SC Half - Oct.3, 2006
Swim – 1.2 miles, 35:10, 11 of 44 age group.
It was a surprisingly uneventful swim. Outside of that sunrise, the only highlight was zig-zag guy in front of me for a chunk of the swim. I knew my pace was ok, but still tried to hold back a bit since I was pretty nervous for my 1st half. The wave start, with room to find my place in the pack, was sort of symbolic for the day; I felt in-control, unlike other races where it seems like I’m always reacting. 1:40/100 pace was a bit faster than expected, gotta love wetsuits.
T1 – 3:54
Okay, maybe I took a little too much time here, but that’s not abnormal for me. There’s a lot of people-watching to be done while quadruple checking for sunglasses and chamois cream.
Bike – 56 miles, 3:08:25, 35 of 44 age group.
Man my bike picture turned out good. Coming out of the park I saw him with enough time to pick the best line for his camera. (What do you expect from a BOP biker, I’ve got to find something to be happy about.)
The second water bottle station was manned by the Boy Scouts. The troop leader must be a triathlete, because the instant I made eye contact with the little dude in his neck scarf, he started sprinting. The result was an almost full-speed exchange that Michael Johnson would’ve been jealous of. He was extremely proud. Then there was the pee break. From previous long-rides, I really had no expectation of needing to stop, but an overcast 60 degrees and a 4 minute T1 provides plenty of opportunity to over-hydrate. Since I wasn’t going to pee off the bike, my only goal was to make it fast. That’s where it turned funny. A completely full bladder, numbed after 50 miles on an annoyingly hard seat, was a new experience. It was like waiting for a bag of microwave popcorn to finish cooking. I didn’t know exactly how long I’d be there, but I knew if I just wait until there was a second or two between dribbles I’d be ok. I know there’s a lot of opportunity here, but I’m also happy with a 17.9 pace.
T2 – 4:12
Honestly, I had no intention of this stop taking 4 minutes. How long can it really take to change shoes? Well, if you’re me, I guess it takes 4 minutes to rack a bike, change shoes, eat half a Clif bar, drink more water, straighten sunglasses, put on race-belt, and spray on sunscreen. I even have stretchy laces on my Asics!
Run – 13.1 miles, 2:04:06, 24 of 44 age group.
For the first few miles, I set out on a 9-something pace while getting my HR under control and gut-checking my plan for the rest of the race. At the half-way turnaround there was some pain, but I still felt surprisingly in control. I got a big rush from seeing Cameron and Courtney with their ‘Go Daddy’ signs.
The ‘its-all-good’ switch in my head clicked on somewhere after starting the final out and back. First (and probably most importantly) I realized I was going to finish. Then, I realized there was a chance I’d finish under my stretch-goal of 6 hours. The two realizations, combined with my lack of good split info, put me into a sort of blissfully-unaware-yet-oddly-motivated state of mind that I’ve never really experienced before. It was pretty cool. I was tired, but very positive and very aware of everything, unlike the typical foggy brain sufferfest at the end of a very long workout. That state of mind was enough to make that last 5k, when the aid-station volunteers were beginning to pack up, when the real triathletes were already getting massages, and the just-want-to-finisher’s are visibly grimacing through their 2nd lap, seem not so bad. It really was pretty cool. I think my average pace of 9’27” was pretty constant throughout.
Summary – 70.3 miles, 5:55:46, 166 of 274 men, 29 of 44 age group.
The nutrition plan worked well. Infinite Nutrition rocks. Clif-bars are good, but will not be tolerable at higher intensities. The pacing went well; I held back early and didn’t have much left at the end. My splits were all relative to my ability and all a bit faster than I expected. The most accurate pace prediction came from ST’s 2xOly + 30 min rule.
From the sunrise at the swim-start to the final reflection-filled mile, I really couldn’t have asked for a better first half-iron experience. It was great weather, a fun course, a well-produced event, and I believe I put together a race that successfully utilized all of the tools I had available.
All that said, there’s a lot that goes into preparing for a half-iron. For every benefit that being a MOP half-iron triathlete provides, I can come up with an equally heavy sacrifice that had to be made. I can’t say the same for the shorter distances, which are likely to be the focus of future races. As many times as others have said it, it’s worth repeating, I respect what it takes to be a competitive long-distance triathlete.