IM 70.3 Racine

4:31
S-27 B-2:21 R-1:37
4th AG
30th OA

Decent race. Training since American Triple T was nearly non-existent for a month and then I started to pick it up to about 8+ hours a week. I was happy to see I could still be fast without much training.

The heat was a big issue on the run. I went into the race with a "just finish" attitude. When I got off the bike, I had a slight side stitch and it was hot. I let the legs carry me to mile one and whatever the pace was, I predetermined to hold it to the end. Once I crested the hill and strolled up to the first aid station and mile marker, my watch said 7:30 so I stuck with it until the end.

Next race is likely Hawaii.

Grumblings from the Readership

I've received a fair amount of email traffic regarding my last post. Interestingly, none of the traffic comes in the "comment section", just via personal email. In the future, feel free to comment there.

Like all addictions, fellow addicts never want to see a buddy quit. Leaving this so called sport has been hard. I initially felt compelled to sell everything and take up painting, but I stopped short at the bike. I had a few nibbles, but push come to shove, I couldn't do it. That must mean something. Training the last few days has been unstructured and I figure I'll stick to that until whenever. "Fun" is slowly creeping back in.

Again

...I'd do it again if I could.

For Sale

This is the list of items for sale. All reasonable offers considered.

American Triple T

pla·teau/plaˈtō/
Verb: Reach a state of little or no change after a time of activity or progress

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Have I improved?

American Triple T has taught me the answer is no. Four years of doing the same race and I have seen little to no changes in my time. Time to move on. In the past I thought it was a fitness booster. Wrong. Do elite marathoners participate in 50 -100 mile running races, i.e. ultramarathons to get ready for the big 26.2 race? No. I missed the boat on this one: Specificity in Training matters.

The realization really hit me at the start this race weekend. If you can't beat the guys in the first race, you're not going to beat then in next, or the next, or the next. Part of my ongoing problem is finding the correct training stress to overcome my handicaps. The first issue is the side-stitch. Insane S-B-R efforts are the only time I get them, something that happens at my Sprint and Olympic distance triathlons. So, at a race like Triple T, that is a major problem. The second issue is continual improvement. Rarely, some of the faster athletes come back to this race and one or two of them go from finishing behind me in years past to beating me. This was the case this year. It was humbling. Finding the formula to being faster has been tough. Between friends' experiences and my own, it seems like nobody has it completely figured out. The results show it. Great duathlete, but DNFs at IM; Great HIM'er, DNFs at IM; Great TTT'er, mediocre at everything else; Sometimes good, rarely great, otherwise miserable. In many ways, I'm all of those things and so are we all.

I was talking it over with my dad. Both he and I are fans of the movie Chariots of Fire and applicable to the stage I'm entering. Athletic pursuits are a young-man's fancy and once you hit your ceiling its time to move on and/or give back to the sport you love(d). Being a competitive triathlete is a selfish endeavor (the twice a day workouts, the five hour bike rides to name a few); to stick with the sport too long is bad for my overall personal development.

Hydration

In the last two years, the drink of my youth--Vernors--has returned to my lips to properly hydrate me after my workouts. Usually what I do is take two scoops of Glutamine and add them to a glass full of cold Vernors. Then I wash it down with another can or two of the stuff.

New Orleans 70.3

Swim: Cancelled due to high winds
Bike: 2:23
Run: 1:26 (6:35 pace)
OA: 68
AG: 11

The swim was cancelled. That did not help my prospects of doing well overall. As an age-grouper, cheating/drafting and/or unintentional drafting is a problem. Given that the format changed to a bike-run as a time-trial start with M30-34 taking off at two-a-time, two seconds apart and behind various other age groups, there was a peloton for the first 45 minutes of the race. I'd say that a lot of the time the road was congested three-wide with bikers. Us faster riders spent plenty of time on the far left dodging road cones passing people. It was my first time at a premier race, such as an Ironman event, that I encountered a cancelled swim and bike congestion. Overall, I thought the racers and race event organizers did the best they could given the situation. By day's end, the event was merely marked by my participation.

The IM 70.3 Championship slot rolled down to me, but passed on it because I anticipate having a work conflict. I already have KONA on the schedule.

Other notables:
- Race venue was inexpensive (hotel, car rental, parking, food)
- Used a powermeter (ave 229 watts)
- I was under-nourished (4 gels on bike, 3 salts bike, coke on run)
- Have the two scoops of First Endurance Pre-Race, but add it to only 8-12 oz of sports drink.
- Great to see Wisconsinites there: Jackie Arendt, Chris Wichert, Paul Eicher, Mark Hering, and Mike Pierson

We had the opportunity to tour the French Quarter. I was as interesting and energetic as it was when we were there in 2003. I took this picture of a door: