Good To Be Back: Ironman Virginia Blue Ridge 70.3

It’s been a long year. Thankfully, my family was blessed with good health. The first weekend in June 2021 was spent with daughter Emily in Roanoke. I competed in a half iron distance triathlon, my first mass endurance event since fall 2019.

Racing on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Road trip!!

We left early on a Saturday morning, arriving to Roanoke about noon.

After equipment check in, we spent time in the market region of downtown Roanoke: what a cool area!

What the…

After an early dinner, it was off to bed by 9pm. Race logistics called for a 03:30 departure for the bus that transported 1600 folks to swim start.

I was in the water by about 06:40. By 07:20, I was finished with the 1.2 mile swim and transitioning to the 56 mile bike.

The bike course eventually climbed to the Blue Ridge Parkway and the descended back to Roanoke.

There, the 13.1 mile run began and the heat was on (literally, mid to upper 80s).

There is a saying in triathlon: bike for show, run for dough. Translation: don’t put out too much effort on bike so you can still run. Following this mantra, as the race progressed amongst about 100 men in my age group, I moved from 38th (after swim) to 22nd (after bike) to 11th (after run/finish).

I finished 11/100 of men age 55-59, 200/1000 men of all ages, and about 260/1600 overall amongst all racers/all genders. I feel blessed to have health, fitness, and family support to achieve such a result.

But the best aspect of the race weekend was the sharing the experience with Emily.

And dedicating the race to my son Jacob, by carrying this paper reminder during the race, whose perseverance and bravery sets the standard in our family ❤️.

Finally, thanks to Maria who has supported my hobby and passion, who I missed on this trip.

Ironman Chattanooga 2018

The 2017 race was such a great experience, I had to come back. Thoughts of an age group top 10 finish (top 5?) have been with me since finishing 12th in 2017.

Race Lead Up

2018 started with some bike fitting changes and then the flu in February. These events seemed to set me back a bit with bike training and fitness in general. May-July races did not go as well as expected. Long story short: I didn’t regain my form until August. Good results at Lake Lure sprint distance and then Lake Logan 70.3 were very satisfying. I was hopeful as Chattanooga was approaching in late September.

August-September Build

Swim: I didn’t swim quite as much as 2017, probably 30% less.

Bike: It’s official…I hate 4-5 hour bike rides. But I got it done. I continued to refine my bike position and had to make some adjustments sacrificing aerodynamics for comfort.

Run: a handful of 30-40 mile weeks and some heat acclimation training during last 2 weeks (75-80 degree and high humidity with lots of extra clothing).

For those that like numbers, last 8 weeks of build training (including race week):

Swim: 5000 yards/week average

Bike:

• TrainerRoad full distance specialty build mid volume plan very roughly followed

• 7:45 hours/week average
• 350 TSS/week average

Run:

• 29 miles/week average
• 5 run days/week average
• Longest weeks 34, 40
• Longest runs 15, 18.5
• All runs easy, 0930-1015 min pace
• Ran lots of hills last 4 weeks

Race Week

Arrived late Thursday night, Hampton Inn, 3 blocks from transition/finish. No car needed while in town, walking distance to everything! Maria, Jacob and I enjoyed walking, meals, shops across river and the aquarium Friday and Saturday. The walk across the pedestrian bridge is our favorite.

Jacob found a cool virtual reality and outdoor sport rental shop across the river, Adventure Sports Innovation .

The Tennessee River was running very brisk due to about 8″ of flooding rains in 4 days prior to our arrival. Unfortunately, this lead to cancellation of the 2.4 mile swim due to unsafe water (current and bacteria). Here are pics of swim exit which was covered with about 4 feet of water:

Some nearby communities had serious flooding, so the loss of the swim leg paled in comparison to the upheaval for these poor folks.

Our pre-race meal was across the river at Brewhaus. Great feed with protein and carbs.

Race Day

Starting about 2600 racers on the bike in a non drafting bike event is tricky: the race director did an extraordinarily good job. They started from low to highest bib number. So those of us in the 2500’s, the older men, didn’t start until just before 10am. This gave me a chance to sleep in and have breakfast at hotel. I then went down to swim start to watch the pro men start at 0800.

Pro start list:

Bike

As I started about 0945, a light rain had just fallen, making roads wet, but just for first 3 miles or so.

Bike course was a bit crowded for first 15 miles but then began to spread out.

Beautiful rural riding with very little traffic.

I got my fluids and nutrition in, was safe, had no mechanical issues and arrived back in 5:49.

Bike data:

• Time 5:49
• Weather overcast/upper 60s becoming sunny/mid 80s
• AP 146
• NP 155
• IF 0.58 (using an FTP for upright, not aero position…probably closer to 0.65 for aero FTP)
• VI 1.06
• TSS 199 (probably about 245 for aero position FTP)
• Nutrition: fig newtons, gel, Gatorade for total 2000 cal (340 cal/hr)
• Age group split placing (131 total) 33>26>22

Transition

A bit dizzy coming off the bike, walked into changing tent, and felt better. Peed in transition, so hydration good. Dry socks. Otherwise, no other clothing change.

Time 7:35

Run

I come from a running background, where races start no later than 0800 and when temps are cool. So, starting a marathon in the middle of the afternoon during the heat of the day is an interesting problem that triathletes just have to learn to deal with. As if bike nutrition and being careful not to over bike wasn’t enough.

Low-mid 80s and full on sun. Cooling sleeves doused with water and ice in hat every 1 mile aid station kept me cool (heat acclimation runs last 2 weeks of training also vital).

Support on the run:

Maria’s race day hydration was better than mine.

My previous 2 Ironman runs have been 4:32. I never feel like I’ve quite nailed the run, and my goal was to finish in good time with nothing left in the tank. So when Maria told me I moved from 22nd to 13th place from run start to 1/2 marathon, I decided to go for it. I held pace until mile 22. From there, each mile became a lesson in progressive suffering. Finish was more of a relief than celebration, so I know I had nothing left.

30 minutes laying in the grass and some fluids, and I was back.

Run data:

1st 13.1 2:11

2nd 13.1 2:16

26.2 4:27

Nutrition: 2 gels, Gatorade, coke, Red Bull, water, salt tabs, pretzels…whatever my eyes and stomach told my hands to reach for.

Age group split placing (131 total)

22>21>18>13>12>11>10>11

Finish

10:24

11/131 age group men

240/1808 men

298/2626 overall

Thanks

Maria for sharing me with the bike the last 2 months.

My adult children, Jacob and Emily, for listening to my athletic work out stories, my version of big fish tales.

Next

SwimrunNC with Gordon end of October. Triathlon season 2018 is in the books!

No full Ironman for me next year. I need a break from those long bike workouts. I will focus on sprint-70.3 events next year. I hope to squeeze out some more bike fitness gains. And maybe in 2020 I can finally score that top 10 finish 😬.

Lake Logan 70.3

Lake Logan is my favorite of all triathlon race venues. This was a longer distance event I am using to prepare for my return to Ironman Chattanooga in late September. It is held at Lake Logan Episcopal Center in Canton, NC and put on by Setup Events and coproduced by Glory Hound Events. They have 3 events over the weekend for all skill levels and athletic aspirations: 70.3 mile half iron distance on Saturday and shorter but still challenging sprint and olympic distance triathlons on Sunday.

The day started early with arrival at the race site at 06:00 with Maria!

The location is stunning at first light:

As I began the the swim, I spent the first 10-15 minutes or so bargaining with myself about how hard I actually wanted to race. Eventually my racing self won over the “hey, maybe you don’t need to this TODAY” self and I settled into a comfortable but not record breaking pace. 1.2 miles and 38 minutes later, swim done:

I don’t have pics of the bike course that morning but it is of similar beauty to the lake pic above, some sections rolling, many flat sections and one monster climb.

The bike was what I was most curious about. My previous post discussed some offseason bike fit changes and this was the first race to directly compare to last year’s old fit. Long story short: I had almost the same bike time with less effort this year. Success. Better aerodynamics! 56 mile bike time: 2:55. Bike finish:

I had a rather ambitious run pace planned. And it just so happened that one of my main age group competitors (Chris) started the run about 30 yards in front of me. Game on.

The run course is a double out and back…leaving lots of opportunity to see your competition. I settled into my pace and passed Chris at about 1 mile into the run. I was feeling good about my chances until I made the turn at 3 miles and saw that he was only 20 seconds behind 🤨. At about mile 4 he pulled up beside me and we talked for the 20 seconds or so it took him to pass 😑. I picked up the pace but never got within 30 seconds of him for the remainder of the race. I passed my friend David Daggett, also in my age group, who is a much better swimmer, biker and triathlete than I. He was still recovering from an Ironman 6 weeks ago and not in top form. But, he finished with a smile on his face and will live to fight another day.

So I ended up with a similar run for the 13.1 miles compared to last year (1:48). 5:25 overall time, 2/14 age group, 41/159 men overall.

My good friend Brian finished in about the same time and we enjoyed breaking the race down and sharing the pleasure of a post race meal and BEER.

Lessons learned/reinforced:

• don’t be afraid to bargain and convince that part of you that doesn’t want to race and hurt that’s it’s all for fun (aka embrace the suffering, it’s only temporary)
• better aerodynamic bike positioning rocks
• don’t blow all your energy on the bike: it sure is fun to find a few folks to race during the triathlon run.
• Lake Logan is the BEST race venue

So now I will crank up the next 6 weeks and prepare for Ironman Chattanooga. I have pretty high ambitions for that race, stay tuned.

The day ended with our drive up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and back down to Brevard. We were rewarded with a great view at top of the Parkway:

Swimrun Lake James 2018: Double Nickels

Gordon and I continued our swimrun adventures early this April at Lake James State Park, NC. First year for this event, with race directors Brian Bohrer and Kristen Jeno:

This was a very well run event and I highly recommend it to swimrunners next year. Kristen and Brian put a lot of work into this event and it showed.

13 miles of running and a rather hefty 3.5 miles of swimming. Beautiful location: state park, large lake, multiple small islands.

April weather can be tricky. Depending on which part of the country you are from, open water swim training can be difficult. In western NC we had a warm February but a very cool March. We began our swim training in January in 84 degree indoor pool water. Imagine the shock when did our first open water swim 1 week before the event in 55 degree water!

We arrived the night before the race, attended pre-race meeting and then sought out a beverage establishment. A small microbrewery in Marion, NC did the job:

https://www.micatownbrewing.com/

We had a few pints and Micatown was very encouraging of patrons bringing in food (drinking establishment only). We scored some burritos from a joint around the corner and had a feast. Gordon was bold and got a nuclear burrito with jalapeños. As I watched him consume the thing, tears running down his face, I feared that our race may be over before it started. But he awoke in no distress the next morning, so we were good to go.

Race morning was overcast and 55 degrees: both air and water temperature (double nickels). Perfect for running but tricky for swimming.

 

Event started for the 50 or so teams with a 2 mile run to get the blood flowing, then into the lake. While scrabbling up a hill early in the race, I reached down with my right hand and snapped my paddle in half: bummer. I was able to lash it back together with some spare tubing, and, although distracting at times, it wasn’t too much of an issue.

After several small swim-run segments, we entered a long run segment of about 8 miles.

 

We were so focused on getting our run pace down, we actually missed a turn and ran about 3 minutes off course. We quickly realized our mistake (race directors had marked course very well, saying that we should see ribbons every few minutes), turned back and got back on track.

The last half of the course was heavily swim based: due to temps, here’s where the race got tricky. A 1600 yard swim was followed by multiple short runs and swims. Not enough time to build up heat on the run, and cold water re-entering your wetsuit with each return to the water. I never have experienced running on blood-deprived legs before: it is a very odd feeling but one that soon passed as we finally had a 2 mile run to warm back up.

Gordon and I were very well matched on swim pace, so we took turns leading so the other could enjoy the reduced drag of a draft (much like swimmers in this pic):

Finally, after 4.5 hours, the finish line rescued us. Our faces, although contorted by 2 hours of wearing swim goggles, still show our excitement and relief of finally finishing. We ended up 12/20 in male division and 18/42 overall.

Despite the cold, we had a great time. The temps were a formidable foe, but I think we were well prepared with our training.

The spirit of swimrun is best captured by this photo of participants cheering the finish of the final team. Everyone is treated as an equal, regardless of finishing time.

Next up for us: Gordon will be hammering out some road races. I begin my triathlon season in 2 weeks at none other than NC Setup events Lake James olympic distance race. I will welcome the warmer water and the different feel of running in a tri kit instead of neoprene! We will finish our season with SwimrunNC in October.

Thanks to Tom Peterson of Lemonstripe for above race photos, especially the cool overhead videos and pics: nice work!

Lessons Learned From The Insane Inflatable 5K

So Jacob and I did a 5K race this weekend in Charlotte.  It was a 5K race with a series of inflatables spread throughout the course.

The event is not timed.  Many participants dressed up in interesting costumes, some competed together in large groups or teams.

There were many people participating in this event who might not enjoy your typical 5K or other endurance event.  But they were out there moving and having a great time.  And isn’t that what exercise is all about?

SwimRun NC 2017

 

 

This is the 2nd year of SwimRun NC for Gordon and I.  For those that aren’t familiar with this race format, here is a short primer.

SwimRun History and Format

The race started back in 2002 in Sweden and has primarily been a European-based phenomenon.  The race is broken up into multiple run-swim segments and is a team event.  You participate with one partner.  There are male, female and mixed categories.  You are not placed into age categories (translation: we are competing against the young guns, no charity for the aged).  Teams must complete the event together, with team members required to be within 10 meters of one another during the race.  If you are sucking wind and can’t keep up with your partner, you either need to man up or your partner needs to slow down.  This is an interesting dynamic that endurance athletes usually don’t have to deal with.  In solo endurance races you just set your pace and go.  Participants wear short wet suits that are designed for swimming and running.  We are allowed to use a swim buoy (small piece of foam put between legs during swim) and swim paddles during the swim.  You swim with your running shoes.  You run with your swim gear.  You must carry/wear your gear for the entire race.

SwimRun NC

Starting in 2015 or so, SwimRun events have begun to spread to the US.  Last year was the inaugural event in NC and it is held at Hanging Rock State Park north of Winston-Salem, NC.  The race originators are Jan Krista, Jeff Beckelhimer and Herbert Krabel.  They have assembled a team of great volunteers in a unique location to offer an incredible event.  It is very well run and all proceeds of the race are returned to the state park or reinvested in the race.  SwimRun NC is composed of 11 runs and 9 swims, with a total of about 14 miles of running and about 2 miles of swimming.

The course is beautiful, starting in Danbury at a local pub, the Green Heron Ale House (yea!! post race hydration).

We climb 1100 feet in the first 4.5 miles of trail running, passing through some rough terrain with waterfalls.

Then arrive at a lake where we swim and run a few laps.

 

Then we climb another 800 feet in about 2 miles to reach the top of the course (this was us at the top in 2016)

We then head back down to lake for 2 more swim-run laps, and finally return to bottom of course and finish with a 0.5 mile swim/scramble in the Dan River to reach the finish line back at the Green Heron.

Training

So Gordon and I had such a blast last year, we immediately decided to do the event this year and signed up in December 2016.  It is a welcome break from triathlon and road race training.  As one of the race directors said, there is something wonderful about getting rid of the bike for triathletes: we seem to become more relaxed with ourselves and our fellow racers!

Gordon and I are really fortunate to have excellent training terrain right here in our hometown of Brevard and Transylvania county.  We both run year round.  We started SwimRun training in early October, with trail running in Pisgah National Forest and swim-run training at the lake in my neighborhood and at DuPont State Park.

2017 Event

Gordon was able to score a Sylvan Sport Go pop up camper as he is a sales rep for one of their products, the Go Easy (unabashed plug for my friend’s business): https://www.facebook.com/GoDoBeFlash/

We camped right at the state park where the event was held, making logistics a lot easier.  We arrived on Saturday for our Sunday race, set up camp and drove around the area a bit.  We heard about a small store just outside town, Priddy’s, that has old-time bluegrass music and clogging.

We then headed back to the Green Heron to attend the pre-race meeting and sampled some of the tasty beverages.

Saturday night, a weather system moved through, bring much colder, rainy weather for race day.  We had trained in 40-60 degree weather and swam in 60-70 degree water, but race day forecast was calling for morning rain and temps in 50s falling to upper 40s.  Water temp was in the upper 50s.  OMG, what are we doing!

Race morning was 58 with rain ending as the race started.  We had coffee and PB&J, drove the 5 minutes from campsite to race start and got suited up.

We started off well, about 10-11 min/mile pace up the single track trail run with slight elevation gain and some creek crossings.  4th mile includes some tricky climbing with slick rocks and at one point we got a little off course as we tried to avoid a steep climb.  But we were soon back on course and made our way to the first swim.  Water was cool but felt good as we were pretty warm from running.  After a couple of swim-run loops at lake, we worked our way up the steepest section, 800 feet of climbing in 2 miles.  We struggled more than we expected here, but made it to the top for our view, cloudy, but stunning.

We then negotiated the most technically challenging section of the course, which, if it is not done correctly, could result in a turned ankle/other significant injury that could end your day.  We made it through fine, finished 2 more swim run laps at the lake and we both were feeling really well.

We were running across a very flat, lightly gravelled path, discussing our plans to push pace hard for last 4.5 miles, when I stepped on a small rock/stick under some leaves and my left ankle rolled severely.  I have sprained this ankle several times in the past, but this was on the easiest section of the course and was totally unexpected.

After deciding that I could still run, we continued on a slightly slower pace to get to the Dan River after a tricky 1 hour run of 4.5 miles.

The water was about 55 but we were only in it for about 12-13 minutes, got out and crossed finish line in 4:26.  Somehow, despite struggles of getting off course, struggling with some uphill and a twisted ankle, we still shaved 6 minutes off last year’s time.

We quickly got into warm clothes, enjoyed some craft brews and BBQ.  We hung around for awards, talked with fellow racers, recovered and headed back to camp with a pizza for dinner.

The day ended with a fire (photo and fire courtesy of Gordon) and we slept well despite a 35 degree night and 30 mph winds (no heater, just a cozy camper).

The ankle needs some rehab (thank goodness I can still swim and bike).

We have already begun our strategy for next year’s race.  We also plan to race a SwimRun event at Lake James, NC in early April 2018.

Photo Credits

Thanks to Brian Fancher who braved cold weather this year and nice weather last year.  All the photos above are his work except:

Summit pictures, credit to Richard Hall, thanks Richard for hiking to the top again this year!

Gordon took the fire pic and I take credit for Go, Priddy’s, pint beer and that ugly ankle shot.

 

Ironman Chattanooga Race Report

Ironman Chattanooga is my 3rd iron distance event.  I am writing this review for family, friends and fellow triathletes, so you may only be interested in certain aspects of this post, skip to the section you are interested in, or if you are a glutton for punishment, read the whole thing: here we go.

Travel and Accommodations

My wife and I arrived on Thursday, only a 4 hour drive from western North Carolina.  We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn, downtown Chattanooga.  Great location, only 3 blocks from all Ironman festivities and transition.  Park car and forget about it for the stay, everything within walking distance, plenty of attractions and restaurants.  Not many people arrived on Thursday, most seemed to show up Friday.  Downtown and waterfront were waiting for us:

Thursday

Walked down to Ironman village, checked in, packet pickup, no lines about 400pm.  Quick and easy.  Toured vendors, picked up some Little Debbie treats (ok, not some, a lot) at their booth (they are the corporate sponsor, more on the treats later).  Resisted urge to spend major $ in Ironman branded store, went to dinner.  This was an off day exercise wise, although we probably racked up 2-3 miles of walking.

Friday

3 mile easy run before breakfast.  Went to prerace meeting at 11am.  Moderate attendance, a lot of folks checking in throughout the day, noticeably more traffic at expo.  Water temp 75.9 degrees, meeting presenter says it is still wetsuit hopeful, but I’m thinking no way, we have 2 more upper 80 degree days ahead of us, it is not going to stay under 76.1 (for readers that don’t know, some folks prefer to swim in wetsuit: if temp is above 76.1 it is a wetsuit optional swim, and under those conditions you can still wear wetsuit but are not eligible for awards).  I didn’t care either way.  After some more walking, Maria and I decided to venture out of town to ride the incline railway up to the top of Lookout Mountain, here we are rocking the ride:

Another good meal out Friday night, then another good night sleep.

Saturday

Ok, time to begin to get down to business: up early, coffee and planned on a short bike, easy run and possibly a short swim to get my head in the game for tomorrow’s race.  Began to ride the run course on bike and ran into a group of about 8 triathletes who were led by their coach on a bike tour of run course.  He had raced IMChoo 2 other times so he knew course well.  They were kind enough to let me tag along, great group of folks from Arkansas and Kansas I believe.  Rode out Riverside Drive and made turn onto Riverwalk coming back: stopped at swim start and a few sections along Riverwalk to get a feel of the river and potential targets for sighting on the swim.  Rode across river and through hilly sections of run course.  I felt well prepared for run and swim based on this outing and decided not to swim nor run that day.

About 1pm, got all transition bags packed, bike ready and checked into transition.  I run latex tubes and my bike was racked like most in the direct sun.  It was upper 80s and my method is to pump tires to 120 psi and by bike start 18 hours later I knew they would be at race pressure of 90 psi.  I had never pumped up tires this high and left them in hot sun for 5 hours, so I had this sick thought that night of coming to transition on race morning with blown tubes…but all was good the following morning.

Did a bit more walking in hot sun that afternoon than ideal, got an early dinner about 5pm, and lights out about 10pm, ready to race.

My Background and Race Plan

I have been running since 2008 and racing triathlon since 2012.  This was my 3rd Iron distance event.  2013 Beach to Battleship: 13:23.  2015 IM Lake Placid: 12:41.   This time I really wanted to finish sub 12 hour, 11:30 would be sweet and possibly place me in top 10 in age group of 120 starters.  I raced Boston Marathon in mid-April and that left me only 5 months to get bike ready (I swim year round).

I am self-coached, swim 2-3 x per week, run 4-6 days per week and bike 4 days per week, almost exclusively on indoor trainer.  I followed TrainerRoad Iron distance medium volume build and medium volume specialty plans.  I did almost all of the rides as prescribed in plans, with a few exceptions/modifications.  My last 5 weeks were all 15-16 hour weeks, leading then into taper.  I raced 4 sprint triathlons May-July and a half Iron distance early August.

Forecast on race day called for temps in mid-upper 80s, so my plan was not to overcook the bike, take first loop of bike course easy and leave enough for the run which is my strength.  I decided to play conservative and back off my desired wattage on bike to shoot for a 6 hour split and not my original plan of 5:45.  I use Best Bike Splits and a power meter (PM), this is only the second race I was doing with PM and am still getting the hang of it (I trained with PM all 2017 though).  I wanted to keep a consistent run pace and only walk aid stations.  So this is what I scribbled on paper for my wife to keep while I was racing:

Swim: 1:05  T1: 5min  Bike: 6:00  T2: 5min  Run: 4:30-5:00??  Final 11:45-12:00

Technical Stuff

Swim: TYR Torque Pro swim skin

Bike: 2012 Felt B16, Flashpoint FP60 rims, GP Conti 4000S2, Vittoria latex tubes, Powertap C1 PM, XLab Torpedo BTA modified to hold 2nd bottle BTA

Run: my favorite running shoes, Nike Vomero 10’s

Sunday, Race Day

Slept well until 2 am, laid in bed playing over the day’s festivities in my mind until 0315, then got up.  Started nutrition with PB+J.  Dressed, coffee, walk to transition just as it opens at 0430.  Water temp: 77.9 (told you), wet suit optional, swim skin ready to go.  Back to hotel to get bag to bring to swim start, good morning/good bye to Maria, take bus to swim start, set up blanket and sit, only 2 hours to go.  A tall fellow steps in line behind me, I invite him to sit, and one of the things I like best about this sport, we strike up a conversation and a new friendship is born.  He is racing 35-39 age group and has his sister and father there at swim start for support.  More on my new friend Danny later.

Remember those Little Debbie’s I mentioned above??  Well I broke a cardinal rule of racing: never try something new on race day.  I downed an oatmeal cream pie along with a gel right before swim start.  Good stuff.

Swim 55:29, 15th AG (Age Group)

Once they started us, the line moved pretty quickly, first swimmers were in the water at 0730, I was in about 0745.  Water was clear, plenty of room with little-no contact.  Tried to stay to middle of river while also trying to swim tangents if that makes since.  I think I had a good line.   About 300 yards into swim, began to note a pain that I have NEVER had before, in my left hip flexor region.  It was sore enough to get my attention and plant a small seed of concern as there is still 144.2 miles to go.  I tried to forget about it and it turned out to be nothing, but it is funny how on race day, you are constantly watching your dashboard lights.  I could tell it was a fast swim based on speed of buoys passing by.  I exited swim and looked at my watch and thought they must have turned up the flow at the upstream dam from rain the night before.

 

T1 7:35

Took my time to get on cooling sleeves for the bike and run, ready to roll.

Bike 5:59:45, 20th AG

Temp about 66 at start, 85 at completion, sun with high clouds.  Little wind.  Data: 145 AP, 159 NP, VI 1.10.  IF 0.60, TSS 215.  Overall, I was happy with the ride.  Held back first 15 miles until I hit the rollers.  2nd loop just tried to keep pace up, HR ave 117 and I was getting nutrition down well: total of 2150 calories, solid food first 80 or so miles, then gels last 40 miles.  About 2.5 bottles of Gatoraide Endurance too.  350 cal/hour, which is about max for me.  Peed at mile 40 and bike finish/mile 1 of run, so hydration was good.  Last 15 miles, saw that I could go sub 6 hour so picked up the pace a bit without burning any matches.  Thoughts overall on bike course: beautiful, scenic, love the rolling hills.  Need to spread out my effort a bit: less effort on hills and more on flats to bring down the VI.  No traffic on course.  Saw more fire hydrants than cars (and more livestock than people).

Somehow, my lunch wasn’t as tasty as Maria’s:

My Lunch

Maria’s Lunch

Hey, Is That Gatoraide?

T2 5:39

Quick, no wasted time, sunscreen and out the door.

Run 4:32:24, 13th AG (2:13, 2:19 splits)

Temp 85, partly sunny.  Thank goodness for a few clouds.  Started run feeling strong.

Saw Maria for the first time that day at mile 0.5…yea!!  It was really nice to see her, she had been following me on the tracker all day.  Settled into a 10ish min/mile pace, felt like I could run 9 min, but I knew better with the heat.  And hills to come.  I used course nutrition and fluids for the run.  Walked quickly through every aid station to get gatoraide, water and ice in hat.  Poured water on cooling sleeves, those things worked great.  Felt good through mile 8 when I saw Maria again, our favorite picture of the weekend:

Maria was trying to figure out where she was on the run course and went up to “some man” with a microphone at the run turn around to ask where she was…that guy was Mike Reilly who was announcing runners at the 13.1 location.  They had a nice conversation and she made him laugh, “I told him that he was the best”.

Took a total of about 700 cal. on the run.  As the run progressed, I relied more on bananas and coke…the caffeine helped keep the energy up and I lost my taste for gels.  A pain developed in my right lower calf about mile 13 that I had to keep an eye on, it kept me from pushing the pace which was probably a good thing given the heat.  Worked to keep HR at average 130 or so.  About mile 20, the smiles always go away and it is time to work:

2nd loop hills ground me down a bit, but I kept on running and at mile 24.5, crested the last hill, saw that I had a chance to break 11:45, put my head down and was determined to finish strong.  Ran about 8:40 pace to finish the last 1.5 miles, felt like I was running 7 min pace, fed off energy of crowd and finished.

Final Time 11:41:02, 12th/108 AG, 269/1978 overall

I was really happy with this result.  Took another hour off the last Iron distance event.  PR on the bike.  Ran about the same time I did at Lake Placid.  Felt terrible for first 30 min after finish, this has happened to me after each event at this distance.  At first I want to eat, then I don’t, not quite nauseous, but not hungry either, a little dizzy.  Even with temp at about 80 degrees, due to being soaked, I needed that heat blanket to keep warm.  I guess that is my body’s revenge for what I asked it to do all day.

Thanks

Maria, thanks for letting me practice my passion.

She is so flexible and puts up with the 0500, after work and long weekend training sessions.  Thanks for cheering me on at times when most other people are still sleeping and in the rain/hot weather.  Thanks too to my children, Emily and Jacob, and my dad who sometimes put up with my absence because I am training.  Finally, my running buddies: Gordon, Gary, Tim, Mike, Ray, Bud, Bill and Bill.  You guys have taught me about true training, grit and how to become an endurance athlete.

Congrats

Back to that tall guy I met at swim start with his family.  Danny Royce.  He has been dreaming and working to qualify for the world championship Ironman race at Kona for 10 years.  This year, he did it, qualified by a minute!  Maria and I came to awards Monday morning to congratulate him and his family:

What’s Next

Well, I never gave up on my dream to qualify for Boston, and I had another  breakthrough performance in this race, so I still have that dream of qualifying for Kona myself someday.  I’ve signed up for Ironman Chattanooga 2018 as I think this course suits my strengths and minimizes my weaknesses.  I intend to put some serious effort into improving my bike performance further.  There will be no bike offseason/marathon training so I am hopeful.  I don’t think I’ve had my best ironman run yet.  I’m afraid I may have to go to that place where I am not smiling for pictures as often as I race, but I will still have fun with this.

In a month, I race SwimRunNC at Hanging Rock State Park, NC with Gordon.  I’ve taken this whole week off and going for my first run today, so time to get going.  Thanks for reading.