Matt Webster's Poconos Half Race Report
SHORT VERSION: Total
Time: 5:13:46. Swim: 35:45. Bike: 2:48:05. Run: 1:44:03. AG: 40-44.
LONG VERSION
Pre-Race
Overall, I felt good in the weeks leading up to the
race. I partly raced Racine a couple weeks prior in July (flatted
out twice on the bike and didn't finish- ouch!). So after that
fiasco I was determined to just focus, train hard and crush
Poconos. No injuries or missing important training sessions so I
felt ready to go. My best time in the half distance is 5:15 at
Kansas 70.3 back in 2009 and I have been trying to beat that ever since.
Race Week
Race week was actually a bit of a different story than the
weeks leading up. I got real busy at work and did not get great night’s
sleep due to a mastiff puppy my wife and I have that decided to wake up in the
middle of the night 3 times that week to "go do her business".
We thought we were out of the woods with potty training but it was like she
knew I was racing that week and wanted to make sure I would not forget about
her. Good news is that it did not affect me for the race......as
you will read below.
Day Before
Because work was so crazy I could not take off on Friday to
drive up from Washington DC for the Sunday race, so I had to leave Saturday
morning. Typically I like to get up to the race venue a couple days early
so the stress of getting all my gear ready is minimal but that was not an
option this time. Knowing during the week I would not be able to
drive up till Sat, I did as much as I could to prepare at home so I only had to
check in and drop off my bike on Sat- which all worked out.
RACE DAY!
Morning:
Got a great night’s sleep and woke up feeling good for the race-
till I walked outside and it was about 45 degrees!! Whew! It was
cold. Never wanted to get into the water for the swim so
fast! By the time the race started the water temp was about 70 and
the air was probably 55 at the most. Still was able to eat enough
and be ready to go for the swim. (Random note. As much as I love Ironman
branded races, there are always 20+ waves for the swim so you have to wait around
sometimes for over an hour! This Rev 3 race, there were only 3 waves and
mine was the second so no waiting with anxious feelings- it was great!).
Swim:
Funny for me about the swim- It's my least favorite of the 3
disciplines but my best in terms of time and place among my age group. My
best swim in just under 33 minutes in 2010 but I have yet to match that for
some reason these last few years. I have been coming in between 34 and 36
minutes so I was not sure what to expect this day. The start was
nice actually because there were less participants and it didn't feel like
5000 swimmers knocking at your feet and head. As I got into my
groove my stomach started feeling queasy which I have been lucky enough in my
years not to have issues with but it was bothering me during the swim for some
reason. I was able to power through it but overall I just did not feel
that great during the swim which was concerning for the rest of the day.
When I finished and saw that I was just under 36 minutes I was a bit frustrated
but just decided to not worry about it and have a great bike. My stomach was feeling better so I got
through T1 in 4:44 (slower than normal) and hopped on the bike.
Bike:
The bike is the weakest of my 3 and has been a real frustrating
issue for me over the years so I try to stay "steady" in my Z3
so I can get to the run strong. However, the good news is
that it has been improving this year-albeit slowly- my goal was to be 2:45
which I felt like I could do because the 1st 4 miles are all
downhill. My typical 56 mile bike is 2:50-3:00 with 2:48 being my best on
a flatter course. Problem today was that my Garmin was not picking
up my power and did not for the entire race so I had to go on feel which
made things more difficult, but I was able to manage. The Garmin
sometimes does this and I have no idea why- drives me nuts! Not sure if
I’m doing something wrong or it's a faulty device. Been too busy (or
lazy) to call Garmin to get it fixed. Anyway, with the 1st 4 miles
downhill it was friggin cold coming out of the water wet and going
40mph+! Once you hit the flats the next 40 miles are all nice rollers
(which I love) on good roads. Even without my power, I just did my best
to stay steady which was not real hard since there were no real big climbs in
this stretch. There were times when I felt like I could go a bit
harder or maybe a time when I was going too hard but just had to trust my
instinct. By the 46 mile mark I had a good pace going just above
20mph so I figured I would be able to hit my 2:45 mark. The last 10 miles
however are still rolling hills but have a few extra with some steeper pitches
which slowed my pace down and without my power I was not going to risk going up
those hills too fast at the expense of my run so I took them carefully.
Finished the bike at 2:48 and feeling good about that time. I was
at 3:30 total time to start the run and knew all I had to do was run the half
marathon in 1:45 and I could get my PR!
Run:
The run course is hilly at Pocono but does have some flat
stretches so a 1:45 half marathon was doable. By the time the run started
the temps were perfect in the high 60s and the run is all shaded.
During the past few years I have had bad runs (2hr+) because the heat gets to
me. Unless I’m really acclimated to the heat, I do not run well when it's
scorching so I was ecstatic about today. Starting off I stayed within
myself at the +30 sec Z2 pace in the first 3 miles at about 8 min per
mile. Felt really good- I was thinking that this was the day!
Miles 4-9 I felt fantastic- almost too good. My pace was about 7:30
which is about 5 seconds faster than my Z2 pace. A couple miles I did in
7:15 (flat sections) and a few others in 7:45 (hills). I was a
worried I was going a bit too fast but really wanted that PR so I kept at that
pace. Well, I don't know if it was because I was a bit too fast in
the middle part of the run but at mile 9 my legs hit a brick wall. I
immediately felt like I had cement in my shoes. I knew I was on
track to PR so I just had to bite the bullet and push as hard as I can.
The hardest hills on the run were coming up so it made things more difficult
finishing those last few miles but I just kept pushing as best I
could. When it got rough up a hill, I would just go real slow so I
wouldn't cramp up and could still finish good. My pace was well over
8 min per mile in those last few but I crossed the finish line with a
1:44 run at a 7:57 pace and in 5:13:45 overall!! I did it! I
was so happy. Of course as an overly competitive triathlete, I was pissed
I did not get 5:10 overall thinking I went out too fast on the run and
could have been closer to my 7:35 Z2 pace, but all good either way!
FINAL THOUGHTS
Now that I have gotten under 5:15 my next goal is to get under
5:05 in route to ultimately my overall tri goal which is to beat 5 hours. I know I
can get there, I just need to get better on the bike mostly. I think I
can get my swim back down to sub 34 min. If I can improve my bike by just
1 or 1.5 average mph I can shave between 8 and 14 minutes off my total
time. My run is pretty good but I know I can improve and get to a sub 7:30 min pace and shave off about 5 minutes or so.
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