Race Reports
Ironman 70.3 Rhode Island
Jul 11th
I am bib number 1707. I get to drop my daughter off the night before with one of her Grandfathers. Then head home get to sleep early, so that I can wake up around 2am, and drive up to Providence, hitting the road around 3am because of the following:
Race Day Shuttle Schedule
- 4:00 a.m. – Shuttle buses depart downtown Providence
- 5:00 a.m. –buses arrive Roger Wheeler State Beach
- 6:00 a.m. – Race Start
- 8:30 a.m. – Buses with spectators depart Roger Wheeler State Beach
- 9:30 a.m. – Buses arrive in downtown Providence
- 10:00 a.m. – First finisher expected
So what am I racing in? I had been debating between my Brooks ST4 and Brooks Launch. Ended up deciding on the Launch, 9.3oz vs 8.8oz, but the Launch are too comfortable to not use. I have not been able to get in any sockless run, so I will be wearing some socks when I hit the run.
Rocking DeSoto T1 wetsuit (FirstWave Pullover and SpeedTube Pants), and some DeSoto clothes underneath.
Will be fueling up HEAVILY on some 53x11Coffee and going with Gatorade and CarbBOOM! Gatorade because its what I will have on the course here and in Kona.
Still riding my Jamis Trilogy with a new disc cover in the back and a ‘Hed’ 50mm front both wrapped in Michelin ProRace3 service course tires. Going for my 11-23 cassette, with aerodrink bottle and 1 frame-mounted bottle.
Supposedly there might be race day coverage at either:
http://www.ironmanrhodeisland.com/
or
New Bedford 1/2 Marathon RR
Mar 20th
Woke up, I had ground my coffee, filled the maker with water and set the timer, so I woke up to a few great cups of 53x11coffee, oatmeal, sat around for awhile. Then realized I was still hungry so I had a slice of bread with Nutella on it, about to walk out the door, still felt empty, so had another half a PB&J sandwich.
Race was at 11am, I hate ‘late’ races, too much time to sit around. Finally made the 80mile drive up to New Bedford.
Walked around, figured out where to pick up my race packet, dropped it in the car and looked for the Port-A-Potties. Stood in line waiting for the bathroom. Line was moving super slow, some of the doors were marked ‘locked’ but I had seen anyone moved, I asked if people saw anyone go in, they thought they had, finally first guy in line knocked, 3 Port-A-Potties where empty. Line moved much quicker.
Then jogged around for awhile and shed some layers. I still had a ton of time, so I sat around debating what to wear.
Actual run was pretty good. Went out a bit too fast, passed the Hoyts, then settled in and pushed more and more the further I got into the race. I got passed and passed a ton of people throughout the run.
Sort of disappointed at my overall time. It was a great PR for me. Turns out race was chip-timed, but it wasn’t chip timed. It counted your chip as you finished but not as you started, so people that were seeded further back got hurt. Normally it doesn’t matter.
What could I have done to improve? Check my Garmin 305 in the morning (it was DOA), I was up for 2.5hours before I left. I think I could have pushed a bit more after the initial hills.
Test out new shorts on a longer run. I wore a pair of Brooks Infiniti shorts, super comfortable. However I had worn them once before. They are my first pair of ‘short’ shorts. My normal running shorts are just around/just past mid thigh. These are short. My legs don’t really touch, or at least I never thought they did. Sometime around mile 5 my thighs starting burning, by mile 9 they were on fire. I do not think this really effected my race much, except that it added some serious pain. I thought I lubed up well, but didnt go down far enough.
Seriously an awesome race. Everything was setup perfectly. Shops had post-race discounts, tons of free food I skipped out on. Only improvement would have been Gatorade or something similar at the water stations.
Results: 1:36:06
http://www.coolrunning.com/results/09/ma/Mar15_32ndNe_set1.shtml
October Totals and Race Results
Nov 8th
After rolling my ankle, not running for two weeks and catching a cold, I ran in the Mystic, CT Tarzan Brown River Run. It was an awesome race, and had some great chowder afterwards. I managed a 41:10. This averages out to 7:31 min/mile. I had originally hoped to go sub 40, but decided to take it easy instead.
Results: http://www.plattsys.com/results/res2008/tb08.htm
Pictures: http://www.smugmug.com
Nutmegman 1/2 Iron Distance Triathlon
Sep 24th
I was supposed to race Longhorn 70.3 down in Austin next month, however life changes, I backed out of the race. Waited a while debated what I was going to do and decided that Nutmegman was close enough to home. I trained on my home with my bike time being on a trainer 95% of the time. Swam once in awhile. I was under trained going into the race, but was confident.
Pre-race routine:
Woke up just after 3am, had coffee, took a quick shower and ate a bagel. On my way out I grabbed another 1/2 bagel. Drove the 80miles to the venue. Arrived in total darkness, put bike, bag and wetsuit in transition. I had to wait for it to get light to setup and use bathrooms. It was cold.
Event Warmup:
Swam maybe 25yards. Supposed to start at 7am, but the fog was so bad they delayed it 30min. Still real bad when we went in. I waited until the last minute to put my wetsuit on because it was cold. Once I got it on I was still cold and actually like most people there put clothes back on over it.
Swim:
My swim was good. The fog was peasoup. It was real thick and was even thicker the 2nd loop. They took out a ton of algae plants, but there was still a ton. Your arms definitely got slowed in them.
There were entire groups, not just individuals that were off course. I swam alone for awhile and would look back hoping someone was back there. I got off course a few times. It was very hard to see the buoys until you were very close. I had a great swim so I can not really complain.
Tons of life guards and police boat w/diver. Really as you got close to the turn around you looked for the police boat with its lights.
T1:
Fast. Broke my sunglasses, couldn’t ask for anything else except maybe to throw on a 2nd layer on top.
Bike:
The course was brutal. It was very cold. As a result of being so cold I did not consume enough electrolytes/sodium and my quads seized at mile 33, 4x, and 51, two other times they almost seized, but I was right at the top of a hill and was able to peddle out. I tried to make up for lost calories, just couldn’t do it. I had to stop and stretch, I definitely lost time. I always caught back up and people were very surprised when I would. I rode alone most of the ride.
I have never experienced really any sort of cramping let alone having your muscles seize up. It hurt, once it happened I was in pain the rest of the race. My neck and back were also very tight for the first 30miles or so while it was still cold.
Some people could not maintain momentum and fell, one guy I talked to showed me his shattered cleat at the end of the race. Even one of the female Pros fell.
It would have been beneficial to me to ride the course ahead of time, or just ride more hills by me.
T2:
Again fairly fast. I put socks and my Newtons on. Just felt more comfortable in them at this distance than my Pearl Izumi Streaks. The bike next to me had fallen over, and I asked a volunteer to rerack it. They did and I was able to rack and get out.
Run:
Decent enough run given that my quads were still in pain, I stretched numerous times, walked a few hills. They were just in real pain. I have read that some people said the run course was difficult, for sure no harder than my regular runs. I was slow but at ease aside from my quads. I am normally have a jack rabbit HR when I run I was almost 20bpm lower than normal because of how slow I was going.
Overall:
Awesome race. I plan on returning and dropping 30min off my time. Awesome post race massage. Disappointed in my time, but not in my effort level.
Total Time = 6h 20m 3s
Overall Rank = 43/83
Pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/endureitmultisports/
Results:
http://www.plattsys.com/results/res2008/nutiron.htm
2008 Niantic Bay Triathlon
Aug 5th
Unfortunately the ‘official’ pictures that are linked from the event’s website are garbage. So no good pictures.
Results: http://www.coolrunning.com/results/07/ct/Aug5_Nianti_set1.shtml
Event Website: http://www.hartfordmarathon.com/foundationnew/calendar/nianticbay.htm
Pre-race routine:
Woke up, showered, ate a bagel and had some coffee. Then got into my car and headed to the race. Parking was 1/2 mile away, maybe more. Good walk into the venue.
Event warmup:
I got into the water swam around a bit, floated, and then waited. I felt very comfortable in the water.
Swim
Comments:
I was some what timid. I tried to draft and was doing well, didnt sight for a bit looked and saw no one in front of me, up to this point I was in the middle of the pack, I had to swim back a considerable distance to get on course (150+yards?) and rejoin who I could. From this point on I was swimming neck and neck with some guy and we kept accidentally bumping.
Good swim in, I saw maybe a total of 3 jellyfish, all on the way in
What would you do differently?:
Sight better, not be so timid.
T1
Comments:
Long run from the beach, up a hill, across a field and then down into transition. Given the distance it was very quick. I love my wetsuit, it takes virtually no effort to remove.
What would you do differently?:
Take a few seconds to make sure my Garmin was all set.
Bike
Comments:
I was surprised by the course. I thought it would be flatter, but the hills apparently played to my strengths. On the second hill when I was passing people I thought that maybe I was pushing to hard and that they would pull me at the crest of the hill. It never happened. I would pass people on the hills and just drop them.
Until I dropped my chain. It was on the biggest downhill. I was switching to a harder gear and the chain popped off towards my shoe. I actually got tangled in it, and was unable to move my foot at first. I got my foot loose, but the crank was now jammed. I coasted for a very long time, and eventually stopped and worked on getting the chain back on. It was jammed on the derailurer, I got frustrated and kicked it, which did nothing. Somehow I got it back on. I think I lost about 2minutes.
I ended up repassing most of the people that passed me while I was fixing my bike.
What would you do differently?:
Not drop my chain.
T2
Comments:
Coming into T2, a guy wiped out in front of me. I was only half out at the time and went down as well so that I didnt run over his head. I was right back up and running. Cut my hand and ran with it bleeding. Honestly if the fall slowed me down it was for 10seconds.
What would you do differently?:
Not wipeout on the downhill dismount.
Run
Comments:
I thought I would blow up on the run and that I was going out to fast. Instead I ran one of my best runs ever. When I was checking my pace I always saw it between 7:15-7:45min/mile. I guess I didnt check to often. I hated the run on the beach, I got passed. I got passed at the start of the run by a few people, and then eventually was able to catch up to some others. I ran with Trigirl069, who took 7th overall female and 2nd in her AG.
What would you do differently?:
Push a bit more? I wasnt that tired afterwards.
Warm down:
Got a Popsicle, took off my shoes and went out into the water. Ocean felt awesome. Not sure what they had for food, I saw watermelon and some anti-pasta bean salad thing. I grabbed some watermelon.
What limited your ability to perform faster:
Drinking on Friday? My chain falling off. Lack of OWS experience. Overall I did great.
Event comments:
Definitely racing again next year. I really really enjoyed myself today. There should have been more volunteers on the bike course. A few times I had no idea if I was supposed to turn or not. Apparently I stayed on course, it could have been better marked.
Honestly I did awesome and I am really happy with my performance. It was a good venue.
No idea what the actual distances were, I have heard 3.2-3.5miles for the run and 11-12miles for the bike, since my Garmin wasnt functioning properly, I have no idea what the actual distances were.