Bill Eckert Intermediate Race Report
First real intermediate race. I did one on my own in 2011. I mapped out my swim in the lake I usually swim in, mapped out a 25 mile course from there back to the house, and then a 10k run around the neighborhood. This one was much more fun.
Race: Tri the Parks, Richard B. Russell State Park, Elberton, GA
Date: August 8, 2015
Overall Time: 4:02:07
The morning before the race was a little rough. I had executed the nutrition and hydration in the last couple of days before the race very close to plan. However, my stomach was giving me fits. I think it was nerves though because when I changed my group to Masters Clydesdale when I checked in it put me in the first wave. By the time I got to the park and got my bike in transition, got my timing chip and got marked I was okay though. The water temp was 86 degrees. I got in and it felt good. Swam a little for warm up, maybe 50 meters. Like a said, a little.
Swim (43:10, 1500m) Lake swim, two 750m laps. I felt really good. Swam the whole way and just enjoyed it. My watch says I swam 1600m which is probably pretty close. I swam to the outside for the most part and did have a little trouble sighting on the back section because it was into the sun.
T1 (06:55) A little bit of distance here but it is mostly because I took my time. Just wanted to enjoy the day and not get out of whack like I had in the previous two.
Bike (1:36:51, 22.68 miles) There are a couple of big hills on this one but in general it was flat. I drank all that I was supposed to and ate about a third of what I was supposed to. I did take in some extra salt and that seemed to help. I felt pretty good off the bike but I was tired. Told my friend that it would probably take me a little longer than what I had expected on the run.
T2 (4:57) Put on fresh socks. Took my time.
Run (1:30:14, 10K) Temp was reasonable. I was able to start running as I cam out of transition. My plan was a run/walk and keep my heart rate as reasonable as I could. I did that and it worked. I was able to run a little more than expected. I did end up finishing my run in the time I had projected so I was really happy about that. I know it is not fast but I finished!
End: I felt good at the finish. I did not even finish the water bottle they gave me at the finish. I ate a half an orange and I walked around and talked to some folks. I felt like my nutrition and hydration were pretty close to being right on this one.
Take aways:
1. There is not much I can do to improve my swim in the weeks before Augusta. Just really want to maintain where I am and not worry about it too much. I focused on form during this race and it seemed to work. Kept my mind off of the pace and just let me swim and before I knew it I was done.
2. Need to work on taking in more fluids and fuel during the bike to prepare for the run.
3. Okay here it is AGAIN, I need to lose weight. I am overweight and my biggest improvement would come from not having to tote that extra weight all around the course. I have watched the Core Diet webinar and read Coach Rich's and Coah Patrick's nutrition info in the Wiki. All that is good but I have not executed at all.
Since the race I have made some changes. I cleared the house of all junk and have laid out a nutrition plan to lose weight. As of today I have 6 weeks. I will fuel my training during training and I will eat only per the plan outside of that. I am using the plan from the State of Slim book, the info from the Core Diet and MyFitnessPal. I have been bouncing around 245 to 250 since the beginning of the year. That is just toooo much weight. I was at 252 about a week before this race. I did drop a couple of pounds before the race but still that is tooooooo much weight. My goal is 225 by Augusta. That is about 4 pounds per week. We will see what happens.
Comments
Sounds like you're having fun in your roll-up to Augusta. One comment on weight goals: just eat right (right foods, right amount), train, and let your weight to what it will. It's a life-long process, not a sprint to your next race.
Thanks Al,
Just been a little frustrated with things lately. Heat, weight, you name it. You are right though. It is a life long process. Plus... Coach P has already gotten on to me about trying to lose to fast.
Since this report, I started really watching my nutrition throughout the day and during training. It seems to be helping a lot. Not sure where I am at as far as weight (scale is all over the place) but I do know that I had some good training sessions this week. Most of all I got almost everything in this week and I am feeling really ready/excited for next week. I do not feel slap worn out. Also, had a really good run today. I did my Sunday ride this morning but had to wait to run until this afternoon because it started raining in the last couple of miles of the ride and did not stop til around lunch. Started my run at around 4PM and was able to actually do more running than walking even in the heat and felt really good afterwords. Walked 0.5 mile for warm up, jogged 4 miles, walked 0.5 mile for cool down. I think it really has to do with the nutrition.
Thanks again for the input. It means a lot. I have seen a lot of your input on the forums and I really respect you and what you have to say.
Bill E.