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I was talking with a buddy about preparing for his Half Ironman and he mentioned how he’s working on getting everything to “slow down.” The first thought that came to mind was my Muncie 70.3 race when I felt in complete control of each event. Then I started thinking about the two that followed, Goosepond, and New Orleans. All three had quite a different story and each one has been progressively worse. I wondered if I looked at them next to each other if it would help me understand and learn from what went right and/or wrong.
PRE-RACE MOOD
Muncie – This was my first half. I was nervous and unsure of my capabilities. But I was very focused, as always, afraid to fail, and it helped to have good friends around to calm my nerves. I didn’t sleep great, but was in bed by 8 the night before.
Goosepond – This race was about 6 weeks after IM Wisconsin and my level of training was somewhere just above zero. I was WAY over confident and frankly a little cocky after just finishing a full. It is the strangest feeling, but I can honestly say that I was treating a half triathlon almost like a 10k or something and that is just asinine behavior no matter who you may be.
New Orleans – I pulled into New Orleans on Jazzfest weekend and stayed in a massive downtown condo by myself. It was the perfect example of being alone in a crowd. I was the visiting team and frankly the crowd was a bit intimidating. I was also a bit under trained and indifferent. The juices eventually started flowing, but it was more like survival than a build and conquer. I hadn’t ridden outside since Goosepond and was not prepared for what I was about to face.
THE SWIMS
Muncie – I was very sh*tting bricks about this this swim, but caught a major break when somehow it was wetsuit legal in JULY. We’d put in a lot of time at the lake, but the turn buoy looked impossibly far away as I surveyed the course the day before. Oddly, as my feet hit the water in the morning complete calm coursed my veins. I imagined that is how I would react when faced with ultimate death. You sink into your zone and accept fate. I had no intention of hammering this swim and took a very long time to ease into my pace. By the time we made the final turn, I felt great and churned my way to a pretty nice 37 minute swim.
Goosepond – Did I mention I was over confident and not ready? I goofed around before the race and did zero warm up other than getting in the water 5 minutes early and taking a few lazy strokes. I’d just done Wisconsin, this would be a breeze! About 400 yards into the swim, I was gassed and breathing so hard I had to tread water. It was not good and these situations are very difficult to recover from. I’d swim a couple hundred and stop. It was just a brutal swim. Two laps and I finally climbed out of the lake gasping for breath with a 43 minute swim.
New Orleans – I was kind of nervous for this race because I hadn’t really swam that much, plus the whole being by myself thing was kind of weird. Luckily I met a couple guys from Nashville in the line and they helped loosen the mood. My game plan was to take this swim uber slowly and try to keep it under 40. Frankly, I swam this race perfectly for the shape I was in and climbed out in 39 minutes.
THE BIKES
Muncie – I felt strong as I ran out of the lake and carried that energy to the bike. I cruised easily for the first 10 miles but kept a solid pace. It was smooth sailing for most of the way, but there was a 10 mile patch in the middle that was terribly bumpy and narrow with bikers going each way. It would have been very easy to settle into the madness and play it safe, but I remember consciously deciding this is where I had to push harder. I could tell this rough stretch was getting into people’s heads and I did exactly the opposite by embracing the conditions. By the time we got back to the smoother roads, I was a little battered, but it was pretty easy to keep the pace. I stepped into T2 with a 20.5 mph average.
Goosepond – I came out of the water a beaten man. I was both pissed and embarrassed. Even though I wasn’t really into this race, I was still determined to beat my Muncie time and the minute I got on my bike, I was a raging madman. I decided if nothing else good came out of this day, I would crush the bike. It was almost like I purposely punished my legs. At Muncie I never pushed them to the point where it felt like I was working too hard. At Goosepond, the entire bike burned. I was ravaged and kept trying to find another gear. I did lay down a nice time of 20.9 mph, but that extra .4 mph difference from Muncie absolutely cooked my legs for the run.
New Orleans – This bike ride will forever be a mystery. I mean, I probably wasn’t “ready” for this ride considering I’d only goofed around on the trainer for a couple months, and rarely rode more than an hour and a half, but by mile 40 I was ready to throw my bike in the swamp. I was right on the mark for the first 15, but then my brake pad started rubbing and didn’t stop the rest of the ride. The problem with this was, I KNEW I was having problems BEFORE the race and didn’t address it. I made a couple adjustments the day before and thought it was fine. It was a true sign that my head wasn’t ready for this race. Why would I not get that fixed? Who rides a Half Ironman knowing their brake is f-d up? Avg. Speed was 17.4 mph, by far my slowest bike ever.
THE RUNS
Muncie – I felt good and was eager to get off the bike. My first mile was sub 8:30 including a bathroom break and that may have been what saved my run. I was using my chrono watch this day (well, every day of my triathlon career) and hitting re-start at every mile marker worked on staying within time “ranges.” I wanted to be around 8:15 – 8:30 the whole day. Not much science was involved, but I stayed within myself, kept steady, and breathed. Nothing distracted me until mile 7 when my feet suddenly felt like I was running on hot coals. Talk about Zen! You can’t think of anything else when every step you take feels like broken glass. I really don’t know how I did it, but it was a true testament to running as a meditation. 1:50 run.
Goosepond – I normally don’t “feel like” running off the bike, but this day I REALLY didn’t want to. To be honest, I didn’t even think I could. But, my inside information said it was a nice flat course, so I sucked it up and set my sights on sub 2 hours for the 1/2 marathon. Well, it took about two miles before I was climbing the first of many hills. This run course was pretty rough and my body was not happy. I was completely distracted the entire run. I had zero focus and all I wanted to do was be out of town. There were no mile markers so my chrono watch was useless. I had no clue on my pacing and at mile 10 got a knee pain I thought might be serious. Somehow I finished at around 2:10.
New Orleans – This was my first absolute blow up on a run. It took about 1.5 miles before I started walking. I have never walked more than 50 yards or so in any race ever. Hell, even in training runs. Walking was the one thing I would never let myself do. But I probably walked a third of this course. Walk, run, walk, run. It was brutal. It was hot. My legs were fried. No spectators, no nothing. Walking it in was not an option, or I might have quit. At mile 9 I saw a guy with a similar look on his face and said, “Okay, man, you ready to run this in?” He said yep, and that’s what we did. It was my worst 1/2 time, including my first ever. I staggered in at 2:20.
POST RACE THOUGHTS
Muncie – This was the boost of confidence I needed. In retrospect, my race at Wisconsin was almost a carbon copy. Steady swim, solid bike, consistent run. I had a million doubts about doing a full, but Muncie put me in the game. My feet were burning, but my legs felt strong. I had almost two months to get ready for Wisconsin and Muncie went a long ways toward getting my mind right. As my buddy says, I “hurried slowly.” TRT – 5:16
Goosepond – Honestly, after I finished, the first thought I had was, “It’s pretty damn cool to be able to do a 70.3 without training.” But it hurt like a bitch. I’m pretty sure I didn’t do a thing for a month. I’m still not sure why I did a half that close to my first full and in retrospect it was a bad idea. But in every “failure” there are lessons, and at Goosepond, my lackluster, unfocused swim set the table for a painful outcome. If I would have stayed true to my plan of easing into my stroke, this may have been a good race. It still wasn’t bad. TRT 5:35 (with a 4:00 drafting penalty… yes, I’m still bitter).
New Orleans – Part of me wants this race again just to find out. I felt good about the swim, but other than that, it was just a mess. My bike is my strength and it imploded. I was a beaten man and thankfully my mom and her friends were there to lift me up. My lesson from New Orleans is take races seriously or they will eat you alive. TRT 6:20.