Ironman 70.3 Eagleman Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Uneventful. Lined up near outside buoy as I saw the pros had done (although at least I was behind the white buoys unlike the men and women pros who went off at least 10 yards ahead of them ...) and then settled into a steady pace. Drafted a bit. Didn't feel like I was pushing this at all.

Nothing. It would take some serious commitment to improve my swim further and it does me fine with minimal training (about 3000-4000 yards per week). 9 min improvement from the non wetsuit 2011 swim - currents and trisuits have their effect ....

Not much to report. Didn't cut my suit after Columbia so was expecting more trouble getting it off.

Not much although I lost a minute on Crowie here alone.

This is where I loose out as a lighter cyclist. The big boys just put their heads down and drive out the watts. I did beat my time from last year by 4 minutes which - considering the relatively small amount of saddle time I've had - was surprising. But the conditions were perfect for a fast ride. I tried not to go out too fast and to keep the HR around low 140s. Worked fine although in hindsight was it too fast ?

Possibly hold back even more - see run comments.

Again uneventful. Applied sunscreen which cost me a few minutes but may have saved me from skin cancer. A small price to pay.

Nothing

And so the wheels came off like many others on that day. I started off looking to run a smooth 8:00 pace which I did for the first couple of miles. But by mile 3 I need to walk the aid stations as I was so hot. It just got worse from there. I always managed to start running again after the aid stations but the process of ice, water, coke (when available - not all aid stations had it) together with my miserable pace meant that I was struggling to hold 9:00 min miles on the way out.

Caught up with Rob at the aid station at mile 11 and we ran a little bit together before he said he was going to have to walk again so we parted company and I shuffled off to the finish line. I did - once again - manage to sprint down the chute and passed about 4 people.

Felt bad and sat down briefly in te finishing chute then went round to the Mid Maryland tent and sat for a long while not making much sense I suspect. Revived by two cans of coke and Ellie bringing me a plate of food about an hour later.


Was this poor run solely caused by the heat alone ? Did I not drink enough on the bike ? Did I push too fast on the bike for my fitness level ? Do I just not have the mental strength to push through these tough situations ? I simply don't know. What I do know is that a 2:03 half mary, even in those conditions was an extremely sub par run. I think my open half mary time in decent conditions right now would be about 1:35 (I ran 8 miles of the Frederick relay in 6:50 miles relatively comfortably) so a 30 min delta is shocking.


A 3 min PR. But it didn't feel like it on the day and it doesn't feel like it now. I set myself up for a 5:05 or less and didn't execute on the run. Clearly I didn't do enough consistent training - the move back to the UK has taken up some time, we have travelled quite a bit to visit places before we leave the US and Caroline taking up triathlons also compromised some of my training. But would I have changed any of that ? Nope. I don't have the level of commitment to this sport to trade 15 mins on the course for life experiences like we have had in the last 6 months.

Eagleman finds you out in a way that Columbia doesn't. So the cream really does rise to the top : it is a race for elites that some of us lesser athletes 'participate' in. But it is a privilege to be on the same course as some of those athletes. I saw TJ and Crowie on the bike course tanking it along. You can't say that 'I saw Tiger on the 11th while I was putting out on the 5th today'.

Another great race by TriColumbia. My last. I'd only suggest more coke on the run course, suncreen volunteers coming out of T2. And less heat.

And so a chapter in my life closes as we prepare to head home to the UK in a month. Four years ago I could barely spell triathlon. Now I am an Ironman, and Half Ironman several times over. My whole family has embraced multisports. And for that I am very grateful.