Mountain Man Triathlon - Half Iron Distance - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Flagstaff, Arizona
United States
Mountain Man Events
60F / 16C
Overcast
Total Time = 7h 20m 58s
Overall Rank = 149/169
Age Group = F 45-49
Age Group Rank = 8/9
Pre-race routine:

The usual light breakfast and tea.
Event warmup:

None. Water was warmer than the air so I just stood there in hip-deep water. Didn't have enough time to swim for a warm-up.
Swim
  • 39m 35s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 52s / 100 yards
Comments:

Foggy until right before the start! It was hard to see the other shore.

Very relaxed swim. Didn't even breathe hard. Tried to keep HR low and save my energy for the rest of the race. Had some trouble sighting but wasn't sure if the fog was outside or inside my goggles... It was hard to find the second set of buoys. I followed some people to try to draft but they were zigzagging too much so I just did my own thing. Long and slow strokes. Focused on rotating.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing. Swim was fine.
Transition 1
  • 04m 12s
Comments:

Fine. Hardly remember T1. High-fived a friend who got out of the water right behind me. Took time to put on rain jacket.
Bike
  • 3h 40m 45s
  • 56 miles
  • 15.22 mile/hr
Comments:

Was very glad I had put on the rain jacket! It was cold out there. Never got too hot in it.

I held back as much as I could on the ride. Aimed for a 15 mph pace which is my usual training pace on this route. I knew I needed the energy for the run. As I was getting passed I kept telling myself that I'd just catch them all on the run! haha

The potatoes tasted good and the salt helped. No cramping in my calves.
What would you do differently?:

None.
Transition 2
  • 03m 55s
Comments:

Took time to apply BodyGlide all over my left foot where I got blisters during the last weeks. As I was leaving T2 Bryan was finishing his race! Puts things into perspective.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing.
Run
  • 2h 52m 33s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 13m 10s  min/mile
Comments:

What can I say? If we could do a reverse HIM maybe I'd do better? The run is my weakest sport. I paced myself on the swim and bike to survive the run. It went much better than last year but not as well as I had hoped.

Right out of T2 my right middle toe was hurting. The bike shoe insoles really helped with other foot issues I had last year but the toe thing still bothered me. I walked for a couple of minutes and then started a slow trot, trying an exaggerated heel strike. That worked and I fell into a faster, comfortable pace.

Thought about how good this felt, how much I had improved my aerobic capacity since last year where I got stitches on the first 100 yards of the run... Started thinking about my planned run/walk ratio, reveled in the comfort of the Zoot shoes, had a sip from the diluted gel flask, looked up to enjoy the view and see who was running on the other side...

And then the stomach cramped. Like a rock appearing all of a sudden under my rib cage. It got so bad so quickly that I stopped and bent over ready to hurl. But there was no nausea, just cramping. Started walking again, in pain, got angry and frustrated (which never helps), and thought about just turning around and quitting. I was not going to go on another death march like last year. grrrrr

Then I thought I'd give myself until the Marshall Lake turn-off and also remembered how much crying had helped last year and just bawled my eyes out for a few minutes. I mean, sobbing and snot running kinda crying. Well, that helped, not just with the stomach but also finally cleared a blur on my right contact I had all morning.

So I started running again, walked up the hill, ran where it turned to dirt, and then was also able to run the whole downhill! Last year I had to walk even that part. Back on Lake Mary Rd I fell into a run/walk rhythm, came across two groupies (Chris and Aaron), and saw Chad running strong on the other side of the road, on his way to the finish. This was about an hour into my run now, around mile 5. My goal was to stay under three hours total and I knew I could make it in a lot less with a comfortable run/walk ratio of 6:1.

Around mile 7 I started seeing lights flicker in front of my eyes and realized I was beginning to bonk. I had hardly taken any gels in (from my flask), only water at the aid stations. So I had a sip and got nauseated right away. Oy. So I walked more now, had tiny sips every couple of minutes and pretty much shuffled it into the finish that way. I hardly remember anything from the last 5 miles after the turn-around except that I kept thinking the more I'd run the faster I'd be done with the pain. And that I would never have to do this again!


What would you do differently?:

Follow the training plan more closely and run more.
Post race
Warm down:

Had a hard time packing up my gear, tried to eat a protein bar but got sick.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Stomach. Lack of training at higher HR.

Event comments:

I am so done with this race course. The bumps on the Mormon Lake loop road (bike) and the traffic on Lake Mary Rd (run) really got to me this time. Otherwise it's a great race on a tough course. Well organized and supported.




Last updated: 2010-07-21 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:39:35 | 2112 yards | 01m 52s / 100yards
Age Group: 1/9
Overall: 0/169
Performance: Good
Suit: full
Course: rectangle
Start type: Wade Plus:
Water temp: 70F / 21C Current: Medium
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 04:12
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
03:40:45 | 56 miles | 15.22 mile/hr
Age Group: 8/9
Overall: 0/169
Performance: Good
Wind: Some with gusts
Course: South on Lake Mary Rd, twice around Mormon Lake and back to boat ramp.
Road: Rough  Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 03:55
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
02:52:33 | 13.1 miles | 13m 10s  min/mile
Age Group: 7/9
Overall: 0/169
Performance: Below average
Course: Out and back on Lake Mary Rd. with little extra 1.5 miles up the hill towards Marshall Lake.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Too hard
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 4