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Timberman - Half Iron
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Timberman - Half Iron - Triathlon
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 Swim
Comments: I lined up to the far left towards the front. I figured I would let the fish take the middle and lead the way to the first buoy, and I would move toward the middle and find some feet to follow. A good concept, but every time I tried to move a little toward the middle, I got bumped back to the outside. I kept aiming for the police boat, but every time I sighted, I was heading well left. Partly due to zero open water practice, and partly due to very little room. Also, I was having a hard time sighting because it was starting to get choppy and got even worse around the corner. I ended up getting a mouthful of water for almost every breath I took. I tried bilateral breathing, but that only helped a little, and I'm not that comfortable with it. Plus, for many time I tried to sight I only saw another wave coming at me. Every time I tried to concentrate on good form, and making good forward progress, I would look up and see I was off course again - or not see anything but water. At one point on this stretch, I ran into someone full head on - like we were 90 degrees. He was going way too right, and I was probably going too left. It was definitely a little chaotic. Finally, coming back in, I started cramping on my left. First my toes a bit, then a full out calf cramp where I had to stop and stretch it out while treading water. (Thank you wet-suit!) Getting to the beach was such a relief! This swim was a total disaster, and I can only blame my lack of preparation. I've spent very, very little time in the pool, and only one OWS besides a couple of races for the entire summer! BTW - after the cramp, I put my goggles up on my head, and swam with them that way. I had planned on trying no goggles on Saturday, and definitely preferred going without the goggles. Next year! What would you do differently?: Skip the goggles. Goggles are for the pool or salt water from now on! And, of course, practice OWS!  Transition 1
Comments: Getting my wetsuit off, my leg was still cramping, or threatening to, so I had to take it really slowly to avoid another full out cramp. Other than that, moved along about as well as I could have considering I was feeling a little beat up and PO'd. What would you do differently?: Not much I could do except better conditioning for the swim, and go back to the running mount I've practiced before.  Bike
Comments: The bike went fine. Thanks to the Mavic guys the day before, my bike was in relatively pretty good shape. I had some gear changing issues that definitely cost me some momentum here and there, but no biggie. What would you do differently?: I have read in several places that it's best to avoid solids during an event of this length, so I stuck with just my infiniT mix on my bike. I had enough calories in there, and drank regularly from my Profile design aero bottle set up (although I did have to get into my drops to reach my make-shift duct taped straws! :-). I made up two bottles of concentrated mix. Put one in the aero bottle pr-race, and one in my down tube. Then drank the concentrated mix with water from the course. I thought i had it covered pretty well. Did a 3+ hour ride that way a couple weeks ago, and felt great. However, on Sunday, about 1/3 of the way through the bike I started to feel a little nauseous. I thought maybe I wasn't drinking enough water to wash down the concentrated mix, so I drank a bunch more water without mix. It didn't seem to help. It wasn't a big deal while on the bike, so I just kind of sucked it up and kept rolling. I finished all of the infiniT concentrated mix (48 Oz.- 2 water bottles) , and several bottle of water that I picked up on course. I had to pee towards the end, but have yet to master the skill of taking care of that while on my bike. My seat and my shoes thank me, but my bladder was getting pretty PO'd. Transition 2
Comments: Good job getting out of my shoes rolling into T2. Rolling dismount and quick jog into T2. Grabbed my hat, slipped into my shoes OK, and grabbed my amphipod with 3 8 Oz. bottles of regular concentrate infiniT mix. I tossed one bottle back into my Trans bag, because it was cool out, and I was thinking I had taken in about enough of the infiniT. What would you do differently?: Speedlaces are good, but I still should have clamped them down a bit as my right shoe was a little loose, and I had to stop later and tighten it.  Run
Comments: As soon as I started to tun, my stomach issues were magnified tenfold. I could deal with the nausea on the bike OK, but with each running step, it just got worse and worse. I started out at a decent clip, thinking I could work through the nausea, but it just worsened, and I slowed down a lot to see if I could nurse it better. No luck there either. A couple of miles into it, I realized my sub-5 stretch goal was way out of reach, but I could still finish in my "satisfied" goal range if I stuck with it. Suprisingly, looking at my splits, I was still hitting mid-six minute miles for the first couple of miles. At mile 4, I stopped at a porta-potty and must have pee'd for about 3 minutes!! At the turn, I saw Christina who was taking video and being incredible, and said "This was a bad idea!" Into the second half I laughed out loud at myself because I now know what they are talking about when they use the term "deathmarch". Everytime I tried to pick up the pace, my stomach would just revolt. I was looking into the woods for a good place to puke several times, but never stopped. Finally, I saw the eleven mile marker, and decided that I would regret just limping in no matter how bad it hurt me, so I picked up the last two miles and a strong - extremely painful kick into the finish. Christina was right there cheering me in, and decided against videoing me when she saw my expression. The horrified look on her face told me how bad I must have looked. I staggered over to the edge of the lake, and did a little dry-heaving, and wandered into the water for a bit. After abou ten minuted, we wandered back to the car so I could get some dry clothes on, as I was shivering and not doing well. After 20 minutes in the car, we got back to the food tent, and I got some solid food in me. And magically, started feeling better. Over the next hour, I was back to 90%. Although, I did skip the free beer! {GASP!} What would you do differently?: Seems like perhaps the no solid food nutrition thing didn't work for me. This is something I've got to figure out before my next 1/2 Mooseman next year! Post race
What limited your ability to perform faster: I messed up the 4th discipline - nutrition. Live and learn, I guess. Event comments: Endorfun is simply the best aroound! An awesome event! I feel SO lucky to have this incredible event right in my "backyard"! I didn't hit my stretch goal of sub-5, so I'm frankly a little disapointed, but was in my "acceptable" range. I know what I need to work on, and am confident I can get it figured out. Except for swimming, my fitness level was fine for a half. Looking at the fact this was my first HIM - my 5th triathlon (my first triathlon was less than a year ago) - my first road race since high school was less than 2 years ago - and 3 years ago, I was almost 50 lbs heavier. I guess I should be pleased. Just wish I was... :-) If you read this whole thing - YOU must have a high level of fitness! :-) Profile Album Last updated: 2006-04-04 12:00 AM
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 2006-08-23 6:27 AM |
Expert  702   Manchester, NH |  Subject: Timberman - Half Iron |
| 2006-08-23 7:49 AM in reply to: #519273 |
Expert 658 San Diego | Subject: RE: Timberman - Half Iron Wow man, your bike and run are fantastic! Great finish on your first HIM. Next time you should get under 5. |
| 2006-08-23 9:14 AM in reply to: #519273 |
New user 15 | Subject: RE: Timberman - Half Iron Such a fantastic time - you really are so FAST in all the disciplines!! I'd be doing cartwheels at the finish line if I'd managed to get the time you did! And you did all that while not feeling good during the run?? Truly impressive. Looking at your performance here is just inspiring. Great race and great report! |
| 2006-08-23 10:26 AM in reply to: #519273 |
Regular 57 | Subject: RE: Timberman - Half Iron Great RR. Another satisfied infiniIT user I see! I had aerobottle issues of my own - I forgot to grab the longer straw and didn't realize it until mile 1 of the bike. Oh well. Kick butt race! I'm sure you'll sub 5 soon. I took my lessons learned from last year's Tman and felt much better this year when it comes to nutrition. Unfortunately training is not racing and its hard to be 100% sure what works until you're at the race. Way to go though! See you at moose! |
| 2006-08-23 10:28 AM in reply to: #519273 |
Veteran 118 Roseville, California | Subject: RE: Timberman - Half Iron Terrific job! Way to smoke the run after posting an impressive bike leg! |
| 2006-08-23 11:19 AM in reply to: #519273 |
Pro 4612 MA | Subject: RE: Timberman - Half Iron Great race, fantasitic report! The straw issue is so funny. I'll get you some tygon tubing from my lab next time. They come in all sizes and thickness. Off course and still swimming 2:03/100 yard. You're really a fish. No, you're still more a cheetah than a fish. Crazy. Try Yankz on your running shoes. Works wonder on mine. If you read this whole thing - YOU must have a high level of fitness! :-) Yay! |
| 2006-08-23 1:08 PM in reply to: #519273 |
Master 1557 Maine | Subject: RE: Timberman - Half Iron Great job for your first half IM - sounds like you had some of the same problems as I did at Mooseman with the liquid diet. Peanut butter crackers are a good thing, I think. Sounds like the swim was pretty crazy, but your other splits are excellent - top 10% age group for the run, even with the nausea - that's just awesome. Here's to sub-5 at Moose next year. |
| 2006-08-23 2:16 PM in reply to: #519273 |
Not a Coach 11473 Media, PA | Subject: RE: Timberman - Half Iron Great race--especially for your first HIM. I felt great for most of the run and still wasn't as fast as you!I'm sure you'll be able to go sub-5 soon. Good luck! |
| 2006-08-23 2:36 PM in reply to: #519273 |
Expert 1296 | Subject: RE: Timberman - Half Iron Great race report. Nice job keeping it together and digging deep when it counted! |
| 2006-08-23 4:19 PM in reply to: #519273 |
Master 1641 Cambridge, MA | Subject: RE: Timberman - Half Iron You've shed lots of time along with those pounds...way to race, man! Good to meet you out there, too. Looking forward to next year already!! |
| 2006-08-23 4:29 PM in reply to: #519273 |
Extreme Veteran 466 | Subject: RE: Timberman - Half Iron Great race! Hmm, messed up the nutrition on the bike and paid for it on the run- you weren't supposed to follow my race plan you know. |
| 2006-08-23 10:22 PM in reply to: #519273 |
Champion 19812 MA | Subject: RE: Timberman - Half Iron Wow...you did great ....fast splits all around even with stomach issues! Interesting that nutrition worked in training but not racing...wish it was easier to learn if it worked that in an actual race. Cool you lost lots of weight and gained incredible fitness! Congrats! So you doing HIM at Mooseman next year? I love the races up there... |
| 2006-08-24 1:19 PM in reply to: #519314 |
Expert 702 Manchester, NH | Subject: RE: Timberman - Half Iron thegomer - 2006-08-23 8:49 AMWow man, your bike and run are fantastic! Great finish on your first HIM. Next time you should get under 5. Thanks! Can you show me how to swim?? You were QUICK!! |
| 2006-08-24 5:23 PM in reply to: #519273 |
Extreme Veteran 392 , Queensland Gold member | Subject: RE: Timberman - Half Iron Great effort under poor conditions (both internal & external Pity the umbreallas didn't stay on the straws! |
). Sub 5 definitely next time! | 2006-08-24 8:47 PM in reply to: #519273 |
Master 1946 Bronze member | Subject: RE: Timberman - Half Iron Loved reading your RR...and pretty impressive times & finish for a guy with "issues" and the conditions- top 10 % of the run ??!! Can't imagine you not meeting or exceeding your goal for the next one. Congrats!! |
| 2006-08-25 1:44 PM in reply to: #519273 |
Coach 10487 Boston, MA | Subject: RE: Timberman - Half Iron Awesome Job! It was a very hard day to go after a goal time and I think you did a fantastic job. Your bike and run are f---ing awesome |
| 2006-08-25 4:00 PM in reply to: #519273 |
Master 2231 Des Moines, Iowa | Subject: RE: Timberman - Half Iron Great job on the race...enjoyed the race report too. Congrats on your first HIM ! Ohhhhh....and I wish I could have those run splits on a normal 13 mile run :-) |
| 2006-08-25 5:00 PM in reply to: #522456 |
Elite 2915 New City, New York | Subject: RE: Timberman - Half Iron Great Job, Congrats. Nice race to have in your backyard. You'll be awesome when you figure out the nutrition. See you next year! |
| 2006-08-25 9:34 PM in reply to: #522508 |
Veteran 215 Pound Ridge, NY | Subject: RE: Timberman - Half Iron i don't know about you...but all the race reports sound very similar. difficulty, pushing throug when you find problems and finish. however...your race report sounded similar to mine expect for the finsihing time!! holy crap, dude! you are one fast M-Fer. great job. keep it up. you'll get it all right. these races lend themselves to learning about ourselves and how we can succeed. |
| 2006-08-28 2:07 PM in reply to: #519416 |
Expert 702 Manchester, NH | Subject: RE: Timberman - Half Iron paulwitherspoon - 2006-08-23 10:14 AMSuch a fantastic time - you really are so FAST in all the disciplines!! I'd be doing cartwheels at the finish line if I'd managed to get the time you did! And you did all that while not feeling good during the run?? Truly impressive. Looking at your performance here is just inspiring. Great race and great report! Thanks, Paul! Great job, yourself! Looks like we'll both be at Baystate in October? I'm psyched for it! |
| 2006-08-28 2:24 PM in reply to: #519273 |
New user 15 | Subject: RE: Timberman - Half Iron That's cool that you are running Baystate too. I'm excited for it - it'll be my first marathon. Will you be using it as a qualifier for Boston? If you are I can see you'll have no problems hitting the time that you need. I'm going to try and make the time to qualify, but I'm not sure that's realistic for me this year. But I've never let realism stand in my way before  |
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EndorFun
78F / 26C
Precipitation
Overall Rank = 253/1368
Age Group = M35-39
Age Group Rank = 56/226
This report is way too long, but I want to capture as much as I can to learn from my mistakes for next year.
Christina and I got up to Gilford on Saturday early afternoon. My hopes were to catch up with soem of the BT folks at Ellacoya who were swimming at 12:30. The parking lot that they call Rt 11 prevented this from happening. So, we changed the plan and hit the Expo, and pre-registered at Gunstock. I had a burger, and Christina had a hot dog. Then, we headed down to Ellacoya, so I could spend little more time with my bike. It's been giving me a really hard time with shifting, and the hub on the front wheel had been "pinging". For every adustment I made, and everything I "fixed" something else would get out of line and screw up. I messed with it for almost an hour, and almost threw it into the lake a couple of times, when Christina pointed out the that the Mavic tent was right there, and they appeared to be helping people out for free! Wow! I had no idea that was an option, and free is a beautiful thing! So, I brought the bike to the tent, and only waited about 10 minutes before a guy was working on my bike. I asked him if mine was the oldest bike he had worked on this weekend. he laughed, and said "Yeah, by far!" :-) I told him I would kick butt if they had age group rankings for bikes! Well, he fixed the pinging 100% - told me my ballbearing were shot- and got the shifting pretty good. Better than it was, certainly. Amazing what you can do in 10 minutes when you know what you're doing...
By then, it was too late for my planned swim, and/or run. We still needed to check in to our room, and get to the carbo load dinner. I'm not going to share the name of our place because I booked it only one week before the event (was originally planning on driving up in the AM) and it was only 6-7 minutes from the park. But more importantly, while Rt 11 was backed up for an hour plus on race morning, I was at Ellacoya in - you got it - 6-7 minutes! Plus a kitchen w/ full fridge, stove etc... Would have been ideal for a whole long weekend (next year) My little secret for now:-)
Anyway, I had two big plates of pasta with a little meat sauce mixed in. A little salad and 3 dinner rolls. Nice meal free for me and $10 for Christina. We then headed to walmart because I had forgotten the stupid straws that go into my podium Quest Aero Bottle. I wash the straws after every use, and had left them hanging on the wall at home. Grrr.. Walmart didn't have the right size tubing, but I bought some fish tank line, and took a recommendation to try VIP auto parts for a gas line!?!?!!? The VIP guy looked at my like I had 3 heads and showed me the gas line - made of thick black rubber- and said he wouldn't drink out of it if I paid him to. I took a look and agreed 100%. So, we hit CVS on the way back where I grabbed a little package of cheesy tropical umbrella straws. I duct taped those suckers into the bottle, and was good to go. I tried to keep the umbrellas on the straws, but it wasn't very aero, and would have really been in the way. Too bad :-)
Pretty decent night's sleep.
Woke up at 4:30 and had a powerbar. I had read in a few places not to have solids within 3 hours of the event. I had planned to go back to sleep until 5:15, but couldn't. Got everything ready, had an Ensure, woke Christina, and we were at the park in a few minutes :-)
It wasn't pouring, but it was definitely heavy rain. We just hung out in the car for a while, and I had my second Ensure. (360 cals. ea.) Finally, went and got set up in the rain. I abandond the whole running start - elastic on the shoes thing due to the miserable conditions, and my lack of confidence in it/lack of practice. I tried it my last race for the first time, and knocked my left shoe off its pedal. Had to stop and put my shoe on and re-mount my bike - not good! I got my wetsuit halfway on, topped off my tires, and double checked everything. Good to go...
Joe came over and we talked for a while while we waited for the 1/2 hour rain delay. The rain let up, I had a gel, and we walked over to the beach where I did a few strokes to get loose. Saw Pete from Master's swim class and then got into the water with my wave.