2012 EagleMan 70.3 race report

Final time:  4:55:33 – 44/265 age group place

I ended up with a 21 minute faster time than last year which is a great result.  I did have my share of problems during the race.  In summary I couldn’t hit my power numbers on the bike, I consumed too many combined calories pre-race and during the bike which lead to a nightmare first 7 miles of the run.

As we arrived at the race site, it was just in time to see an amazing sunrise.  This photo doesn’t really do it justice, but it was a beautiful way to start the day.   As we were approaching the transition area, the race officials announced that the water temperature was below 76.1 so it would be a wetsuit legal swim!  This was good news.  At the same time they also mentioned that compression gear was not legal, not sure that what was all about.  I usually wear compression calf sleeves for the bike/run especially when I can have them on under my wetsuit.

After setting up my transition area I walked around a little and saw the pro’s setting up.  Crowie seemed to be pretty relaxed, even taking the time for photos with some of the athletes.

Swim 33:47 - 1:36/100y

Since there was 8 minutes between swim waves, I had some time to swim for a few minutes to loosen up a bit after entering the water.  I positioned myself about 1/4 across the start line and was able to hold my position easily as I was able to just stand up on the sandy bottom.  As the swim started I settled into a groove and seemed to be making good progress.  I remember my shoulders feeling a little tight, but that ended after the first 5 minutes.  I was not able to draft much, however there were some periods where I managed to get on to some feet for a few minutes.  I had a little trouble sighting the bouys.  I think that was from a combination of the sun angle and them being quite small.  A few times I stopped for a few seconds to make sure I was heading in the right direction.  I remember feeling pretty hot and had some slight cramping in my quads on the last leg to the swim finish.  I didn’t know it then, but this was the start of things getting tough later in the day.  I think a sleeveless wetsuit might have been better.

As I exited the water, I looked at my watch and it was under 34 minutes!  I was really happy with that as my goal was 38 or better.  I swam much better than last year and of course the wetsuit helped.

I still have some work to do swimming a straight line – a few times I found myself  a little off course.  This was better than I had done in the past.  Looking at the gps file from my watch after the race I can see that I was a bit off course heading into the first turn and closing in on the beach.  The Z pattern towards the end is a gps glitch.  The line is amazingly straight since I was wearing the watch (Garmin 910xt) on my wrist.

T1 – 2:06

As I entered the transition area, I stripped my wetsuit to my waist and jogged to my bike.  I found it hard to run fast through transition – this is something I need to work on.  I think I’ll add some swim to run bricks to get better at this.

Bike – 2:28:38 – 22.6mph

I started the bike conservatively.  My goal was to start a little easy to lower my heart rate and then build into the ride working up to my target watts range of 240-255.  I found it hard to hit my target or even come close. I think a combination of the heat and some lingering fatigue meant I was unable to ride at the watts I intended, and my HR was higher than normal.  I ended up with a normalized power of 226 (average 221) for an IF of 1.02 and an average HR of 161.  This is very different to some recent training rides where I was able to hold the same power for 5 hours at a lower HR.

 

Even though my power numbers were lower than I wanted, my perceived effort felt about right.  I had set my bike computer to show only power (3s avg, lap NP, Lap avg), cadence and HR. Each 5 miles or so I would check my speed average which sat at 23mph for most of the course.  I was really hoping that riding at a fairly easy effort would mean my legs would be fresh for a good run.

In the first 20 miles of the bike I saw the race referees on the back of the motorbike many times.  At one point I was behind a small pack of riders when I saw the referee point to one of the them and give him a penalty card.  When that happens you have to stop at the next penalty tent.   Over the course of the race I saw them hand out a number of time penalty’s . 

My nutrition plan for the bike was to take in calories every 12 minutes.  I have used this strategy for many races and it has worked well.  My sole calorie source is EFS Liquid shot (vanilla).  I fill up a bottle that sits between my arms and add some water to make it flow a little better.  I set my garmin bike computer to beep every 12 minutes and drank the EFS liquid shot every time, except the last one before getting to T2 since I only had a mile of so to transition.

At the final aid station, somewhere around mile 45, I stood up a little to stretch out.  Wow, my quads felt really tight and sore.  I didn’t really feel any discomfort when riding, but it was clear that I may have some trouble on the run.

What I realize now is that I had taken in too many calories when I combined pre-race and on-bike consumption.  I was aiming for a maximum of 400 calories per hour on the bike.  After analyzing what I had eaten after the race I calculated that I took in 1,450 calories before the race started and another 930 calories on the bike.  My HR was higher than usual  (low 160’s compared to mid 150’s) combining that with the heat and I think I had more calories than my body could process.  All of this lead to some real problems on the run.

T2 – 2:29

I executed a decent flying dismount entering T2.  I always leave my shoes on the pedals as I don’t really want to run in them.

This year I took a few extra seconds to put socks on.  Last year I completed the run without socks and with all of the water I used to cool down, my feet were wet and I got some nasty blisters.  It did feel better to run in socks, I think for Sprint and Olympic races socks aren’t needed, however for 70.3 or higher I’ll wear them every time.

I didn’t waste any time, put socks & shoes on – grab my had an fuelbelt and proceeded to the run exit.

   

Run – 1:48:35 – 8:18/mile pace

The run was my nemesis last year at this race.  I faded badly over the last 3-4 miles due to the combination of heat and lack of nutrition.  This year I was hoping for something better.  It wasn’t to be. 

I started out running steady, trying to get my legs back into running mode.  I remember it feeling very slow.  As I passed the finish line, I saw Greg Bennett cross the line in 2nd place in the pro race.  That kept my mind off things for a little while.  My first mile I was feeling a little off, but it turned out to be an 8:05 pace – this was much faster than it felt.  During mile 2 the wheels seemed to fall off a little.  Not far after the first mile marker was the first aid station.  I grabbed some water and ice and I could feel my quads feeling very tight.  After walking the aid station I started running again.  I got through the 2nd mile in 8:33 – still decent, but was feeling very heavy.  I just couldn’t get moving.  At one point I stopped to stretch my right quad, and as I lifted my foot up, my hamstring started cramping.  Oh dear.  Not a good feeling. 

I remember when this picture was taken.  It was around the time where I felt the worst.  You can see some of the pain in my facial expression, but I was feeling much worse than it looks.

After my attempt at stretching was a total fail, I figured I should try to run again.  I did not want to get in to the pattern of waking when things got tough.  I held on to the thought that things would turn around, just stay patient.

Mile 3 was 8:20 – considering how I felt, the time was actually pretty fast.  During mile 4 I was feeling awful. At times I thought I might throw up.  I had a very heavy feeling in my stomach.  I was hoping to be feeling better by now but almost 4 miles in things were not feeling good at all.   I made a quick stop at a port-a-john and felt a little better.  Including the stop, mile 4 was 10:03.  At that point I was really in a survival mode, not really caring about what time I was running.

Miles 5 and 6 I was still feeling it but somehow managed to complete miles in 8:14 and 8:36.  This included walking through the aid stations. Mile 7 included the turn-around and we hit the same aid station twice.   At each aid station I took off my hat, filled it with ice and put it back on again.  In addition to that I had 1 or 2 cups of water.  I glanced at my watch at the turn-around point and it had taken me nearly an hour to get there.  That was much slower than I was hoping for.  I started doing some numbers and I would need to average 8 minute miles to break the 5 hour mark.  I didn’t really think I could do it.  I just kept telling myself to hang in there and things would turn around.  Mile 7 was 9:27.  Around this time I saw Carly – she was only a mile behind me and was looking strong.  Her start wave was 16 minutes behind me too – so I knew she was having a great race.  The way I had been running, I thought she might pass me before the finish line.

As I started mile 8 I did start to feel better.  I remember feeling lighter and felt like I could pick the pace up a little.  Mile 8 was 8:02, mile 9 8:13 and mile 10 was a 7:52.  I walked all of the aid stations.   At mile 7 I put some ice down my shorts – that felt really good and may have been the catalyst to get me going again.

At this point I had 3 miles left and my patience was starting to pay off.  I was feeling good enough to pick up the pace a little more and started passing people too.  Miles 11, 12 and 13 were 7:50, 7:35 and 7:03.  during the last few miles I felt like my form was good.  I still had a chance at a sub 5:00 time.  As I got close to the finish I was able to give it a little more, finishing hard with at time of 4:55:33.

This was the tale of 2 different runs.  The first 7 miles felt like a death march.  But things did turn around for the final 6 miles.  My splits for each half of the run (6.6 mile) segments were 57:17 & 51:17.  That is a nice negative split.

After I had finished I felt remarkably good.  I sat down in the shade for a few minutes – there was a row of chairs provided right at the finish line which was great.  I waited for Carly to come across the finish line.  She had an amazing race, finishing 4th in her age group with a 4:52:18!

Post Race Analysis

I think there were a number of contributing factors to my performance

• I have been building up my long run/rides for IMLP.  Since this was not an ‘A’ race, I didn’t really taper or specifically prepare for this race.  In the 7-10 days before the race I completed a 2:10 run and a 5:00 ride a week before this race.  During the weekdays before the race I had a really busy work schedule and missed some workouts.  I think I was still fatigued from those long efforts on race day. 
• my work/travel schedule for the last 6 weeks has been crazy, I was traveling 5 out of the pervious 6 weeks.  this makes consistent training hard, and makes me tired.
• Total calories combined pre-race and during the bike was around 2,400.  I think that was way too much for my body to handle.  The fact that my running came around in the last 3 miles proves this.  I will have to be more diligent about total calorie intake next year.
• the wetsuit swim in warm water may have contributed to starting the bike a little overheated

Apart from the nutrition/fatigue challenge I had a really good race. You can never be disappointed with a 20 minute PR.   I really think had I been at full power on the bike and not had the nutrition issues, I could have taken 8-10 minutes off my finish time.

After a few days rest, it is time to start the last 4-5 week build leading up to Lake Placid.  II am looking forward to the race, and equally looking forward to dialing things back after the race.  Preparing for long distance triathlons takes a lot of effort.  I am finding it hard to make the time to train more than 12 hours each week.

1,000 miles in my Newton’s

This weekend I hit 1,000 miles of running in my Newton Gravity’s.  While it is customary to change into a new set of shoes every 300-500 miles, mine have been still going strong and not showing a lot of wear.  The wear pattern is even across the lugs too, showing that my foot strike/form must at least consistent.

Until now I didn’t really see a need to get a new pair.  I have raced in them a few times, but recently only used them for training (using the Distance lightweight trainer for races).    Of course lugs have worn down over time, but the rest of the shoes are still in great shape.

After hitting the 1,000 mile mark – I think it is time these shoes entered retirement. The good news is that Newton just released the new model of the Gravity training shoes, this time in Red!

Frozen 5k race report – new 5k PR

I competed in a local 5k last weekend, after having this race recommended by a friend.  I figured that it would give me a good opportunity to see how my run training is coming along.  I was hoping for a good result, especially after going sub 20 minutes for the first time in a training time trial at the track just before Christmas.

This is the second 5k I have ever raced that is not a triathlon, the other one was almost 3 years ago and was my first running race since I was 17 and any distance over 400meters.

I didn’t really care where I placed, but it did want to beat my recent 19:12 time.  My plan was to start out steady and see what I could do to hold a good pace/effort.  I didn’t use any GPS/pace watch, just looked at my lap time at each mile marker.

The race was titled a “Frozen 5k” but the weather played nice and was actually 34 degrees – I still ran with gloves, but there were some people with shorts and short sleeves, crazy!

I lined up about 10 rows of people from the start line and for the first few hundred meters found myself weaving through the crowd in front, I was then able to quickly settle into a pace that felt good. As I passed the first mile marker, my watch said 5:54, this was a little faster than I was planning but not too far off (anything under 6:10 was the plan).    I tired to hold this pace for as long as I could, and was getting closer to the front of the pack – I could actually see the leaders a couple of times.  My split for mile 2 was 6:15, slower than I had expected, but who knows how accurate the miles were marked.  Adding the first 2 miles together had me right on my target 6:10 pace, so I was pretty happy with that.  For the last 1/2 mile I picked up the pace and tried to finish strong.  Only one person passed me with about 1/4 mile to go – I tried but just couldn’t go with him.

I crossed the line with at time of 18:50 - a 22second PR!  I was very happy about that, I even managed to finish 2nd in my age group and 16th overall. 

here’s a bit more detail from active.com

the results page was done very well. click on the image for the full results.

the race was very well organized, with timing provided by mettle timing they had the timing chip integrated with the race number, this was a nice touch.  After the race there was plenty of water, muffins, bananas and hot drinks for everyone.  The other nice thing they had was a video camera at the finish line.  Today I received an email with instructions to view/download my finish.  You can see me cross the line about 10 seconds in.  I was only a few seconds ahead of the first female finisher, she helped keep me motivated to run hard

that is me in the red shirt finishing the race

Next time I’ll try to start closer to the front of the pack, this way I can start with the faster runners and have less traffic for the first minute or so.

Only 3 weeks ago, my main goal was to break 20 minutes for the first time, and now I have gone under 19.  My next goal is to beat 18:38, that will be just under 6:00/mile, I think this is doable in 2012.  I will post updates through the year as I get closer.

A quick trip to Sydney

Last month, I had to go back home for a week to renew my work visa.  While my main priorities were work and cleaning out our storage unit (after 9 years), I was able to catch up with family and friends and I managed to get a few decent training sessions in.  I am a bit biased, but Sydney has got to be one of the best training places anywhere in the world.

I have one more race this season, the Beach 2 Battleship half (70.3) on October 29th.  Since this will be a cool salt water swim, I wanted to get a few swim sessions in with my wetsuit.  So I headed down to Dee Why Beach, on Sydney’s northern beaches.  There is a 50meter outdoor pool, which sits right on the ocean, and is filled with ocean water.  This was a perfect place to get some good training in, and since the water was still cold (17c/63f) I could get some wetsuit time in too.  A 50meter pool is so much better than the 25yard chlorinated pool I usually swim in.  The salt water was nice too – every race that I do in fresh water (just about all of them) feels a little weird, having grown up at the beach.

Here’s a few pictures of the pool @ Dee Why.
after swimming, letting my wetsuit dry off a little.  That is Long Reef in the background, one of my favorite windsurfing spots.

another view of the pool, the water was perfectly clear, sure beats my local pool.

For me, swimming with the wetsuit is much faster than without – I managed to get in a 2km (2,180y) in just over 35 minutes, that is so much faster than I usually swim.  I hope I can replicate this during my next race!

I also managed to get in a great long run, right in the heart of downtown Sydney.  My course took me from the Opera house, through the botanical gardens, across the harbour bridge, past Luna park, back across the bridge, around to darling harbour and then back to the opera house.  It took 2 hrs and was almost 15 miles.  This continued something that I started in San Francisco when I ran over the Golden Gate Bridge.  I struggled on the last 30 minutes of this run.  I’ll chalk that up to a lack of nutrition/electrolytes whilst running.  Better for that to happen in training than in a race.

Map of my run course, from Garmin connect (used my edge 500 bike computer during the run)

I had also planned a great long ride, but due to heavy rain I had to give it a miss.  I was really looking forward to a solid 3-4hr ride in the hills national park from Church point, to Cottage point.

Even though it was a short trip (7 days) I think I made good use of my time, and get everything done.  I am looking forward to my next trip back home, however I am not sure when that will be.

A run across the Golden Gate Bridge

I often travel to the Bay Area of San Francisco – visiting my company’s headquarters in Redwood City.  I’ve been to the downtown area of San Francisco many times for both business and pleasure.  During that time I’ve made a few trips over the Golden Gate bridge to visit places like Sausalito & the redwood forest, but never on foot.

During my last trip, I had a few hours to kill between finishing up work at 6pm on Friday afternoon and my 11pm red-eye flight back to the D.C area.

I wanted to get a run in before I flew home, so I decided to run across the Golden Gate bridge.

I drove over towards Crissy Field, and here’s the view only a few feet away from my car.
By the time I got changed and ready to run, it was about 7:15 – enough time to run up/over/back and still have time to stretch and get some food before the long flight home.

Here’s the route that I took

I started along the flat section toward the bridge along the bay, to get warmed up before climbing up the stairs to the bridge itself. 

Since it was getting close to sunset, I took the path under the bridge to the western side, hoping to get a nice picture, but I couldn’t really get wide enough for a good view.  This is the best I could get.  It came out pretty well, especially from a phone.

 

 

 

From here I re-traced my steps to the eastern side of the bridge.
and then over to the other side.  The view was amazing.This the view towards Alcatraz above, some day I’ll do the escape from Alcatraz triathlon and swim from there to the city.
this was taken from the visitor’s center on the northern side of the bridge.

It was so nice to have a scenic place to run, the time just flew by.  On the way back the sun was setting.
the trail, heading back down towards the car

In the end I ran close to 7 miles in just over an hour – it was a really great experience, one that I would do again in a heartbeat. 

Running Progress

It has been almost 6 weeks since my last post – that was my first week of running since getting treatment for my calf issues.

Since then I have officially graduated from physical therapy!  I am now free to run! – but I am taking it slowly for the next month or two, so I don’t end up back there again.

Since starting out at 10 minutes per run, I have built up through 15, 20, 25, and 30 minutes at a time.  Last week I ran for 52 minutes, a couple of times.   It feels so good to be able to run without any pain or soreness, during of after each run.

So what am I doing differently now?

• warm-up/cool-down
  for the last few years I have paid very little attention to a sufficient warm-up or cool down.  I was always stretched for time, so I just started running at a pretty fast pace, and when I got home I stopped.  Seems simple enough, but this may be one of the leading factors for getting injured.  I now have at least a 5-10 minute warm-up – whether it be starting with a brisk walk and then increasing speed to get the blood flowing with a few stretches thrown in, or some time on the bike trainer. 
• stretching – lots of it
  a major part of the physical therapy was stretching – focusing on the calves (gastroc & soleus) hamstring and IT band.  I always tried to stretch after a run before, but it took 2-3 minutes max.  My first round of exercises during PT was 10 minutes of calf stretching alone (5x20sec gastroc stretch per leg then 5x20sec soleus stretch per leg), and 5x30sec hamstring stretch. 
  So now when I finish a run, I take 10-15 minutes to stretch properly – so far so good.  It does take a bit longer, but is definitely worth the effort.

With the progression I am making – I will have enough time to build up to running for 2hrs, that is in the ballpark for a 1/2 marathon by Eagleman (June), I hope in that time I can improve my speed too.

During my last visit to the PT – I asked about how I should structure my runs, she said I should not focus on speed, just let it come.  So now on the longer runs, I am trying not to maintain a pace, just going with what feels right – in the comfortable/comfortably hard area.   

For my 52 minute run last weekend, I averaged  and 8:00 minute mile – this is a lot faster than I had hoped for at this point.  My HR for that period was 143, if I can continue to improve on that, I am already ahead of last year’s running!

Celebrating small victories–10 minutes of running!

My last run was November 25th (thanksgiving day).  I hurt my calf muscle that day, and tried to massage/roll/fix it myself.  Late in December I went to a PT for the first time – and they found that one of the main causes was some imbalances in my hips, and something that I already knew, that I lacked flexibility.

So for the past month, I’ve logged 2 sessions per week at the physical therapist – usually 90minutes or longer for each session.  In addition to that I have exercises and stretches that I am doing every day – this takes around 1 hour.  That doesn’t leave much training time for anything else. 

My goal was to get my body ready for running, before I really start training for the season, and just see what happens.  I am signed up for the Eagleman half ironman in June – but I’ll treat that race as an learning experience/test rather than an ‘A’ race, my way of thinking about this race now is that it is a catered training day

This week I was allowed to run for 10 minutes.  Even though it was at a very slow pace, it felt great.  Since then I have completed 2 more 10 minute efforts, and I am hoping to get to 15 minutes next week.

All of the effort stretching, strengthening and manipulating the calf/hips/hamstrings seems to be working – there is light at the end of this tunnel!!!

I have also managed to start back with swimming, completing 3 masters sessions in the last 2 weeks.  Unfortunately my work travel schedule has been getting in the way recently.

I am feeling very optimistic at the moment for what is to come this year.  For the next 2 months I’ll work my way back into some good swimming and riding efforts, and see how the running is coming along.