Ron Rothgeb, a mentor of mine - Died 9/11/2003 - Pancreatic Cancer. Timmy Sutter, my birth father - Died 4/23/1999 - Colon Cancer
Half Full Triathlon Results - 6th Place Clydesdale
Here are the stats...
30:29
Swim avg HR 139
Swim max HR 147
2:57:18
18.95 mph
Bike avg HR 145
Bike max HR 164
Average Cadence 91
2:09:45
9:54 minute miles
Run avg HR 139
Run max HR 168
As I've written so many race reports, I think I'll today simply ride a race summary. An introductory paragraph and then a bullet point list of things worth noting... and a special note... my buddy Lennie Phillips was third place male cancer survivor. My other cancer survivor buddy... Mike Lampe... was second place male cancer survivor! They are both inspirations to me.
2010 has been a challenging year for me. I have separated from my wife and the end result will be divorce. My daughter turned 13 years old and being a teenager is tough... and it ain't any easier when there is instability in the family unit. This was going to be an off year for triathlon though I did sign up for two races... Philadelphia in June... and today's Half Full Triathlon. Training for Half Full (the year's "A" race) was interrupted as I was hit by a car on 4th of July while cycling. I lost five weeks of training time... and as Philly was on 6/27, I really lost an additional two weeks... before that race and the week after. Today's race was actually indicative of how this year has gone for me. And triathlon is like life (or a box of chocolates)... you never know what can happen on race day. You know... here is my theory on life... life is 10% what happens to you... and 90% how you deal with it. That is how race day can be, too. Honestly, I looked at today's race and estimated I'd do a 5:50... challenging course... and my run isn't where I want (and need) it to be... yet. Coming in at 5:46 is pretty sweet... considering some things that happened out there today.
1. Great weather... cool and crisp... but not too cold. Water temp was in high 60s and was not an issue at all. I was very used to the race venue having done Columbia Triathlon 5 times... and trained on the course at least a hundred times over the years.
2. On the swim... I didn't have any problems... except on the last leg when it was hard to sight the final turn buoy. I veered a little too far right and could have saved time staying closer to shore. Other than that, buoys on the way out and even leading back to the final buoy were easy to sight. It was a far run from swim up to T1.
3. My transition are notorious for sucking. Today was no different. Getting my socks on took forever and I was wearing a tri top that I had never wore before. Pockets were in the back. Took me a while to get my stuff in the pockets. Oh yeah... wet suit removal... another misadventure trying to get that thing off. Lastly, I wore arm warmers and they took forever to get on, too.
4. On the bike, I really felt GREAT. I flew out and just passed dozens of people. Rode up the first set of hills with no problem whizzing by people left and right. Heart rate was in 142 - 147 range so definitely was not pushing too hard.
5. However, at about mile 15 or 16, after cresting a hill, I pulled out a Clif bar and started to feed... put it in left hand and went to left shifter to get back in the big chain ring. I pulled it back and nothing happened. Flipped it back and forth again and... nothing. What is irritating about that is that part of the course is about 4 miles of nice flat (minor rollers mixed in) where I can fly at 27 - 29 mph. Now... I was stuck in small chain ring... I'd get up to 25 mph... but my cadence would be like 110... HR 120. Also, the smaller gears were creating a racket as the chain was rubbing the derailleur. That meant I really could only use 6 gears So...
6. I attacked on the hills and spun on the flats, and coasted the downhills. What else was I going to do? Wait for the sag wagon? Get off and try and "fix" it myself? Looking back on it... this probably worked out to my advantage as it kept me from toasting myself on the flats and downhills. On the hills, as I was plenty rested (HR like 120 on flats) I would just fly up those suckers. So instead of the normal 9 - 11 mph on the tougher hills... I'd be doing 13 - 14 mph. So, just make some lemonade!
7. My "ride" time was 2:55... according to bike computer. Only 1 minute off the fastest I had ridden the course in training. When I got back to T2, almost all the other Clydesdale bikes were nowhere to be seen. I headed out on the run and didn't see a lot of other people in T2 or heading out. I had a solid bike.
8. A buddy of mine, Mike Reed, started two waves behind me, passed me at right after mile 1... I would see him later at mile 9... he was walking and it looks like he DNFed. Fast guy... but sometimes he blows himself up.
9. Early on the run I had some cramping issues on inside of my legs above the knees. I took 3 endurolytes and 5 ibuprofen and then my stomach starting feeling strange. I remembered that I should probably eat a little something as it was probably the pills on the empty stomach. I ate some pretzels from an aid station and pretty much dialed in at that point. I was doing 9:35 miles for much of the first part of the course and that included walking up some of the hills.
10. But, then the cramps returned (about mile 10) and this time my upper hamstrings in both legs took turns "catching". As in... walk motherf**ker. I kept the walking to a minimum and don't think it was more than a 1/4 mile either time. As I came into the chute, they had some green carpet that looks like grass... as soon as I hit that, I sort of rolled my ankle and that made my leg cramp up. It must of looked pretty dramatic as I grabbed the railing and was sort of walking, pulling myself toward the finish line. What a Diva!
Overall, a typical TJ race... strong on the swim... stronger than most on the bike... endure the run. However, I definitely could feel the payoff on the recent training. I believe if the cramps hadn't come, I could have done that run in less then 2 hours... perhaps even south of 1:55. So... I'm encouraged and ready to work on it... next up... Rehoboth Beach Marathon in December.
Back of my right leg, July 8, 2010
No comments:
Post a Comment