RACE SUMMARY

I felt like Han Solo trying to jump to light speed only to find out that the hyper drive wasn’t working.

INTRO

I went into this race feeling both optimistic and realistic.  After breaking the 5:30 barrier last fall at Redman my sights were set on breaking 5:15.  I’ve said it many times, this sport really is worse than drugs.  Always looking for that next “fix”.

My winter training had been solid, especially my running.  My bike power was up a little from last year and my swimming was about the same.  For those reasons I knew a PR could be possible.  On the flip side there are the things that are out of my control – namely wind, heat, and humidity.  The bike course was predicted to have a strong cross wind which slows you down for the entire ride.  Heat and humidity have their own impacts, namely on the run.  So for those reasons I knew a 5:30 finish was more likely.

PRE RACE

My family and I went down to Galveston on Friday afternoon.  Check in was seamless.  We grabbed dinner and then just chilled out around the condo.  Saturday was pretty laid back.  The family spent some time at the pool and the beach while I did fun stuff like picking up race wheels, athlete orientation, quick ride to check out how the bike handled in the wind, and later bike check in.  Somewhere in there I managed to sell my first triathlon bike (it had been pre-arranged).  I was a little sentimental selling the bike that started it all, but it had been cluttering up my garage for way too long.

Friday night I had not gotten much sleep.  The kids seldom sleep well their first night on the road which directly impacts my sleep.  Saturday night I didn’t get to bed as early as I wanted but still managed to hit the pillow around 10.  Somewhere around 1 AM Jackson came in with a “my throat hurts”.  I have to derail a race report at this point and nominate my wife for wife of the year.  She got up and dealt with it to let me sleep.  It turns out the next day while I was on the bike course she took him to an urgent care only to find out he had strep throat.  They got him on medicine which improved his pain almost immediately.  And they still managed to show up and cheer for me on the run.  I have an amazing family.

RACE MORNING

So after my short night it was up at 4 AM to start the day.  I had my normal breakfast, grabbed my stuff, and headed downstairs to meet up with a couple I had met the previous day.  They were nice enough to give me a ride so I could let my family sleep in.

I was a little frustrated before the day began because of my swim start.  I had to be done setting up my stuff in transition by 6:45 but my swim wave did not start until 8:12.  I really wanted to nap but the recurring nightmare of sleeping right though my swim wave wouldn’t let me.  So I lay around for a while and then finally made a few buddies to pass the time with.

SWIM (43 min)

As far as swims go this one went fairly well.  I had not been in open water yet this year.  I had not put on my wetsuit yet this year.  It was the perfect storm for me to really implode.  I started to do my normal panic around the 200 yd mark but managed to pull it back together and keep moving.  I took my first kick to the face but luckily they were not a strong kicker.  Between the salt water and the wetsuit I was able to not worry about sinking and really focus on my stroke.  I came out of the water feeling fairly fresh and ready to ride.

BIKE (2:42 / 20.7 mph / 165 NP*)

I typically really enjoy the bike.  It’s become my favorite of the three sports mainly because it’s where I excel.  I had some fairly aggressive goals to compensate for the wind.  The bike course wound through town and out to the seawall.  It was there that the wind finally picked up (as expected).  Early on it felt better than anticipated but I knew it would pick up as the day went on.  Around mile 5 I saw Lionel Sanders come blowing past heading the other direction.  He wound up winning the day with an astounding 3:40 overall time.  He’s now won 3 of 3 races this season.  My goal had been to be off the bike before he finished the run.  Given the 72 minutes they spotted his swim wave over mine that didn’t happen.

Early on I tried pushing my power but really had a hard time doing it.  There were a couple of factors.  One was the wind – more power meant more speed and I really was not comfortable at high speeds in the crosswinds.  It was probably more mental than physical.  But it was still a factor.  I tried looking at my heart rate and all I saw was — .  Great.  Somehow swimming in the salt water toasted my HR monitor.  I began hoping it would dry out before the run, as I really use it there.  The last factor that I really think came into play is a technical setting on my watch.  I had to master reset my watch about a week prior to the race and forgot to change a setting.  Ultimately I’m certain I rode a higher wattage (compared to some of my other races) but the setting brought the number down.  Which means I was riding harder than I thought I was.

That leads me to my final note on the bike.  Starting around mile 10 my stomach began feeling unsettled.  Like I was going to throw up.  It was way too early in the day for that.  I backed off my power a little.  But that feeling stayed with me the next four hours, all the way to the finish line.

RUN (1:57 / 9:01 pace)

I forgot to mention earlier that I neglected to pee coming out of the water.  Again.  Someday maybe I’ll actually remember during a race.  So I rode the entire bike leg with a nagging urge to make a pit stop.  But it never got bad enough to actually stop.  As I went through the bike to run transition I headed for a pit stop only to see 2-3 standing in line and waiting.  Sorry folks, this is a race.  No time to wait.  So out I went onto the run course.

My HR monitor that died?  Yeah it never came back on.  That means I had no gauge for how hard I was pushing other than perceived effort, which for me is typically not reliable.  So I decided to stick with the plan I had coming into the race – start at a 9:00 pace, then drop it by 15 seconds every 3 miles.

I had to make myself slow down during the first mile.  Coming off the bike my feet are always used to a faster cadence so I had to monitor my pace and keep pulling back.  My stomach was still not liking me and pushing the pace only made it worse.

Typically on the run I’ll wear a belt with four bottles on it for several reasons.  First I just like carrying my own nutrition.  It’s the stuff I train with so I’m used to it.  But more importantly, the aid stations typically cost me anywhere from 30 to 60 seconds every mile by the time I slow down to grab something, walk to drink it, and then psyche myself up to start running again.  It was getting hot by the time I hit the run course so I decided to stop at the first aid station to grab some ice.  The run is a three loop run and by the time I got there the majority of the 3000 racers were there with me.  Which means aid stations were really, really crowded.  I did get my ice but it took me a good minute to slow down, find it, get it in my cap, and get going again.  This continued to be the case for the next 12 miles as I stopped for ice or water to keep myself cool.

The run is always the part of the day that is mentally grueling.  I knew I did not have a PR swim.  I knew I did not have a PR bike.  It was hot with humidity over 80%.  So why even try?  Why not back it way off and call it a day?  The main reason on this day was that I have done a ton of running lately.  I really wanted to see what my legs were capable of this late in the day.  In the end my legs and lungs were fine but my stomach was not.  Any time I pushed the pace I just got really nauseous.  I felt like Han Solo trying to jump to light speed only to find out that the hyper drive wasn’t working.  Every three miles I would try again only to back off.

As I came down the finisher chute Sarah and the kids were there with high fives.  I was thrilled to see them and even more thrilled that the day was finally over.

POST RACE THOUGHTS

My final finish time was 5:29 which was good for 83 out of 327 in my age group.  That puts me officially on the brink of cracking into the top 25% for the first time ever.  If I’m reading my stats correctly I came out of the water in 213 place, made my way up to 111 on the bike, and then to 83 by the end of the run.  So while my finish time was not a PR the day still went pretty much as planned and landed me by best finish placing to date.  It’s pretty amazing that an “off day” finish is now an hour better than what it was just a few years ago.

It’s also nuts how used my body has become to the workload.  I’m now less than 24 hours post-race and the part of me that hurts the most is the sunburn.  Otherwise I feel fine.  That’s crazy.  Which also tells me I had a better day in me had my stomach cooperated.

Speaking of, I’m still trying to unravel my stomach issues.  I’ve narrowed it down to the following list.  Could be any one or some combination.

• Ate a banana at 7 AM (too late)
• Did not chase pre-swim Gu with enough water
• Lack of swim fitness
• Overexerted myself early on the bike
• Heat / humidity
• Raced 5-10 lbs above ideal race weight

So now it’s decision time.  I have my training calendar set for the next few months but don’t yet have my next “fix” planned.  I’ll likely do some shorter races this summer and then something longer in the fall.

Thanks again to my family for putting up with the craziness.  They really are amazing.  Thankfully Jackson’s feeling a ton better today.  I could not do any of this without their cooperation and support.

I saw a sticker at the expo that pretty much summed up where I am in life.

I continue to be thankful that God grants me the physical and mental ability to do something I’ve come to love.