Ironman 70.3 Eagleman Triathlon - Triathlon

My wave went off at 7:35 AM. I did a decent amount of chatting with folks pre-race and then at about 7:20 decided it was time to get my suit on. I was really taking my time as I though I had plenty of time. The suit was on and I made my way over to the boat ramp. Ops... I hear the announcer say...3 minutes until we start men. Is that my wave? Yup. Dude put your head on straight you've got only a few minutes to get focused and get in the water. Maybe it was a good thing as I didn't over think things but I typically like to be in the water early and get a few easy swimming efforts in.

In any event I made it into the water and positioned myself on the near right white buoy marker. Looked like straight enough shot to the first orange marker and honestly I like swimming the buoy line. No one near me and plenty of space. 5.4.3.2.1....Go!

I took off and didn't really put in the normal 50-100 meter sprint that I have done in the past. I did that for a few reasons. Namely no one was with me. I was clear of the entire AG within about 15 meters. Kinda odd.... I breath to the left so I could see the entire wave slightly falling back. So I settled into a very comfortable pace. The new wetsuit was perfect. Very comfortable and I honestly didn't even feel like I had it on. I felt great in the water. Breathing was perfect and it felt like a normal 70.3 effort to me. Catching the waves in front of me proved a little more challenging this year. Lots of people scattered all over the place. I made sure I stayed clear of running over anyone. I am not a fan of doing that to people and making the beginning of their days unsafe.

I rounded the last set of buoys for home and the return trip was much faster despite the sheltered area we were swimming in. At this point with about 100 yards to go I didn't care so much about time but I certainly wanted out of the water and I wanted to let it rip on the bike. Time to get this race started.

I came out of the water and the breakaway zipper on the suit was perfect. One quick pull and the suit was off and down to my waist.

I did have an issue getting it over my big feet but that's not unusual. My Blue Seventy was the same until I cut it a few years ago.

Be about 5 minutes earlier to the swim start.

I made one mistake here. I was in isle N and my bike was not 10 yards from where you enter transition. For some dumb reason I entered on the wrong side of my row and had a really hard time spotting my ride. The Stealth Black bike is really hard to see when racked with other black bikes. ;) Maybe next race I'll opt for some balloons hanging from my spot.

Once I found the bike I grabbed all my stuff and was off. The transition area still under 2-6 inches of mud was a mess to get through. They changed up the transition area this year. 1st time I've ever seen it in this configuration. It was a really long run to the bike mount line this year. By the time I got there my legs were covered in mud as were my feet. I tired my best to drag my feet in the grass to get the mud off. Hit my bike and was off pretty quickly. No time time worry about being dirty.

Not run down the wrong row. My wife took a great photo of my with this confused look on my face.

The ride started off the same as it always does. Over the first few miles there are a lot of turns and your in the town section before you hit the open roads. I really like to punch it here and power through that section. There are still a lot of people and a lot of race traffic and it can be dangerous in these areas. So I like to get out of there as fast as possible and then hit the open roads and go to work. I really don't put any caps on power/effort here but I guess maybe I should have backed off a touch. As it was pointed out to me there were several big surges in the first 10 miles in the 400-500 Watt range and I think I spent a considerable amount of time well above my 340 FTP as well. Oh well that's racing.

Once I hit the open roads I felt great. The new bike was comfortable and I felt like I was flying. Avg. Speed was coming up well above 26 MPH and power was hovering in the 300 Avg Watt range. Possibly a little to high but I honestly felt great.

At about mile 30 I roll up on Chris Thomas and he's got his head down and seemed to be a little unfocused. I realize it was him and yell, :...LETS GO MAN! GET ON IT!" Unintentionally, I scare the living crap out of him! Sorry Chris that was not my intent. Anyway I kept on trucking and looked back about 5 minutes later and he was right with me. Perfect. Chris is a freekin beast in this sport. The guy has done it all. So he was a perfect ally to be riding with at this point. For a small dude he's got a huge Power to Weight Ratio. So the last 40K of this bike we both rode together, legally, and swapped positions a few times. I'm pretty sure it helped both of us get though a few tougher spots of this ride.

At the half way point I reset my interval which I normally don't do on this course but I wanted to see my AP numbers. I decided at that point that I would drop things to the 280-285 range and see how that went. I was still feeling good but the later stages of this race get you. The roads become a mess and your lower back and hips can take a beating. I did start to fade a touch but it was worth it as I still had to run.

2 miles to go and I shut it down and made the last few minutes easy and a time to regroup and not make any mistakes in the turns back to T2.

Nothing. I'm not one to pace things. It's a race after all.

Back through the mud and carrying the bike on my shoulder this time. Lots of fun after a hard ride.

My legs, again, covered in mud! Shoes on, garmin on, visor and out the door!

Nothing

Normally in all of my races since I started this sport I feel very good coming off the bike. I usually never struggle until later in the run. With the exception of 2008 Eagleman which might have been one of my most epic melt downs ever in racing.

From the very beginning of this run, I didn't have it. My legs were just not there. Looking back I'd like to put a finger on one or two things that may have been the cause. Was it those 400-500 watt efforts? Nope. I don't think so. I've looked at my 2011 & 2012 power files from this race. Almost 1:1 files despite averaging 10 Average Watts more this year.

My fitness this year is probably 5-10% better than last year across the board. If I had to blame one thing my guess is going to be the horrific humidity that we had out there. For me at 180 lbs it makes it tough. The tale of my bad run can been seen in the high HR numbers. I'd venture to guess that it was a combination of dehydration and weather (humidity).

Back to the run. Through the first few miles I was struggling to get into a groove. By mile 4 I came around and things felt much better. I still had Chris at about 30-40 seconds ahead of me at the 6.5 mile turn around and honestly felt like I would not lose much more time on him. He was 5 minutes ahead of me in the 40-44 wave so I knew I was placed ahead of him in the standing. I was using him to queue off of and pull me along. Then it happened. I saw Sami and he looked pretty dam good. I was told I looked good but honestly inside I was having an internal struggle with the heat, my breathing and trying to shift into another gear. I was also watching my run splits slip and knew that there was not much hope in willing myself to a faster run. Sometimes you just don't have it. You have to come to grips with that at some point and try to salvage a decent race. Slowing down was my option and trying to manage body temp at the aid stations with ice and water was my other option. Walking is not an option. The longer your out there the worse it can get. So priority one was getting off the course as fast as possible.

Once Sami caught me the conversation got interesting. We probably spent a half mile running together talking about how guys who are 180 lbs are not made to go fast in this weather. Gotta love that. In any event he took off on me and opened a gap and I was content at that point where I was. Well content would be the wrong word. I was hurting but happy to be getting closer to the finish.

The last 5K felt to me a lot like it did with temps about 10 degrees hotter in the previous years. I got a guy to hose me down with about 1.5 miles to go and honestly think things would have really gotten a lot worse for me over the last mile if he didn't do that. The usual down "hill" mile finish was not nearly as fun or enjoyable as it's been in the past.

I was glad to see my family standing just up near the finish line and gave a great high 5 to my son. He was excited. My daughter ran next to me on the other side of the barricade and could not have been happier. Glad they like this stuff and despite all the waiting around still get so get a little bit of enjoyment out of it.

Finished again...and wiped out.

Who knows. I'll always give it my all from the sound of the gun. It's a race and I'm there to get the most out of myself physically and mentally. I put a lot of training in and doing anything less would be selling myself and my family short.

Certainly this run is not a good reflection of my fitness. In fact, funny how its now Thursday after the race and last night I ran 9 miles in the low 6:40 range. Glad to seem my run finally showed up! :)

Loosen up in the Choptank and cool off.


Nothing


Tri Columbia constantly puts on a good Eagleman. Even with the change in mgmt at Tri Columbia they still get it down and do it right. My only comment is that it's a super long day for everyone. Especially, racers with families. Those of us sticking around for the awards and slot allocation had a very long wait this year. I realize there were lots of penalties that had to be scored and adjusted but getting out of there at 6:30 PM or later when I'm done racing before noon is not my idea of fun. Others had it worse. I only had a 3 hour drive. Some people I knew were driving back to New England or Ohio/Pittsburgh.