Water was warm, warmer than the air, and I felt very relaxed. There was a slight chop from the north, but that really was not a factor. For some reason I had a hard time navigating on the outward leg. First I would pull to the right, then I would pull to the left. There was contact, when I was on course, throughout the swim, but nothing was too bad. I think I'm just getting used to it. Even with the poor navigation, I felt like I got to the first turn buoy pretty quickly. I looked for the second orange buoy, but there was none. The pack was swimming straight for the next yellow bouy. Well, they're not going to DQ an entire wave, so I followed along. Navigation was much better on the homeward leg. Every time I looked, I was headed toward a yellow buoy. Started catching a few men from the wave in front. Got to thinking about not getting passed by the wave from behind and was quickly engulfed by blue caps. Oh, well. Happens every race. Hit the ramp and looked at my watch. 32 minutes?! That's not possible. That's seven minutes below my goal time and 12 minutes fater than last year. Woohoo, put some money in the bank there. And, just as important, no leg cramps, no disrorientation. Everything felt good.

Hmmm. Not much. Keep learning how to swim faster. Navigation could have been better.

Took the wetsuit off right out of the ramp while there was still water in it. Came off quickly. Took the Polar off while running to TA. Garmin went on quickly. First time leaving my shoes on the pedals in a race, and that went off without a hitch. That really saved me some time.

Nada. Good T1. A minute better than last year.

Very little wind, but I knew that it was from the N-NE, so it would be from my back on the outward half. I guess I took advantage of it because I couldn't believe my speed. When I'd check, I'd regularly see 23-24mph. My goal pace was 21.5mph and thought it might be possible to do 22.0mph. I had the Garmin set to take splits every 5 miles, so 21.5mph would equal 13:57 and 22.0mph would equal 13:38. Splits started coming up 12:xx. Twelve?! What the hell is that?! Unreal. I kept cranking out splits around 13min for the first half. I checked my average speed at 28 miles: 23.3mph. You gotta be kidding me. Feelin' frisky at this point. Kept singing a Citizen Cope song to myself, "Rollin' down the highway, like a rocket; Headed to town, now, can't stop it..."
I kept checking for signs of the wind. It was still very faint. I had to look at the grass seed-heads to tell the wind direction, the few flags I saw were practically limp. Somewhere on Smithville Rd, I passed Maj. David Rozelle (more below). I thanked him for his service, and was pretty pumped up after that. My HR was mostly 138-141 when I'd check. I knew this was pretty high for the bike, but it's race, and I felt good. It didn't feel uncomfortable at all. Of course I still had a long way to go. I couldn't help but start thinking about a PR (<4:50:00) or even 4:45:00, but kept telling myself that I still had to head back into the wind and anything could happen - flat, wreck, blow up on the run. Well, once I got to 335 and turned east, I found the wind. But, I reminded myself that it wasn't that bad, I knew I wasn't going to keep a 23mph average, and I had already put alot of time in the bank. Just grind it out. Egypt Rd really was a grind. My plan of attack, which was contrary to the typical "save yourself for the run", was to be aggressive on the bike to take pressure off the run. This has worked for me in the past, and I've responded with decent half marathons. So, I stayed the course and gathered optimism whenever there would be a lull in the wind, a turn in the road, or a wind-shielding stretch of trees where I could get back up to 22mph. I was never happier to see C-SD HS, which meant a turn downwind onto Rt16. The last 5 or so miles were still a grind, but it was the home stretch so it was easy to keep pushing. Checked my time after turning onto Somerset Ave and, like the swim, couldn't believe it. I was around 2:30:00 - 6 min ahead of my goal pace.

Nada. I gues it was possible to be more aggressive, but it is 56 miles, and I felt like I raced for 56 miles - no loafing. 700+ mi of training in May tops me out, as well.

Weird T2. Socks, shoes, hat, race # belt on just fine. Switch Garmin to Run mode. Everything was fine until I decided that my race number belt was too loose. No problem, I'll just tighten it a little bit, but... the belt comes out of the buckle. So, I'm running through TA trying to thread the belt back through the buckle...doh! backwards...timing mat, hit the start button... got - no won't stay.. screw it. So I tied the belt to the buckle and, fortunately, it was snug enough.
A little slower than last year, but, considering, not bad. I also knew that I was trading time somewhat between T1 and T2 by waiting until T2 to put socks on.

Check the RNB fit before the race... and glue it there.

In both HIMs I did last year, my quads were really crampy and sore starting the run. This year was no exception, but to a lesser extent. Kept my stride short starting out and felt pretty good. 7:01 at the first mile. Whoa... this could be good. Popped a handful of Endurolytes and a gel at the first aid station. Cramps subsided a bit and I got into a groove. Mile 2: 7:09, cool. Saw Dave coming in on the bike. HR was staying at 148-149, which is lower than where I typically run a half marathon. But, I was happy with my splits and relatively comfortable. But, it wasn't long before I got passed by a 40-44. Damn! There was another guy ahead of me in my AG that I just could not catch. Another 40+ goes by. Okay, okay, settle down. Run YOUR race. Worry about YOUR goals. There goes another one, grrrrr! There really wasn't much I could do. My pace would slacken (>7:20), then I'd come back with a better mile, then I'd ease up again. The quad cramps would come and go. Endurolytes seemed to stave them off for a while. Once I got to mile 9, I decided that 149bpm wasn't going to cut it, and I was going to focus on keeping my HR higher. I didn't have far to go, so I might as well give it what I've got.
Passed Dave again when he was at mile 3(?) on the run, and he did not look happy. He just pointed instead of looking for a high five or saying anything.
Focus still waxed and waned, but overall I was pleased with the effort and it didn't hurt as bad as I remembered the 2 races from last year. Started catching a few 40's, so that is always a spirit booster. Somewhere around mile 11 my right hamstring started cramping. Not a full blown lock up, but it was getting "grabby". Was this the beginning of the end? I ran a little more stiff legged in hopes of not going over the edge of a full blown muscle lock up. Mile 12 - come on hang in there. Passed a few more 40's, made the last turn and knew I had a really good race in the bag. I heard somebody call out my name (thought it was Brenda, but it must have been Marianne), waved , then looked down to see a 40 on a calf ahead of me. I sprinted to the finish - something I have not been able to do in HIMs past. Right befor the finish chute I saw the clock 5:01:xx, the pros started 20 min ahead of me, so... NO WAY!!! I could not believe that I actally clocked a sub 4:42 HIM. Wow!

Do some run training. Last year I logged 251 miles in the 2 months prior to Eagleman, and this year 119 with next to no speed work. It just doesn't seem like I should have been able to pull off my 3rd fastest half marathon (tri or stand alone). Mentally, I let my mind wander too much. Between checking lap splits, trying to calculate my finish time, and calf-watching I think I distracted myself from the task at hand. All that said, I was only 15 sec behind my time from last year!

Met Brenda and the kids immediately after the finish. She was elated for me, but gave me grief about giving her a bad estimate of my finish time ;) . Walked around ate some food, got a massage, and waited for Dave and Shelly to finish. Saw Chuck P right after the finish, and was quite confused because he should have been 2-3 waves behind me, but he did the aqua-bike.
Saw Dave finish and chatted with him. He had a better race than Diamondman last year, so I was happy for him. However, I was sad for Shelly, who I caught up with outside the med tent. She suffered 2 gashes in her leg leaving T1! And she still clocked a 5:40 and got 19th in her AG. That's amazing.
Went to the CMS picnic and tried to stay awake. I think the 2 hours of sleep finally caught up with me.


I would say run training, but it would have come at the expense of bike miles. So, I dunno. I'll never cover 70.3 miles quicker than I did today, so it's hard to say that anything limited my ability.


Today conditions were ideal. Light wind, mild temperatures, cloudy skies, and ebb tide, that really pushed us downriver on the homeward leg of the swim. There was a harmonic convergence of atmospheric conditions. I may have better races, I may try harder, I may feel more satisfied after a race, but I will never post another 4:41:51. And that's okay. Regardless of the time, I was immensely satisfied with my performance. I was amazed with my comfort level. There were times when it hurt, but I definitely hurt worse in my HIMs last year. Today was other-worldly. 4:42 - that's just silly.

Got away with one: I kept tempering my expectations on the bike by telling myself, "Don't get too excited, you could flat." Well, after the race I realized that I forgot to stick the valve adapter for the disc wheel in my saddle bag. A flat would have meant a DNF.

What really got me scratching my head was my AG place. Last year I was 32nd with a 5:05. This year, 41st when I was 23 min faster. Oh, yes, friends and neighbors, during the race I was thinkin' 'bout Clearwater. 41?! Oh, well. The big boys showed up to play today. Top 18% - I'm still very happy. 4th best Marylander - still looking up at Judd, Warfel, and Ruppenthal.

Nutrition:
Pre: Omelet, berries, Ensure, banana = ~550cal + 150cal Accelerade 15 min before swim. Total: 700 cal.
Bike: 2/3 bottle (Accelearde + 2 gels) = 330 cal, 3 gels = 300cal. Total = 630cal.
Run: 4 gels = 400cal.
Endurox after.
Nutrition and hydration seemed very good. No noticeable lack of performance due to caloric need. Drank most of my water bottle on the bike, got 2 bottles from bottle exchange and drank at almost every aid station on the run. Mild temperatures and overcast skies really helped.

Maj. Dave Rozelle: Friday night I went down to Cambridge for the big pre-race pasta dinner with CMS. At it they showed NBC's 2006 Ironman TV show. One of the featured athletes was Maj. Dave Rozelle, an Iraqi war vet and an amputee. It was interesting a quote he had (to paraphrase), "I don't feel like a hero just because I stepped on a bomb." And I understand his sentiment. The word hero gets scattered about much too loosely these days. But, he is definitely a role model and somebody who should be admired and emulated. He works with disabled vets, especially amputees, to inspire them and give them hope. His participation in triathlon and marathons shows that a disability may be a challenge, but not a deterrent. I noticed at the expo on Sat, he was not parked in a handicapped space. I was moved to see him on the course. This world needs more men like him.

Day after: This is probably the sorest I have been after a race. Sore in places I never even thought I used, like my buttocks. I guess I must not have left much on the course.