8/16/2015
Pre-Race:
This race come into the schedule late in the season. I was on deck with Russ while he was in town visiting, and Danny put the idea in our heads. Sure enough, it didn’t take long and we were both registered and ready to head up to Gilford, New Hampshire 3 weeks after Ironman Lake Placid.
I wasn’t worried about the time to recover as I didn’t plan on getting much training in. I planned to recover for 7-10 days, get moving again, and rely on my Placid fitness to carry me through this one and kick off some solid training for Kona.
I returned from Placid Monday night, had to move Tuesday-Thursday and celebrated with friends all weekend. As a result, come Saturday morning, I was feeling terrible...unusually terrible.I tried to relax and nap for a few days and by Tuesday, it was time to go to the doctor. I was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection, but not prescribed antibiotics, just cold/allergy medicine.
No surprise, Monday of the next week rolls around, and I’m still coughing up some gross stuff, feeling awful and have next to no appetite. I go back to the doctor and finally get some antibiotics to combat most of the symptoms I originally had, on top of my newly acquired ear infection. This puts me at 6 days out from a race, starting a round of antibiotics.
I started to feel better by Thursday and decided to give it a shot at Timberman. It would, at the very least, be an opportunity to shake out the legs from Placid, share the course with tons of friends, and race in a state I have never raced in before.
Russ booked us a cool, little cottage, right on Lake Winnipesaukee which gave us the opportunity to open water swim right out of our front door, something we took advantage of many times throughout the weekend (The Inn at Smith Cove 19 Roberts Road Gilford, New Hampshire 03249).
Race Morning:
Race morning started at 4:00 AM, where I ate more waffles than I ever want to see again in my life. We didn’t realize until it was too late that we had an entire stove and pots and pans. We could have cooked eggs, pancakes, etc but it just didn’t happen. We left by 4:45AM and made it into the parking lot just before it filled up. In the future, we should probably plan on arriving by 4:40-4:45 instead of leaving.
Swim 00:26:01 (11 M25-29/77 OA):
As I was making the final adjustments on my wetsuit, I realized that I forgot to put my speed suit on for the bike. There was just enough time to jog back to the car, put it on, and make it back for the gun but i figured that the course was hilly enough and I’d benefit more from a solid swim warm up than running around stressing myself. I thought to myself, “If this is all that goes wrong, it’ll be a pretty good day.” Later on I’d find out that this was a minor oversight compared to what I had coming.
The gun went off and I found feet immediately. There was one guy charging to my left who looked determined to spend as little time on the swim course as possible and I was happy to let him work all the way around. This was one of my faster 70.3 swims and honestly, it was very easy. Drafting is awesome and allowed me to stay relaxed, warm up, and get ready for a solid ride.run combo.
A few times, heading into the beach, I felt like we weren’t really moving that well and contemplated getting around the guy and pushing into shore but I figured that energy would be better spent on the run course so I bottled it and just continued to ride his wake.
T1 00:01:36:
I had a great spot, all the way through transition, right next to the bike out. I was located on the first rack after the PRO racks, right near the end. Couldn’t have been happier. Made the jog through without consequence and was licking my chops to take my girl, GrAce 2.0, out for her maiden race.
Bike 02:32:49 (3 M25-29/24 OA):
I got out on the bike course and was absolutely in love with how my new ride was handling. I was able to get a lot of controlled power to the pedals and she was absolutely rocketing along the course. I felt like the new cockpit and slight fit tweaks allowed me to tuck into my position better than on my old bike and the numbers were validating those feelings.
I made it through the opening miles and up the major climbs and started to open up into the long, flat, out and back section when I went to shift and didn’t feel any response. I moved to me bullhorn shifters, thinking maybe a cable rattled loose, still nothing. I tried to shift my rear derailleur and that worked. It hit me immediately that in my excitement to race and get the bike rolling that I neglected the fact that batteries do not come fully charged. In my 200 miles of training leading up the the race, I used the majority of the juice that was left in the battery, leaving myself with enough to make it through 10 miles on the course. The beauty of Di2 is that it shuts down the front derailleur and saves the balance of the battery for the rear to allow you to get home. I was still moving along alright despite spinning out at 26 mph on the flats where a big ring could have allowed me to sustain 30+ but I chalked it up to a day to keep the legs fresh and tackle the run course as hard as I could. Keeping tabs on other cyclist that are around my strength, I was realizing that I was out of it. The 20 year old guys started catching me from 4 minutes back and I simply couldn’t get going any faster.
After a very frustrating 24 miles, losing the benefit of the furiously fast road, I started making my way back through the climbing section when a familiar sensation happened. Tried to shift the rear derailleur and no response. 12 miles to go and I was essentially riding a fixie through the major climbs on the course. Consider my legs fried by the time I grinded 300 watts at 50 rpm for a few miles. I really enjoyed the looks I was getting on a brand new, decked out, speed concept having people think I don’t even know how to choose an appropriate gear. Eventually, I made it back to transition and was upset that after a short 56 miles, I was already sick of being on my beloved bike. Don’t worry GrAcie, it wasn’t you, it was me and my newbie move of not even putting juice in your battery. I will make up or it!
And the award for best bike “pacing” goes to…
T2 00:01:36:
With my head hanging low, I hung up my bike in it’s fantastic transition position and grabbed my run gear. I took my time putting on my socks as I tried to talk myself into running hard.
Run 01:49:15 (14 M25-29/128 OA):
Brushed off the ride immediately and decided it was time to at least make up some time and see who I could chase down. I went out hard for the first mile, then my stomach turned on me and I spent a little time in the port-a-potty. I’ve made many important decisions behind this closed door so I figured, why not make another?
In my solidarity, I realized: “Don’t be an idiot. You are 3 weeks removed from a race that drained you to the point where you ended up sick. You have the most important race of your life in 8 weeks. It’s time to shut it down. You have friends on the course, see what you can do to help them.”
I left the bathroom and walked 100 ft up the road to the end of the aid station. I started feasting at the aid station while I looked for a familiar face to run up on me. I knew my friend Aaron was coming or had already passed and my buddy Rusty was expected through at any time as well. I stood around for a minute or two and didn’t see either of them so I turned around, grabbed a few cokes and started walking toward the garbage can when Aaron snuck up on me and went by. He was flying around 7:00/mile and I decided it was time to run and help him through.
I remembered in Raleigh he had trouble with the run but I wasn’t about to hijack his race unless he asked. We exchanged a few hellos and ran shoulder-to-shoulder for about 1-2 miles when he said he wasn’t sure he could hang on to the pace. I took this as an invitation to take over and asked him to let me pace him through he rest of it, to which he agreed. I quickly found out what his goals were and what he has done in the past and told him, :If this is a pace that you’re worried you can’t hold, we need to slow down and run a more realistic pace. You’ve got me here for you, I’ll take care of you and get you through this thing.”
I spend the rest of the run having fun, making volunteers splash him with water to cool him down, dumping ice down his kit, and helping him pull back the damage incurred in the opening miles. I was very impressed with his ability to dial it back, lock into an appropriate pace, bring his emotions into control, work the aid stations, and still close with some hard digging in the last 1.75 miles. He made it through with a 12 minute PR and hopefully a better understanding of how you can use the course to your advantage to get as much out of it, carefully choosing where to spend the energy you have left. Certainly a much better experience for me that slogging around on my own for 13.1 miles.
Overall 04:51:17 (14 M25-29/128 OA):
Bottom line, my head just wasn’t in the game this weekend. I was still riding the high from Placid, on antibiotics, had done very little preparation, and was too caught up in helping out my friends with their races. The only thing I’d do differently if I could go back is charge my bike.
In the grand scheme of things, it was best for me that I didn’t turn myself inside out as I can jump right into a healthy Kona block and not have to worry about as much recovery as if I had raced it. This race was meant as an early shot at qualifying for 70.3 Worlds in Australia but there will be plenty of opportunity for that at the beginning of next season.
Thank you to everybody who tracked all day and I’m sorry for the scare, I was fine out there. I could have ended up far worse like the athlete I saw blow by me and end up in a ditch a few miles down the road. Thanks to QT2 Systems for all you do, Base salt for keeping me out of a dark place on that hot day and salvaging A-A-ron’s race.
Big shout out for Rusty Sullivan for getting back in the game with a big PR performance. On to a big race in Maryland in a few weeks aboard that beautiful new bike (He bought a clone of GrAce 1.0 and she is purty).
Another huge kudos to Danny who qualified for 70.3 Worlds in Australia. Way to get the train rolling, we hope to join you!
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