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Kinetic ½ Iron Triathlon: Spotsylvania, Virginia
April 19, 2008
Jay McAbier
5:06:49 (PR)
39th out of 326
10th out of 46 AG (35-39)
This triathlon was picked due to its location and in relation to the timing of my Lake Placid schedule. My sister, Amy, and her family had just relocated to the D.C. area so it would be a good chance to go and visit. The one concern I had was the extremely cold water temperatures they have had in the past (53 in 2007; 64 in 2006). I was really anxious about how my asthma would react to the cold water; it has a tendency to flare up in cold temps. If that would happen, it would really be a long miserable day. I mentioned to Tanja on the trip down that this is the real first big step toward Ironman. Yes, there had been over 6 months of training so far, but this was a road trip for a triathlon and a big test. Ultimately, this day was to be a long hard training day in preparation of Lake Placid. (Mission Accomplished J)
We arrived at my sister’s around 5:30pm on Friday which left lots of time to relax and have a quality dinner. We got to bed around 10:30pm with the alarms set at 4:15am. I slept fairly light. I woke up once to a crying kid and out of habit got up to console but it turned out it not to be one of ours and my brother-in-law was already there…crap! When the alarm rang, I was lying awake in bed wondering how much more time I had to sleep (guess not much.) I cooked my standard pre-race breakfast (3/4 cup of oatmeal with a sliced banana and honey). The plan was that Amy and the two oldest kids would join me for the trip down to the race sight. We put Kyle (my 7 year old) and Mackenzie (Amy’s 6 year old) in the car with their blankies in hope that they would continue to sleep. Tanja would drive down later with the younger kids to limit the crankiness. It would be a 2-hour drive and thank goodness Amy joined me because I needed lots of help with the directions; we were in the middle of nowhere with poor signage.
We arrived at the race sight a little later than expected (had less than an hour until the race start.) I saw Rob Reddy immediately as he was getting there late as well. It is always nice to find a familiar face at a race, especially someone like Rob who has served as a Mentor to me. For some reason, I wasn’t as nervous at this race like I usually am. I really don’t know why. I guess I knew that I had done this distance before, so I knew mostly what to expect. It was relief when the race organizers announced that the water temperature was 65 degrees. That took a lot of pressure off. Got transition set up, gave hugs to my support crew, and down to the beach I went. No time for a warm-up jog.
SWIM:
The swim was a 2 loop course. The issue was when we exited for our 2nd loop, we had to run 75 yards down the beach to re-enter. Hmmmm, that’s a long run. The plan for the swim was to set a comfortable pace and try to stay steady. Angela had me position myself toward the front; this was new territory for me. I was standing there wondering if I belonged. Since I have a tendency to go out too strong on the swim and blow up ½ ways through, I was really focused on breaking that habit this time. The start gave me a little taste of what Ironman will be like. For the 1st several hundred yards there was a lot of bumping and swimming over each other looking for room. I was fairly comfortable most of the swim. I did a good job pacing, could accelerate when I needed to pace someone, and then fall back into my pace. My heart rate was really high (171) when I exited the water on the 1st loop so I took a slow jog to the re-enter point and took my time walking into the water so my heart rate could settle. Ultimately, it was a really good swim for me. (Average Heart Rate 152; Max 172 – YIKES.) 34 minutes 50 seconds. 1:38 per 100 yard pace. I’ll take that with the long jog.
T1: Uneventful. Everything went according to plan. In fact, I had the 6th fastest time. 1:42.
BIKE:
I tried to settle into a nice pace. The plan was to keep my heart rate between 145-155 for the 1st 30 miles, then pick up the pace, but keeping my heart rate under 160 on the second loop. I thought these were pretty high numbers, but elected to wait and see. I felt pretty good coming off of the swim and was passing a lot of people, but it didn’t take long to be passed by a train hauling tail. I kept to the plan and let them go which I admit was hard to do. The real issue of the bike came within 20 minutes when my lower back tightened up. I remember this happening at GCT last year, so wasn’t too worried about it. I just tried to stay relaxed and stretch it every 20 minutes (which really felt great.) It didn’t take long before I found myself looking at the time rather frequently and realizing “that was not a good sign.” Perhaps, all of those indoor trainer rides had left me a little anxious to get off the bike. The ride was scenic and defined “rolling terrain” right down to the letter. You really couldn’t take a break from pedaling as the down hills weren’t long enough or steep enough to justify a little breather. I picked up the pace on the 2nd loop and began chasing down a lot of others that were beginning to tire. That was a boost to my confidence. My heart rate was lower than the plan, but I was trying to focus my RPE based on my back pain and moderate leg burn. My nutrition was right on target. I consumed 46 ounces of Gatorade Endurance (3 scoops per 24 ounce bottle) boosted with Carbo Pro (1.5 scoops of per 24 ounce bottle). Plus, I drank 18 ounces of water and grazed on a Clif Bar beginning at the 1 hour mark. This all equated to 312 calories per hour and approx. 23 ounces of hydration per hour. Average heart rate for the bike was 134, max 165. I really just tried to stay steady and within myself to set up a good run. I was in Zone 1 for 21 minutes, Zone 2 for 2 hours 15 minutes, and Zone 3 for 5 minutes. Average speed was 20.9 MPH, average cadence 95. Total bike time 2:40:37. All in all it was a good ride and accomplished what I needed. When I came into the park, I realized that my legs were tired and this was going to be an interesting 13.1 mile run. At this point, I was fairly tired of the sweet taste of GE and looking for some cold water. I could have drank a tone of it.
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Get the front derailleur tuned correctly. The stinking thing rubbed the cage for nearly the entire ride. The plus is that it did give me something to focus on...
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In order to deal with the lower back pain, I need to strengthen it and probably look into a less aggressive setup to take off some of the strain.
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I need to take some thermatabs during the bike in anticipation of the needs on the run (see below.)
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Look into alternative hydration strategies. Luke warm Gatorade Endurance is fine for a 1/2 , but I wouldn’t want to drink it for another 3 hours.
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Even with drinking 23 ounces per hour, I got off the bike really thirsty for cold water.
T2: Again uneventful. It was nice to see Tanja, Amy, and the kids there cheering me on right beside my transition spot. It definitely helped. Total time 1:15 (28th overall.)
RUN: Where the fun begins…Not!
I got off the bike and there is a long gradual climb (.8 miles) out of transition. It was a looped course which meant we would be doing this hill three times. I knew after the 1st hill it would be painful. The run course was rolling to flat terrain, with a stress on the rolling part. There were two climbs on each loop. The plan was to keep my heart rate under 153. Right from the start, I could not mentally get into the run. It was painful. I realized early that this was going to be all about building an Ironman. My nutrition was right on track as I was sipping Clif Shot Enduralyte often. I had boosted the two 22-ounce bottles I was carrying with 1/2 scoop of Carbo Pro each. Total consumed on the run was about 30 ounces which equated to 188 calories per hour . It was getting really hot on the run. When I approached an aid station I would take 2 waters: dump one over my head and drink the other. I was craving the cold water. At the beginning of the climb marking the 2nd loop both thighs began to quiver: like I’m going to give you some really bad cramp quivers. I took one thermatab immediately (at the 3 hour 54 minute mark) and another 30 minutes later. At mile 10, I switched to flat coke and water, but only got in 2 cups of coke (at mile 10.25 and 10.75.) I am not really sure it had an effect, though mentally it helped switching to something different. Miles 10-12 were tough fighting off the cramping feeling and dealing with the heat. People were cramping up all over the place and I saw three people vomiting. Total run time=1:48.28 (53rd overall.) 8:16 per mile pace.
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Continue to gain strength on the bike to gain running endurance
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Need to take salt on the bike in preparation of the needs I will have for the run. I like many others was covered with salt at the end of the race.
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Nutrition: I need to continue to experiment with hydration sources. On the run, I really wanted cold water and lots of it. The clif shot tasted as if I was drinking a luke warm, high salt contaminated drink.
Post Race: (Thirsty, very thirsty)
All in all, I got exactly what I needed out of this event. It was definitely a hard training day toward building an Ironman. For some reason, I was never “jacked” to be racing the entire day. I feel this is the most important part as I anticipate feeling like this several times during the long Ironman day. It was good practice to be able to push those emotions aside and continue on sheer will. The best part about the event was my sister Amy’s comment. This was her first time at a triathlon and her comment afterward sums it all up. When asked what she thought she stated “it was emotional. You should have seen the crowd cheering in the last swimmers. I got all choked up.” I am so thankful she got to experience that because at the end of the day, that is why I do this.
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