Wow! Been a while since my last post from IM Wisconsin. But while I have not posted much, I have been training hard and have actually lost a good bit of weight. And did my 1st race of the season this past weekend - Toughman Alabama! A half "iron" distance (70.3 miles) race in nearby Pell City. Total time was 6:51, way off my PR from 2 years ago at Augusta. Details from each leg below.
Going into this race, I had not trained specifically for it nor did I do any kind of taper as would normally be done for a race this long. I am in the middle of training for IM Chattanooga and this race was more or less a long training day. Given that, I did not expect my times to be that great and I was a bit nervous going in.
The Friday before the race I worked a normal day but left a couple of hours early so I could drive to Pell City to pick up my race packet. I also dropped off my bike in transitions so I would not have to mess with it Saturday morning. Kourey let me borrow his Zipp 808's which was quite nice. After dropping off the bike, I headed back home to relax with the fam.
For dinner, I went with the "all liquid" diet again like I have done in the past. It consisted of 1 Naked Juice, 1 bottle of sports drink, 1/2 bottle of chocolate milk, and 1/2 bottle of POM juice. The next morning my breakfast was a bowl of apple sauce with protein powder mixed in. I did forget the banana but in the end, it didn't matter.
I woke up at 4am and had the breakfast mentioned above, got my gear and headed up to Pell City. I got there a little after 5am and proceeded to get my nutrition bottles set up. I had 1hr Infinit in a Speedfill up front and a 2hr bottle on my downtube. I did not carry anything else on the bike - used the bottle drops to get my water. I carried a Fuel Belt for the run that had two 1.5hr bottles of Infinit.
SWIM
The swim was a wave start and I was in a group that started out at 640am. It was a straight out swim where we turned back at a sharp angle towards the transition area. 1.2 miles and I was pathetically slow at 1 hour 4 mins. While it was very uneventful, it was the worst, slowest swim I have ever done. I have not trained that hard for my swim this year, but honestly, I never really have. I suppose I could have pushed a bit harder, but at the end, I felt pretty good physically. I ran up to transitions and got ready for my bike.
T1
Nothing really special. I wore my tri-shorts all day, so I didn't have to change anything. I put on my heart rate monitor, shirt, helmet, glasses, shoes, and headed to the bike mount. Nothing else to really report.
BIKE
I had not been on the bike course, so I was unsure of what to expect. My legs were not feeling that great, so I didn't really push too hard the entire way. I wanted so bad to be able to run the entire run course, I just didn't want to push it. In hindsight, I probably could have gone harder b/c I felt pretty decent on the run.
Having Kourey's Zipps was awesome! I've never ridden with wheels like that and it was fun! The course, for me, was quite challenging. Lots of hills, some very steep. While I have lost a ton of weight, I am still a "big guy", so hills are more challenging for me than the skinny folks. But nonetheless, I thought it was a fun course and the volunteers were great! My nutrition plan worked perfectly and I had no issues.
I dropped my chain 3 times on the bike and also stopped for a few mins to help someone who was changing a flat tube. Not sure the total time I lost doing all this, but I would guess less than 10 mins. My total time was 3:09, way off my PR from Augusta in 2012 of 2:51. But considering the hills and extra stops, I am somewhat pleased. I do feel I left some on the table by not going as hard as I could have. Live and learn, I suppose.
T2
Again, nothing special - I just dropped off the bike, got my Fuel Belt and running shoes, and changed sunglasses. Then headed out for the run.
RUN
The run, like the bike, was full of hills. There were a few stretches of flat - but those were in the direct sunlight, so they were HOT! At least many of the hills had stretches of shade. I finished in (for me) a respectable 2:31 just a few mins off my PR. And with tons more hills and heat than in that race. I started the run going as slow as I could knowing I would need my legs at the end if I didn't want to walk. That, combined with going easy on the bike helped me in running the whole way - well - except for at the aid stations where I did walk and a few of the hills. I purposely chose to walk some of the steeper hills because I didn't think I should crush up them only to cause myself to walk the flats later.
Again, not a lot to repot. The aid stations were great, volunteers awesome, course challenging but fun. My nutrition worked well so I think I have my plan for Chatty.
END
As I came down the finisher's shoot, the end was more of a relief than exciting. I was just ready to be done - my heart was not really into this race. I am glad I did it because it confirmed my nutrition plan is good and I did learn a couple of things. I also gained some confidence on my run, but am a bit worried about the bike.
After the race, I got my hat and medal and went to sit for a bit under some tents that had cold water spraying all over. It felt good. I then went to get my bike from transition, collected my gear, dumped them in the car, changed clothes and went to eat something. I had post race pizza and a Coke. I saw a few folks and said "HI", then headed home.
Overall, I am somewhat pleased with the race. But there are a lot of opportunities to get faster/do better for Chattanooga. I have 6 weeks left before that - but only 4 "real" training weeks because of the 2 week taper. So I have to double down and hit it HARD if I want to improve any.
And, that, my friends is my race report. Have a groovy day!!
