I’m going to keep this really short because a lot is going on right now, and everything so far this year has been prep for Ironman.
Maumee Bay is a fun race for us because it is so close and it has some of our favorite elements.
Firstly the swim is very wide open which means you can see the entire course from anywhere on it. It’s nice to have a feel for where you are and how far is left. Also of note is the beach start that is actually a beach…complete with sand and no rocks to send waves of pain shooting through your legs as you enter or exit the water.
The bike course is basically a big box, so if you are into the wind you know that a tailwind isn’t far away.
The run is, in my opinion, very well designed. It’s a pretty flat open area right up next to Lake Erie, so the fact that they were able to squeeze in some shaded areas along the way was very appreciated. The sprint run course has absolutely no coverage (mostly because it is so short and doesn’t get into the trees at all).
Tiff and I had great races, and are looking forward to our last tune-up race before the big IM. So if you’re going to be at Ceasar Creek this weekend (of July 4th) we’ll see you there.
Another one in the books… With an overall time of 2:29:26, I secured the second position in my age group…Yay! If you don’t already know this about me, I am usually the person who takes 4th place in my age group, so it is a happy day when I place within the top 3.
The race itself was well run and more organized than I would have expected. The layout of the park was such that two transition areas were needed, so logistics become a bigger issue. We first setup T2 with our run gear and then rode our bikes (with wetsuits & swim gear in bags) up to T1. Honestly I half expected to get to one of the transitions and not have gear, so the fact that everything was there was wonderful.
A couple of notes about my efforts: I had a pretty good swim, and my bike ride turned out pretty good despite some wind gusts, but my run was decidedly awful. I’m not sure if I expended too much on the bike or I had my HammerGel at the wrong time, but I had no energy left during the run. I was simply in survival mode, which shouldn’t happen during an Olympic distance tri…In any event, I had a good finish time and am now looking forward to the Maumee Bay Tri this next weekend. The courses for these two are fairly similar, so I should be able to find out if I was just having a bad run day or what…Link to results here.
I’ll make this post short as this is a busy week for my family. It’s Jeff’s (my brother) wedding weekend.
So Triple-T or more formally, the American Triple-T (America’s Original Triathlon Tour) is a very serious race for serious people. As far as I’m concerned they could rename this race…The hardest, most challenging, potentially hazardous race in America. If you’re inclined to ask why I would say something like this, well…
* There are 4 races you complete in 3 days that total the distance of a full Ironman (2.4mi swim, 112mi bike, 26.2mi run). * You complete 2 Olympic distance races in one day, with 3-4 hrs break in between. * The last day is a Half-Ironman distance race, which is difficult on its own. * The water temperature for the swim was in the low 50s…think brain freeze for 35min. * The bike courses were very very challenging for us flat-landers (extended uphill climbing at 4mph and some serious technical descending with switchback turns and speeds approaching 45mph. * The run course was on a packed dirt/gravel fire trail complete with washout areas. Not only that, but there was really no flat parts there either. The course started out uphill for 2-2.5 miles then crested a hill and down for 1/2 to 1 mile. You then turned around and did it in reverse. The last race (1/2IM) we did the course twice.
We did have fun…maybe the weird painful kind of fun, but it was fun. Going in we wanted to treat this as a training race series for Ironman, and it certainly did that.
Like the proverbial elephant in my backseat, the Triple-T looms ever closer. Not that I’m nervous or anything, but so far I’m convinced that packing/preparing for this race series is going to be more difficult than Ironman. Here’s why…The Triple-T is 2 olympic distance triathlons, 1 half-ironman distance tri and one prologue. Out of fear I’m packing pretty much all my racing gear: So far I’ve got 3 Pairs of Tri-Shorts, 2 Pair Low Mileage Shoes (Yankz included), 6 Pair Socks, 2 Bike Helmets, 2 Pair of Sunglasses, and that’s just the duplicate stuff…
That said, I’m really looking forward to this weekend and all the races we’ll be doing, so check back next week for the race report…
As a result of my decision to train and compete in IronmanUSA 2008, I have gotten a wetsuit for my swims. Actually my folks got it for me (very nice). Tiffany has contended that wearing a wetsuit feels a bit like cheating. I never really grasped what this meant until last Sunday, when I wore my brand new suit in the race. It’s weird but, you really feel like you’re floating on top of the water and you slice right through the water. If anybody’s either considering a purchase or struggling with the swim, a wetsuit is definitely a worthy purchase.
Here’s a photo of mine from Quintana Roo. I went with the sleeveless version because I didn’t want to restrict my arms/shoulders as I have experienced some swimming related shoulder pain in the past.
Having successfully completed my first 1/2 Ironman distance triathlon, I now am confronted with the wonderful task of putting my experience into words. I’m not sure where to start so I guess I’ll just work through it chronologically.
Around 7:50am or shortly thereafter those who were interested came together for a pre-race prayer. This is always a good start to any race, and I find myself looking forward to this at all HPF races. Then at 8:00am the wave starts begin. Being that I am competing in the 1/2IM distance, my wave is close to the end, so I wait until around 8:30 to start…
“Dadadadadada…Charge” comes over the mini-megaphone to start my wave, and I’m off.
1st lap of the swim, I get jostled a bit, but fall into a groove early. The swim feels really good, and I find myself actually enjoying it. 2nd lap, still feeling good, I make the last turn for the final stretch of the swim and decide to pick it up a bit. I finish the swim in 30:12, wow that was fast (about 10mins faster than I had planned)…more about that later. I get my wetsuit off and make my way to the transition and my waiting bike and gear.
Using my best funny, cycling shoe induced, running style I exit the transition area and start pedaling, still feeling great. My plan is to play it safe and not go overboard on the bike, so I start of with a manageable pace between 19-21mph. Around mile 9 there is the biggest hill of the course and let me say, coming from Northwest Ohio, this is a killer hill. My pace slows as I ascend, my breathing quickens, my legs burn…I made it…with a smile on my face loving every second of it. The second loop starts and I am still taking it a bit easy, and I decide to keep around the same pace to save energy for the run. As I finish I look down at my bike computer to see an average pace of just under 20mph(19.8 to be precise)…I’ll take it because I now know I am hot on the trail of destroying my pre-race prediction of 6hrs 5mins. I leave my bike and put on my running shoes for the final stage (the 13.1 mi run).
The first 3 miles felt pretty good, although a bit slow. Then my muscles speak up and they are not happy. I slow to what Tiff calls a Slog or Slow Jog pace, and try to keep making forward progress. My mind and body are now beginning to work as one to slow me down. I decided earlier to walk through all of the water stops, which I did, and I’m glad for it, because I needed all the water, sports drink, and Hammer Gels I could get. After those first 3 miles I sort of walk/jogged the rest of the 10 miles. The best part is, I still knew I could beat my prediction time. As I rounded the corner exiting the trail and seeing for the 3rd time (the run was a 3 loop course), the finish line, I dug down deep and found a little bit of energy left for just a little itty-bitty baby kick to end the race. I finished in what felt like a blistering pace, but was probably little more than a slow jog…but I finished…I felt pain everywhere, tired, but also joy and happiness. I stood at the finish line and received my finisher medal knowing I had just finished the biggest, longest race of my life.
Now I before I get to my finish time I should go back to the swim just briefly. I mentioned I finished about 10 minutes earlier than expected. Well, in talking to others at the end of the race, Tiff, myself, and others were also 10 minutes faster than they had thought, so I may have to add around 10minutes to my time for the full Half-Ironman Distance. Although this is a little discouraging that the race may have been short, it succeeded in really giving me a boost as I went on to the bike.
On to my finish time…my prediction as you may remember was 6hrs 5mins…The official finish time was…5:36:19. This is 28min 41sec faster than my prediction…WOW!!! I had no idea I was capable of that kind of pace. I had an absolutely wonderful experience, and I can’t wait for my next race…
I’m hoping Tiff will write at least a little report of her own to tell you about her amazing day/Race PR, so I’ll leave that out for now…Also, Pictures are to be rolling in soon, and I’ll get those up as soon as possible…
Sunday August 19th, Tiffany, Kristen, Rob, Liz and I will be competing in the “Great Buckeye Challenge“.
Previously I have joked with Tiffany about how she somehow manages to “trick” people into competing/training for endurance events. I like to call it “Team TMMDI” which stands for “Team Tiffany Made Me Do It”. We’ve even discussed getting t-shirts for this because the list of distinguished members keeps growing (I see this as a great thing and fun to joke about because she really is good at getting people more active and encouraging them in their training).
Anyway, Kristen, Rob and Liz are entered in the Sprint distance (0.6mi swim, 12.4mi bike, 3.1mi run) and this will be their first triathlon…ever. It should be a great day (Temp should be around 80 with partly cloudy skies). Kudos to them for going for it in this race.
Tiffany and I will be doing the Half-Distance Tri (1.2mi swim, 56mi bike, and 13.1mi run…wow). This will be my first triathlon of any distance greater than the sprint, so I’m really excited and a little nervous. My training has been pretty good so I have nothing to fear in any of the events. I’m going to go out on a limb here and predict a finish time for myself….(drum roll please)…I’m going with 6hrs 5mins. There it is, i’ve said it, so now if I don’t get that time I’ll have to explain/justify why I didn’t. That’s all-right though, this being my first of this distance tri, I have no real benchmark to base any of this on and only arrived at this by figuring out what I think I’ll do in each event. So get ready for the post race report on Monday or Tuesday of next week.
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