MightyMan Montauk - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I was wired, feeling really good and had (for me) a decent swim. When I got out of the water my watch read 38 minutes - same time as my July HIM swim. Granted this should have been faster since my last HIM swim was in the ocean and this was in a lake, but I still am lacking some strength in my shoulder.

Got out of the water and realized quickly it was raining. WTF? www.weather.com said there was only a 20% chance of rain ...that means and 80% chance of sunshine!

I need swim lessons. I'm an average swimmer - I know this and am ok with it.

21st fastest T1 overall. Not too shabby. Still feeling fantastic at this point, despite the rain.

Run even faster.

Going into my last HIM in July (Rhode Island) I'd never done over 40 miles on the bike and I knew I was underprepared. Not so this time around. I'd gotten in three 50 mile bikes and a couple of 40-milers, and I had upped my overall bike training in general. The weekend before I spent an 1h 40 min hammering the drainer. All this resulted in an excellent Bike for me.

I'd raced a good portion of this bike course in an Olympic Montauk race in June and it was my best bike time ever. With this knowledge and comfort I went easy on the first loop, climbed the 2 big hills on the second loop and then hammered the last 15 miles (first time I ever "hammered" at a HIM distance - and it felt great.

While on the bike I drank two bottles of perp, 4 C2Max Powerbar gels, 4 S!Caps and 2 servings of Gatorade.

As far as the Bike itself - nothing. I felt terrific over 56 miles and feel confident that with more training my Bike times will continue to drop.

111th overall. Feet out of shoes, perfect flying dismount. Threw on runner's shorts!! Took 30 seconds to fish through bag to find dry socks.
Not the best Transition time, but I wanted dry socks and it was worth it throwing on runners shorts.

Account for the weather and have dry socks readily available.

When I got off the bike, my saliva tasted like sea water. I'd taken in too much salt on the bike. So my plan was to just drink water at the aid stations in an attempt to flush my system. However, so far the increased sodium intake had staved off the cramps I suffered from in Rhode Island. I started running 8:30 miles that quickly escalated to comfortable 7:50 miles. I was drinking two cups of water at a time at each aid statiuon but the nauseas taste of salt kept getting worse. My head even started hurting and getting cloudy. I flew up the infamous "Murder Hill" and I finished my first loop in a respectable and rather easy 50 minutes... I was cruising to a 1:40 half mary. Considering my last HIM 1/2 mary was a disappointing 2:10 - and considering I can run a solo 1:31 1/2 mary - I was very happy and content to run a 1:40 half.

So there I was running past the crowd, staring my second loop, my lungs felt amazing, my legs were on cruise control, no cramping problems like that have plagued me throughout my first tri-season. I looked down at my watch and it displayed: 4:34 ... feeling this GOOD I was "On Top of the World"... 56 minutes to run 6 miles and nail my first sub 5:30 HIM ... I could see the 5:24 finish time in my mind.

I am so damn beside myself with disappointment I almost don't want to even write the rest. Around mile 7 the mild the naseau became an overwhelming feeling of instant illness. I started feeling so bad I started getting scared. I had no option but to walk. The best way to describe the naseau, it's exacly like when you drink too much alcohol - you're on the verge of puking, the room is spinning - that's exactly where my head was at. Needless to say I ended up walking maybe 4.5 of the 6 miles. I had no one to blame but my self and my terrible, terrible rookie mistake.

It's going to be a long year of waiting for me. Now I have to take this 5 pound bitter pill of disappointment and let it sit in my stomach. This was a very hard lesson learned. By far the hardest lesson I've had to learn in triathlon to date. I put in the training, I had enough experience, my muscles and lungs were more than willing, but me - in all my noviceness, rookieness, inexperience, read-one-too-many articles on the net, try to figure everything out - sabotaged myself and an easy, gloroius suib 5:30 finish with less than 6 miles of 70.3 to go. Siiigh.


Not take in 3,187mg on the bike.

I read that the average Pro Triathlete (which I am obviously not) takes in 800mg and hour. So I took and S!Cap (348 mg) before the race, 4 more S!Caps on the Bike, along with 4 Powerbar C2Max (200mg each), plus two bottles of Perpetuem (231mg per bottle) and 2 servings of Gatorade (110 per serving) So my total Sodium intake for about 3 hours 40 mins was 3,187mg - or roughly 900mg per hour. Not Good. If I had been racing back in July again when it was 85 degrees, I probably would've been fine with the 100+ mg per hour miscalculation ...but seeing as it was 55 degrees, cold and rainy and my sweat rate was probably 1/4 of what it normally is, I sent my body into shock.

I took in so much salt that I burnt the soft part of the roof of my mouth and my tongue. The answer of what I would do differentlt is: account for the weather conditions, and when in doubt follow the rule of thumb that Less is More.

My original plan was to wait at the finish and cheer on all my friends. But due to my brilliant nutrition blunder I was going hypothermic. My lips were blue, my skin was pale, my organs were shivering. My wife and 4-year-old (I actually needed his help too! that's how pathetically helpless I was) got me to the van and got me to the hotel and I sat in a hot shower for a half hour and my body temp finally got somewhere near normal.


NACL

I can still taste some even now. I'm such a fool.


This race was well marked, well run, the scenery is Unbelievable, volunteers and aid stations were a plenty ... but the difference between this race and an M-Dot race are glaring. There was only water, coke, heed and hammer gels at the aid stations: No gatorade, no food!! No bananas, powerbars, oranges, etc... For $235.00 I would've liked and could've used some solid foods at the last few aid stations. Granted there was all of these things at the finish line.

Despite that, this an overall very well run event in a magical location.