Long overdue race report. I have put this off because I really wasn't happy with my performance at this race and was disappointed with my overall time. I learned alot from this race. Mostly what not to do before one.
Here is the list I have come up with thus far:
1) Do not sign up for a race 10 days before hand without a plan and on a whim. Jeanne signed up and then asked if I would come along, it was to be her first. Without thinking it through, I just went ahead and signed up. In hindsite, I probably would have been better off going as a spectator and sherpa.
2) Do not do the Warrior Dash the day before.
3) Do not drink 1/2 bottle of wine two days before then turn around and part-take in drinking beer after the Warrior Dash the day prior to the race (4 beers for me in total).
4) Do not underhydrate with water (see #3).
5) Do not go into a race with lack of sleep, i.e. for me that means only sleeping 5 hours several nights in a row before the race.
6) Do not eat like crap the week before on a diet of take out and sugary foods.
7) Do not go into a race without a taper.
8) Do not expect a great race when doing all of the above!
So, here it goes, race day came very early. Met with Rick and Jeanne at my place by 5:30am. Wanted to get down in time to get our packet pick-ups and set up prior to the race start. We made it down there with plenty of time to spare. I also find out that Jeanne and I will be in one of the last waves to start. This poses a slight problem for me as I normally try to do my rescue inhaler about 20 minutes to the race start. We will have to be out of transition about 30 minutes prior to when our wave goes off and I don't want to just leave my inhaler somewhere random. So, I opt to do it anyway and hope everything runs on time. It doesn't. They decide to "give us" and extra 10 minutes before they start the oly waves so that all of the sprints will be out of the way. Oh well. I will have to think about this for future races. May have to consider having two inhalers for the 1/2 IM and full. One that I can pitch while I wait and one to have on the course in case I need it.
The water is perfect. 71 and calm. We finally get the horn to start. I wade in right with everyone else and after a few kicks, realize that I didn't put my chip on tight enough, it is starting to come off from around my ankle. So I have to stop and try to adjust this in chest deep water, don't want it coming off during the middle of the swim! Figure I lost a few minutes, but it gives me a chance to choose a line and go with it. It doesn't take me long to catch up and pass many of the women and eventually I catch up with some of the men. I am second out of the water in my age group with a 29:31.
Transition takes a little time to get my wetsuit off, still haven't perfected this technique yet. I also take some extra time to apply some extra sunscreen. At 2:54 I have the slowest T1 of my AG.
The bike started alittle rough. My HR is already at 161 out of transition which is zone 4 for me. Not sure I can race at this the rest of the day so I slow down abit to a comfortable pace. My legs already feel tired. Overall the bike is uneventful. I try to keep a pace that is comfortably hard. Most of the ride my HR is in zone 3 except for the few hills that are on the course. One of the things I don't like about the Deer Creek course are the roads. At least 50% of them are the chip-n-seal stuff. It makes the roads really rough, so more resistance when you pedal and it feels like your whole bike just vibrates. So, my bike wasn't all that strong. 1:28:22 and I am 5th in my AG by this point.
T2 went a little faster, but I had to make a pot stop, must have hydrated just fine on the bike! No record of my time here but I assume at this point I am last in my AG (#6).
I start off on the run and about 1/2 mile into it I hear someone yelling my name. I turn around and Jeanne has almost caught me! I slow down and walk with her a bit, but once we start running again, I don't want to stop, so I leave her behind after a bit. Jeanne is doing a walk/run plan. My legs are definately tired at this point. I maintain I steady pace and end up with one of my slowest 10k times. Perhaps I should have done the walk/run plan like Jeanne. 1:08:30, this also puts me last in my AG. 6th place out of 6 people. Well, I guess someone has to do it, and this race it was me!
Total race time was 3:09:19. I guess that after looking back at everything I did wrong it isn't too bad. Not a PR time for me in this distance and not my slowest time either. It also didn't take me too long to recover from it either, so that says something. Definately a learning experience and a wake up call for my trianing until my next race, Muncie 70.3.
