Anyways, everyone was kicking off around 1:15am, and the idea of getting White Castle was introduced to the group. It did indeed seem like a good idea. 15 minutes later, I'm driving home with 4 sliders and a sack of deepfried onion peely things. To stem your fear, I was perfectly fine to drive--I seem to be pretty good at taking alcohol in moderation when I have to get myself home....but I was hungry.
I got home and wolfed down the food, and finally hit the deck at around 2:45am.
Around 5:30am on Friday my first alarm clock went off, and I decided that I wanted to die. My stomach distended with undigested disgustingness on top of a headache and sleep deprivation is not my idea of a livable condition.
I walked to the bathroom and puked.
Then I took an extra half hour getting ready for work. The day was horrendous. I only wanted it to end, and I had like 30 things to do after work--I got home finally around 7pm & had time for a half hour nap. Fortunately, the last thing was to enjoy a traditional pre-race meal of bruschetta, since I was racing the Liberty Half Iron Triathlon the next morning.
I made it to bed at 10:30p, and was at Baker park by 6:30am.
-----------------------------------
The Race
Swim. 31:41 I found another swimmer to draft off early, and although he tried to shake me a couple times, I held for a good 2/3 of the swim course--and was able to avoid some amount of zigzagging.
T1 1:56. A little below par for the course, but I decided due to the short runout to a tight turn & big hill that I would just put my shoes on in transition rather than have to put my shoes on while on the bike.
Bike: 21.3mph avg.
I'd ridden the course a couple times, and went out knowing that I had to take the bike leg with some amount of ease--I haven't had a computer on my bike since my Garmin decided to play in traffic, and just relied on my gut and my HRM. The course was challenging and last 6 miles would be painful, and I needed to run 13 miles afterwards. The road out to Hamel gave a slight tailwind, so I gave a solid effort when I had the wind advantage.
My CX & MTB'er readers would have gotten a fuzzy warm feeling to see how I handled the loose gravel road construction at the turn to Hunter. I figured it would be finished by raceday, but it was worse! Anways, I rode through on both laps barely dusting the brakes and dodged all the Zipp-clad folks precariously rolling through at 4mph. Ha! I never knew my rock garden skillz would help in a tri....
I dropped my chain on a steep hill--user error :oops: . I lost about 30 seconds for a foolishly timed shift. Yes -- Even DA isn't idiot-proof.
By the second lap, my back was pretty sore--not enough time on my TT bike apparently. I'll also be using different Tri shorts for anything longer than an olympic. The chamois on the team LG shorts has no utility...It doesn't provide any padding...something my clydesdale-calibur heinie desperately needs.
T2: 1:31 Not bad considering I forgot to put out my salt tabs, and I had to dig through my bag to get them.
Run: 8:27/mile, 1:50.35 I was passed by about 5 people in the first mile of the run -- my legs didn't want to do anything more than a half-assed scamper. But once I got the gummy out of my legs, I picked a pace and held it. I used all the aid stations, but I only completely stopped at a couple to slam down 3-4 cups of HEED & water in rapid succession. I tried a coke at the last aid station -- banking on a boost of caffiene, but it just made me nauseous. I crossed under CR19 and up the last incline, and I didn't break stride--one little goal I had for the run.
Over the run leg, I was passed by tons of runners, but I did reel a few back, and in the last mile, I was passed. I heard another guy coming in behind me, and ran down the wildly steep woodchip trail in pursuit of the guy who had passed me. When I saw the finishline, I gave a 100% effort and passed him in the chute, and held off my pursuer.
Finish: 5:03:40
Overall 46/255
Agegroup 6/17
Perspective: In my 25-29 agegroup, there were 17 competitors. Next year, I'll move up to the 30-34AG which had 37 competitors. The 35-39AG had 46.
I'm surprised by how well the race went for me. Despite yammering to everyone about how I haven't been meeting my training volumes, prolific wine and martini consumption & late nights out with my super-awesome girlfriend, I handily knocked down my season goal time (5:10) for a half ironman distance race. This is a vast improvement over my Pigman Half last year (5:27)
No comments:
Post a Comment