Ironman Couer d'Alene Bike Setup

I have been working on pretty much have the sweetest bike set-up imaginable for Ironman and was stoked to do a little dry run today at Ironman Couer d'Alene.  An injury kept me from training during the crucial final weeks before the race, so I did the swim, bike, and 12 miles of the run, then called it a day.

Hydration - Torhans Performance Hydration Aero30 (oz.) bottle fixed to the aerobar - no need to get out of the aerobars to drink!  Another nice feature is the reverse facing bottle cage on my descending stem.  When you get the smaller width bottles from the aid stations, it actually stays in place!  Figured that one out during a tinkering session at Woodinville Bicycle.

Nutrition - Did 2 double strength bottles of Generation UCAN on the bike (in addition to some solids and a few standard gels), and a held a flask of UCAN on the run.  I took advantage of Special Needs to transport all the UCAN I needed.

Bike - Specialized Shiv, size M (courtesy Woodinville Bike).  Not only super aero, but rock solid handling in corners and crosswinds.

Wheels - Hed 3 Front (courtesy Woodinville Bike) , Zipp Sub-9 Rear, 11-23 casette.

Upgrades - ISM Saddles Prologue Saddle; Quarg Elsa powermeter with 55/44 Rotor Q-rings; SRAM Red Derraileurs.

Other Features - Pitstop fix-a-flat in old minipump bracket.  No need to use an entire roll of electrical tape affixing all my extras this time!

And not to mention one out of shape rider (me)!

Next time I would like to cover how to use a control sheet to record your bikes measurements and geometry.  This is essential to maintaining your EXACT fit  when swapping parts in or out or when changing to a different bike.

Long Course Duathlon Nationals

Hey all!  I finally picked up a win at USAT Long Course Duathlon Nationals in Enumclaw, hosted by BUDU Racing.  More than just a race, it was the first real test after several months of difficult base training.

I've done this course several times before, and even though its been over a decade, I was reminded of the past and didn't want to make the same mistake twice.  I used to race the Mud Mountain loop as a teenager when I was road racing, and I also raced the Mount Rainer Duathlon when I was 17.  At times the weather has been unforgiving.  I remember as a 14 year old, I was doing the road race as part of the Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race and had to drop out due to hypothermia.  There is one big (600 foot) climb on the 14.4 mile road loop; my dad was cheering for me about half way through the climb and I remember I just pulled off and got into the van, so cold I could hardly speak.  Another time I placed 3rd on the G.C. (in the Cat 3 division) as a 16 year-old after climbing well on Mud Mountain, and that was a big result for me.

Mud Mountain Dam

Clothing choice was going to be important and this time I got it right, but just barely.  It was warmer and partly cloudy down at the race start and where the runs occured, but cold and rainy on top of the mountain.    This time the course would be a 5.8 mile run down in the valley, two of the 14.4 mile loops for the ride, and a final 3.8 mile run for the long course competitors.  Several athletes had to stop, put on rain jackets, or had to slow down and lost time due to the conditions rain and cold on the bike course.  For me, a long sleeve base layer and liner gloves seemed to do the trick, and all I  had to do was focus on my effort.  The optics were exceptional in my Rudy Project Rydon sunglasses even with the rain; big improvement over my last pair.

Rusty Pruden and several other athletes had me against the ropes during the first run, and I didn't catch the leaders until 20 or so minutes into the first run.  I had a small lead going into the first transition and never relinquished 1st position.  This was my first race using a power meter, so I just "set it and forget it" at about 300 watts, which was really nice considering the windy, rainy, and hilly nature of the course.  Getting off the bike and into T2, I realized my feet were totally frozen!  I was wearing a really light (4oz) and low profile flat courtesy of Run 26, which combined with the frozen feet, made my calves feel like they were going to split in two!  I let off on the last run a little bit, but still felt good about the effort.

Are you interested in stats?  I am these days as I am gathering data from these early season races.

1st run - My heart rate averaged 172 for the first run (28:15); I estimate this is about my lactate threshold right now, and equated to about a 5:15 mile pace (this depends on who you trust - my footpod was off and on the fast side while the mile markers were long and on the slow side, so I am splitting the difference).  Mile Splits were very even throughout the first run.

Bike - Averaged 160 bpm and 274 watts.  As stated, I was shooting for 300 watts, but your average is always lower given short periods of time to slow down for downhills, corners, food, drink, etc.  On the climbs I averaged more like 330 W for a 1.8 mile, 8 min, 500 foot climb.

Nutrition - I consumed 400 calories including 1 serving of Generation UCAN (110 calories), 3 energy gels (100 calories each) and 40 oz. of water on the bike.  This is pretty close to the gold standard of 65 grams of carbohydrate per hour of exercise (which would have been 520 calories for a 2 hour race).  I am actually surprised I consumed this much.  My carb intake while exercising has gone way down due to a combination of aerobic training and the UCAN superstarch, which helps you burn fat while training/racing by keeping insulin levels stable.  At Las Vegas just 2 weeks ago I consumed only 300 calories for a 2hr 50 minute race!

2nd Run  - Started at 160 BPM and gradually built to 170 bpm by the end.  Didn't capture pace data as I switched to a different shoe.

USAT Winter Nationals Heart Rate Data

This is how you race at alititude for 70 minutes.  Don't go out too hard or you will blow up, then peg it at just under your lactate threshold.  Your ceiling heart rate is much lower than at sea level.  For example, I felt close to maxed out on portions of the run, but my heart rate would only be 165.  My lactate threshold at sea level is probably in the 171-175 region.

USAT Winter Nationals Heart Rate Data

Two Wheel Drift

USAT Winter Nationals

The USAT Winter Triathlon Nationals is a not-too-often compilation of three sports: running, mountain-biking (in the snow no less), and cross-country skate skiing.  You would be lucky to find one of these events in your state per year.  I tried my luck in the 2009 Nationals event in Bend, OR, and got rocked by various mountain-biking and cross-country skiing superstars, so I figured, “Hey, why not relive the pain all over again?!”

The venue was Homestake Lodge, a beautiful cross-country resort just outside of Butte, MT.  It was a long drive from Seattle – about 10 hrs.  My dad played race manager and I insisted we take his Ford Explorer (now dubbed “The Exploder” because of its various mechanical problems).  On the way, the alternator gave up the ghost.  Just regular maintenance this time but still suck-worthy to break down on your way to a race.  We were very fortunate though, rolling right into Ritzville, WA (the only town for miles) and straight into the NAPA autoparts store right before the battery was totally drained.  They had the alternator in stock, and a mechanic 3 blocks down had it installed for us in just about an hour.  There certainly could not have been a better place to break down!  You may call it coincidence; I call it God’s Providence (providence is how God executes His sovereign plan through the ordinary affairs of humans and nature).  Anyhow, we were back on the road in no time!

Fast forward to the race.  It had snowed the night before, which made the snow much softer and looser than in my trial runs the day before.  My run went well; I let others go out too hard and gradually reeled them back in as is my usual tactic.  I tried to get my feet off the ground as quickly as possible so as not to sink into the snow too much, which was pretty efficient.  I gradually bit into Chris Ganter’s lead, and caught him as we entered T1.  Chris and I headed out onto the bike and were talking to each other that we should try to hold off the uber-mountain-bikers for as long as possible.  It was quite loose and slippery on the new snow, and Chris and I had to get off and run on many of the uphill sections, sections that I easily rode the day before.  Mountain-Biking phenom Landon Beckner was somehow getting traction and breezed by us easily.  I fared the worst and lost about 2 minute to Landon and 1 minute to Chris over the entire bike course.  It’s very difficult to ride in the snow, you know.  Definitely lots of controlled drifting in the corners.

You head up a couple switchbacks going into T2, and I looked back to see if anyone was coming up behind me.  I thought I was in the clear, but took one last glance and caught Adam Wirth in the corner of my eye, maybe 45 sec-1min back.  Knowing that Adam is no slouch on skate skis, I new I had my work cut out for me to maintain 3^rd place.

Somehow I caught Ganter in transition and ripped by him and into second place as the ski began.  I stayed in the pain cave the entire time, knowing Chris, Adam, and a slew of other good athletes (such as Matt Seeley) would be right behind me.  The 6000 feet of elevation made the skiing extremely tough, especially on a hilly, twisty, and sometimes technical course.  Somehow I held off Adam and the rest of the lot, finishing in 1:07:38.  Landon put another 3 min into me for the win!  Ouch.

The Way She Goes

Ironman Canada – August 26

Canada was supposed to be my “A” race for the season.  Hah!  It’s funny how things work out when you don’t expect them (St. George) and don’t work out when you plan for them to (Canada).  My nutrition definitely did not work out for the first time this season.  My blood sugar felt like it was all over the map.  A couple days after the race, I was sick.  Maybe that had something to do with it.  Or maybe I just went out too hard on the bike.  I caught Matt Russell early on during the bike, which might signal that I was pressing the early flat section to Osoyoos too hard.  Following that, I battled weird blood sugar from mile 56 to 112, and even into the marathon, and watched the race gradually slip away.  I was unsure if I would even be able to finish the marathon as a foot injury showed up just days before the event.  Passing by the house I was staying at (mile 5) during the marathon was the hardest part.  I felt so weak and would have loved to just stop and eat a burger right then and there!  My foot hurt with every step.  Fortunately, Nathan Killam caught me soon after and we ran together from mile 2 to 18 which substantially killed the pain.  As we were approaching the turnaround, we heard that several athletes were walking, and also saw some of our competition was in distress as they headed the other direction.  That kept us encouraged and I think I ran the fastest last 10k of an Ironman that I have ever.  I was totally surprised to run into a good placing after bumbling through most of the 2^nd half of the race.  I guess this experience further underscores the most important Ironman principle: just keep going!

There are many positives to note here, even though it was a “B” quality race on my part.  I still came in with a 6^th place, had an Ironman PR of 9:09, took home a little cash, and enjoyed an amazing time in Penticton.  I think this course deserves a little more respect, which I will certainly show it if I return next year for Challenge Canada, as the race will continue but under the race organization Family Challenge instead of Ironman.

More concerned with finding a relevant bathroom than posing!

Race support...wait, what does that say?!

I was about to cry the first time up this hill

The second time I was out for blood!

Booya!

Frisky in Leadman – Sep 22nd

Leadman is an odd distance – 5km swim, 137 mile bike, finishing with a half-marathon.  I really liked the low-key nature of this event, even while it had some quality competition.  The location is amazingly beautiful, probably the best triathlon scenery I have experienced so far; the alpine lake is super clear, the bike has very low traffic, good roads, and mountain views.  

Woodinville Bicycle helped me get some last minute equipment taken care of (they have bailed me out more times than I can count!), and I was on my way to Bend, conveniently camping at the race venue, Cultus Lake.

This could have been my best race of the season.  I went 1:02 for the supposed 5km swim (obviously short), 6:05 for the 137 mile bike, which included 2 times up Mount Bachelor, and 1:25 for the very difficult Half-Marathon (did I mention it was after a 137 mile ride?).  I hit the fastest run split of the day, outpacing Rappstar by 1:15 and the rest of the pro field by 5-6 minutes.  Trying to chase down Karl Bordine in 5^th gave me some extra motivation! I think I blasted a 5 minute mile at the end to catch Oli Piggin at the 12.9 mile mark, but was still 2 minutes off of the last "money spot" in the end.  Overall a very consistent day for 6^th overall!  I was really encouraged to see my bike split up with some really good cyclists; consistency was the key as I paced myself very evenly.

Having a good ride - on my 2nd time up Mount Bachelor

with Matt Russell

Thomas Gerlach coming home in 3rd

Much faster overall time than I expected!

The Rappstar himself

Pain in the Poconos – September 29

Following Leadman, I knew I had one more good race in the tank of the season.  At the same time, I really didn’t want to extend my season until November like last year!  A door opened up for me to do 70.3 Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania and I took it.  Besides, at the end of the season it is a good time to take a couple risks and see how your body reacts.

Once in PA, I thought maybe I had been a little overoptimistic.  Friday morning my heart rate was around 60, up from the usual 42.  Obviously, I had not recovered from Leadman!  Ooops!

Still, I managed a PR (4:08:40) and a top-ten placing.  The swim went really well, 26:00 for 1.2 miles, which was theoretically a 2.5 minute swim PR, but probably was short.  I was passing people the entire time, jumping up from one group to the next.  The bike was net downhill which contributed to the fast average speeds.  I rode consistently but lacked the fire and tenacity that I have when riding fresh, which showed on the bumpy and hilly sections approaching Stroudsburg.  The run really showed the lack of recovery; the course was a lot harder than I expected and I couldn't push myself very hard.  I think I felt good for about 10 minutes during the bike and 5 minutes during the run; kind of like how you feel the day after a long bike-run combo.  Still, I was happy to close out the season with a PR, especially with only 1 week recovery following Leadman (which was an 8.5 hour race).  Perhaps more importantly, this race had me thinking differently about 2013 as I was in striking distance of the lead group on the bike.  Is it possible that if I work on my swim over the winter that I will be in the lead pack in 2013?  

The best part of this race was getting to hang with my friends from the Great White North, namely the Ottawa crew (Ryan Cain, Ryan Grant, and Jamie Stephenson) and Tennille Hoogland.  Hoogland had a decisive victory in the women’s race –  I am so proud of her improvement this year!

As an added bonus, I scored some much needed KPR points for next year.  But, did I get 10^th or 9^th?  I will let you decide that.  I was passed by a guy during the latter portion of the run who didn’t serve a time penalty, but I did not see that he got Dq’d for that.

What a Cluster

We did it!  A phrase Andrew Fast and I coined has finally become the name of a nation-wide flavor of ice cream.  I knew it was only a matter of time with the vast quantities of ice cream I consume!  “What a Cluster” is not only delicious, but accurately describes my racing exploits and those of my friend and training partner Andrew “the water buffalo” Fast.

So, who in their right mind would cluster 3 Half-Ironmans within 1 month of each other?  Well, crazy people like Matt Russell or ThomasGerlach certainly would, but for a conservative racer like myself, it was a big jump from the normal race spacing (usually 1x/month).

WA State 40k Champs  

And a "cluster" it was.  The preview was the WA State 40k TT champs in Tenino, WA on June 2, which was going to be my warm-up for the Boise 70.3.  I was on pace for an excellent ride, probably 56-57 minutes.  Unfortunately, I flatted out about at the halfway point - another "phantom" flat caused by a leaky valve core.  Not wanting to be denied, I went back out on the course bandit style (after getting the flat repaired) and clocked a 59 minute 40k on tired legs and with my training wheel on the rear.  Not too shabby.

Boise 70.3 – June 9

High hopes for the Boise 70.3; unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate.  With sub 50 degree air temperature, rain, and wind, coupled with 57 degree water temperature, many athletes were left standing (rather, shivering) with hypothermia...or they merely dropped out before that point.  The bike course was shortened from 56 miles to 12 miles, with the concern of hypothermia looming over the organizers heads with the low temperatures and strong winds.  Several pros were smart and simply raced the shortened bike into town with their wetsuits on!  That was the right move.  I was frigid coming out of the water, and was getting even worse coming down from Lucky Peak.  Once the legs thawed out (about 2 miles into the run), I was able to throw down a high 1:12 Half-Marathon, which was encouraging.  Too bad it was for 19th place!

If I've learned one thing from pro-marathoner Mike Sayenko (aside from how to do a proper Borat impression), it's that when you're hot, you race.   I knew I was in good shape, but had failed in the last two attempts to show it.  Fortunately, I had already created a back up plan. 

Tremblant 70.3 – June 24

Ironman was hosting an inaugural Half-Ironman in Mount-Tremblant, Quebec, which I thought might suit my capabilities.  I had scheduled a flight to the race, knowing that if something didn’t go right at Boise, I would have another option to show my fitness.  This is where Southwest is really the greatest and the worst option in the world for the indecisive.  You can cancel a flight at any time before the flight, and have your airfare fully applied to the next flight of your choosing.  I was fretting over whether to go to Tremblant, but finally decided not to let the opportunity slip by.

In Quebec I had the opportunity to stay with Romaine Guillard out in Tremblant, was we were both hosted by skiing and outdoor fanatic Bob Gilmour who generously invited three people to stay with him.  Romaine is quite the character and “astetitician,” as I call him.  That is, he really knows how to have his equipment working well but also looking good.  Secret tip:  “Hide your Vittoria Pitstop under your front bottle cage.  It looks better in pictures that way,” says Romaine.

I think my fitness increased in the swim and the bike off of the fitness from Boise, I swam a PR of 28:30 for the 1.2 miles, and rode a 2:19 (24.0 mph avg) for the 56 mile course, which had some nasty, spikey climbs thrown in.  I thought for sure I could run myself into 3^rd place on the run given my position on the bike, but folded big-time at during the last half, clearly not recovered from the effort at Boise.  I think I clocked 1:20 or 1:21, which was still good for 5^th.

July 8 – Rev 3 Portland

Rev 3 was the biggest confidence builder of the 3 races.  I spent a few days before the race in John Day, Oregon, getting in some altitude training with my younger brother Patrick.  Eastern Oregon is super sweet for training, I don’t even know where to start.  I guess I’ll have to table that conversation for another time.

Things went off the rails a bit on our way from John Day to Portland.  We drove down to Portland, and, according to my custom, I previewed the bike course 2 days out, getting in about 45 miles.  Afterwards, and I still don’t know exactly why (dehydration?), I got incredibly sick and puked my guts out several times.  The whole ordeal lasted until about midnight, and I wondered if I would even be okay to race on Sunday.

Race Day.  I was hoping for a wetsuit legal swim, but it was not to be.  I came out and the clock read 36 minutes and I thought, “this is gonna be one LONG day.”  But, I unleased a super solid bike-run combo, averaged 23.7 on a ridiculously hilly bike course, and unleased a 1:16 half in hot (90 degrees-ish) conditions, and managed to pull myself up to 12^th.

If you take the bike-run splits only, I was 6^th.  That built my confidence based on who I was up against – Cunningham,  Thomas,  Rapp, etc.  I think I lost some of the feel for the water with my lack of swimming while in John Day, but aerobically I was obviously super fit.  Still, following Rev 3 I really needed a mental break and then planned to rebuild for Ironman Canada. 

Now I can’t adequately tell the story of these several clusters without mentioning Andrew’s exploits, as he was busy with a cluster of his own.  Andrew was ready to pop a good one, but flatted out of the Victoria Half-Iron with a nasty sidewall gash on the rear tire.  He also had a flat the day before on the front, but frantically found a replacement before race day.  Bad luck with tires lately!  I did hear tale that Andrew was able to stay with Andy Pott’s parents out in Victoria, which was quite the experience.

Andrew really had a tough time getting back up mentally, but managed to pull himself together for the Vancouver Half 2 weeks later.  Delivering an incredibly even race, he threw down a 4:22 for 7^th (or 8^th, I’m too lazy to check) overall.  The 4:22 was about a ½ hour personal record, I believe.  2 weeks following, Andrew “rode angry” on the bike course at the ChelanMan Olympic, and won with an impressive 2:03 overall time.

It was a one big cluster, that’s for sure; filled with mishaps, mechanicals, and misadventure.

St. George and the Strangest Race

I call this race the strangest race because I always considered myself down, out, and nearly dead for the majority of the race.  Only in maybe the last half of the marathon did I think anything good would come of this endeavor. It was just so funky, windy, treacherous, hot, scary, and crazy, that it was easy to get negative.  I don’t think anyone that raced really felt good or in control for the vast majority of the race.

Apparently M-Dot has decided to change this race to a Half-Ironman next year.  Given that it is considered too difficult and too early in the season (for a full distance race), that the attendance has suffered over the last couple years.  Well, I think the 2012 edition really put the nail in the coffin on that one!  One nice part is that since the marathon course was changed from the previous year, and will never be run again in the future, I am the proud owner of a run course record that can never be broken!

Pat “Nope not enough” Sheeks, my coach and soigneur, roadtripped down with me to St. George.  We felt good about our journey, my preparation was very solid coming into it, I had my race strategy mapped out, and we thought it might even cool down a bit on race morning.  We also had an amazing homestay family to show us the ropes in St. George and treated us like royalty. 

But little did we know what awaited us on race morning…

This news article from the Salt Lake Tribune gives a pretty good description of the days events:  http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/sports/54055727-77/race-didn-george-athletes.html.csp

My Own Stats:

Swim - 1:04 (10^th elite)

• Even with the nasty chop, this was still my fastest IM swim by about 10 mins.  Apparently I have a nasty chop stroke!  I tossed my race strategy about 20 minutes into the race and went into “just don’t die” mode.  Even though I am not afraid to die, I figured I would save it for another day if possible.

Bike - 5:48 (9^th Elite)

• It was super duper windy, with 20 mile stretches at 8-12 miles/hour.  This was the windiest ride I have ever been on, much less raced in.  My IT band got sore just from trying to stabilize the bike!  My time was so slow, I assumed incorrectly that there was no way I could eek out a good placing.

Run - 2:55  (1^st elite, results incorrectly have me at 5^th).

• Thinking I was down and out, I asked my brother how far back I was while leaving transition, wondering if I should even start the run.  Oh, only 50 minutes; No Big Deal!  I only realized how much ground I made up by about the 15 mile mark, and proceeded to take some names.  Coming into the finish chute with a lead bike by my side, high-fiving spectators was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life.  Apparently I accidentally denied my brother a high-five though!

I’ve had some amazing support leading up to this race, mostly from local sponsors such as Sports Reaction Center, Elite Sports and Spine, Run 26 and Woodinville Bicycle.  I am super blessed to have these guys 100% behind me.  As an example, I stepped on a rock while on a training run in Klamath Falls, which inflamed my foot pretty badly.  A last minute dual-threat treatment from Sports Reaction and Elite Sports and Spine totally extinguished the pain and got me through the marathon.  Thanks guys!!!

Matt

 Pre-race, looking sleepy but really I am jacked to get started!

Fastest run split of the day

Never been happier to have a race be over!

 In the money

 Eventual winner and outstanding guy Ben Hoffman 

The Dynamic Duo - Matt with Patrick "nope not enough" Sheeks, the ultimate manager.  

Matt:  "Hey Pat, I put in 5 hours of training today.  Is that enough?  I was kind of thinking I still have enough energy for a shake-out jog."

Pat:  "Nope not enough."

Name	Country	Swim	Bike	Run	Finish	Div. Rank	Overall Rank
Hoffman, Ben	USA	00:52:44	05:10:01	03:01:24	09:07:04	1	1
Twelsiek, Maik	DEU	00:52:42	05:10:35	03:18:23	09:25:58	2	2
Zeebroek, Axel	BEL	00:51:22	05:26:52	03:12:53	09:35:33	3	3
Gerlach, Thomas	USA	00:59:19	05:33:54	03:12:14	09:49:00	4	4
Sheeks, Matthew	USA	01:04:09	05:48:41	02:55:37	09:52:03	5	5
Moser, Ernst	AUT	01:04:52	05:39:00	03:16:58	10:04:07	6	9

A Long Ways to Go - Rev 3 South Carolina

70.3 Personal Record! - 4:12

I surprised myself out there Sunday at Rev3 South Carolina, a long trip from Seattle but well worth it for the amazing race experience that Rev3 provides. The race was stacked with some 45 or so male pros, all of which I knew would be excellently prepared. A $50,000 prize purse tends to attract good competition; who would have thought!

Coming off a pelvis fracture in late April, Rev 3 South Carolina would be my first important race back. I competed at the Black Diamond Olympic Triathlon a couple weeks ago and won by a good ten minutes, but that was just a small local event. This race would be against some of the world’s best triathletes.

I have received some amazing assistance from Sports Reaction Center (SRC), a physical therapy clinic, and Elite Sports and Spine, a chiropractic/Active Release Therapy clinic, during my comeback to competitive triathlon. I’ve also been using the Alter G anti-gravity treadmill at SRC during my build-up, which is new technology that is a huge advantage to anyone that has to learn how to walk and run again. Special Thanks goes out to Jacob Perkins at Elite and Neil Chasan at SRC. Your support is amazing!

Okay, now before we get into the details about the race, let’s get past the nasty little issue every endurance athlete has: excuses - I woke up to a nasty cold race morning…I couldn’t get comfortable on the bike…I didn’t fuel well enough early on…I’m just coming off a big injury…okay, now that that unpleasantness is behind us, let’s move onto the positive.

SWIM: The swim was by far my best 2000m swim ever. No questions about that. Thirty minutes sixteen seconds. I’ve done close to that in the past, but that was while wearing a wetsuit, which usually shaves off 2-3 minutes. Starting off was a little frantic as usual, and I tried in vain to get on some feet after getting around the first buoy. No luck- I just missed getting on a good train! The first woman passed me half way through (the women start 3 minutes after the men). I couldn’t get on her feet either; she was just too quick. Second women’s pack went by…still too fast for me to hop on. Eventually the 3rd women’s pack rolled by and I hung on for a good minute or so. I think there was something pushing me the entire time and that helped keep my tempo up. Controlled but not letting my arm-turnover lag. This helped me to a fast time (for me) even though I didn’t draft virtually the entire swim.

BIKE: The bike was my fastest half-iron distance bike, 2:22, but maybe not my best. I was getting good feedback right away, catching all the pro women early on and a few guys. It might surprise you, but that’s actually very positive for me. Even though I have had some good placings in the past, sometimes I don’t catch the top woman until the beginning of the run!

Unfortunately, my hamstrings were on fire right away, and I couldn’t seem to get my powerful quads into the mix. Eventually my muscular endurance waned. I was on the hoods often or out of the saddle on many of the small climbs, and was generally could not get into a good rhythm. Fortunately, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how to get more aero, and even though I wasn’t putting down great power numbers, I was still pretty fast compared to my previous self simply because of more aerodynamic equipment and body position..

The bike course ended up being WAY harder than I expected with all the small grinding climbs. The course is held mainly on quaint backroads with virtually no traffic. It’s kind of like 70.3 Lake Stevens only with less opportunity to get into a rhythm because of the various turns and shorter but more frequent climbs. The wind was much worse than expected out there on race morning too. I have no clue how Starky went 2:10 on that course, but props to him! I felt like I lost a lot of time on the 2nd half of the course, and started running out of gas way too early. I had one flask of First Endurance EFS Shot with me, which provides about 400 calories, and was expecting some gels at the aid stations. Unfortunately I didn’t see any until mile 2 of the run!

THE RUN: I was actually pretty pleased with my 1:18. I couldn’t pull out my ace-card simply because of lack of consistent run training. I’ve had some residual back pain which has caused me to be very conservative in my build up to real running training again, so I knew racing 13.1 miles would be a stretch, and thought anything under 1:20 would be good at this point. After throwing back as many gels as I could find in the first half of the race, I started to feel almost normal again. I passed a few athletes on the run, but not enough to move me far up the leaderboard. Still, I went about 1:30 faster than my best Half-Iron distance race for overall time, and I think there is even more potential to discover.