Ironman Muncie 70.3 - Muncie, IN - 7/11/15

Wow, what a weekend! It was a fantastic time to celebrate with friends and family, and the tri club got to see a huge number of PRs set! Let's start with the week leading up, and we'll get to race day soon enough.

I had a few workouts during the week leading up to the race; nothing crazy tough but some good workouts that I'll likely want to repeat in the off season. I tried to take good care of my body, get plenty of sleep, and watch my diet to protect both my weight and my digestive system. I took it easy at work most of the week, and even went to a spaghetti dinner that the club hosted.

We were really fortunate with the weather leading up to the race, and got exactly the break we needed to have a gorgeous race day. For the couple of days leading up there was some heavy rain, tapering off at the end of the week and leaving Friday mostly overcast and temps in the mid 60's. On Saturday the sun decided to come out, but the humidity stayed relatively low for most of the day and temps only got into the lower 80's.

On Friday I had volunteered to run the BASE Performance booth at the expo, selling salt and generally hanging out with athletes from all over the world. It was a great time to meet some of my fellow ambassadors, as well as meet competitors and get comfortable with the surroundings for the race. 

Last year when I attended the athlete briefing on Friday, I was incredibly nervous. I was hyper aware and trying to make sure I didn't miss anything important. This year I got to hear the athlete briefing three different times, and I really wasn't nervous at all. It was a nice change of pace, because it meant that I got a great night's sleep, even though N and I were staying at a hotel. 

On Saturday I had alarms set for 4:30, but was up closer to 4. I had a quick breakfast of a Clif bar and a Bolthouse Farms shake, and set about getting things packed up to check out and head off to the race. Once we were checked out, we headed to the race with coffee in hand. We even left about 5 minutes earlier than we had hoped for!

Once we arrived at the race, I immediately went to get transition set up. I ran into a few friends along the way, and had enough time to chit chat since my age group was one of the last swim waves to go out. Once transition was set up, I took off for a quick warm up run. I got about a mile or so away from the race site and had a little bit of peace and quiet to stretch, clear my head, and whisper a few quick prayers before heading back to the transition area.

Once back in transition, I grabbed the necessary items for the swim, finished the last little bits of setting transition up, and headed out to our group tent to get a picture and get off my feet for a while. At this point I still had an hour before my swim wave left, so I wanted to stay as calm and relaxed as possible. I knew the nerves would come soon enough.

I hung out at the tent, we took a group picture, and I got to see my family for the first time that morning. My mom, dad, and sisters had all come up to see me race my biggest race of the season, and it was awesome getting to see how excited they were before I took off. We discovered that the race had been postponed by 15 minutes due to late arrivals, so I suddenly had a bit more time before my wave left.

I headed down to the public beach to get a quick warm up swim in. I had put my wetsuit on, thinking that I could use the buoyancy to my advantage. I tried swimming maybe 50 yards in the wetsuit before deciding to ditch it. I wasn't comfortable in it, I got overheated, it was restricting my movement and rubbing my neck every time I breathed. It was not worth the hassle, and the water was still over 72. 

I ditched the wetsuit with N, said a prayer with my family, and said "See you later!" and headed down to the beach for the swim start. I met up with a buddy from Florida to hang with for the swim start, and I'm glad I did. I was nervous and shaking anyway, but I think it would have been much worse without a friendly face near by.

The horn sounded and off we went! The plan was to stay to the right of the yellow buoys, since they had arced out and created extra distance between the start and the turn buoy. Since I was so far to the right, I didn't really have to battle with anyone for position, though I did manage to run into a few folks on the way by. The first turn buoy came and went, and as I turned the corner I had already gone into swimmers at least two waves in front of me.

Since I was now part of a much larger pack, things got a little dicier. There was one gentleman in particular who was swimming pretty heavy handed, and didn't seem to be particularly inclined to stop slamming into me. I put on some pace to try to pull away from him, and managed to get out and away before the second turn buoy. 

At the second turn buoy, things got dicey quick. We turned and headed back to shore, straight into the sun. There was no reliable way to tell where to go, all you could do was to find and follow the splashing ahead of you. Easier said than done, I was able to continuously find someone in front of me, even as I continued to move through swimmers ahead of me coming into the chute. Since it was so difficult to find where I was going, I found my pace lagging, but didn't want to waste energy swimming hard in the wrong direction. I waited until I could more easily spot a buoy, and really poured it on when I could.

I'm very happy to report that this swim time is 2:41 faster than last year's time, but I know it could still be better.

Swim time: 35:20 Minutes/100y: 1:40.4 

Transition went very smoothly. There's always a load of people you have to run past in the transition chute, with all the wetsuit pulling and people walking there's a lot of traffic. I made it a pretty quick transition with a time of 2:48, and I'm really happy with that. I didn't forget anything, and I was able to catch my breath a bit before heading out for the bike leg. I could go faster if I needed to, but I knew this race wasn't about place so much as pace.

The bike went very well this year. While I was about 5 minutes slower on the bike over last year, that was the plan. In fact, the plan allowed for me to be up to 20 minutes slower this year on the bike, in order to save myself for the run.

I'm pretty sure I said it last year, and I'll say it again this year, this bike course is begging you to go fast. It's a smooth ride, straight ahead, with a few small rollers. The only rough pavement is on the country roads on the way in and out, so the majority of the road is very smooth. Although, the rough parts of the country roads were VERY rough this year. The road was littered with spare kits, nutrition, bottles, and tools that had fallen off of peoples' bikes as they rode over the rough pavement. 

I knew my buddy from Florida would be catching me on the bike, but I wasn't sure where, and sure enough he caught me on the second time out to the turnaround. We exchanged a few words, wished each other well, and I told him I'd see him on the run.

Two things I want to say about the bike: 1. I have no idea how people manage to lose entire spare kits and bottle cages on the bike. If you haven't taken the two minutes to look over your bolts and straps to make sure you're not going to lose anything, you probably deserve to lose it. I saw at least three separate spare kits, and two separate cages with bottles intact along the road during this race. Unbelievable. 2. I also have no idea how people race anywhere without the ability to bike handle. I saw one lady lose it on the turnaround because she couldn't figure out where to shift her weight to make the U-turn, and I witnessed countless others unclipping their inside foot to take the turn. Most races I've been to have a U-turn for the bike leg, in fact there's only one I've ever raced that didn't have a U-turn (Cicero). 

Overall, even though I was slower this year, I'm still very pleased with the bike. Nutrition went to plan, speed went to plan, and I stayed happy the whole way through the bike. No mechanical failures this year, and a solid ride!

Bike time: 3:00:17 Average speed: 18.6 MPH 

The run, while it didn't go completely to plan, went very, very well. I had a really good transition despite having problems getting my left shoe on, taking only 1:43 in the transition area. As I came out onto the road and was adjusting my race belt, something snapped and flew off of it, leaving me a little confused as to what exactly happened. Even in going over pictures and looking at the belt itself, I still can't figure out what happened to it. All I know is, it won't stay tightly cinched around my waist.

The plan was to run 8:00 miles until the turnaround, and then reassess as to whether I should push the pace or just hang on. I kind of blew that up in the first mile, running a 7:00 mile. I immediately pulled that back and found 8:00 miles for miles two and three. I had skipped the line for the port-a-potty in transition, as well as at the first aid station, and finally came up on someone just leaving the toilet at the second aid station and I jumped right in to take advantage. It turns out I had quite a bit to release, and lost about :60 to the forces of nature. 

The first couple of miles my stomach was somewhat sloshy as a result of only taking in liquids on the bike. I had been warned that that may be the case before the race, but I didn't want to change the plan the day before the race. That phrase, "nothing new on race day" really has been ingrained into me, and I didn't plan on trying anything new.

Just before going into the toilet I had found my buddy, but peeled off before I could get to him. After coming out of the toilet feeling refreshed, I settled back into 8:00 miles and picked my way through the crowds on my way to the turnaround. I finally caught up with him around mile 4 or 5, exchanged a few words, a fist bump, and then was on my way again. 

Due to the out-and-back nature of the run course, I saw a lot of team mates along the way, and was able to give encouragement and high fives to as many as I could. Some looked like they needed it, some looked like they were feeling really good. 

At the turnaround I was starting to feel a little bit tired, and after a short reassessment I decided that I would wait until the next mile marker and see my pace, then decide whether to pick it up or not. That mile marker was seven, and I quickly discovered that I would just need to hang on the rest of the way home.

At mile eight I really started to fade, but made it my mission to get to mile nine. At mile nine was an aid station, so I decided that I would walk the aid stations from there on. I could feel blisters on my feet, my head was starting to overheat, and I needed to continue taking in water and salt if I was going to avoid cramping.

Well, walking the aid stations turned into walking the hills, and before I knew it my pace had slipped below 9:00 miles. Coming off the bike I knew I had a chance of going sub-5:30, which was my goal, but by mile ten I knew that wasn't going to happen. I would have had to run 7:30 miles the rest of the way in, and I was in no shape to do that. I decided to take things five minutes at a time, and get in as soon as I could.

Starting at about mile eleven I was feeling better. I had taken in a bit of sugar, had finally gotten the slosh in my stomach to dissipate, and was mentally ready to be done. I pushed myself through the last couple of miles, taking on the big hill at the end with a little bit of gusto. There was a competitor in my age group right with me on the hill, and we both wanted to beat the other. I came past him at the base of the final hill, but he picked up his pace to keep up. As we came up the hill, he got past me at the crest, and I went to speed up to try to get him into the chute. As I went to speed up, my right quad twitched and grabbed like it wanted to cramp, and I made the decision to pull back and avoid the cramp instead of gunning for a sprint finish.

Run time: 1:56:23 Average pace per mile: 8:53.1 

Total Time: 5:36:31 Overall rank: 588 Gender rank: 459 Age group rank: 35

Total Competitors: 1979 Gender Competitors: 1303 Age group Competitors: 90

Ironman does their rankings per event based on your position following that event, so you don't really know how each individual event time stacks up, but I'm absolutely thrilled with my time. 

Even after a bit of a struggle on the run, a bit of a slower bike, and feeling slow at times on the swim, I set a massive PR on this event. My run was over 40 minutes faster this year than last year, and my overall time dropped by 41:43 over last year! I'm super proud of all of the work I've done to get to this point, and super excited for the future as I continue training and improving. I don't know if I'll see gains like this ever again, but I don't plan to stop here. It was an amazing day, plus I didn't have to visit the medical tent for IV fluids this year...

Next up is Cicero, rescheduled from June to August 1. I had originally planned on doing Tri Indy this year, but since it falls on August 2, I will not be participating. I have high hopes for Cicero, both in terms of my time and in terms of my place, so it's back to the road for me. I've got more training to do, and more miles to go. I'll provide a training update next week, and a race preview for Cicero as we get closer. Later on...

Winona Lake Optimist Club Triathlon - Winona Lake, IN - 6/27/15

I really meant to do this on Monday, I promise...

What a weekend, though! It was rainy, windy, and just generally gross, but it was still a great time and a great race!

My initial reaction was that I had smashed my previous PR, I thought by 13 minutes. It turns out that while I still smashed my previous PR, it was only by 5 minutes. Potato, tomato, right?

Let's start at the very beginning. I got up around 3:15 am to have breakfast: Plain oatmeal with some nuts and berries mixed in. Let's just say we need to work on that. I got it down, but not without a little hesitation and grumbling about it. Fortunately, that's a pretty easy thing to work on. After I got that finished up, it was back to bed for a couple more hours of sleep.

My next alarm went off at 5:30, but I apparently turned it off and slept until about 5:50. We planned on leaving at 6, so I was behind already. Fortunately, I didn't have much to do to get ready and we were off around 6:15, coffee in hand.

We got a little lost, got turned around, got back on track, and arrived at the race site around 7:00, and I still needed to pick up my packet. The weather was rainy and a little on the chilly side, so the organizers had decided to forego body marking for the day. I got my packet picked up, and headed to set up transition and get my warm-ups in.

After getting transition set up and my bike warm-up in, the organizer started to call for the pre-race meeting. I had still hoped to get a run and swim warm-up in, but realized very quickly that I would have to forego those today and just get to racing.

Water temp was 72, which actually felt very nice compared to the air temp of 56. Add a little drizzle and a stiff breeze, and we were all ready to be in the water. The first age group to depart was the 18-24 men, and we (25-29 men) were next up. Fortunately we got about 2 minutes in the water before they started us, so I took the time to acclimate as much of my body as possible to the water.

At the horn I dove in and was off. Being a windy day, the wind had pushed the boat holding the divider over to our left, creating a half-circle instead of a straight line. I tried to stay as far to the left as possible, but it was a challenging task to see where I was going. The boat eventually was pushed back to the right, creating an "S" shape with the divider, causing all kinds of problems.

On top of the boat being pushed, the water was unbelievably choppy. I'm a strong swimmer, and my times usually reflect that. With the boat moving, water chopping, and a competitive group of swimmers at the front, I settled into the back of a pack and followed feet to avoid getting sick. I took a lot of water in, got kicked quite a few times, and I'm pretty sure I pissed off a guy in a wetsuit who didn't understand that he shouldn't keep moving the same direction I'm moving to avoid him. While it was faster than last year, it was only faster by a slim margin (4 seconds). In short, the swim was rough.

Swim time: 8:10 Minutes/100m: 2:02 Overall swim rank: 28

Transition was a good distance from the beach. Not as far as it will be at Muncie, but still a good jog. As you can see in the picture, I look like I'm feeling better this year than I was last year. I also look a little slimmer...

Wet feet on wet pavement means trouble when you're trying to put on socks, and indeed I had trouble. It took me too long to get both socks on, but I still managed to be one second faster in T1 than I was last year.

Off I went on the bike. I knew at this point that everyone had struggled with the swim, but I had no idea where I was in terms of my age group. I couldn't tell if I was in transition with other guys in my age group, or if I was there with guys from the age group that left first. Either way, the bike starts off with an uphill climb through some tight turns in a nice neighborhood to get out to a decent state road for an out and back course.

In my warm-up, I had ridden a couple miles and turned around in a church parking lot to head back. As it turns out, I should have ridden just a little bit farther to assess the wind, because past the church was a curve, and past the curve was the wind. The majority of the ride was with a heavy crosswind, and on the way out it was a slight tail wind as well. Going out I felt strong, but probably should have taken my nutrition on sooner as I started to peter out around mile 5. I made the turn and quickly inhaled a gel and some salt, and got back on the horse, but the damage was done. I had made two passes on the way out, and they quickly returned the favor as we headed back in to the same heavy crosswind, now complicated with a slight headwind.

I held my position for the last 6 miles, not allowing any passes and catching a few of the slower cyclists from the group ahead. I felt bad for some of the guys who were riding discs out there, but when you make a choice like that and don't bring backup options, you get what you get.

Unfortunately there was a wreck on the course. There are 3 consecutive 90-degree turns that require a drop in speed to navigate safely. This is also where I'll mention that due to the rain, I had lowered my tire pressure from my normal 115 to 100 in order to boost my grip on the slick roads. A guy in my age group had not slowed down enough in advance, and instead tried to slam on his brakes coming downhill into the turn, leading to a wipe-out. Everything seemed okay, in fact he started running with his bike in tow trying to keep up.

Last year I had taken my feet out of my shoes way too early, and didn't want to be caught in that same trap again this year. I rode and rehearsed in advance, and it paid off. I think I still pulled early, but I still made nice speed into transition and was able to do a great flying dismount at the line. Again, the bike was better this year, but only marginally. I'll somewhat attribute it to wet conditions, but it was mostly my absent-mindedness in my nutrition and effort that lead to only a 17-second improvement.

Bike time: 42:23 Average speed: 19.6 MPH Overall bike rank: 64

T2 was fast, but could likely still be faster. I need to do some research and see where I'm losing time compared to other runners. Shoes on, hat on, belt on, and gone. I felt good coming off the bike, but still had no idea where I was in my age group. With no body marking, I didn't know if I was even close to anyone else in my age group or not, but assumed that I was and went with it.

The run felt great. There's a nice, long, wooded section on this course that leads into a residential area, and it's got a few small rollers that can really kill you if you don't know what to do. I made some quick passes out of T2, and settled in around mile 1.5 to a comfortable pace. I knew I was close to a couple guys in my age group (or at least I had assumed), so I needed to make the run a good one.

I felt strong almost all the way in, but about a mile from the finish I ran into a big hill that I hadn't remembered being there. I chugged my way up the hill, but I had already used a lot of energy keeping my pace up before I got there. As I was climbing, a guy came up on me who I was fairly certain was in my age group, so I paced with him up the hill but didn't stand a chance as we reached the top. I needed to recover a bit, and his long legs carried him away from me slightly.

I was prepared for the steep downhill that immediately followed the uphill, and was able to take advantage of it to gain some ground on a couple of guys. Down the hill and onto the main stretch with about .3-4 remaining to the finish, and I just didn't have the gas to keep up. I came into the line strong, knowing that I had PR'd on the day no matter where I finished.

Run time: 24:25 Average pace per mile: 6:37 Overall run rank: 16

Total time: 1:17:17 Overall rank: 23 Age group rank: 6

I ran in an extremely competitive age group, with only 2:34 separating 1st and 6th, and only :14 between 4th and 6th. The age group was also larger this year, increasing from 24 guys to 32, making my 6th place finish this year much more impressive than my 8th place finish last year, not to mention placing 23rd overall out of a group of 336 finishers.

Additionally, every single leg of my race was faster, transitions included, even if only marginally. My biggest improvement came in my run, where I dropped the majority of my time to get to my PR. Last year's time was 1:22:34, making my time dropped 4:17.

This week is a "rest" weekend, so no races, but Muncie looms just around the corner on the following weekend. Preparation is winding down, and excitement is building! I'll be posting next week with some thoughts as the race approaches, and some details about where you can catch me if you're in the area. Later on...