Tom Groff's Patriot Half race report
Tom Groff’s race report: 2014 Patriot Half , East Freetown, MA
This was my first 70.3, so my goal was to essentially not blow up, stay in my zone, and just let it happen.
Day Before: Hydrate all day. Pasta w/olive oil and parmesan for lunch, hearty chicken & rice soup for dinner, midnight snack of protein drink and applesauce.
Morning of: Bike racked by 6:15, Gu gel at 7:00 ready for 7:16 wave start
Swim: fresh water 1.2 mile swim, overcast weather after a couple of days of rain. Water was 64f. Felt great during the swim, minor goggle leakage issue had me break form a few times to empty, but I was comfortable the whole time. 40:56 time (1:57/100). Could pick up the pace a bit and grab 2-3 mimutes.
T1: short run to T1, no issues, got myself sorted and outta there. 2:50 (def can shave a minute there next time)
Bike: Tried to ride right on my plan. Stayed very conservative, super conscious not to spike watts. Course is fairly flat with rolling hills, super nice place to ride. Gu every 40 minutes starting at the 20 min mark and three bottle of Gatorade. 2:57:20 19 mph avg. Watts averaged about 10W low according to my garmin
T2: There’s bit of a trot with the bike from dismount to T2, but got in and out in 3:19 (again, can prob shave a little there)
Run: Felt great during the first 5k, chatting with other runners and spectators. Focused on just running to the next aid station every mile. Stayed according to plan with MP+30” for that section. Ran at MP for the next 3- 4 miles but then started dropping off. On course nutrition was Heed, which I took every stop through mile 7 with a Gu every 3 miles. Switched to Coke for the next few with a bite of banana and a few pretzels along the way. Legs were super heavy and walked the final hill at about mile 12. Ended up with a 10min/mile Finished with a 5:56 HIM
Finished in Middle of the pack. Not excited about that since my short race pocket is usually in the top 20% but as it’s my first try at this distance I’m ok with it (kinda). I wanted to finish below 6 hours and I did accomplish that. Training over the past 10 weeks has been a bit difficult with a family illness and some work travel. I guess my big take-away is about where I need to focus a more on training areas if I have to adjust on-the-fly during the lead-up time. Trying to diagnose on-course nutrition needs/deficits will also be a task to work on…doing it on the fly definitely became a cat-chasing-its-tail exercise.