Well, I guess the title says it all. Today, for the first time in my life (I'm hoping it's the start of a trend), I won a race. It was a little race with around 150 people, but I crossed the line first, and I'm ecstatic!!
It was a ridiculously hot day at the Cutting Edge 1/2-Iron race in Effingham, IL. Temps were around 90 on the run, with high, high, high humidity.
Pre-Race: We were fortunate enough to get a hotel room with a fridge and mirco, so I pretty much had my normal food last night and this morning. When I got up, I super-hydrated, by drinking a litre of water chased by a litre of gatorade. In retrospect this was a bad idea.
Got to the race site running a little late, but everything went smoothly to get set up in transition and marked. Luckily the lake was 82 degrees, so I didn't have to take the time to get my wetsuit on. I hopped in the water for about 5 mins of swimming before we started. I really needed a longer warmup.
Swim: The gun went off and things were going well. I had had the swim course explained to me, but either I heard it wrong, or the guy told me wrong. I kept forgetting to turn at the turn buoys. I kept thinking that there was another buoy to swim to before the turn, but then everybody around me suddenly disappeared and I was chasing! This happened twice, with a long period of solo zig-zagging in the middle. Not good. I estimate that I lost at least 2 minutes on the swim being stupid. When I crossed the timing mat and saw 25:59, I though, "Ahh, the swim was short." Then general consensus was that the swim was 1500-1600 meters.
T1: Actually pretty good for me, as I'm usually pretty slow in transition. Despite the minor setback of taking my timing chip off, I was on the bike in 1:22.
Bike: Here is where it all started to come together. I got going and knew it was going to be a good day right away. The only problem was all the liquid in my belly. I felt terribly bloated, and when I was in the aeros for the first 45 miles or so, I could actually feel my legs coming up and hitting my expanded belly. Not cool. I was a little worried, but otherwise things were going very well. At mile 8, I was in seventh place, about 4-5 minutes behind the leader. By mile 35, I had ridden into the lead. It was already getting pretty hot, and my HR was rather high, but I was riding well, and I knew if I was to have any chance at a high placing, I needed to put time in on the bike, since my run is my weak link. When I was getting close to the finish, I looked at my average speed and the total diatance, and thought, "Why aren't I in yet?" The reason? A 57.9 mile bike course!
The P3C continues to amaze me, and, while I'm still getting used to them, I'm starting to LOVE the rotor cranks.
T2: Another very quick transition for me, changed shoes and was off in 1:12.
Run: It was just brutally hot. The run was almost pan flat, and there wasn't an ounce of shade anywhere. It was a double out and back, on a long, exposed, hot strip of road. As I did the first several minutes of the run, I saw the next bikers come in, and I saw one guy blaze through transition. I thought, "Uh, oh, this guy's a runner." I was running pretty well. Not fast, but not too bad considering the heat and my effort on the bike. The runner passed me at around mile 1.5. I tried to stay with him for a while, but there was just no way. Unfortunately for him, within a mile he had a flare-up of a back problem, and had to pull out. I hope he's doing better tonight.
I made it through the first lap okay, but it was getting hotter and hotter. There were no mile markers, so I had no idea how fast I was going, but my HR was in the 170s, and my girlfriend told me I had 2:40 on second and third at the half-way point. From then, each time I looked back, I seemed to be pulling away from them.
I was getting pretty hot, and then mile 9 came. Mile 9 was a very dark mile. I started feeling really weak, and I actually felt a little chilly, which I'm sure was not a good sign. My HR was hovering in the 180-182 range. I really wanted to walk, but I made myself "run" until about 200 metres before the turn-around. As I walked those 200m to the aid station and turn, I had my last gel. Then I started talking to the gel. "Come on gel," I said, "rev me up like you are supposed to! Come on gel!!". I had the gel, got to the aid station and got some water and a cold sponge, and was off again. My HR had dropped and I was running much better. I kept looking for the guys who had been in second and third, but never saw them. I don't know what happened to them. So now I was running a little scared. I was only 3 miles from home, but I wasn't positive who was in second place. So I just kept going. It kept getting a bit bad right before the aid stations, but then some water and gatorade and ice eased the pain.
I didn't let myself believe that I might win until I made the turn for home (1 mile to go). Then I realized that there was no body behind me and I was going to do it. I thought I might cry a little when I saw my wonderful girl, Stephanie, waiting at the line. There wasn't a huge crowd, but I soaked in the cheers, nonetheless.
Final numbers:
Swim (1500-1600m):
Rank: 13
Time: 25:59
T1:
Rank: 19
Time: 1:22
Bike(57.9 miles):
Rank: 1
Time: 2:29:45
Speed: 23.2
AVHR: 153
T2:
Rank: 15
Time: 1:12
Run (general feeling was that this was accurate):
Rank: 5
Time: 1:51:19
AVHR (for the second lap): 177
Overall:
Rank: 1
Time: 4:49:35
Post Race: A nice celebration dinner was in order, followed by lots of fluids, stretching, and sleeping (soon). This week is all about recovery before the push to Wisconsin!! Bring it on!!
It was a great time on a brutally hard day. Congratulations to Tim for his strong 2nd place and to ahoodlum for honors in M20-24. I'm sorry I didn't get to meet more st people there. If you were there, chime in!!
-Colin
------------------------------------------------------------
Any run that doesn't include pooping in someone's front yard is a win.
It was a ridiculously hot day at the Cutting Edge 1/2-Iron race in Effingham, IL. Temps were around 90 on the run, with high, high, high humidity.
Pre-Race: We were fortunate enough to get a hotel room with a fridge and mirco, so I pretty much had my normal food last night and this morning. When I got up, I super-hydrated, by drinking a litre of water chased by a litre of gatorade. In retrospect this was a bad idea.
Got to the race site running a little late, but everything went smoothly to get set up in transition and marked. Luckily the lake was 82 degrees, so I didn't have to take the time to get my wetsuit on. I hopped in the water for about 5 mins of swimming before we started. I really needed a longer warmup.
Swim: The gun went off and things were going well. I had had the swim course explained to me, but either I heard it wrong, or the guy told me wrong. I kept forgetting to turn at the turn buoys. I kept thinking that there was another buoy to swim to before the turn, but then everybody around me suddenly disappeared and I was chasing! This happened twice, with a long period of solo zig-zagging in the middle. Not good. I estimate that I lost at least 2 minutes on the swim being stupid. When I crossed the timing mat and saw 25:59, I though, "Ahh, the swim was short." Then general consensus was that the swim was 1500-1600 meters.
T1: Actually pretty good for me, as I'm usually pretty slow in transition. Despite the minor setback of taking my timing chip off, I was on the bike in 1:22.
Bike: Here is where it all started to come together. I got going and knew it was going to be a good day right away. The only problem was all the liquid in my belly. I felt terribly bloated, and when I was in the aeros for the first 45 miles or so, I could actually feel my legs coming up and hitting my expanded belly. Not cool. I was a little worried, but otherwise things were going very well. At mile 8, I was in seventh place, about 4-5 minutes behind the leader. By mile 35, I had ridden into the lead. It was already getting pretty hot, and my HR was rather high, but I was riding well, and I knew if I was to have any chance at a high placing, I needed to put time in on the bike, since my run is my weak link. When I was getting close to the finish, I looked at my average speed and the total diatance, and thought, "Why aren't I in yet?" The reason? A 57.9 mile bike course!
The P3C continues to amaze me, and, while I'm still getting used to them, I'm starting to LOVE the rotor cranks.
T2: Another very quick transition for me, changed shoes and was off in 1:12.
Run: It was just brutally hot. The run was almost pan flat, and there wasn't an ounce of shade anywhere. It was a double out and back, on a long, exposed, hot strip of road. As I did the first several minutes of the run, I saw the next bikers come in, and I saw one guy blaze through transition. I thought, "Uh, oh, this guy's a runner." I was running pretty well. Not fast, but not too bad considering the heat and my effort on the bike. The runner passed me at around mile 1.5. I tried to stay with him for a while, but there was just no way. Unfortunately for him, within a mile he had a flare-up of a back problem, and had to pull out. I hope he's doing better tonight.
I made it through the first lap okay, but it was getting hotter and hotter. There were no mile markers, so I had no idea how fast I was going, but my HR was in the 170s, and my girlfriend told me I had 2:40 on second and third at the half-way point. From then, each time I looked back, I seemed to be pulling away from them.
I was getting pretty hot, and then mile 9 came. Mile 9 was a very dark mile. I started feeling really weak, and I actually felt a little chilly, which I'm sure was not a good sign. My HR was hovering in the 180-182 range. I really wanted to walk, but I made myself "run" until about 200 metres before the turn-around. As I walked those 200m to the aid station and turn, I had my last gel. Then I started talking to the gel. "Come on gel," I said, "rev me up like you are supposed to! Come on gel!!". I had the gel, got to the aid station and got some water and a cold sponge, and was off again. My HR had dropped and I was running much better. I kept looking for the guys who had been in second and third, but never saw them. I don't know what happened to them. So now I was running a little scared. I was only 3 miles from home, but I wasn't positive who was in second place. So I just kept going. It kept getting a bit bad right before the aid stations, but then some water and gatorade and ice eased the pain.
I didn't let myself believe that I might win until I made the turn for home (1 mile to go). Then I realized that there was no body behind me and I was going to do it. I thought I might cry a little when I saw my wonderful girl, Stephanie, waiting at the line. There wasn't a huge crowd, but I soaked in the cheers, nonetheless.
Final numbers:
Swim (1500-1600m):
Rank: 13
Time: 25:59
T1:
Rank: 19
Time: 1:22
Bike(57.9 miles):
Rank: 1
Time: 2:29:45
Speed: 23.2
AVHR: 153
T2:
Rank: 15
Time: 1:12
Run (general feeling was that this was accurate):
Rank: 5
Time: 1:51:19
AVHR (for the second lap): 177
Overall:
Rank: 1
Time: 4:49:35
Post Race: A nice celebration dinner was in order, followed by lots of fluids, stretching, and sleeping (soon). This week is all about recovery before the push to Wisconsin!! Bring it on!!
It was a great time on a brutally hard day. Congratulations to Tim for his strong 2nd place and to ahoodlum for honors in M20-24. I'm sorry I didn't get to meet more st people there. If you were there, chime in!!
-Colin
------------------------------------------------------------
Any run that doesn't include pooping in someone's front yard is a win.