19/82 Overall
3/6 Age Group
Swim -- 13 OA, 2 AG 19:55 Avg 1:19 100/m, 1:12 100/y
T1 -- 1:15 (25 seconds faster than last year)
Bike -- 13 OA, 1 AG 1:07:17 Avg speed 22.3, hr 165, cadence 91 (1:54 faster than last year)
T2 -- 0:51 (20 seconds faster than last year)
Run -- 40 OA, 6AG 53:02 174 Average hr. (2:02 faster than last year)
Total -- 2:22:18
If you want the full details, keep on reading....
Left work at 3:30 Friday (running 30 minutes behind schedule), and made my way to Mexico Beach. Sissy didn't want to come -- she was worried about leaving the dogs overnight and about the "unknown explosion" in El Governor earlier in the week. So I was riding solo. Drove directly to the race site for packet pick up and found out it didn't open for another 30 minutes. Note to self -- next time I don't have to leave work until 4PM. So I went to El Gov and checked into the hotel.
Went back to the race site, waited a minute or so to get my packet. Two guys in front of me, the guy wanted to pick up the packet for his girlfriend. No soup for you. Then the guy in front of me -- they don't have him listed. He swears signing up. Race director is called over, she checks another chart and... wait for it... he did in fact sign up... for Beach Blast II in September. Then he asks how he did that? The race director just looked at him, then said... well, you clicked the wrong link when you signed up. Dumbass.
So I get my packet, figure I will be missing something, but nope -- have everything. Head over to Mango Marley's for dinner. Figure I will skip the Florabama chicken this year and go with a club, sweet potato fries, with a side of 5 honey bbq buffalo wings. Probably a little too unhealthy, but damn, it tasted good. Get back to the hotel, watch the sunset, walk on the beach, get back and shave for the race, etc....
Wake up at 4:30. Damn, I forgot to bring my Gatoraid Pro 1 bar. Vanilla crisp Powerbar and a Gatoraid drink will have to do. Arrive at race site, body marking, and grab my gear and head to transition.
One thing you gotta know about Beach Blast is that transition is in a softball field... at the beach (read -- sand spurs). One of the many challenges is figuring out whether to leave flip flops between the beach and field, or find a route through the field that does not have sand spurs. Likewise, you have to figure out if you want your bike racked near the entrance or exit to transition. I chose the far exit (right by where bikes go out). I also passed on flip flops and decided to go barefoot from the beach to the bike. This increases the risk of sand spurs, so I had to walk my intended path a few times to looks for sand spur patches. Good to go.
In the meantime, I had racked my bike in the first row, far rack, bike facing left (the other bikes around me were facing right). There was one bike between mine and the end (it was facing the other way). I had placed my backpack along one leg on the end of the bike rack, when the guy who owns the bike walks up and says "Hey there are six bikes on this rack, we need to space out some." I looked at him, and said "go ahead." And he is in my age-group. So he spends the rest of his warm-up spreading out a beach towel on at the end of the bike rack and placing all his stuff out on the towel. So much shit he looked like a total noob. He even put his bike pump right up against my backpack. What a douche-bag.
Saw a bunch of people with Gulf Winds gear on, so that was nice. 10 minute warm-up jog, then time to put on the wetsuit. I remembered to bring some public grocery bags and decided to try a trick I learned at Red Hills first-timers camp. Put the bags on over your hands and feet, and they slide right into the wetsuit. Holy cow -- that works really, really well.
Water felt great at warm-up. Water was pretty flat, with some slight swells. Buoys were not too far out -- had the nagging suspicion it wouldn't be quite 1500, but not gonna complain. As usual for Beach Blast, before the race starts, all the swimmers start drifting along the beach to the left (i.e,. upcurrent). This year, the race director called us out and made us come back. I was looking around and realized there was not many people on the far right. Also realized there was not much of a left/right current. So I made a game-time decision to park myself to the far right. I have heard that this can work pretty well so I decided to find out.
Well, it worked out just fine. I didn't have any company until I hit the first buoy. I could see a big crowd to the left, but just swam right by everybody. The swells were a little strange on the first leg, but manageable. As with Red Hills, I pretty much used my old stroke for awhile until I started gasping for beath, realized my mistake, and then transitioned into my new stroke. It felt slower, but did agood job of lowering my heart rate.
First loop, something new -- we had to swim through two buoys at the turn. I think they did this to get people off the beach. Well, fine with me. Do second leg, no problem. As you can see, my swim time was good and I came out 2nd in my age group. I swam at a good clip, so was happy.
Transition -- no sand spurs.
Bike -- this was the interesting part. My plan was to just hammer the whole time -- really put myself outside of my comfort zone and see what I could do. And see how it affected my run. I kinda did that, but not as much as expected. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/81035465 Here is how it went down. I was alone coming out of T1, crusing down 98 along the beach before turning on overstreet. I didn't put my garmin on during transition, so it was slung around one of my aero bars, so I couldn't really see my hr or cadence.
Once I turned on Overstreet, I was chicked twice. Damnit. Oh well, I let them go. Then a funny thing happened... I caught them. They were constantly passing each other and I wound up in the mix. Turns out none of us could drop the others. When we were pacelining (i.e., following each other at a legal distance), we were able to recover our hr and then felt like we were going too slow, so kept passing the leader. After awhile, we came up on a guy, I was at the back and the two girls were up front. The guy jumped on behind the girls and started drafting. Literally drafting. So the girls started drafting each other as well. I just followed at the back of the bus -- and kept it legal distance. Kicker is the group in front of me were so big that I was at a legal distance yet getting a huge aero benefit. My hr dropped 8-10 beats and we even got faster. The group caught up with 3 other guys, and they jumped in, so we had a pack of 6 people, with me trailing along behind at a legal distance. We were making good time. The turnaround was at 12.5 miles, and we didn't see the leader until mile 10. Didn't see the next rider for a loong time. Then, there were three guys in close company, but not drafting. So the group I was trainling was tied for 4th, and I was in say, 10th place.
It was fun watching the group try to manage the turnaround. I was hoping they would fall over, but they didn't. On the way back, we saw riders coming the other way (still heading to the turnaround). They were glaring at the pack. I could literally see their heads/helmets turn and glare at the group. I just looked at them and shrugged. I was legal, couldn't help the group.
Anyway, as the ride progressed I came to the conclusion that I needed to bust this pack up. I mean, I am not a strong runner and didn't trust my ability to hang with the group on the run. So with about 10 miles left in the ride, I dropped the hammer and blew by the peleton like they were sitting still. Hoped that they would break up chasing after me. I think it worked some, but I never looked back, just hammered away. On the bridge going over one of the girls, "gator-girl" I called her, passed me climbing the bridge. On the downhill, I passed her and didn't see her for the rest of the bike. I think maybe she was drafting behind me. One of the fun things about Beach Blast is that it is 4 races in one, sprint/oly tri, and sprint/oly du. The sprint and oly bike course is mostly the same (sprint turns around sooner). So on the way back, the oly riders join up with the sprint riders. So you have a little motivation to keep speed up to the very end. I enjoy seeing the sprint riders up ahead of me and chasing after them. I like to call out words of encouragement as I pass them. And I like to blow by them.
I wish I knew the identity of the riders, b/c it would be neat to see if I put any time on them in the ride. One good thing about the ride... my ride was 1st in my age group. So i was 2nd in the swim, and 1st in the bike... well, the run was a different story (as expected).
T2 went by quickly as ususal. Got out on the run and I could tell it was going to be a long day. I think I went out a little hard, so I tried to do the same as red hills - -just relax and let the run come to me. However, that is kind of hard to do because... as I mentioned earlier... it is 4 races in one. So all the sprint racers who only have to run a 5k, rather than 10k, haul ass past me. It sucks to watch them blow by me. Anyway, my run went as follows: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/81035452 I didn't have the juice to push so I just focused on keeping moving. And unlike Red Hills, I stopped and walked ever water station. Sip or two of heed, hammer gel, and 2 cups of water over my head and shoulders. The race goes through a neighborhood, then back to 98, then jumps off and parallels a side-road to 98 for a long time. Good news is plenty of water. Bad news is no shade and no breeze. Just you and the pavement.
As is common with my runs, I did not pass any olympic runners. But all the oly racers I passed or where ahead of on the bike, passed me on the run. Maybe 15 or so people passed me -- the group I was riding behind, and some others. Matt Scaringe, another GWTC member in my age group, passed me on the way out. The other guy in my age group -- turns out to be said douche-bag, passed me with about 1.5 miles to the finish. It sucked that he passed me, but we shared a mutual acknowledgement of respect, and all hard-feelings were laid to rest.
The last water stop was the turn-around for the sprint racers, so I was finally able to pass some runners for a change. It felt great. My spirits and momentum really pick up. I call out words of encouragement to the other runners, and feel an obligation to run strong... sortof to show them that they too can pick it up. Toward the finish, a guy and girl were wondering how much farther, I told them 1/2 mile, and pointed out that they turn at the white sign and have about 200 m to go. And speaking of that, we were close so it was time to lay it all out and go. Picked it up the last half-mile or so to the finish. Nobody was around me at the finish, so i was happy about that b/c I don't think I could have sprinted (but was running strong).
All in all I was happy with my race. I went into it with no tapering at all, and deliberately wanted to push hard on the swim and bike to make my run a stress test of sorts. Mission accompished in that regard. I knew I was not really ready to race a 10k, and would suck anyway, so I wanted to see how I would respond to the run going into it spent. Looking at my splits and hr was interesting, times got slower and hr went higher. If I am going to do long distance racing, I am going to have to get my hr to stay lower -- that means more running and lose more weight. (In that regard, I have been at 195.6 for several days now -- a victory of sorts -- and this Sun am after the race -- 195.6!) After Red Hills, I gained 3 lbs. so I am happy.
Looking back at it:
Swim -- I need to stay focused on my technique. Probably 1/2 the race was with my old stroke -- using arms to pull too much rather than use hips as leverage -- and the remainder with my newer stroke. It was a stroke of genius to stay to the far inside off the start. That probably shaved minutes off my time.
Bike -- I suprised myself with being able to push at 168-170 hr, 90 cadence and hold that pace. Gives me a huge boost of confidence. While I enjoyed following the peleton, and it did keep my hr lower, I need to forget about that kind of stuff for these shorter races. I have the ability to hammer, and need to do so. I hate to say it, but right now my strengths are the swim and bike, and I need to take full advantage of that.
Run -- I need to lose weight and run more. Simple enough. Focus on running with glutes/hammies. The race did give me some confidence about grinding out miles in the sun, which I desperately need to have. I wilt in the sun, but I think that goes back to the first sentence in this paragraph.
Today -- Sunday -- I am a touch sore (more than Red Hills), but not bad at all. Feels like I had a good workout yesterday. So I know my body is getting stronger. I am so much stronger -- physically and mentally -- than last year. I know I can push my body, and my body will respond. Love that feeling, and what a boost of confidence. I can't wait until I get to where I want to be, 175-180, and see how I do then.
Next up -- either Gulf Coast 70.3 or North Florirda Olympic Triathlon. As of right now, I plan on doing Gulf Coast. I know my run will suck and that I am not ready for a 1/2 marathon, especially in the sun/heat of Panama City Beach. I risk injury, and that concerns me. But more importantly, I feel like I passed my litmus test for Beach Blast Olympic and need to do Gulf Coast as a measuring stick for Ironman Augusta 70.3 in September and Ironman Florida in November. My plan is to do the swim and bike within race parameters for a 70.3, and then feel the run out. I am not going to push the run; rather, just want to finish the run. Hell I will walk the run if need to. If I start feeling an injury coming on -- I will just DNF myself.
So there you go. Another race report in the books. Like I said - if I find pix of myself for BB, I will edit this and include them.
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