EagleMan Ironman 70.3 Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Cambridge, Maryland
United States
Columbia Triathlon Association
95F / 35C
Sunny
Total Time = 4h 42m 12s
Overall Rank = 61/1400
Age Group = M30-34
Age Group Rank = 10/125
Pre-race routine:

Woke up at 4:00 AM. Took a shower and started to get loose. Was not very hungry but forced myself to eat the normal yogurt and granola with a few glasses of water and a nice strong coffee. Some minor stretching and then a short drive over to the race site. Nice to stay less than a mile away. Got the bike all set up by 5:30 am and had time to just chill, use the bathroom and think about how god d@m hot it was going to be. 5:30 AM and I worked up a sweat just trying to set up my transition area.
Event warmup:

Light swim when we got into the water. Putting on the wet suit 10 mins before the wave start was a bad idea. I was sweating like crazy.
Swim
  • 27m 11s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 17s / 100 yards
Comments:

Worst swim in my triathlon career. Got my a$$ handed to me in the first 100 yards. I got run over by a few guys which normally never happens and then I swam into about 5 guys on the way to the first buoy. By the second buoy the entire lead back went way right. I was swimming dead on the buoy line so I was not going to follow those guys. Aside from the line I swam everything else was terrible. When we hit the first turn the entire lead back mins one guys merged back in with me. They must have swum an extra 12-25 yards out of their way. Then we started catching the wave in front of us and it was a mess. It was like a shotgun blast of swimmers. None swimming a straight line. Again I was all over guys.

Breathing was a mess and I think that is what caused me to fall apart. I could never catch my breath during the entire swim. So I just backed off and cruised the last half. I was trying to stay as controlled as possible with out overextending so early in the race. From there I made it up the boat ramp and was glad to get the wetsuit off. I was totally overheating in that thing. Way too warm for a wetsuit swim....

What would you do differently?:

Nothing.
Transition 1
  • 02m 19s
Comments:

Fast transition. Just needed to get the wetsuit off and I was out of there.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing
Bike
  • 2h 17m 46s
  • 56 miles
  • 24.39 mile/hr
Comments:

The idea here was to take 5 mins and get my body settled down and then drop the hammer. I have not been training much on the run this year due to some health issues so I was relying on a huge bike lead with a decent swim and some solid transition to get me in the top of the pack. Bike fitness is better when compared to last year at this time so I thought for sure I would ride under 2:15.

Right away my legs felt good but not great like last weekend. But I was ok with it because I was not fatigued and I certainly could work with what I felt like. At 5 mins in I stood up and took off. Pulled away from the small pack I was in and took off. As I did this the winner of my age group decided to chase after me. I passed Bill from my Tri club and gave him a quick hello. He was looking good.

The first 40K was pretty blistering. We were holding 26-28 for most of the sections. The guy who was up my a$$ in my age group really didn't take too many legal pulls which pissed me off a lot. But I was not going to say too much. I was trying to stay focused on my race and how I was feeling. At mile 40 I pretty much hit the wall. My back seized up and I started to overheat. I grabbed water at one exchange and dumped it on my head but it was pretty much too late...

The last 15 was a real test. My back was killing me, me head was way hot in the aero helmet and I just plain and simply wanted off the bike. I was done with the ride. Tough part was, I was averaging 25.9 when I feel off the pace. The guy in my age group lost me and that was that.

What would you do differently?:

Nothing.
Transition 2
  • 02m 27s
Comments:

Nothing much here. Realized I was 2nd in my age group at this point and decided to stay with it for as long as I could. The heat an my body were not working well together at this point.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing
Run
  • 1h 52m 30s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 08m 35s  min/mile
Comments:

With no run training it’s a minor miracle that I even decided to do this considering the heat. But I was not going to DNF unless I was medically unable to finish.

So I started off and in the 1st qtr mile my quads and calf’s both locked up to the point that I could not move. This was not the normal chally horse either. This was the rigamortis is setting in and I feel like I would rather have my legs amputated pain.

Anyway...I bend over and stretched out for a bit and noticed I was not the only one in the same situation. Top guys in the 25-29 were right there with me. Mile 1 was a 10 min mile...

At about mile 3-4 I saw Chris Leigh walking in no mans land, (he was in 2nd place at the time). Terenzo Bozzone was running up on him and trying to get him to run with him but he was not looking well. If they were walking on the way back I was starting to get really concerned for myself.

After that I held up pretty good until the turn around. When the turn around came and went I realized I had dropped about 2 positions and was running in 4th in my age group. I kept making deals with myself. Just keep running until you get passed or you get to an aid station. I walked pretty much every aid station and so did everyone else out there. At about mile 9 I just simply had a meltdown. I was way overheated and my pace was about 8:10-8:20s... I just decided that at this point if I finish standing up I would be happy. I ran with someone in 25-29 who was walking because of stomach issues and blisters. We kind of picked each other up and kept taking for the last few miles. He had a garmin and was telling me how far we had to go. We were running like 8s at that point and honestly it felt more like 10 min miles. It was dreadful. The last 5k seemed like it would last forever. Finally we got within distance to hear the finish line and we started to talk about if I should drop back and let him get a good photo finish. I honestly didn't care at that point. Until, one of my new buddies Kevin Farly decided to run by me at like 6 min mile pace and sprint to the line. I look down and saw he was 30-34 and I looked over at the guy I was running with and asked if he though I should go get him. He told me to give chase and I took off after him. I matched his pace but there was just not enough ground to catch him. I crossed the line and took a seat next to him and had a great laugh as they hosed us off with cold water for about 10 minutes. What a mess!

What would you do differently?:

Train more....
Post race
Warm down:

Went back into the Chop Tank to let legs unwind. When that didn't work I went to the massage tent.. That helped.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Heat and run training.

Event comments:

Race is great. I will sign up for it again next year as well. It's a tough course. All day hammering leaves you a mess.




Last updated: 2008-01-04 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:27:11 | 2112 yards | 01m 17s / 100yards
Age Group: 9/125
Overall: 0/1400
Performance: Bad
Suit: Full Suit
Course: Triangle shaped course.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 76F / 24C Current: Low
200M Perf. Bad Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Bad Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 02:19
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
02:17:46 | 56 miles | 24.39 mile/hr
Age Group: 2/125
Overall: 0/1400
Performance: Average
Wind: Little
Course: 1 loop through farm roads and wildlife refuge.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills:
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 02:27
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Average
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
01:52:30 | 13.1 miles | 08m 35s  min/mile
Age Group: 26/125
Overall: 0/1400
Performance: Bad
Course: Out and back with no shade at all!
Keeping cool Below average Drinking Too much
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 2
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4