Saturday, July 16, 2011

Jax Sprint #2 Race Report -- updated with official results

Getting to Jax.  So I got off work at noon, headed home and loaded up the truck.  The Sizzler and I hopped in the truck and headed out to get a quick bite before leaving town.  No such luck.  Luntime traffic was too bad.  So we hit the road.  Rain, rain, rain....  rain, rain rain...., nonstop.  Stop for lunch in Madison Subway.  More rain.  Keep driving to Jax.  Nonstop rain.  To JaxRunCo to pick up packet.  Still raining.  Head north to Fernandina Beach, still raining.  It didn't stop raining until I hit Fernandina Beach. 

The Hotel -- Comfort Suites by the venue.  First room was not cleaned.  Nasty.  Really, nasty.  Second room was a queen bed (not king), and the door latch was broken.  The Sizzler was freaked out and wanted to sleep in the truck.  The location next to transition was excellent, but next time I will shoot for a different hotel nearby.

Ate dinner at the Crab Trap.  We had the blacked seafood combo for two (fish, shrimp, oysters, crab cakes, green beans, and sweet potato).  Good, but not as good as the one on St. Simon's Island.  The building was neat though.

Race Morning -- Woke up at 5AM. Got dressed, dropped off my bike.  I was first in line at 5:27 when transition opened up.  Then walked the 50 yards back to the hotel for breakfast.  Eggs, sausage and a bananna.  Oh yeah, and coffee.  Met Gaye, a lady from Bristol who knew mom and dad.  Then the Sizzler and I walked to the beach to check it out.  Woah, those are some seriously good body-surfing waves.  4 footers, looks like, with serious current left to right.


So based on doing Jax Sprint #1 two seasons ago (when everything was the same but it was a 10 mile bike, instead of the now 16 mile bike);

Predicted/Goal Time:
Swim -- 9:00
T1 --- 1:10
Bike -- 43:00 -- over 22.0, hr 165-175
T2 -- :23 (looking back at this, not sure what I was thinking)
Run -- 25:00 -  under 25, hr 175-185
Total -- 1:18

Garmin GPS Time:
Swim -- 6:56
T1 -- :50
Bike -- 40:53 (hr 167, avg moving speed 22.9)
T2 -- :54
Run -- 25:11 (hr 178, avg 8:07)
Total -- 1:14:xx

Official Race Time (per DRC Sports website)
Swim --  6:56.2   66th place out of 418 overall(top 15%)
T1 -- 0:46
Bike -- 40:58.1 (23.4 mph)   39th place out of 418 overall (top 9%)
T2 -- 0:54
Run -- 25:11.8  (8:24 mile) 158th place out of 418 overall (top 37%)
Total -- 1:14:45 69th out of 418 (top 16%)overall, 12th of 33 (top 36%) in AG, 60 out of 271 (top 22%) Males

Re the links below, I don't know what the heck happened with my Garmin, but the GPS was turned off and never got turned on. Makes no sense to me, unless the multisport function did something to it. So it does not show a map at all. Maybe I turned it on in the hotel room and it just never searched for satellite again. Traditionally at the house, once I walk outside it will pick up the satellite. Gotta figure that out, b/c I think the footpod overestimated the run.

Swim   http://connect.garmin.com/activity/99592864  The swim was something.  Water was 80, so no wetsuits.  I swam in my race top and bottoms, decided to give that a shot.  Worked out ok, the top didn't seem to slow me down any.  The first group went out -- the junior nationals or something -- and immediatly most of them were swept past the first buoy.  Everybody on shore groaned and started walking up the beach. 


I was in the second wave.  The horn went off and away we went.  The current was pretty strong, but we were far enough up the beach that we easily made the turn.  Actually, the buoy was in pretty close, maybe 50 yards from shore.  Had to dolphin dive some, but it was all good. 

The swim down the beach was tough at first, getting used to the roll and waves crashing over your head.  Once you got the timing down though, it was ok.  My swim technique went out the window.  Finally made the turn and into shore we went.  About 10 yards pad the buoy, you could stand up, and a log of people stood up and kinda swam/walked in to shore.  I couldn't catch a wave to body surf in.  Oh well.


T1 --- http://connect.garmin.com/activity/99592868  T1 came and went.  I did pretty good.  Lots of people in the race, so transition was pretty big.


Bike -- http://connect.garmin.com/activity/99592870  The bike was fun.  We had a bit of a tailwind on the way out so I was crusing at 25.  The pace was pretty comfortable -- guess those rides I have been on with RTC where they kick my ass and drop me like a bad habbit have been paying off.  There were 4 guys in my AG and we worked together to pace ourselves (i.e., they drafted and I didn't).  As one point on the way back, they were bunched up in a big draft-pack, so I blew by them to break up the group.  30 second hammerfest, fun times.  Slowed down a bit on the way back (headwind), and let them catch back up with me.  I eased up the last mile to lower my hr for the run.  That last little bit probably cost my average being 23.x.


T2 -- http://connect.garmin.com/activity/99592873  Same old stuff, put bike up.. woah, what is this?  My rear bottle holder came loose and almost fell off.  Damn.  Ok, put bike up carefully, helmet off, shoes on, whoops, comeon feet, get in there.  Ok, in, shades and race belt, go!


Run -- http://connect.garmin.com/activity/99592875  I was not mentally or physically prepared for the run.  Acutallly, I was afraid of the run b/c: (1) I haven't raced (run) since I sprained my ankle the week before Gulf Coast; (2) my left ankle (sprained ankle) had been getting better, but was tender while running; and (3) I was worred about my heart rate.  My training has gotten better, some running and lots of aqua jogging -- but no interval speed-work (well, I am training for an IM, not a sprint).  In all honesty, I was mentally checked out about 10 yards outside of T2 and just wanted to finish.  The penguin rode my ass the entire race, every step.

Another problem -- with the gps on my garmin not working, the only distance I had was my footpod and the mile markers.  Except, they didn't match up.  I don't really trust mile markers, so when my watch said I did my first mile in 7:30, I was shocked and thrilled that I was so fast.  The mile marker was about 20 yards ahead of me, so I didn't think too much about it.  The second mile was 7:45 or so, but was a good 100 yards or so away from the mile 2 marker -- so I wasn't sure what to believe.  With half a mile left (according to the road markers), I was pretty much worn out and walked/ran several times. 



I know.  Embarassing to walk in the last mile, but I was toast.  Just haven't been running at that tempo for that distance, and didn't have that mental edge or physical ability to suck it up.  Still, happy with the 25:11 for what it was.


So, I was 12th in my AG, which is better than last time (I think I was 16th or so).  I got more comfortable in choppy water.  Stronger on the bike.  Sucked, but know what I did wrong on the run.  So all in all, a success of sorts.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Rambling thoughts during race week

So this weekend I am racing in the Jacksonville Sprint Series Race #2.  I missed the first race b/c I was in Asheville, NC.  Definately worth it, but I am happy to be at my first race since Gulf Coast (DNFing at T2 b/c of my previously sprained ankle).  So really, my first race since Beach Blast in April.  My coaches have me tapering this week, so I am gettting excited.  Nervous b/c I have not run (really run) in almost 3 months.

Saw Marci Gray today re help on my ankle, and getting fired up that I will be able to race hard on Sat.  I was impressed w/ her, and anticipate going there a lot as I get dings and whatnot preparing for IMFL.

During my brick run this am (5wu, 10tempo, 10cd), I ran my 10 minute tempo at a 6:30 pace.  I was shocked that I could carry that kind of pace at all, especially over 10 min -- that is almost half a 5k.  Guess that aqua jogging is helping after all.  Let's just see if I have the willpower to carry that over into the race Sat.

Going to watch a webinar tonight by QT2 re Managing Body Composition, figured what else is there to do on a Tue night during a taper week.  I am drinking a Fat Tire during the webinar, so I am glad I don't have my webcam turned on.  Post webinar edit -- so basically, race weight, body fat, bmi, etc., wise -- at least according to them -- I am probably not gonna be where I want to be for IMFL.  However, I'll have to see what RTC says about that.  Definately need to start focusing on nutrition.  Either way, plenty of time to get stronger/faster/lighter.  And... if it is another cold day, my... ahem, insulation... won't necesarily be a bad thing.

Damn, I feel like it is Friday.  But it is only Tuesday.  Guess that is the pre-race excitement.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

The (Un)Civil War

There is a war being waged within me right now.  It is a war between Fat Jason and Athlete Jason.  From the looks of it, neither side wants to exactly go quietly into the night, so it is turning into a back-alley knife fight.

  Ok, this is me in high-school Senior year, 158 lbs during basketball season.  I lied about my weight to sound bigger.


   Damn.  225 or so.  Nowhere near my all time high of 237.  I won't post that pix.  It will cause blindness.

So, with any luck at least, my ramped up training for IMFL has caused Athlete Jason to realize that he can't get away with eating crap and then expecting to put out during training....  And, there is no way in hell I am going to suffer this much during training just to burn off fat rather than get stronger/faster.  So, for the time being Athlete Jason is mostly in charge.  Mostly.....

Another thought -- one that comes to me frequently while suffering on race day.  A part of a poem written by a dear friend from times past "'Why?' A lone voice cries into the darkness.  Silence."