Make your own luck
The 2014 Ironman 70.3 in Oceanside was targeted as my first
HIM a long time ago, I don’t remember exactly but it was at least 9 months. Once I finished the Santa Barbara Long Course
in August I began to focus my thoughts on this race. This was going to be my first shot at a HIM
and I really wanted to do well. None of
this, I just want to finish crap, I wanted to race and perform at
Oceanside. In order to do this I knew I
needed to make a big change to my training, one that would require me to not
skip Strength Training anymore. I had
learned to be okay with Red Boxes in TP for Strength workouts, but I had come
to learn, from experience, that late in the race I would need to strength to
fight off fatigue, cramps and general doubt.
So I committed myself to two strength sessions a week from August to
March. I immediately felt the difference
as I was stronger in all my races during the winter and had the strength to
finish races, something I lacked in 2013.
Leading up to Oceanside I had very strong workouts in my
final bricks. I was doing excellent on
the bike and then just hammering it on the runs. I felt so strong and my confidence was sky
high. Because of this I was not nervous at
all or experiencing any of the common pre-race freak outs. I was calm and confident that I not only
earned my place at the starting line but I was there to show off my months of
hard work. There are no secrets in this
sport, if you want to race well you need to train and train hard. In addition to all the hard work leading up
to the race I put together, along with the help of my Coach, a race plan
detailing everything starting with my day before the race, including meals and
amount of sleep, all the way through to crossing the finish line. I printed out this report and took it with
me, reading it over before dinner Friday night, before I went to bed Friday
night and once more while eating breakfast on race morning.
I arrived in Oceanside around 11am on Friday and went
straight to Ironman Village. This was my
first Ironman event and it was huge.
There were two main areas along with a separate check-in hall. I was a little overwhelmed with the size of
the production but quickly settled in.
First I went and checked in and got all squared away. On the
way back to the Ironman store I came across the Ogio booth. I have needed a Transition bag as I have been
carrying two bags in and out of transitions the past year and it is cumbersome. I have had an Ogio backpack for over 10 years
and have been very happy with it so I was familiar with the brand. They had a new transition bag and I really
like it, they were also discounted 25% so I picked one up. My gift to myself for being there I
suppose. I then headed over to the
Ironstore and grabbed a couple of small items as mementos of the event. In doing this I hooked up with my Coach and
fellow teammates whom I ultimately had a nice lunch with while enjoying the
beautiful weather. After lunch I did a
short ride over to the swim start area and got familiar with the layout of the
Swim Exit and T1. After this I did a
quick run along the strand testing out the up and down of the pier and trying
to get familiar with the run course. The
course was extremely difficult to follow on the map but on race day it was well
marked and supported, there was no way to screw it up. After this I headed out to my hotel 10
minutes away and checked in. This is
when the prep really began. Because of
the separate transition areas you had to coordinate 3 different bags. I probably over analyzed this but I finally
got set up and then relaxed for about 90 minutes before we all meet up again
for dinner which was just across the parking lot from my hotel. We enjoyed a nice pre-race diner with great
company and it was off to bed. I watched
the end of the NCAA games, rocked and rolled with the earthquake and then got a
great night’s sleep. No nerves, just
confidence.
I woke up at 4am on race morning and ate a bowl of granola
with Almond milk, half a wheat bagel with almond butter and a cup of Greek
yogurt. This was a perfect meal; I was
never hungry during the race at all. I
packed up my car, checked out of the hotel and headed over to the race finish
area. I had a parking pass for the best
lot possible, I was right across the tracks from T2. This really helped to relax me on the way
over to the race as I was not worried at all about parking, something that typically
causes me more stress than necessary. I
dropped off my run gear, which consisted of my shoes, a hat and one GU and then
rode over to T1. I got my bike all set
up and then it was a lot of waiting around.
I was going off at 7:39 which was Wave 20 out of 23. I spent the time mulling around and just
keeping warm, finally it was time to get in line and move the cattle off to the
slaughter. I saw Ryan running past as he
finished the swim and thought, I can’t wait until that’s me. I slowly moved my way up through the wave and
was trying to get close enough so that once we entered the water I would not
have to fight for a good starting spot.
Our wave was finally called and we jumped in and got in the only warm up
I had all day, a 50 yard swim to the start buoy. While waiting there I was waiting for the
prerace butterflies but they never came.
ONE MINUTE warning quickly turned into a 10 SECOND warning and bam it
was go time.
By and large the swim was uneventful and routine, I tried my
best to sight and stay on the buoy line which was tough on the way out as I
felt like I was being pulled right and away from the line. Once we made the two left turns and started
heading back I found a large building to sight off of, which really helped me
and I was able to stay right of the line on the way back which was the shorter
route. It got really crowded about half
way back and there was a lot of contact.
About 300 yards from the finish the swim lane got narrow between the
buoy and the boats and it was super crowded, mostly with slow swimmers from
early waves and these people were doing all sorts of strokes and kick
variations which made it difficult to pass.
Finally I just had to go over them and make my own way and once past
that group I could see the swim exit. I
began kicking hard to get the blood flowing and headed straight to the
exit. This was my first of many
encounters with the awesome and numerous volunteers out there. I swam as far as I could and past some people
walking in deep water and was grabbed by two people and lifted up. In the same motion these two people in
perfect synchronicity unstrapped and unzipped my wetsuit. I was half way up the ramp before I really
realized what had happened, too far up to thank them but that was some serious
service. The long run to the bike went
quick and I had to move around and pass a few people, the theme of the day,
just to keep going. I found my bike with
ease and got the suit off and in the bag much faster than I expected. There were three or four of us all right
together and shared a few comments, got my shoes on and headed out to the Bike
Exit. Had a quick word with my Coach in
T1, like two or three, and was off to the dismount line and to the moment in
the race that I was most worried about, and this is no joke. I had just purchased a new bike and only got
3 rides in before the race. During each
ride I had water bottles on the back of the seat and noticed how difficult it
was for someone without the greatest flexibility to get their leg up and over
the bottles. I hit them each time in
practice and knew this was the one moment I was unprepared for. Sure enough I got past the mount line and
swung my leg up, hit the bottle and my right thigh locked up with a nasty
cramp. I almost fell over but the good
volunteers grabbed me and pulled me over to the side. One even started to rub my thigh; I composed
myself, thanked them for saving me and almost laid the bike down and put my leg
over. I clipped in and headed out. I love the bike start for two reasons: 1)
Swim is my slowest event and I am always so happy to have it behind me and 2)
the feeling I get taking those first 20 pedals and the wind on your wet skin is
just exhilarating, I feel so alive in that moment and excited to get to work.
I had an extremely specific nitration plan for the bike, I
had a time goal and specific average speed I wanted but the nutrition was the
priority. I knew regardless of my bike
time, if I messed up the nutrition my run was over before it began. Lesson learned. In addition I think the cramp was a blessing
in disguise because it took my mind off the ride and let me think about the
cramp and put together a plan on how I was going to heal up so the legs would
be fine for the run. I was carrying salt
pills on the bike as an added item that I would take if needed. Due to the cramp I started taking the pills
early, ultimately this played a big part in my not cramping during the run when
it got pretty warm out. Like the swim
there were a lot of people to pass on the bike course. Being so far back we would be passing the
slower bikers from all the pervious waves.
The first half of the ride is pretty uneventful, just settling into a
nice manageable pace while keep heart rate in check. Things did not get interesting until the
halfway point when we hit our first short but steep climb. I settled into the highest gear I have on the
TT bike and kept pounding out the pedal strokes. One after another, passing a ton of people on
the hill, including PEOPLE WALKING!!!
WTF, you signed up for this race 6 months ago and you have to walk the
hills? I was really surprised that for a
race of this distance that anyone would be walking the hills. To my surprise I saw this on every hill. Due to my multiple 5K Fridays and other days
spent in the mountains in my backyard I was able to take on all the necessary
climbing with ease. I continued moving,
taken my nutrition and making sure I was not overdoing it on the bike. My heart rate was great, pace was perfect and
I felt very strong. Not only strong but
very comfortable. I continued taking in
the food, not because I was hungry but because I knew I needed to. I had to space out the consumption of around
700 calories over the course of the bike. As the ride was winding down I noticed I
really had to pee, as an example of how I am now more comfortable racing and
things are starting to slow down a bit I was able to figure out that I needed
to pee in T2 to protect my run. I did
not want to have my pee break time included in my run time or bike time so I
was sure to hit the port-o-potty that I knew were in T2. This may be a small trivial issue but for me,
to be able to think through it and come to a good solution is a win for me.
I entered T2, racked bike and switched shoes really
fast. Grabbed my hat and sprinted to the
toilet. I was in the port-o-potty for
what seemed like 3 full minutes. But
based on my 2:10 T2 split it was probably closer to 1 minute. I may have been able to do a T2 at really
close to 1 minute which would have been amazing. I am getting better at transitions and going
sockless is a big reason why. This was
the moments I had been thinking about for the past 6 months. Run Exit – I had been waiting for this moment
and it was finally here.
Blasting out of T2
As noted above I was waiting for this run for a long
time. I am a runner, no matter how much
better I get in the triathlon world I will always be a runner. It’s what I have been doing the longest and
it’s what I am best at, I can’t fight it.
The run is my chance to make up all the ground I lost on the swim. It used to be, all the ground I lost on the
swim and bike, but I am not losing spots on the bike anymore. I put a lot of pressure on myself for this
last part of the race and I really wanted to perform. My Coach put a plan in place for me to not
only negative spit the run but also flirt with a sub 1:30. I was going to start out at about a 7:10 pace
while keeping my heart rate below 175 and slowly work my way down to a
finishing pace of around 6:35 while not going over a HR of 185. Leave it to me to mess this up pretty
quickly. I was so excited and jacked up
for the run, especially due to how effortless the bike felt, that I busted out
of T2 and put the hammer down. I was
doing a sub 7 minute pace for most of the first mile and was having a really hard
time slowing down. Part of the reason
was my HR was below the 175 threshold we set, I figured if that HR was in check
then I could push it a bit. The first
few miles flew by and I felt strong, tried to stay upright as much as possible
and slow down my turnover. Around mile
3.5 I passed Ryan and he said something like “You look strong” he was on his
second lap and looked good as well. I
wanted to pick it up and catch him so I could take him home but I need to save
something for my own second lap. I only
had three salt pills left over from the ride so I spaced them out, I took them
at miles 3, 6 & 9. I figured if I
needed something more an aid station would be able to help out, turns out I did
not need it. At the half way point I
realized I was not going to negative split the run, not because I was hurting
or out of gas, I just knew I went out to fast and basically below the plan in
the process. Now it was all about
staying strong and giving it all I could to try to be as close to 1:30 as possible. At about mile 8 I took my last GU and I was
doing great drinking at each station. It
took about 3 stations until I FINALLY figured out how to drink perfectly. I needed to not only squeeze the cup but
completely shut off 80% of the cup and just leave the little part at the end to
have the liquid come out of. This kept
me from swallowing too much and a bunch of air as well. It took awhile but I got it. I also figured that a mix of 50% water and
50% “Gatorade drink” was the best combo for me.
It got me what I needed and kept me hydrated perfectly. Overall my nutrition was perfect and a huge
win personally, I was never “hungry” or really in a place of need. I just kept
it going on a regular basis and was covered the whole day. The last 3 or 4 miles of the run were a real
fight for me. Not because I was hurting,
but because I knew I was slowing down. I
pushed and surged to keep my pace around 7:00 and with the exception of mile 12
I did that. When I got back on the
strand after descending Wisconsin Ave for the final push I tried to go, I went
a little bit but quickly realized I did not have too much in the tank. Actually this was comforting in that I knew I
had used what I had throughout the day and did not leave anything left. The last mile was a real emotional time as I
thought of all the work I had done, finishing my first 70.3 in a great time was
an incredible feeling, one I will never forget.
As I approached the carpet I put myself in a position where I would be
crossing the line by myself. When I hit
the Ironman carpet I got a huge smile and started pumping both fists. This fired up the crowd a bit and I was
floating to the line. I freaking did it
and I crushed it. I was really happy to
see my Coach at the finish line; we shared a good laugh realizing what I had
just accomplished. It was very fitting
for me to have him there at the finish as he was the reason for such an amazing
day. Without his guidance none of this
would have been possible, I did all the work but I was just following his
orders.
The next 30 minutes was kind of a blur, crappy tacos, lots
of cold drinks and some time to sit back and enjoy what I just did. My coach and I sat reviewing my splits and
shared many smiles, laughs and fist bumps.
What a day.
Since that moment of becoming a Half Ironman, my confidence
is sky high. To be able to go out and
perform the way I did in my first ever shot at that distance has me on cloud
nine. I am going to enjoy this for a
while as I take some prescribed time off and recharge. I have been going pretty hard all winter and
am looking forward to a little break.
But I know that Vineman 70.3 is right around the corner and I can’t wait
to take another crack at it, except this time I have the first hand knowledge
what I can do. Look out!
I called this post, Make your own luck, because that is what
I learned in Oceanside. Luck is
overrated and is not a magic pill you get slipped at an aid station. You make your own luck by putting in the
hours of hard work so you can reap the rewards of your race day. That’s not luck that’s called preparation. If you prepare, you will put yourself in the
best possible position to succeed. To
say I got lucky and did a 5:06 undercuts all the hours of work you did to earn
the 5:06. If you do the work you’ll make
your own luck.
Results
Goal
|
Actual
|
AG Place
|
OA Place
|
|
Swim
|
0:35:00
|
0:36:36
|
98
|
672
|
T1
|
0:03:00
|
0:03:57
|
||
Bike
|
2:50:00
|
2:51:06
|
88
|
508
|
T2
|
0:02:00
|
0:02:10
|
||
Run
|
1:30:00
|
1:32:17
|
38
|
253
|
Total
|
5:00:00
|
5:06:06
|
11.4%
|
10.5%
|
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