This was my first big event since July 2002 when I went to Lake Placid. I realized on the drive home from Auburn that I had been carrying around a sense of unfinished business ever since LP. My disappointing race there had been nagging at me ever since.
Summary race report: I took care of that unfinished business in Auburn last Saturday. I had my best day yet, and I am thrilled with how it all went.
The reason I haven’t raced since July 2002 is that I started a new business, had a new baby (to add to two others) and was not willing to make the time to train in three sports. So, I just ran. I have not done a swim workout in 20 months, and I had done exactly three (3) bike rides in the 18 months before January of this year. However, I ran a lot – 6-7 days most weeks over the past year. I am a novice runner, having taken it up at age 41 (two years ago).
I had 10 weeks to prepare for WT. I kept the running rolling, and did three bike rides each week. I rode 1,040 miles in 10 weeks. Not “epic”, but I figured it was enough to get me around the course. Oh – and I skipped the swim entirely. I entered as a relay, and recruited a swim partner to do the swim for me. No time for swim training.
I tried a completely different approach to bike training than I had in the past. In short, I skipped base and build entirely and went straight to specific prep in the first week. I used much of Andy Coggan’s writings as the building blocks of my bike work.
My goal for the race was to see if I could ride hard and run hard. In the past, I have been able to ride hard, run a little, and walk a lot. Or, I could ride easy, and run really, really slow. Neither strategy was very satisfying. 
Like everyone else, I can’t compare my WT bike split to any other race, but I do know that I have never had a bike split so near the front of the other guys my age. Not swimming helped a little, but my swim has never slowed me on the bike. I rode next to (and passed) people that I know have crushed me in the past. I left T1 as another racer I know and respect greatly was still pulling on his shoes, and he didn’t catch me until the final few miles. I rode the first long rolling uphill section by holding ~230 watts on the climbing bits, and coasting when over 30 mph on the backside of the rollers. This was good, hard work. HR on this section was sticking in the 162-165 range. My estimated AeT (in Gordo-speak) on the bike is 150. Over the race’s first 16 miles (before the big descent; 1:15 elapsed time), I averaged 224 watts, or 231 watts normalized. This is 96% of my estimated threshold power – a very solid effort.
After the big downhill, I made my first tactical error of the day. I found myself riding with a guy that I know is faster than me, and that posted a good bike time at this course last year. He can drop me like a rock on any course, at will – and he has in the past. So, I figured I would let him pace me back up the mountain. The pace was comfortable, and power was around 210; HR about 158-160. My tactical error was this: I didn’t know it at the time, but my riding buddy was having a bad day and not on his game. In hindsight, I did that segment too easy. I averaged 209 watts on the climb, and I should have been riding it at 225. Not a big deal – probably only cost me two minutes. But, a lesson learned: Ride your own race.
On the long rolling section back to town, my decision to ride the tri bike paid off, as I rode away from everyone around me and passed a half dozen people. Only one person passed me on this section – KP, right at the final hill. The guy can motor on the rollers!
Second tactical error: I decided to top off the nutrition tank on the final bike section. I drank too much and had a full gut coming into T2. It didn’t cost me any time (I managed to puke half of it out without breaking stride at mile 3!), but it worried me the first part of the run. Run fueling went great after that.
I rode 3:22 elapsed time on the bike, and I am thrilled with that result. Now for the big test: how do the legs feel? In every prior race, I had been struck with panic when I started the run. I not only feared the distance, but my legs were usually like putty.
At WT, I knew even before I was out of the transition area that I was going to have a good run. Sure, my legs were tired, but months of long tough runs in the hills had taught me that I could run a long, long way on tired legs. I hit the trail feeling great, and with no fear.
I have commented before on this board about how a non-runner like me can develop not only fitness, but a feeling of invincibility. Long, hard, tough runs begin to sink into your psyche after a while, and you lose the fear. I literally smiled as I left T2. I was happy and feeling great.
Third tactical error: At mile one, I felt that old familiar feeling in my lower intestines. I had to find a potty, and fast. I could not remember from the course description where the potties would be (mile 7 it turns out), so I ran gingerly along. Churning gas bubbles staggered me to a halt a few times. After the turnaround, and back at the first aid station (miles 1 & 5), I grabbed some paper towels at the aid station and tiptoed up a side trail until I found a private spot free of poison oak to get things sorted out.
The tactical error here is that I have not figured out how to show up at race day with an empty lower intestine. This need to potty-stop has spoiled my run split three times now. Between running so delicately (like trying to run while holding a pencil between my cheeks) and the squat-stop itself, I blew 7-8 minutes in the first 5 miles.
Once I had that problem “eliminated”, I just rolled through the run. Best feeling ever. No slowing down, no desire to stop or walk. I just rocked along, at my own modest pace. I had a few hard-core leg cramps and spasms, but a quick stretch and some attention to form kept them at bay. I think the spasms were simply a product of my borderline bike fitness. I had a pre-race strategy of running hard on the downhills, but that got my hamstrings in a knot, so I just kept it steady on the downhills. I experimented with walking parts of the uphills, but it was much slower and no easier. On the final one-mile canal path back to the finish, I was running behind a guy and I asked what pace he thought we were doing. He said, quite matter-of-factly: “We’re running 8’s.” That’s what I thought, too.
Now, let me point out that, two summers ago, I set my then-PR in an open 10k running 8’s. My open half marathon PR from Feb of this year was 8’s. And, here I was after 5+ hours of hard racing, running 8’s!!! And – I was rolling along. I could have done several more miles at that pace. This is a HUGE breakthrough for me.
So, thanks for your support, and thanks for reading. I love this sport, and I can’t wait for the next race.