Gulf Coast Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

The day before (and especially the day after ), the gulf was very calm with little waves. Race morning there was a decent amount of wind blowing off the water and it was creating some good sized breakers and swells. The swim ended up being much harder than I expected. My biggest problem was staying on course. I usually zig zag during ows but it was way worse than usual with the current and waves thrown in.

My other issue with the swim was worrying about "creatures" in the water with me. I say creatures because I tried not to use the s word while there. Luckily, the water was dark so I couldn't see anything below me anyway. Regardless, I was definitely happy to be on dry land at the end of it!

Swim straighter lines. Gonna have to figure it out in fresh water because I have no plans outside of this race to swim in the ocean on a regular basis!

There was a big freshwater shower set up on the boardwalk leading into the transition area. I took my wetsuit off there and stood for a few seconds under the shower to wash the sea water off. Then I jogged to my spot and got ready to go.

Nothing, this was a decent transition considering the long distance from the timing mat to my spot.

This was an interesting bike ride for several reasons. First, the wind was pretty strong with some storms in the region. Riding along the coast with highrise condo buildings partially buffering the wind created some crazy wind variations. One guy I was riding near said "get ready for the wind tunnel" as we came upon the long row of condo buildings. He was right and I really had to hold on tight to keep a straight line with the crosswinds.

After having pushed too hard into the headwind (sans Garmin) at NOLA a few weeks ago, I concentrated on maintaining an even effort and HR rather than even pace. This really allowed me to get my legs better warmed up before trying to hammer. Although, I still need to get a better grasp on where my HR should be exactly.

I kept a fairly steady pace throughout this ride, but it started getting harder and harder. My gear that was slipping the day before ended up being what would have been the perfect gear to maintain a good cadence. The result was that I was spinning out of control, bouncing in my seat! Or slowly hammering away on the pedals at a cadence around 80 or so. It was strange, it would stay in gear for a few seconds then skip up or down to the next one...I was really upset w/ myself for not getting this simple thing addressed the day before. So, instead of following Cali Todd's advice to "spin to win" (very good advice, btw), I took up the mantra "mash to crash!" And by crash I mean falling apart on the run...stay tuned.

Get my stinkin' gears fixed on Friday! This is such an easy adjustment I probably could've/should've done it myself.

Overall I was thrilled w/ my pace, but hammering such a low gear took it's toll on my legs.

Decent T2 for a big area. 13th in AG.

Nothing.

I can't believe my time still put me at middle of the pack for my AG! Wow, this run was a real sufferfest for me. I felt a little tight coming out of transition, having overcooked my quads on the bike, but thought I would be ok. I passed by Matt Gardner right at the start, but would end up seeing him over the course of the entire run. The plan was to shoot for 8:30-9:00 min/mile then walk every aid station to stay hydrated, cool, and keep my HR down. The plan was out the window after about mile 2!

I had never had a quad cramp before this race and now I have had the pleasure of simultaneous quad cramps coming and going for over and hour. I made a concerted effort to drink more Gatorade at this race and even took some Endurolytes about 4 miles in. For some people this may work/help, but for me it usually comes down to the simple fact that I had pushed too hard for my current fitness level...if only electrolytes could make you more fit!

I made a deal with my legs around the halfway mark that if I could run for 5 minutes I would let them walk for 30 seconds. This continued until a little after mile 10. At this point I saw Matt again for about the fifth time...I was not doing well. Matt seemed to be handling the heat better and encouraged me to keep going. We ended up running ("running" was a relative term at this point) the last couple of miles together, picking up Peter Pate near the finish. It was good to have these guys pushing me or I still might be out there walking!

Not push the bike quite as hard as I did. I might've been able to run after the same bike effort a month ago, but I've lost some fitness since then.

Hobbled around and spoke w/ Bethany and my parents. Then had a great time cheering on other ATCers coming in.


NOLA was my A race for the early season, so I did a big taper in my volume starting 2 weeks out from it. Since NOLA, I've only raced and recovered...haven't really done much actual training. I pushed the bike harder than my body wanted me to today and paid for it on the run. I'm looking forward to training hard again after taking some time to recover. Next year I'll hopefully be back for some revenge on Gulf Coast! I can't wait to actually run during a HIM run leg!


This is a great race: great volunteers, awards 10-deep, easy logistics, at the beach! I'll be back next year if the schedule allows.