Nate's ChesapeakMan Ultra 140.6 Race Report
Pre Race: This marks my 3rd year in a row of building up for an Ironman distance race. Besides a period of IT band syndrome in February and March which resulted in me having to back off the running a bit and doing more hip and glute exercises than I care to remember, training had gone very well this year. Everything seemed to be more manageable and my ability to execute a very difficult Endurance Nation IM training plan well. I did more “work” leading up to this race than the previous two IM races. Leading up to the race I had put together a very solid block of training. I was very consistent in my training and was able to perform all key workouts throughout the 12 weeks I had blocked off specifically to Ironman Training. I had biked more, swam less, and ran about even with what I had done in 2012.
The only other note before I get to the race is that shortly after crossing the Ironman Florida finish line I told my wife I was never going to do another Ironman, however, I quickly changed my mind. Like later that night. I was not satisfied with my performance in Florida and the desire to improve was still there. I decided to do a local 140.6 race called ChesapeakeMan that had a good reputation and logistically very easy.
Race Week:
Cambridge, MD is a nice enough town in Maryland and actually kind of looked like Panama city Beach, FL (just like last race). All the admin for this race was very easy. Packet Pickup took me 5 minutes. The vibe was completely different than an Ironman Branded race. I didn’t see one person walking around in their race kit or compression gear the entire time I was there. In fact, while I road part of the course on the Thursday before the race I didn’t see anyone else on the course riding. That Thursday I chose to only ride and do a short run. Checked out the swim venue but did not swim as there were a lot of jelly fish in the water and a crazy fast current that I did not want to fight with. There were not many other athletes around and I was beginning to think I was the only person doing this race. By Friday morning there was finally some evidence there was going to be a race the next day. The only other major thing that occurred pre race is that Thursday night my mom and sister talked me into wearing my bike jersey so I wouldn’t get sun burn. They were there with me in lake placid in 2011 and I still have the sun burn scars to prove I did that race. I’m glad I changed my mind because there were some seriously sun burn people on that run course. I was not one of them. Makes recovery so much easier to not be sunburn post race.
Quick Summary of the race and comparison from previous two races.
Finished ChesapeakeMan 3rd in my Age Group out of 10 and 22nd overall out of 144 people who finished the race.
|
Event |
ChesapeakeMan 2013 |
IMFL 2012 |
IMLP 2011 |
|
Swim |
1:13 |
1:20 (Sea Sick) |
1:09 |
|
Bike |
5:46 |
6:13 |
7:30 |
|
Run |
4:20 |
4:04 |
4:34 |
|
Total |
11:26 |
11:54 |
13:28 |
Race Day:
There were 154 (144 finished) people competing in the full distance Ultra Triathlon and about another 150 doing some combination of Swimming and biking. Ultimately there were about 300 people in the water when the gun went off. There were 10 people in my age group.
Woke up at 2am to eat, 2 cups apple sauce, 1 serving of muscle milk, and ½ a powerbar. Back to bed and only kind of slept. Got out of bed at 3:30 and drank a 300cal smoothie, cup of coffee, lubed up real good with body glide, aquaphor, and suntan lotion. I was out the door around 4:15 to get to the local high school which would serve as the main hub for the race.
Arrived in T1 around 5am after taking the bus provided by the race from the school to Great Marsh Park where we would swim and bike from. Nothing worth noting here other than I wish I had just borrowed someone’s Tire pump because I ended up losing the one I brought because it didn’t make it back from the park. I also handed someone a ready to drink bottle after seeing they only had normal bottles on their bike. Yikes. I figured it was good Karma. Got to see the three fellow Endurance Nation folks before the race which is always nice. I was probably the most nervous for this race than any other race. I had high hopes for my performance which was adding to the pressure and well as getting my mind around another 2.4 mile swim with lots of people. Memories from Florida were on my mind and that was less than fun to say the least. About 30 minute prior I ate 4 cliff blocks and a few pretzels while sipping on Gatorade waiting for race time. I was very glad I brought a heavy sweatshirt as it was pretty cool in the morning. Finally put my wetsuit on while chatting with a few ENers and then nervously walked towards the water.
Swim: 1:13
I was the 32nd Ultra Athlete out of the water and 5 out of 10 in my age group. Although this is not my fastest swim time it is one of my best performances. I sighted well, kept it to a steady effort, and got out of the water feeling the best I have ever felt after racing any distance. The swim was crowded in the beginning, but then opened up about 500 yards into it. As you turned right and then right again the tide was more and more against you. The “Chop” was also more and more pronounced. Picture breathing to the right and seeing water crashing over your head as you breathe. As I finished the first loop I could feel myself getting pushed with the current and took that as a sign to be extra smooth and push back just a little harder. The main thing that happened during the swim was I got stung by jelly fish no less than 10 times. Most of the stings were on my hands and once on my nose (gross). Although it stung, it wasn’t that bad and I just kept going. Overall, I was very happy with my swim as I had purposefully kept my swim training to a minimum this year. Most of my swim sessions were between 30-45 minutes long with the exception of two 2.4 mile rehearsals. All of my swims were done in open water. I would say for the amount of time I put into swim training, I’ll take these result with a smile on my face.
T1 time: 2:37: Wetsuit off, jersey on, helmet on, shoes on, and go. The distance from the water to the changing tent and bikes was very short so the times should have all been very fast. BUT, turns out I was the 9th fastest time out of 144 people in T1 and 1st in my Age Group. Feel pretty good about that as Transitions have never really been something I’ve excelled at.
Bike Time 5:46: 32nd fastest time out of 144 people that finished the race.
It became almost immediately apparent that the issue of the day was going to be the wind. I didn’t really feel the wind during the swim but by the time we got on our bikes it was there. 16mph winds really beat up my mind and body. Most of the ride I was solo or I could see a few other bikers up the road. I got passed by a few folks I passed a few others. The scenery was beautiful but I spent most of the time looking at the ground 10 feet in front of me in the Aero position. The least favorite section of the bike was 5-6 sections of road that was missing pavement. These were discussed at the athletes meeting. They were preparing to build culverts and there was mostly sand and gravel exposed. This is not cool if you are on a Tri Bike. This kind of forced me to slow down to about 12 MPH and cross each section holding on for dear life hoping my bike didn’t slide out from under me.
I could have sworn that the map had the bike special needs at mile 60 so imagine my surprise when I hit mile 60 and I was in the middle of farm land. 7 miles later at mile 67 I hit the special needs and got off my bike for the first time to pee and give my daughter a hug or two.
I was drinking 40oz of Gatorade Pro an hour the entire time and eating regularly. In total I took down two sleeves of cliff blocks (200 cal each) and 3 power gels (110Cal each). By mile 80 I sort of had to pee again but really I decided that I was headed into trouble and needed to stop at an aid station and completely reload my bike with Gatorade and a bottle of water. I was drinking so much Gatorade that I started to get tired of it and my stomach felt a bit nauseated. I did take in about 20 oz of water which I never do, but figured what the heck. Most of the water went on my body to cool me down. I was wishing I had Salt pills with me on the bike, but knew I had them for the run.
Bike data:
The Macro level look shows that I did a good job.
Elapsed Time 5:46 Moving Time 5:40
Distance 111.59 miles Gain of 3108 feet
Average Cadence 83 Average moving speed 19.6 TSS 262
Average Power 151 Normalized Power 155 VI 1.02 (PR) Intensity Factor .68
Overall my bike performance was the best yet from the two other races. I also set a personal record for steady riding coming in with a VI of 1.02. Yes, this is a flat course, but this is still a record for me. I say flat, but it did have 3100 feet of gain according to my Joule. Add in some crazy wind and it might have made the course more “rolling hills” than pancake flat as advertised
When I dig a bit deeper I can see there were certainly some mistakes. I went out a bit too hard and then clearly faded at the end. The goal on the bike was to go 65% for the first hour followed by a 70% effort from there on out. By interval 9 I was just trying to hang on, take in fluids, and ride the wind back to T2.
Here is how I saw it on the dial.
|
Interval |
Time |
Miles |
Ave speed |
Ave Power |
IF |
|
0 |
:31 |
10 |
20 |
148 |
.66 |
|
1 |
:30 |
9.5 |
18.9 |
152 |
.67 |
|
2 |
:30 |
10.2 |
19.8 |
157 |
.69 |
|
3 |
:30 |
9.4 |
18.8 |
162 |
.71 |
|
4 |
:32 |
10.1 |
18.5 |
158 |
.70 |
|
5 |
:32 |
11.5 |
21.5 |
155 |
.70 |
|
6 |
:33 |
10.7 |
19.4 |
155 |
.70 |
|
7 |
:30 |
9 |
17.6 |
151 |
.67 |
|
8 |
:27 |
8.1 |
17.5 |
154 |
.68 |
|
9 |
:31 |
9.3 |
17.6 |
145 |
.65 |
|
10 |
:05 |
2.07 |
22.6 |
128 |
.59 |
|
11 |
:29 |
10.8 |
22.7 |
132 |
.61 |
|
12 |
:2 |
.36 |
10.7 |
32 |
.25 |
Headed in off the bike to T2
T2 3:57 38th fastest time out of 144 and 2nd fastest in my division of 10
The Run 4:20. 26th fastest time out of 144
The run course at ChesapeakeMan is insanely boring and lonely. Each lap of 3 ended at the high school track, but after exiting the track you were basically on your own. The lack of Mojo was a factor for my performance. I knew I was fighting hydration issues and needed to keep things up. I was alternating between coke plus salt pill or Gatorade at each aid station. Overall, my legs felt OK after the bike but after lap 1of the run I was realizing that what should have felt easy was actually a lot harder. What had felt easy for the two race rehearsals leading up to the race was not on this day. The other factor was still the wind. On the “out” section of each run the wind was blowing in your face, which was really annoying. After lap 1 my family came out onto the course to cheer which I think everyone on the course appreciated. At the end of the out section of the second lap I saw a fellow ENer sitting waiting for his wife to pick him up. My thought when I saw him was I really just wanted to lie down next to him. At the end of lap 1 I really wanted to call it quits and even told my family I thought I might die on the run course. I instantly regretted saying this because what I really meant was, it should not feel this hard by mile 8 but it was. I was already in a dark place and I still had two more lonely laps to complete. I was also realizing at the time that my goal of a sub 4 hour marathon was probably not going to happen. So I did what most Ironmen Athletes do. I kept moving forward. Focus on the next aid station, find a rhythm and stick to it. By mile 18 my IT band was acting up but I kept moving forward. I kept running because walking was only going to make it last longer. Run 10s or walk 20s. I chose to run. Below are my splits. Looking back I realize now that my sub 4 goal was actually more within reach than I thought. If I had any sort of Ironman branded race type atmosphere to cheer me on I might have powered through and got it done. But not on this course and not on this day. The combination of a very windy day, going out a bit too hard on the bike, and lack of run course mojo impacted my overall run performance.
Mile splits
Miles 1-9: 8:42, 8:29, 9:45, 8:54, 9:21, 8:40, 9:08, 9:12, 9:31
Miles 10-17: 9:26, 9:32, 10:32, 9:24, 10:53, 10:13, 10:33, 10:03
Miles 18-26: 10:08, 10:03, 10:24, 11:17, 12:02, 10:11, 11:06, 11:44, 10:18
Post Race
One benefit of a smaller race is the admin is all very easy. Within a very short period of time from crossing the finish line I was able to get a free sports rub down and a post race meal of grilled chicken, veggies, rice, and a big brownie. I was amazed that I was able to eat it all down. In general, I was able to recover much quicker immediately after the race than in years past. The next day, I was the most sore I had ever been compared to other races. I’m glad I did ChesapeakeMan, but will probably never do it again because of the smaller field of athletes and overall lack of support on the run course. I was very surprised to learn that I came in 3rd in my age group and it didn’t even occur to me to check the listings for this the night of the race. They are mailing me my award. Lesson learned is to always check to see if you won something. You never know. This is my first triathlon award.
Comments
"This is my first triathlon award." Feels good, right?
Seems like you gave the bike the proper respect, and stayed steady thruout. Say what you want about the masses @ WTC races (I often complain about having to fight the crowds before and after the race, during it's nice to have company in your misery. At least you didn't say "never again" (which I think everyone says at some point during the run in an IM distance).