Patriot Half Iron - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

So I have done a half a dozen swims THIS YEAR...none of this distance. Can it be a nice calm day...no no no, we need whitecaps...perfect. Okay, just take your time and try not to drown. The first leg went straight out into the wind. I could see the strong swimmers plow right through it but the weaker swimmers really struggled...hmm, something to look forward to.

So my wave is finally up and I am done being nervous, I'll just get through it. I discover early that I really need to turn my head when I breath or just get a mouthful of water. I am actually swimming pretty straight but I have to focus so much on breathing that my pulling is really pathetic and it is taking for ever to get to the first turn. Once I got around the turn, I actually had a pretty decent swim to the next turn. I went pretty straight and got into a nice rythm. However, once I hit the turn for home, everything just went to hell. My arms were killing me, I kept pulling to the right and I was swallowing massive amounts of water everytime I breathed. I stopped a couple of times just to calm down and get refocussed. Finally I hit land and literally just stood there for a few seconds...man that sucked.

I am pretty comfortable in the water but I just don't have anything resembling swim endurance so if it is anything other than ideal conditions, I really struggle. Just need to swim more.

This being a training day, I just took my time.

First, I am firm believer that over longer distances, flat courses are not any faster than hilly courses (within reason). In my mind, this course was just painful. They had to change the course due to road contruction which added 4 miles (prefect). In addition, it was so damn flat. Even the few up hills were not followed by downhills. I can think of only one section which I actually went fast enough to coast. So think of hoping on your trainer, putting it into the big gear, dropping into the aerobars and not moving for 3 hours...ouch. By the second loop, anything remotely resembling a hill I was standing just to get some relief.

I tried to pace myself as best I could but probably pushed a little too hard. One thing I love about shorter races is that you just drop the hammer and hang on for dear life. For this type of race, you have to be patient (which I am not good at). When I felt myself pushing too much, I backed off. The course was quite scenic and I had riding buddies most of the time. We all road clean but pretty much stayed with other for a good part of the race. About halfway through the second loop, all but one seem to drop off (but I don't remember really picking up the pace).

By mile 50, I just wanted to be off the bike. My legs were starting to ache, my neck was killing me and I was not looking forward to the half marathon coming up. Pretty much from mile 50-60, I backed way off and tried to save my legs. I spun much more, even coasted once or twice and tried to fuel up. Finally I reached transition and it felt SOOOO good to get out of the aerobars.

Nothing really

Again, really took my time as I was not in any rush.

Ahh, the run. I just wanted to cover the distance in the least amount of pain. So far I had done my longest swim of the year in the worst conditions I ever swam in, did my second longest ride and now was heading out on my longest run. I had no delusions about running quickly.

I actually felt really good to start but made sure I kept it at no faster tha 9/mile pace as I knew it was going to get harder. I was having a little bit of stomach issues so gels where just not happening. Instead, I switched to the miracle drug...warm coke. It is amazing how fast and how much it works. So I survived on coke and water for the rest of the run. I did however stop at a few of the aid stations and chatted it up a bit, ate some oranges and a little candy. This was such a change of pace for me. I am usually so focussed on going fast it was nice to slow down, talk with the volunteers and check out the scenery. I was still running at 9/mile pace but stopped at every aid station and drank as much as I could. I just walked until my cups were empty.

By mile 11.5, the tank was empty and I walked quite bit. My number one goal was to NOT beat the hell out of myself and if that meant walking, so be it. When I finally crossed the line, I was tired as hell but felt pretty good in general. This was a whole different experience than Timberman. It is amazing the role that nutrition plays. I was in much better long course shape heading into Timberman two years ago but my time was quite a bit slower. If you factor in the longer bike which probably added 12-15 minutes, I was about a half hour faster just because I ate and drank so much better. I just find it interesing to think that your whole race can some crumbling down if you mess up this one area.

Nothing, I think I paced myself pretty well and I am happy with the run...especially since I can still walk today :)

Drank a little water, headed to transition and grabbed all of my stuff. I knew I needed calories but my stomach was a little upset so I just stuck with water. I lied down in the back of my truck for a little bit and then packed up and headed home. I had a long drive and I wanted to make sure I started to drive as I was only going to get more tired.


Training


I thought the race was very well down, especially for a first year HIM.