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Chesapeakeman Ultra - TriathlonFull Ironman


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Cambridge, Maryland
United States
Columbia Triathlon Association
70F / 21C
Sunny
Total Time = 12h 56m 45s
Overall Rank = 78/145
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 23/27
Pre-race routine:

Got to Cambridge on Wed and had dinner. Thursday got up went for an hour bike ride and then a short swim in the Choptank from Great Marsh Park. Lunch and then to registration. Nap and then the Carbo Dinner (which was quite good). Friday up and drove the course to check it out, got TriGirl a new tire for her bike and installed for her. 10 minute ride b4 racking bike at great marsh park for the event. Dropped of Bike gear bag here also.
Put together rest of bike/run/special needs bags and nutrition for the race. Met everyone coming into town for the race my whole family and Stacey's parents (what a great cheering section) for dinner then off for some shut eye.

Up at 2:45 for 1.5 PB&J sandwiches and 2 boost as well as 2 cups of caffiene Coffee. Then back to bed to try and get some extra winks.

Up again at 4:45 to get ready and head out to GM park to check on bikes then to the Hyatt for body marking and to get ready for an Ironman!!!!
Event warmup:

Stretched for a while inside the Hyatt and then got the wetsuit on and headed down to the beach for the start. Some god lucks and "go get um's" from our cheering sections, then a nice hug and support from Stacey and we were off.
Swim
  • 1h 20m 7s
  • 4224 yards
  • 01m 54s / 100 yards
Comments:

Perfect conditions for the swim, no wind and a slack tide. Then only thing that could have been better would have been to have the tide at our feet like last year.

Got off well and rounded the first buoy with little difficulty, however, the next buoy was far away and had a little trouble sighting to it. However, just stayed calm and continued to swim at a relaxed pace. knew I was at the 1/2 way point when I went under the Rte 50 bridge, as an engineer I found myself checking out the structural elements of the bridge, occupied a little time atleast. Then on to the finish. sighted the rest of the buoys well and then say the orange buoy which was the turn to the finish, when I noticed spectators righ there, the swim was over and sooner than I thought. sighted to the boat ramp and swam until my hands began to touch bottom, got up and began to run up the ramp. Well, my first and last large mistake of the day, not check the ramp surface b4 race. The ramp was grooved concrete, which really hurts on your feet when running on it. SO to make a long story short, I had a very graceful stumbling/tumbling exit from the water. But on the bright side our cheering squad was right there yelling like crazy!!!!! For the swim, I was lucky and had no jelly fish stings, felt a few with my hands/felt and across my face, but no stings.
What would you do differently?:

Be more graceful on my exit from the water. :)
Transition 1
  • 07m 19s
Comments:

Great transition. Out of the water, stripped wetsuit to my waist w/ no problem and had my bike gear bag handed to me. got into changing tent, which was crowded, and found a bench, got my wetsuit stripped, that was nice, and got my bike gear on, then loaded up my swim stuff back into the same bag and was out to the Port O' Pot (POP) for my first (of many) pitstop of the race.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing, through everything went smoothly.
Bike
  • 6h 16m 15s
  • 112 miles
  • 17.86 mile/hr
Comments:

Great day for a bike ride, little wind to start and was able to get into a comfortable cadence and position quickly. Stomach was a little upset for the first hour of the ride, but was able to get nutrition in and it settled down. However, my big issue on the bike was that I was not sweating as much as normal becuase it wasn't that hot, only about 70 degrees. therefor at every aid station i was stopping to pee, which added to my bike time. It worked out great however becuase stacey and I kept "leap frogging" on the bike. I would catch and pass her, only to have her pass me while I was peeing!! Kept my HR around 120-130 for the bike and was averaging between 18-20 mph for most of the ride. At mile 65 got our special needs and was out for othe second loop. By this time the wind had picked up considerably and the first stretch out was disheartnening. However, I just kept telling myseld to bide my time and remember the tail wind that I will have for the last 20 miles in. This is about as flat a course as you could ask for and it is just beautiful it's own way. All marsh and wetlands, real pretty. I would sit up to drink every ten minutes and stand for about 2 minutes every hour or so just to get out of the saddle.
What would you do differently?:

Try to learn to pee on the bike, as it may have saved me about 10-15 minutes on the ride if I didn't have to stop at every station. However, I am extremenly happy with my performance!!
Transition 2
  • 04m 44s
Comments:

Good transition. Neat having soemone take your bike for you and hand you a bag w/ all of your run stuff. Kind of like being pampered amid 140.6 miles of non stop movement.
What would you do differently?:

nothing.
Run
  • 5h 08m 22s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 11m 46s  min/mile
Comments:

The run, my first marathon in years and after 114.4 miles of other activities, what was I thinking!! :) Got out of T2 well, and was looking for Stacey, ofcourse she beat me out of T2, ran out to our screaming fan base and began the process of catching up to S. we had already decided that we would run the marathon together if we were close when we finished the bike and that is exactly what we did. It was an absolutely incredible run, and having her there made all the difference in the world. First loop went well and b4 we knew it we were back at the High School and heading out for our second loop. At this point my stomach was rebelling against just about anything sweet, so I began trying differen't foods, and found that saltines and H2O are awesome. S and I kept each other going and then we were back a the High School again for our special needs. We both took jackets, as the sun was getting ready to set and we knew it would get chilly. Out on the last loop and was really feeling good, I must say that it is the best I have ever felt in a marathon, just incredible. On the last loop S decided we should dedicate the last 6 miles to people that we know and that are important in our lives. This was special becuase it gave us time to thank those that could not necessarily be there but that were on our thoughts. One of those miles went out to everyone on BT, as it is a great community!! Watched an incredible sunset. At the turn around to head back at about mile 22 our time was 12:15 ish and we decided to try and break the 13 hours mark. I was like a "horse that see's the barn" and S kept pulling me back a little, which was great because w/o that I would have blown up about mile 22.5 and had to walk it in and probably not broke 13 hours. We came back to the High School and saw the fans and our families cheering for us. The Finish is in the football stadium where you run 3/4 of the track to the finish. My neices and nephews were there are were able to run the track with us and cross the finish line with us. It was absolutely incredible!!!! I get goosebumps every time I think about it!!!
What would you do differently?:

Nothing, I thought it was a great run.
Post race
Warm down:

Got those space age blanket deals and hugs, high 5's and congrats from everyone. Then S and I said our goodbyes to the family and sent them off to dinner while we went into the gym for a massage and some food. Cheese Pizza is awesome after and Ironman!!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Having to pee so much on the bike, but I was afraid that I would dehydrate without drinking like I did.

Event comments:

This was an awesome day, made even better by the fact that I was able to race with the most incredible person on this planet for the whole time. Without her I could not have gotten through this race, Thank You!!!!

I would highly suggest this race to first time IM'ers. Vigo puts on a well organized and supported race and being that it was a small venue you get great support without the throngs of athletes that can make things difficult for a first timer. I know that the smaller venue really helped me stay calm and not get to caught up in the "race" aspect of this event.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2006-01-11 12:00 AM
Swimming
01:20:07 | 4224 yards | 01m 54s / 100yards
Age Group: 13/27
Overall: 41/145
Performance: Good
Suit: Full QR
Course: Point to Point in the Choptank River
Start type: Wade Plus:
Water temp: 69F / 21C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 07:19
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
06:16:15 | 112 miles | 17.86 mile/hr
Age Group: 23/27
Overall: 82/145
Performance: Good
Wind: Strong with gusts
Course: Two loop course w/ an out and back section on the first loop. Special Needs was at mile 65 of the ride.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 90
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills:
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Too much
T2
Time: 04:44
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
05:08:22 | 26.2 miles | 11m 46s  min/mile
Age Group: 22/27
Overall: 86/145
Performance: Good
Course: 3 Loop out and back one a flat country road. Nice course and I like the 3 loops as you get to come back to the High School (transition area) more times and get a boost from the cheering crowds.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
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

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2006-10-05 8:38 AM

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Expert
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Rocky Hill, Connecticut
Subject: Chesapeakeman Ultra


2006-10-05 8:50 AM
in reply to: #561246

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Master
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Falls Church, Virginia
Subject: RE: Chesapeakeman Ultra
Congrats on a fabulous race. Loved your RR, and the pics are great. Hope to be doing this race in a few years.
2006-10-05 9:07 AM
in reply to: #561246

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Champion
5183
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Wisconsin
Subject: RE: Chesapeakeman Ultra
way to go! I think it's awesome that everything was so well executed, the only thing you'd do differently is exit more grazcefully from the water! (ew, I am glad you didn;t pee on your trusty steed....)
2006-10-05 9:08 AM
in reply to: #561265

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Elite
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New City, New York
Subject: RE: Chesapeakeman Ultra
Congrats Ironman! Great RR too. W/ all the craziness surrounding IMNA events this venue is really appealing. Your RR has intrigued me, Thanks. oh and finally, LET'S GO METS!
2006-10-05 9:16 AM
in reply to: #561246

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Not a Coach
11473
5000500010001001001001002525
Media, PA
Subject: RE: Chesapeakeman Ultra

Great race!  Awesome that you got to share it with someone special while you were on the course.

Congrats, Ironman!

2006-10-05 9:53 AM
in reply to: #561246

Pro
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Andover
Subject: RE: Chesapeakeman Ultra
Great race! Great report! Great pics!

CONGRATS, Dave!


2006-10-05 9:53 AM
in reply to: #561246

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Veteran
259
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Maryland
Subject: RE: Chesapeakeman Ultra
Great job on the race and RR! It sounds like it was an absolutely fantastic event for you!

WTG, Ironman! You rock!

Larry
2006-10-11 11:14 AM
in reply to: #561246

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Extreme Veteran
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CT
Subject: RE: Chesapeakeman Ultra
great rr and awesome job on the race. it must have been so awesome to have someone with you most of the time. I am sure it will bring lots of memories between the 2 of you for years to come
2006-10-13 8:38 AM
in reply to: #561246

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Champion
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Atlanta, Ga
Subject: RE: Chesapeakeman Ultra
Awesome Race IronMan!!  Great RR and awesome pictures.  I've heard good things about this race.  Must keep it on the to do calender.
2006-10-13 1:02 PM
in reply to: #561246

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Cycling Guru
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Fulton, MD
Subject: RE: Chesapeakeman Ultra
Damn, now why couldn't the water have looked like that at Eagleman??

Great rr and congrats on a solid finish!!
2006-10-13 6:45 PM
in reply to: #561246

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Champion
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MA
Subject: RE: Chesapeakeman Ultra

Congrats on a Great Race and becoming an Ironman!

Sounds like an awesome race and you did fantastic. Great RR! Checking out the bridges on the swim....fun!

When I consider doing an IM in couple years I'll have to think about this one..as I'm not a huge fan of big crowds...so may opt not to do IM brand first.

How cool it was you could run with Stacy...and you seemed to enjoy it so much...that is what it is all about.



2006-10-13 7:57 PM
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Expert
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Oak Ridge,
Subject: RE: Chesapeakeman Ultra

Congrats on a great race!   Thanks for sharing the race report

2006-10-13 9:11 PM
in reply to: #561246

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Master
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Maine
Subject: RE: Chesapeakeman Ultra
Congratulations Dave! You are an ironman!
2006-10-14 9:13 AM
in reply to: #561246

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Master
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Keller Tx
Subject: RE: Chesapeakeman Ultra
thats a great race report.  it had to be great to spend the day with someone special too!
2006-10-14 10:28 PM
in reply to: #561246

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