Be in or out.
I did a HIM on Saturday (Kinetic, Lake Anna, Va.) as part of my overall IM plan to do 2 HIMs on the way to a July IM. I view them as "scrimmages", good opportunities to work on game day execution and experience the environment. I think the coaches for the most part frown on racing as part of a plan, but I think it helps me to go through the whole drill a few times a year.
In an earlier post I expressed ambivalence about the race, and some confusion as to how to approach it. I received some sage feedback and decided to race the race (since it's a race after all) versus simply viewing it as a long training day. What was happening, in retrospect was that I was ignoring my larger plan in the face of fatigue and doubt. I was getting amped up to race against some of my cronies, some large older guys, yet I was not rested and knew it would be tough to hang with them. Essentially I was getting too identified with the potential results, good or bad, thus creating self defeating expectations. Fatigue, as we know, leads to rationalizations. As St. Vincent Lombardi said, "fatigue makes cowards of us all". A little dramatic perhaps, but I see that I was vacillating about the day because I was pretty beat and was running a serious mojo deficit- the big baby syndrome. I had quickly set aside my larger plan which has always been to incorporate the races into the training. Period. Just go do them, don't get all bunged up about them, don't trash myself that day, and then get back to work.
Skip to the end, it was a hybrid.
Swim: 34ish, not a bad time for me but it was not a smooth swim. It was pretty choppy and windy and I took on water early and so wasted time treading water and coughing up the lake water in the first third of the swim.
Bike: 2:50ish. This is too slow and I didn't hold watts. I felt my legs from the get go and np ended up at 243 and not the 255-260 I was looking for. That said, a good 5 minutes was lost sitting in traffic. No kidding. Weekend boaters, a tractor trailer no one could ride around and a traffic jam caused by the racers themselves. (They've moved this race to May from April and it doesn't work on these roads with the seasonal weekend traffic.) It's never been a course where I've put up the time I've wanted or thought I could do but I was looking for around 2:40.
Run: 2:20ish. By T2 I knew this was just grind it out day, and I did, culminating in the cheer from the kid, "Way to bring it in, Gramps!"
Nutrition: Right on. I usually fall behind on the bike but this time made eating and drinking (especially getting much water) THE priority.
Transitions: I didn't exactly set up a grill and picnic table, but I didn't rush through them. Sort of a slow is smooth is a little too slow approach. I will do the same on IM day, with a little more focus.
Time: 5:54ish.
The net: Lots of good work on top of lots of good work. And if work works, then mission accomplished.
Comments
Gramps, I'm glad you made it through without issue and now you're ready for some fun in CA!
Dave
Chris,
Good job getting out there and racing even if it did not go as planned. I know I don't race enough so I need to get out and hit a couple races before my IM.
Gordon
Gramps?! Who do these whippersnappers think they're talking to? In my day, when you raced a HIM you'd either burst into flames or lose a limb...
I used to live outside Richmond. Do all of the Lake Anna races take place across for the power plant?
Happy training.
@Kit, I know. Wtf? I'm not even in the Boomer Club. I would have slapped the little smart ass but there's no way I was catching him.
Thanks, guys. Looking forward to my "rest week" in California.