Macon Rock & Rollman: 1/1 in the 79.3 race dist.
Rough 3-4 weeks heading into the race. Legs tired, not sleeping well, diet went to crap, training time was pinched and work time was going out the roof. But, did my best to keep the legs moving a little bit and to try to get rested.
goal was top 5 in my AG b/c I started my long course stuff at this race many (10?) years ago and finished bottom 5.
it's a tough ride & run. a condensed version of Wisc. Non stop ups and downs. No flat areas at all.
arrived in Macon at about 10pm, in a storm. woke up at 4, in a storm. headed to the park and set stuff up, in a huge storm. RD Jim Rainey did a great job with the delay of the start and the rain/lightening disappeared a little after 8. S/B/R was going to stay S/B/R. Thankful for that.
Been working on my swim mucho this year. Drills, drills, and more drills. I only raced twice. Late June and this Oct race. I stuck to drill sessions all year except for the 8 weeks before each race. those 8 weeks were spent getting some volume and increased efforts in. This was the first swim since 2013 with a wetsuit. The combo of my work put in and now a wetsuit gave me a solid PR in the water. I don't ever count my Augusta or Chattanooga swims b/c of the downriver factor. This lake swim was my best ever. Really felt like slipping through the water, pretty much the whole way. Good sighting, too. That never happens. Not sure by how exactly how much but I think it was by about 10'. 37:16. Biggest win for me, right there.
T1: a bit slow b/c of no strippers and I had a stuck zipper that didn't want to pop loose. Steady up hill climb to get to the bikes and by the time I was at my garmin (on the bike), HR was solid 155.
Bike: excited to see many bikes still hanging, not used to that. HR still up so did my best to chill to get it down, but several steep climbs were going to keep that from happening. Here's where the fun started....a couple of miles into the bike, we hit a L or a R for long course vs short course. The storm had given many a volunteer reason to stay home. This intersection was unmanned. As we approached, a cop pulls up and hops out of the car "That WAY!". I was riding with one other (relay) and we took his direction. 9+ miles and 30 minutes later, we ended up back at the start. playing from the front to playing catch up, just like that. Now, my AG had 25-30' lead on me. Thought about quitting. decided to work hard and make it a good training day. Besides, my swim was a good win for me. So, pushed & chased. Number of bottles now became rationing b/c there was very little on course support and nothing that I could really use. Anyways, pushed harder than planned, not crazy hard but I def increased my goal watts. using an FTP of about 250, i had started with a goal around 210. Now, I was trying to use 220-225. Had a few burnt matches in there due to circumstances. Had many descents that dropped my Pnorm. But, I was riding harder than I should and I knew when I would pay for it. rode 65 in 3:16.
T2: efficient but my legs were worn. felt the extra effort and the extra hills on them already.
Run: steady. that's all I was looking for by the time I headed out. Again, rolling hills and it felt like a grind very early. tired of carrying my bottle and dumped it. resorted to their stuff (water, gatorade, & coke later) but was falling way behind on this part. 8:30's -9:30's for the first 8-9 miles and then it got tough. Held on to sub 10 for the next couple but mile 11-12 dealt with bad knee (ITband?) pain that gave me an excuse to run/walk. Eventually, when I'd try to run out of the walk, my hammy would tighten up. Still, ran when I could, shuffled when needed. Mile 13 had a little more running in it and I finished in 2:09. Much slower that I had planned. Training runs were much better than this but I have to think the extra effort on the bike on this kind of terrain played a role in the slower run.
HR had been living upper zn3/low zn4 for the whole day except those 2 miles where I was shutting it down.
So, after, hit the food, meet some folks, made no excuses or complaints to RD. Fun day, nice t'shirt and visor. Thank you very much.
Found out the next day that I had worked my way up to 3rd in my AG, without ever really thinking I would catch anybody, despite the extra 9+miles. I was the only one who was detoured that had to run after that even finished.
3/14 in my AG and 1/1 OA for the 79.3 distance 
contacted the RD, told him the story, trophy is in the mail. I want that trophy. Cool story for the kids as to why we should finish what we start.
*note: I do understand that many of the fast peeps bolted with the volunteers when the storms were so bad. Don't care. Considering my extra time out there, it's a wash!
Comments
Proud to call you my friend.
Your run plan was designed for a shorter, maybe easier bike. Considering that, you had a solid race here. Me, I might not have got out of bed on a day like that!