Race report from The Spirit of Morgantown Half Iro...
Race report from The Spirit of Morgantown Half Ironman Distance.
Firstly, congratulations to fellow Loop'd triathlete Joe Yorio http://www.loopd.com/Members/CincyExpress/Default.aspx on his placement at this race. Fine job.
In brief:
Swim- at last minute (afternoon prior to race day while taking a warm-up swim in the river) I decided NOT to go with my wetsuit. I do believe this helped me. Goal time 40:00 Swim finish 48:02. The extra eight minutes? 50 % likely sighting (the narrow course did allow good alignment by just following the river banks, but I still found myself having to correct more than I cared too) and like Nemo a very intentional controlled pace and breathing but that was routinely interrupted by other faster swimmers. That's tri-swimming.
T-1 - Comparatively with everyone else pretty good at 3:47. I wasn't trying to be fast just smooth. The long distance from swim exit to transition, for me, allowed a good recovery. Felt on pace and in control getting on the bike. No fancy shoes in clips, just trotted to the mount line and off.
Bike - Shooting for a 2:45 for the bike at a 21.0 avg. pace. Came in at 2:55 at 19.1 avg. This was the first time to ride this distance. Ever. Very early I fell into a cohort of three others. I know enough not to ride someone else’s race but two of the three stayed with me for 95% of the bike while I tried to pace myself (the other 5% was the when the gentleman took a nasty spill at one of the turn arounds because of the wet and slick road and the female went out ahead in the final 8 miles). With 5 or so miles remaining (horrible road conditions...WV taxpayers are not getting their moneys worth that for sure. Holy Crap. I didn't lose just a water bottle, I think I left a vertebra back there) I stood up to stretch in prep for the run. :-|What the hell was THAT! Both my quads began cramping up like crazy. Crap. Not enough fuel / hydration?? I had set the timer to sound every 20 min to refuel. I stuck by it pretty close. (All products as prescribed for distance, weight, etc and well rehearsed in training bricks leading up to race day. I just know that'll be of question by some.) I thought I better catch up with the fluids. This is where it goes south, folks. Too much to fast.
T-2 - Beside the goofy jog into the transition because the thighs were screaming bloody murder. This went okay. My head was focused on the remaining run "...slow out...the legs will feel slower than actually are...RPE breathing..."
Run - Just at what point did I swallow the fully inflated basketball that was now sitting inside my diaphragm. Incapacitated. Not completely, but I was avoiding the inevitable. My hopes for a 1:45/ at a 8:03 pace run was NOT going to happen today. To breath normally was a exercise in futility. I had legs to go, but couldn't get past the need to vomit, belch, and breath. I tried the two fingers to expel. No go. I'd had to let nature take its course. I could actually feel the intake of nutrition release through my stomach further down the system. But not fast enough. I was beginning to sweat more, as the sun peeked out every now and again. I was reduced to a walk/run. "...keep moving forward..." was my mantra. Tiny sips of water only served to exasperate the issue and lengthen any sign of relief. Because I could no longer take on fluids I was now getting into a danger area of bonking. The leg cramps multiplied exponentially as I ran a mile, then walked a mile, etc. I did have the fortitude to accept the change and make the best of a bad situation. Then, I turned the corner to be confronted with this asphalt wall. Is this a joke? I thought. I'd looked at most the run course and even heard about "Devil's Hill" with the phrase "Gates of Hell" spray paint on the street at the bottom. I could of sworn I heard someone shout "belay on!" when I got there. I actually found myself doing the Z pattern up this thing. It put my quads in to shock. Looping down to the start/finish and... what do you know?...I only have to do the run loop one more time! Now, it simple was a matter of one foot in front of the other. The GI issue got no better, if not worse because I keep insisting on trying to get something in me a each aid station and the legs are hanging on by a thread with cramping.
Mile 10 - "C'mon, you've had boatloads of similar training days and bricks and didn't pull the plug then...you've been here before damn it...it's three stinking miles! ...run to that tree...walk to that GU wrapper...run to the bridge...walk to the aid station”
The last mile I was on the trail and what was once full of runners was now desolate. No one in front and no one behind. The sounds of the city around me was going on about business as usual on a Sunday afternoon. It's at these times that one becomes very introspective (i.e. "Just what the hell am I doing - why am I out here?") The questions are answered. For good or for bad. I found out some things in that one mile that I didn't expect and wasn't really searching for. After my second "accent" up Devil's Hill my groin muscle was apparently very jealous of my quads and calves and decided to join the fun. I was a sight to behold. The last couple hundred yards I put on a good face and mustered up a pair and showed some form for the finish line photogs. The gritting teeth at the line is not a smile, folks. 2:44 /12:33 pace.
Goal time 5:10. Finished 6:32:15. 209th place of 252 and 27th of 30 in AG.
........and I say with complete pride and honesty - I can't wait till next year to do it again.
Next up: Chesapeakman Ultra Distance with the Annapolis Oly for a tune-up.