Week 9
Planned: 9:50 total hours (1:30 swim, 5:10 bike, 3:10 run)
Completed: 9:46 hours (1:28 swim, 5:15 bike, 3:03 run)
The whole reason I was supposed to blog every single week was so that I remembered each week of training. How I felt during and about the workouts, whether I felt energized or burnt out, and just where my head was at about the whole thing. So I forgot to blog last week, and now I can barely remember any of it. No recollection of most of the mid-week workouts … There was a 2.5 hour 44 mile ride, followed by a 9 mile run the next day that was surprisingly good given the ride. And it was exciting to know that a race was coming up, it focused attention on a near-term event and helped to stave off the burn put I'd been feeling previously.
Week 10
Planned: 8:50 total hours (1:30 swim, 3:05 bike, 1:30 run, 2:45 race)
Completed: 9:02 hours (1:17 swim, 3:36 bike, 1:24 run, 2:45 race)
Race week - this week - was when it started to get really exciting. I knew I wasn't tapering, and I wanted to stay on plan, but also give myself a good shot at success. Success simply being a solid, no-walk run leg. I chanted all week, like a mantra, that I didn't care about my time, I didn't care about my place, I only cared about not blowing up on the run. So starting Thursday I made sure to tone down the intensity of my workouts, which I was able to hold to pretty well. I had a great easy run on Thursday which was a huge confidence boost - zone 2 averaging 9 minute miles. So I started to get excited, really excited, but I also kept repeating my mantra.
Friday night I flew down to Florida - my first out-of-state tri, and extra fun because I was racing with my brother-in-law for his first tri. I picked up my rental bike Saturday morning - a tri bike pretty comparable to mine, but definitely fit different (a smaller, men's frame) and definitely felt different (particularly on the corners, which came close to a few wipe outs that luckily never happened). Then Phil and I went on a race preview ride - and my 20-minute recovery ride turned into a 45-minute course preview, terrifying, zone 2 maybe even 3 ride over the causeway on the interstate. So yes, a bit of a tactical error.
Nautica South Beach Tri - Olympic Distance
Got up, put on my tri suit, loaded up and got going. Forced myself to eat a banana, even though eating at 5am made me nauseous. Thought we were getting there plenty early, but ended up being super rushed getting my transition area set up. Didn't help that I'd forgotten my cap, had to set up my aerodrink and bento box, and really was just rusty on the whole process. Barely got out of transition to head down to the swim start on time, and as a result I totally forgot my pre-race nutrition. I got to the swim start just as the briefing started, and time passed really quickly after that.
1.5k Swim - 32:10
The water was 75 degrees, and I had my wetsuit, but even then it took me a bit to get used to the water temp. I wasn't expecting it to feel that cold, but luckily I remembered from Kinetic last May that after a hundred yards or so my arms would stop feeling like lead and I'd settle in. Which I did, by the first buoy, and then concentrated on a solid swim but making sure I was holding back. Even at what felt like a slowish pace, the swim felt tiring, so I held back even more. The swim was also crowded - the waves were only 2 minutes apart, so I was constantly swimming through pods of athletes. Actually swam over a few people, and as a result took a mild kick to the face. Not such a big deal, but it got my goggles leaking and I had to stop a few times to deal with that. But I didn't overcompensate for that, trying to make up time, so I felt like I was being really smart. When I finally finished the swim - it always feels like forever - there were only a few other purple caps around me, so I knew I'd done ok. Saw that my time was slower than expected, but didn't panic. If I was swimming against the current, so was everyone else.
40k Bike - 1:14:00
As always, I loved getting out on my bike. I ramped up quickly, scarfed down some blocks, got up the first causeway and tried to settle in. The course felt great overall - altho very technical, with lots of corners and u-turns - and it was definitely constant work not to push it too hard. Getting passed by at least 4 or 5 women in my age group, and a 51 yr old woman, didn't help either. But I tried, and reminded myself constantly, to hold back. I checked my watch toward then end, during round 2 of the blocks, and I thought my split was going to be about 1:10 - apparently I was wrong about that, but my pace was 20.1 mph, my fastest by almost a full 1 mph.
10k Run - 54:11
Starting the run I felt pretty good, in that I didn't feel too tired out from the bike. My legs weren't thrilled about the transition, and mentally 6.2 miles seemed like a lot. I focused on my breathing, and setting into something I could hold for an hour. By mile 1 I felt ok. I switched my watch over to show the run distance covered, and made a huge point of not looking at my mile splits. By 1.5-2 miles into the run I was still having a hard time mentally with the run duration, but I told myself to get to the turnaround and then it would feel more doable. I tried a block to re-energize, but didn't really feel like eating it so I spit it out after a bit. I also started to notice my dehydration, and so at the turn I walked a few seconds to down some Gatorade. I managed to make it the full mile to the next aid station without walking, which was huge. I slowed down when I started to feel like I was getting toward the feeling that I'd need to walk, and focused on the mileage progress on the watch. I stopped at the mile 4 marker, and the mile 5 marker, for water, but each time was able to get going and keep going. And always managed to slow down rather than walk, which was huge. I was very focused on my goal of success in the run, and didn't waver. Finally I got to the last half mile, and then saw the finish, and had some energy for a tiny little kick at the end. The last 0.4 miles went by in a flash, and all the sudden I was done.
Total time - 2:45:12, 299/787 overall, 11/43 age group
I think I did a lot of things right in this race. I paced myself well in the swim, and didn't panic about minor delays. I paced pretty well in the bike, but could've been even more conservative, making for a run that was less of a battle. I used my watch well, getting the information I wanted and avoiding the information that messes with my head. The endurolytes, which I used for the fist time, worked well, and I probably could've taken even more than 3 pre-race and 5 during. Most importantly, I pushed myself through the run, managing my pace to maintain my run and never giving up. And - shock of shocks - my run pace was 8:44 even though I thought I was running super slow. Incredible, and a great omen for Eagleman.