Met Natascha Badmann and Chris Legh the day before the race. Both were really great… got their autographs and a picture with Natascha! (Made my day!) She was beyond cool… every bit as nice as you could imagine.
Had a great time… weather was perfect. Not too hot. Not cold. Wind picked up on the bike but not overbearing. Swim was a little tough… hard to sight. Probably could have cut a minute off my time if I knew where I was going… little rough too. Run was flat and easy… kept a steady pace and felt good for most of it. First time I’ve done the race and I would DEFINITELY do it again.
Some girl crashed in front of me at around 25 of the bike… she rode up on some guys wheel and he didn’t know she was there. He slowed and she almost took him out. She wiped out and I just missed it. She got up and kept going… but, man… people like that. She was draftin if I’ve ever seen it… ridiculous.
Great aid, great support, great people, great time. Anyone else go? How’d you do?
Once again another great Vigo race. I could have appreciated a calmer swim (was the current on the way back strong, or am I just slow?!) and less wind on the bike, but with either of those it wouldn’t have been Eagleman! I had about three pace lines go whizzing by me on the bike and probably only saw the officials two or three times. It was great to pass Natascha on the run and see her big smile, especially with Desiree a couple of minutes back busting her butt to catch her. Post-race food (for a change) was actually decent and plentiful. This was my last east coast race for a while as we move to Anchorage in two weeks. Although I didn’t have a great day, it was nice to leave town after such a great race.
It really was a good day, and race conditions couldn’t have been much better! The swim, which was my big concern, turned out to be pretty good, and I didn’t find the current or choppy conditions to be a big problem.
The bike was a bit windy, which occasionally worked to everyone’s advantange. This was my weak link, though, due to inadequate training and some terrible sciatic pain. I couldn’t wait for the bike to be over, already. I really need to do something about this, but don’t know what. I’ve had sciatic pain before, but yesterday was excruciating - I just couldn’t get comfortable and I know my performance suffered for it.
The run was awesome. To keep myself occupied, I counted how many people I passed on the run. From about mile 2 to the finish, I passed between 120 and 130 people, and I was passed by 6, two of them guys on relays teams. I felt great, except the sciatic thing kicked in again at the end, and I thought my leg might give out on the final two miles.
All in all, it was a great day. I pr’d by 31 minutes (this was only my second half so there was lots of room for improvement) with a 5:36 and my husband pr’d by 10 minutes with a 4:42. He’s on Cloud 9 today. That put him pretty high up in the 40-44 age group standings, given the number of guys in that age group.
Great race!! Well organized, tons of volunteers, even the food was decent! We’re going to add this to our annual calendar of races!
glad to know the swim sucked for other people. Crowded, hot, couldnt see a thing which meant I couldnt find a pair of feet to draft, got off track once or twice, and nearly puked from slurping bracken water. Lots of drafting on the bike but I think where I stand on that is: its like rules in any game - you break them and you risk penalty, or you get off free. So while some bikers were making noises and trying to be ad hoc refs, i just did my own thing. Now as you get to the front of the pack and medals or kona slots are on the line, cheating becomes more important and so the refs should focus their attention IMO on the front. Run for me was a breakthrough. As a non-runner with only 1.5 years of tri and 3 HIMs under my belt I am still just learning about pacing and what my body can do on the run. I have gotten to the point now where I can get off the bike feeling good (as opposed to the first HIM when I could barely walk straight!). Seeing Natascha and the other pro women jet past me on the way in on the run as I was on mile 5 on the way out really gave me a boost. I think my split for that mile was the fastest of the day! I didnt quite negative split the run but I think that is mainly a mental thing - I knew I had my goal (sub-5) and wasn’t prepared to hurt a bit at the end. Final time = 4:50 (S=35:00; B=2:28; R=1:41)
Chris Legh’s bike split (2:03:33) was out of this world. Anyone know what the 1/2 ironman bike record is?! Frank Day - I think I’m starting to believe in the PCs. I ran a 1:21 split even though I had severe pain in my glutes (saddle too wide?!) and my legs were still a little sore from Alcatraz the week before. Unfortuntely, I didn’t budget for a Hawaii trip (20-24 age group), so I had to turn the slot down.
whatever the record is, he definitely wins the HIM bike split record for people missing half their bowels! Congrats to you on an awesome race. Now that I did 1:40, 1:30 is starting to look slightly feasible on that sort of course. 1:20 though is for my next life. Do you really attribute tangible gains to the PCs or are you fishing for a sponsor? Seems to me like you must be an awesome athlete in any event, but if you get the time i’d be interested to hear about your run/tri background and how it has progressed.
nice race and congrats to all the finishers. i thought this was an excellent race. well designed and run. i chalk up the slow swim to the size of the waves. it has very hard to make good progress due to the mass of bodies in front of me. current was clearly stronger than the day before. bike was well marked and managed (save for some excessive road kill). it was hard to not draft due to the size of the field but i thought the open road did a lot for allowing people to spread out when so inclined. i did have one pace line pass me where they were clearly doing a rotation. fun to see everyone on the run including the pros.
overall, pleased with my 5:23, though a lower time was there for the taking.
my better half jenn was third overall woman out of the water (yes, i do take lessons from her) and just had a spectacular race.
Swim: 38:50
I was a bit dissapointed. I kept running into people. I’m going to start the swim further up front from now on. Should have been around 35:00
Bike: 2:43:10
Faster than I planned but felt great. The wind was a non-issue for me except when it was at my back, then it really helped.
Run: 2:03:05
Hoped for under 2 hrs but it was a lot better than the 2:10:00 I was expecting. Some day I’ll get the running thing down. I should have written my screen-name on the back of my leg so you guys could hollar at me as you ran by.
Overall: 5:32:40 I was hoping for under 5:30 but was very happy with this result. It was a great race and I met a new friend that really made my weekend.
All of the staff and volunteers were great. At the water stops I allways got the water from the youngest kids cuz they were so excited.
The monokote disk is still working great, 2 time trials and 2 tri’s and it works great. It’s the best $20 I’ve invested in my bike
I was a bit disappointed earlier this year with my quad strength. I think riding exclusively on the PCs for all of my base period cost me some fitness in my (vastus medialis?) I’ve been doing 1/2 of my miles on regular cranks since then and 1/2 on PCs, and my quads seem to be back to normal while my hip flexors are stronger. I really think the HFs help run cadence especially in a longer run such as a 1/2 marathon.
As to my athletic background, I swam from age 7 through HS and for about a semester in college. Since then I’ve been working on the running primarily.
Your background sounds very similar to mine (I started swimming at 6 and quit at age 20), and didn’t start seriously running until age 21. And wouldn’t you know, there you are 14 seconds ahead of me! As for the PCs helping your running, I’d agree at the shorter distances but not the longer ones – a faster cadence on the run is driven by your hamstrings and running technique (relaxed, fast heel lift), not by lifting your knees with stronger HFs.
Work on that budget, though – we want to see you in Kona before too long!
My first time at Blackwater. I was expected the high temps and wind, especially as it seemed to be warming up by the minute Saturday afternoon. Beautiful day for racing as it got overcast just as I was starting out on the bike. I was even thinking I hope it doesn’t start to rain until I start the run. I was hoping for something around 5:15 as I have kicked it up to IM training levels this year in anticipation for IMC. For perspective, my PB for a half is 5:27 from the 1986 Muncie Endurathon. I though the swim was relatively easy, no real currents either direction. I did find a great pair of feet after the turnaround. I had stopped for a few breast strokes to resight the finish when I got run up by someone directly behind me. He turned out to be swimming well, so I got on his feet. I don’t know where he was before but he motored really well. I lost his feet a couple of times and I had to really work to catch back up. We separated at the boat ramp, but running to the bikes he congratulated me on a great swim. About four miles in on the bike he passed me again and again congratulated me. I told him it was due to his draft. I met this guy after the race and I have to say, what a friendly triathlete. His name is Jerome Dorsey, placed 9th in the 50-54 Ag, has alreay qualified for Kona (IMF 2003), and I will see him again at Tupper Lake where he will be in my age group (actually, I will join his age group this coming Thursday). Definitely heads above road cyclist race and post race interaction. Anyway, decent bike, occasional head winds but nothing to really complain about. I miss the hills as I think this was the first race I have ever pedalled non-stop. Bike split 2:39:25. Ambled through the run with brief moments of glory. Before the turn around I was passed by a woman (44 yr old) of similar stature, moving very well. We ended up running a couple of miles together after the turn around at about a 7:30 clip. I mentioned that I have always really enjoyed passing tall people which she laughed at and said she did as well. I then told her that now I really enjoy passing young tall people, to which she also concurred. But, her pace was a tad to quick for me to hold and I dropped off. I believe she finished her run holding that 7:30 pace and 9th overall in her age group. I caught a side stitch under my right rib cage at the 9 mile mark and hobbled for the next few miles, picked it up at the end for a 1:48:37 run split, and an overall time of 5:08:18. Not bad for an old fart.
Seems to me like you must be an awesome athlete in any event, but if you get the time i’d be interested to hear about your run/tri background and how it has progressed.