First let's start off 2 weeks before the race...I finally got in a long distance training ride by participating in the "End Hunger in Calvert County Charity Bike Ride". Jason and I opted to do the metric century (62 mile) ride. I felt strong through most of the ride except for the last 10 miles. I hit the bonk-point when we start to hit some of the hills towards the end (maybe around mile 50) but I battled through and finished the 62 miles in around 3.5 hours. Here's a photo of my sorry tired ass crossing the finish line.Ok after this ride and with less than 2 weeks until the big race I focused primarily on my swim then run then bike in that priority order. I knew that I was going to taper for at least a week leading into 5/9 so I continued to pack on the volume in the pool. I cranked out 7000 yards which included a 1.5 mile workout the week before taper and felt great at the end of week. Overall I have felt very happy and confident in my swim over the last few months (not sure what happened at Bumpass) and at this point was looking forward to the 1.2 mile swim.
My last long run before I tapered was a 10 miler. I opted to recruit my good friend and once Ironman to come with me on this run. We hit up the streets of DC and had a solid run averaging around 7.55min/mile. During our run I got a little advice from my buddy who is no stranger to long distance contests. As we were running he told me that during the half I should talk to my body parts and do check-in's with them. Simply put about every 20 minutes or so I should shout out "hey foot you still kick-in it alright down there?" and so on until I hit all major body parts. Silly...yes but the point is that you take the time to focus on a single body part at a time to better understand if you need to stop and recalibrate before moving along. I took this advice very well and plan to use it in my future races!
With only one week left what better thing to do than participate in Muddy Buddy! On 5/2 my training "coach" and I competed in Muddy Buddy. If you're not familiar check out www.muddybuddy.com. I won't go into details but let it be know that Jason and I took first place in our age group! Here are a few photos to prove it!
This leads me up to Whitelake 70.3. This was a very exciting race for me. It was my first half ironman, it was a fast course and my favorite fan was in attendance!
1.2 Mile Swim 39.24 1:51/100yds 2:02/100m
The swim was an in water start in what I would call a perfect lake. I honestly felt that the lake was cleaner than the pool I train at! I was very excited to start the race and pumped up to start swimming. The race was just barely wetsuit legal at a comfortable 75 degrees! My wave started and I put myself towards the middle of the group. As soon as the horn went off I immediately got into a steady rhythm and locked in at a very sustainable and steady pace. About 500 yards into the race I started to realize that I was passing people on the swim!!! This is new to me, I have not passed anyone on the swim yet! I finished up the swim and couldn't help but look at my watch when I exited the water and it read 38:30! My goal for the swim was 40:00. I was so motivated by this accomplishment that I kicked my butt into high gear and sprinted for transition, almost loosing my footing as I turned the corner from the dock.
T1 2:30
I spent a little more time in T1 for this race because I wanted to ensure I had all my nutrition and hydration for the 56 miles of biking to come. I had a sweet spot in the transition area so it was very easy to find my bike!
56 Mile Bike 2:48:11 20mph
The bike course was flat and fast! I set out at a steady pace of around 23mph for the first 15 miles and then leveled off at a comfortable 20mph. My goal for the bike was 3:00:00 so I'm very happy with my time. At this point in the race the day was starting to heat up so I was heavily focused on hydration. I grabbed a full bottle of water at each aid station and it was gone by the next station and I nutrition at exactly every 45 minutes. I was determined to not get cramps on the run like I have in other races. The course itself was sort of boring, where I was left staring at miles and miles of pine trees along long stretches of road. It was very exciting to see the transition area and my girlfriend cheering me on after 56 miles!
1.2 Mile Swim 39.24 1:51/100yds 2:02/100m
The swim was an in water start in what I would call a perfect lake. I honestly felt that the lake was cleaner than the pool I train at! I was very excited to start the race and pumped up to start swimming. The race was just barely wetsuit legal at a comfortable 75 degrees! My wave started and I put myself towards the middle of the group. As soon as the horn went off I immediately got into a steady rhythm and locked in at a very sustainable and steady pace. About 500 yards into the race I started to realize that I was passing people on the swim!!! This is new to me, I have not passed anyone on the swim yet! I finished up the swim and couldn't help but look at my watch when I exited the water and it read 38:30! My goal for the swim was 40:00. I was so motivated by this accomplishment that I kicked my butt into high gear and sprinted for transition, almost loosing my footing as I turned the corner from the dock.
T1 2:30
I spent a little more time in T1 for this race because I wanted to ensure I had all my nutrition and hydration for the 56 miles of biking to come. I had a sweet spot in the transition area so it was very easy to find my bike!
56 Mile Bike 2:48:11 20mph
The bike course was flat and fast! I set out at a steady pace of around 23mph for the first 15 miles and then leveled off at a comfortable 20mph. My goal for the bike was 3:00:00 so I'm very happy with my time. At this point in the race the day was starting to heat up so I was heavily focused on hydration. I grabbed a full bottle of water at each aid station and it was gone by the next station and I nutrition at exactly every 45 minutes. I was determined to not get cramps on the run like I have in other races. The course itself was sort of boring, where I was left staring at miles and miles of pine trees along long stretches of road. It was very exciting to see the transition area and my girlfriend cheering me on after 56 miles!
T2 2:03
When I got off my bike in T2 that's when I realized exactly how hot the day had become. At this point it must have been pushing mid 90's in the shade! I took a minute in T2 to stretch, drink water and ensure I have my socks/shoes on correctly before I set out on the run.
13.1 Mile Run 2:50:57 12:58min/mile
Ouch! What a horrible run I had for this race. When I left T2 I thought my race goal time of 5:40 was in the bag. Mother nature and my body were both working hard agianst me to achieve this goal! The course was an out and back around the parameter of the lake. Most of it was on the main road with no shade and temperatures reaching well over 100 in the sun. I set out and cramped up almost immediatly. My run consisted of walk a mile, jog a mile, run a mile with 5 minute breaks at each rest stop. It was horrible at best. I was so happy to see the finish line at the end.
In summary I have some work to do before Musselman in July. Overall I felt great on the swim and bike but just need to work more on the run. I think a healthy dose of brick workouts is just what the doctor ordered!
Overall Race Time 6:23:04 26/30 Age Group
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