Gulf Coast Triathlon
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Gulf Coast Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman
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Swim
Comments: ok.. I need to preface this. I registered for this event the day before. About 4pm to be exact. They allowed Thursday and Friday on site registration. Anyway, the guy who checked me in gave me an orange cap and wrote my race number on it like all the rest.. 1108. Problem was, my swim start was split into two sections. I 'should' have been given a red cap, and started in the second male 35-39 group. I did not know we were even split into multiple groups until after the race. This all means that my swim was actually 5 minutes longer (to the second), than what appears in the results. So instead of a 32:35, my actual was 37:35. I have put in for a time adjustment. I don't want the 5 minutes if I didn't earn them.. what's the point of that. Ok, now onto the swim.. gun goes off.. BAM! SME second mental error right out of the gate.. I forgot to lower my goggles. I had no idea for the first.. oh, 20 to 30 seconds, then it hit me.. salt water.. eyes.. OUCH!!. So I grabbed them and brought them down over my eyes. I didn't stop at all, just kept on going. I had salt water rolling around in my goggles the entire swim. So, SME and I am thinking, 'is this going to turn out like last year?' I was letting my mind get the best of me when I thought to myself.. 'do NOT let your mind defeat you'. After that, I am happy to say that SME was LME.. my last mental error. The swim continued on. The pack thinned out and I just got into a great rhythm. This is where it gets fun.. somewhere on the short backside, about 900 meters out, I got stung on the right cheek **face :)** by what I assume was a jelly fish. I've never been stung before so I don't know for sure, but it felt like I was electrocuted across my entire face.. That didn't throw me off any and I shrugged it off, but it hurt for a good 20 minutes, and I felt the sensation through about half the bike. I thought about going to aid to see if I should get some ointment or something, but.. eh.. if I was still breathing, then I was ok. Swim went well overall. Took 11 minutes off of last years time. What would you do differently?: Let's see.. (pun intended) LOWER MY GOGGLES!! Transition 1
Comments: Good T1.. faster than last year. Had a slight calf cramp pop up while taking my wetrsuit off, but whatever. What would you do differently?: Practice wetsuit removal off the legs. This slows me down every time. Bike
Comments: Ahhh.. the bike. Felt good to be underway. Put my mind on autopilot, and just go. I rated the course smooth, mainly because there is no choice for both smooth AND rough. There is a section about 15 miles long where it is just horrible. The rest of the course though.. perfect. Anyway, not much else to say here other than I had a good bike. Averaged 20.9 mph.. dammit, .1 more and I would have been at 21.. haunted by not taking that first GU before the swim? Maybe. I drank often (HEED), refilled when I needed. Aid stations were every 10 miles. I would dump a water, then dump a Nuun into my Aero bottle. I also ate about 5 fig newtons along the way. My nutrition game plan was being followed, and seemed to be working. Who really knows at this point though. I still had a 13.1 mile run ahead of me. Bike over.. onto T2. What would you do differently?: Not much. Train better. Also use racing wheels. Coming up with the 1500 dollars for those though.. that's another story, that maybe you'll see on the 6 oclock news someday. Transition 2
Comments: I was a bit deliberate in this transition, on purpose. I knew I needed to be on my game entirely, going into the run. This is where I would make sure of that. What would you do differently?: Nothing at this race in particular. Run
Comments: ok.. the run. My strength, which bared my weakness last year and created my downfall. This year though, that was not going to happen. I just felt different from the word go. I knew I had 13.1 miles in me. What I didn't know, was how fast I could go. Earlier this year I had run a 1:35 half, in cold weather, on hills.. this was flat and HOT.. 89 degrees by this point. Still, I felt strong and did my thing. The aid stations, 1 per mile, had sponges coming out of ice water. I grabbed two per stop and just soaked myself with cold water. That was enough to manage the heat.. it was still insanely hot out there, but like I said, this was 'managing' that, and I did well there. Miles 1 through 8 were uneventful. Mile 9, where I blew up last year.. was uneventful too. :) Mile 11 I started getting a sore stomach and sore lower back, but I knew I was almost home. I kept pace and did not walk once. I crossed the finish line at the 5:20:20 mark.. I grabbed a water, then quickly grabbed a seat. I set a PR, and beat last years race time by 1 hour and 23 minutes. While seated, I smiled to myself, and knew that everything I was doing, was right.. and there is no better feeling in the world, then to know you are right, and have it all laid out there in front of you. What would you do differently?: Train more. For me, a 1:56 half is not something to be proud of. I can and will do better. I was not peak trained for this race though, so I am ok with it.. plus it just gives me more to shoot for. Post race
Warm down: Water, Ice, Pizza, 2 beers, Pepsi with ice, more water, more ice.. ahhhhhh. What limited your ability to perform faster: no 70.3 specific training was done. I trained for other events around this one. Event comments: What can I say. This event from top to bottom is well done, and a great time. The Saturday night after party is fantastic. This was the 25th anniversary race. The aid stations were perfect. In the heat that May brings to the Florida coast, you need perfect, and that's what you get. This race is highly recommended. As always, some slight tweaking could make this one a superstar among half Ironman events. Last updated: 2007-02-18 12:00 AM
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2007-05-14 7:51 AM |
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2007-05-14 7:59 AM in reply to: #799288 |
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2007-05-14 9:58 AM in reply to: #799288 |
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General Discussion-> Race Reports! |
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United States
Sommer Sports
89F / 32C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 293/1175
Age Group = M35-39
Age Group Rank = 75/203
Stayed at the Boardwalk Beach Hotel, and was literally feet from transition. Umm.. let me say, that was great. Anyway, Transition opened at 4:30 am. This was just over two hours before race start for me. I ate a bowl of Apple and Cinnemon microwave Oatmeal, and drank some water. Nutrition was my biggest downfall last year for my first 70.3, and I subsequently blew up on the run and ended up with a 6:43.. which was hard to deal with.. but I learned from it, and now, 365 days later, I was determined to do things right. A year of learning how to train smarter, and race smarter was culminating in the test that awaited me. It all began with a bowl of Oatmeal.. something I didn't do last yeat. After that, I went out to transition, got body marked, set up my area, and went back to my room to grab final pre race nutrition and head out to the swim start.. oh, that was right out my back door.. A perfect start to the day, and the race hadn't even started.
The water was calm this morning. Not lake calm, but calm for the Gulf of Mexico. About 40 minutes prior to my wave start, I drank an Ensure. I forgot my first GU, so I didn't pre swim GU like I had planned. 'FME' First Mental Error.. Was my day turning in a negative direction? I blew it off and basically forgot about the GU. I jumped in the water and swam out and back about 100 meters or so each way, just to get a feel. Everything felt good, and all systems were GO. I hear the call for the male 35-39 Orange caps, and headed to the corrals.