition area and grabbed some more water. Roughly 6.5 miles to go and I would be done. I tried to push the pace and increased my heart rate to 160 BPM. I often find myself maintaining pace with the increased effort, simply making sure I don’t slow down too much. More people were on the run course now and I passed several people starting their first loop. Around mile 8 I head footsteps approaching from behind. I figured it was someone that felt really good on their first loop. In reality, two competitors I had seen during the two out and back sections had increased their pace and were passing me. I checked their calves and they were in the age group below mine, but only by 1 or 2 years. I tried to see if I could latch onto their pace but couldn’t muster the increase in speed. My legs were happy with the pace they were going. I was going to keep it steady until mile 10.

During this second loop I was able to prepare for the aid stations much better and consume the gels well ahead of time. I would alternate between water and Gatorade at the aid stations, often taking two waters so I could pour some on my head and neck to cool off. During the dirt out and back I saw many more competitors on their first lap, including Jen. She was looking strong on the run just like the bike. She was having a good day.

The turn around on the dirt path was near mile marker 10. This is where the race really begins for me. I readied myself for the final 3 miles and the increase in pace. I knew how I wanted to feel. I wanted to hurt during these last miles. I wanted to leave all of my training and preparation out on the course. I increased my pace so my watch was showing 164 BPM. Again, for all I know I was only maintaining pace to fend off slowing down. Angela and Aimee had left the run course and were waiting for me at the finish area.

As I approached the transition area I heard some people cheering. I could begin to feel the emotions of the day starting to rise to the surface. I only need to keep in under control for another 100 yards and my day would be done. Two volunteers were directing people towards their second lap of the run course. I was ready to finish and ran past the volunteers. I saw Aimee along the finishing chute taking pictures as I ran past. As I approached the finish line I finally saw a clock for the first time and it said 4:47. We started about 2 minutes behind the “elites” so I knew my time was around 4:45. I slowed down and I crossed the timing mat, raised my arms high and let out a loud emotional holler that I’m sure a lot of people heard. I had set my PR for the Half Iron distance triathlon by 27 minutes. The executive director of the race handed me my finisher’s medal. Two volunteers gave me a bottle of water and a cold towel to put on my neck. Angela and Scott were at the finishing area to hear me finish with a loud roar. Afterwards Angela said she loves to see me finish because I get so excited.

I gave Angela a big sweaty hug and had to walk around to start cooling down. Aimee made her way to the finish area and I was so glad to see her. I gave her a big hug and was finally able to release the emotions of the day. I wouldn’t let go of her for two minutes as the realization of what I had done started to sink in and forced the emotions out of my body. The time and effort of training really paid off. Seeing the results of the hard work is what gets me excited and emotional. Maybe I’m too serious about the training and that’s why the emotions come out at the end of the “A” race, but damn it feels good.

I talked with Scott about the race. We were pretty far ahead of the other AFT athletes so we could rest up and collect ourselves. Scott finished in 4:33. His effort really took a toll on his body. Angela and Scott left earlier than they wanted because he wasn’t feeling the greatest. Aimee and I stayed to watch more of our friends finish and pick up the age group awards for myself (2nd in AG/13th overall) and Scott (1st in AG/5th overall).

Run time: 1:39:36
Pace: 7:37/mile
Finish time: 4:45:34

That’s how it feels when Game is On.

Racing for Recovery Half Iron - Part 2

On the bike my race plan called for a conservative pace. In summary this is what Coach said.

1. HR Zone 135-145 for the first 30 miles
2. For the next 26 miles HR is below 150
3. Pick up the pace each lap
4. Race your race, zone in on yourself and what you want
5. It will be hard when people go by you, you will see them again and you will be passing them

Earlier in the week I told Angela that I was thinking about NOT wearing my HRM. She said that she could trust my “judgment” racing without the monitor. I decided by Thursday night that I would wear the monitor, but only use it for two readings; heart rate and countdown timer. The heart rate information will keep me from exploding in the middle of the race and the countdown timer would remind me to drink, take salt tablets and eat Clif Bloks. I would NOT start my watch or take splits during the race. I would go completely off the official chip times. Even the computer on my bike would only show RPM and distance. I didn’t want to get too hung up on time or speed.

So, this is what happened on the bike. After exiting transition Scott and I started passing people. I stayed behind Scott by 4-5 lengths. The opening miles of the bike course had multiple turns. There were volunteers at each corner and they did an excellent job controlling traffic. Some of the corners we worried about the night before were a non-issue on race day. Several of the corners I stayed in the aero-bars to maintain speed. Scott slowly started to pull away from me as we approached the intersection where the multi-loop portion of the course began. Scott trains with power so I knew his focus on the bike would be different. I was keeping a healthy pace and felt comfortable where I was heart rate wise.

I was drinking and eating well. At the start of the first loop I ate my first three Clif Bloks. I alternated between water and my Gatorade/Carbo-Pro mix as I saw fit. The bike course is pretty boring. Not much to see, very flat, not scenic at all. The bike aid station was positioned where the loops begin. Several miles before the aid station I peed on the bike. I saw this as an advantage because I would wash myself off with my water bottle and exchange it for a new one at the aid station.

As I approached the aid station I had to do a quick assessment of the intersection. There were cones in the middle of the road directing people to the left side of the road. All of the volunteers were on the opposite side of the road. This makes for an interesting left handed grab of the water bottles. I had emptied my aero bottle and refilled it with more Gatorade/Carbo-Pro. I dropped two bottles and picked up one water bottle from a volunteer. Now remember that this aid station is right AT the corner to start the loop portion of the course. I didn’t have time to place my bottle in the cage before I was into the intersection and needing to make a left hand turn. With the bottle still in my hand I managed to somewhat grab my handlebars with the fingertips and make the turn. I put the bottle in the cage and powered down the road getting back up to speed.

More people were on the course now and I lost sight of Scott up ahead. The traffic from the extra riders was not bad and I was able to pass people with no problems. Occasionally I needed to remind people to stay to the right. Despite the fact that we were on less traveled country roads, racers still need to ride on the right side of the road, not in the middle. I had to cross the center line several times in order to pass people. Approaching the aid station for the second time I peed on the bike again, washed myself off with water, dropped the water bottle and grabbed a new one from the volunteer. On this grab I slowed down enough to get the bottle in the cage before the turn, but I did drift into the intersection and had to turn sharply.

My condition up to this point was pretty good. Remember that Coach had planned for me to be 135 – 145 with the heart rate. Well for the first half of the ride, through lap two, I was maintaining 150 for my HR, or at least that is what I saw each time I looked at my watch and I tried to keep it there. I wasn’t spinning like I have in the past, but pushing bigger gears. I was using more muscle but still getting the heart rate up there.

I made the turn and started my final lap before heading back to transition. This last lap I upped the effort and pushed my heart rate up another 5 beats to 155 BPM. I was still comfortable with the effort and felt it would still leave me enough in the tank for the run. At some point during each loop I ate three Clif Bloks. The energy and calories were working out well with the Gatorade/Carbo-pro mix in the water bottles. During my final lap I finally passed someone I recognized, Jen. She was looking good, in the aero and I gave her some words of encouragement as I passed her. I peed one more time before the aid station. I couldn’t believe how I had to pee so much but I wanted to feel comfortable and not have any pressure in the bladder. As I approached the aid station I spotted a boy handing out water bottles on the right side of the street, which was great because this time I could turn right towards the venue and transition. I called for water and he was ready to hand it to me. I made the right hand turn and knew I only had 11 more miles to go on the bike.

During my last lap I had been passed by only one person. I could now see Scott and this other racer ahead of me on the road. They were not within striking distance but I still felt strong and it was nice to have some “targets” to go after. I tried to push the pace a little more but the inner thigh of my right leg began to cramp. I immediately eased up and slide further back on my saddle. Using different muscles being further back on the saddle helped release the spasm. I was worried that the muscle would bother me during the run, but that never happened.

Weaving our way back through the country roads, the volunteers at the corners were doing an excellent job with traffic and I was flying through the corners keeping up my speed and momentum. I think I peed one more time before re-entering the park. Inside the park I could see some of the leaders on the run course. As I approached the parking lot, I un-strapped the Velcro of my shoes. On the final straight into transition I pulled my feet out of my shoes and placed them on top of the shoes. I decreased my speed and swung my right leg over the saddle getting ready to dismount before the transition line. I ran into transition and re-racked my bike, helmet off, shoes on, grab hat and race belt, exit transition. I grabbed water from a volunteer as I started my run.

Bike
Time 2:29:11
Speed 22.5 MPH

T2
29 seconds – fastest T2 split overall

Racing for Recovery Half Iron - Part 1

The “A” race. The one race that a person trains towards for months, focuses on for weeks, peaks for in days and races for hours in order to shave off minutes at the finish. The Racing for Recovery Half Iron Distance Triathlon was my “A” race for the 2007 spring/summer season. With Ironman USA as my 2006 focus I did races with hills, including the Mountaineer Half Iron. Even my first Half Iron in 2004 was on a hilly course, both bike and run. I felt it was time to race on a flatter course and push myself to some painful limits. Both of my prior Half’s involved finishes around 5 hours 12 minutes. I wanted to go under 5 hours.

Aimee and I drove up to Monroe, Michigan Saturday afternoon. We went directly to the race site for packet pickup and to scope out the venue. I had registered early for the race so I received a special jersey instead of a t-shirt. We walked along the beach to figure out the swim course in Lake Erie. The temperature in the water would be warm enough for my sleeveless wetsuit. I liked how the swim was put together because you don’t have to get out for a second loop, I prefer to stay in the water the entire time. From the beach we walked the chute to the transition area and scoped out where the bikes would be racked. Getting a good view of the entire venue was important so that you can just flow through on race day.

Coach Angela had several of her athletes racing, including her husband Scott. The AFT racing crew included Kyle, Doug and Trephina (1st Half before first Ironmans), Jennifer and Chris (2nd Half in prep for their first Ironman at Lake Placid), Bob and Scott (training for Ironman’s later in the year), Debbie (in training for an Ironman Double) and myself (doing the half as my A race). We were able to see everyone at the race site or hotel, chat some and wish each other luck. Most of us headed out to dinner together. Joining us for dinner was our good friend Tina. Tina inspired me to raise funds last year for Susan G. Komen. Tina would help Angela watch over her two year old son for the day as well as cheer for everyone.

For dinner I had a good Louisiana Cajun Style pasta with chicken. I can handle spicy food well and this meal wasn’t that spicy. When we returned to the hotel I need to use the bathroom real bad. I had a big lunch and finished my big plate at dinner without using the bathroom during the day. Possibly a mistake because my stomach was not happy and let’s just say things were loose and my insides were bubbling, not a good feeling.

Scott and I had some tune-up work to perform on our bikes. I noticed a small cut in my rear tire so I wanted to replace it with new rubber. Scott had to do some general maintenance. When we were done, Aimee, Scott and I drove the bike course. The beginning of the course had a lot of turns to deal with. Seeing the corners and any debris on the road was helpful. There were enough rough sections to be worried about. Some parts would force you to ride in the middle of the road. We were hoping that traffic would be light for a Sunday morning. Overall the bike course would indeed be very flat.

After our ride through the countryside we retired back to our hotel rooms. Aimee walked over to Wendy’s for a Frosty. We both needed something sweet and I was hoping the ice cream would settle my stomach. Lights out for the night was around 9:30PM. I needed a good nights rest since Friday night I didn’t sleep well for some reason or another.

Sunday morning started at 4:50AM when the alarm went off. I got up, put on some clothes and went for a walk around the hotel parking lot. I wanted to wake up and pull my mental state together. I made it back to the room and began the purging process that started after dinner the night before. This wasn’t a normal purge for me. Things were looser than normal. I grabbed a banana from the hotel breakfast bar to try and pull my stomach together. Aimee and I finished putting our gear together and packed the car for the day. No late check-out so we would not be coming back to the hotel.

Arriving at the venue around 6:00AM we immediately put my bike in transition. I was the second bike on the rack, so I had to pick my second favorite transition spot. My stomach was still bubbling so I ate two Tums. I think it may have helped but my last stop in the bathroom was nothing but water. Now I was worried that I would have GI issues during the race and would be spending my time squatting on the side of the road loosing water and nutrition all day.

About 45 minutes before the race I started to focus my thoughts and energy inward. Mentally I needed to be ready for the race. No more socializing, I was here to race. I needed to be in the right frame of mind.

I put together my transition area with my nutrition for the day and gear. I then did a detailed run through of transition. I started about 20 yards away from the transition entrance where we would be running on some rough ground. I weaved my way through the crowds to my bike and simulated putting on my gear. Walked out of transition and mentally hopped on my bike. I then turned around and “dismounted” my bike and re-entered transition and “re-racked” my bike. A virtual change in gear and I walked back out of transition to start the run. Aimee had also tied a blue bandana at the end of the rack so I could spot my row easily.

I was transition ready. I grabbed my wetsuit and started walking with Aimee towards the beach start. I put on my wetsuit before the beach and walked with Aimee holding her hand. I am so fortunate to have such a supportive wife that understands my competitive nature. I got in the water and did some warm-up swimming. The water felt great and the sleeveless wetsuit was a perfect choice. I did some hard strokes and adjusted my goggles so they would be water tight. The race director gave a course overview, the executive director of Racing for Recovery spoke, a moment of prayer and we started the race.

A small number of “elite” racers started first. Then 114 men entered the starting chute for a mass beach start. I positioned myself in the second row like Coach Angela told me and we were off. The water was shallow for a long time, but as soon as it was deep enough I got in the water and started swimming even though there were others still walking. I tried to get into a good rhythm early on. I was stroking on the right side breathing every stroke for quite a ways. I would occasionally switch to the left side and only breathe on that side. I did this for about 400-500 yards. I finally changed my breathing to what I call race breathing, three breathes/strokes on one side, three count stroke, change to breathing on the other side. I was also making sure I was sighting often and well. This race was probably my best sighting during the swim.

The swim course headed straight out from the beach for 500 meters, came straight back to the beach for 400 meters, then was parallel for the remainder before angling back towards to swim exit. The starting point and exit point were about 800 meters apart. After we turned to swim parallel to the beach I settled into an alternate breathing pattern. I was still swimming and sighting well. However, I couldn’t find any feet to draft off of. The brown water made it difficult to spot anything under water and no one was very close when I spotted markers. I was fine swimming on my own; this is an individual sport you know.

As I headed back to the swim exit I tried to increase my effort on the swim to finish strong. I’ve always been a firm believer to swim as far as you can. I touched sand and kept swimming. I could see people standing up and walking in the water. I don’t know if I gained on them but I swam until I was only 10 yards from the beach. I didn’t have very far to run in the water. I immediately started to peel off my wetsuit. As we ran through the flags I saw a person with an EH jersey on. EH is Eric Hodska. He coaches Angela’s husband Scott. Scott and I exited the water together. I ran past him, heard Angela yelling and saw Aimee ahead taking pictures.

Swim time: 34:21

I peeled off my wetsuit and put on the rest of my bike gear. Socks and shoes, sunglasses and helmet, grab bike and go. Scott and I exited transition together but I ran past him so I could jump on my bike. I hit the saddle of my bike and almost took a dive as the bike started to wobble under me. Somehow I kept it together and kept moving forward. I thought I heard someone call my name as I pedaled away. I heard my name a second time and something about a bottle. Scott was yelling at me. I had hit one of my bottles behind the seat and it was hanging on for dear life. I put the bottle back in its place and continued on. I thanked Scott as he passed me.

T1 time 1:59

More to come as I get my Game On.