Eagleman 2010 - race report (I survived the heat)
Well, it was another brutal day in Cambridge, MD! Temps were in the 90's and per the triColumbia web page, heat index was 101. Perfect racing conditions for an unprotected course, right? Aye yae yae!
Saturday night we had a team dinner which was a lot of fun: Kate, Wei, Jordan, Scott, Becky (me), Nemo, MooJo... and a few friends of EN! Cary (of the flip flop avatar fame) was there with his team and came over to say hello and chat... Race morning I ran into Cary and Scott (a few times), and Tucker found me and Kate prior to the swim start and introduced himself . Now, onto what's important (FYI - numbers are at the bottom... if you don't want to read the nitty gritty... I tend to be a bit long winded 
):
1) water temp was 79 and change in the morning and they didn't allow wetsuits at all...which was fine with me, but surprising. Talking to the announcer (because I knew the rule and heard some of the transition refs telling each other the real rule... can wear them but won't get scored), he went to talk to the head referee... apparently they couldn't create a separate wave and didn't have folks to man the entry to note who was in a suit... so they banned them altogether - and he clarified that in future announcements. My good deed of the morning was done. Anyway, that stressed out a lot of people... I knew I had a mental advantage there... not to mention I can swim and have done 4 of my 6 tris (yes, I'm totally green) without one! I felt super in the water. I kept great lines and sighting was on the money. I felt good. I positioned myself in the front of the wave (I'm a decent swimmer and folks were freaking out about the wetsuit rule) and stayed in front. Didn't get climbed over too much... climbed over a few as I caught up to the slower folks in earlier waves. I am shocked at my slow time though (43 minutes and change)... don't get that at all. Of the 12 or 13 minutes difference between this year and last, 9 of it was in the water. Huh
? That's my strongest leg... AND I was really happy with the swim...
As an aside, pre-race I opted to not wear my wrist watch. I know me and I knew that if I was seeing slower times I'd get down on myself... I decided that I had to trust the system. The swim will be what it will be. My garmin was programmed for the bike and the run... and I would stick to the plan, my total time wasn't a factor and that would take me out of my box... it was the right decision. Although in T1 a woman was complaining her swim was 10 minutes slower than expected. I asked the time since I didn't wear a watch. She said 44 minutes. Shit, I said, that's 10 minutes slower than I wanted, too... and another woman said we had no current to help us out. I saw a lot of bikes still on the rack when I got started, so I was comforted in the fact that I thought I did well comparatively and everyone else's swim was slow, too.
2) I suck at transitions. I need to figure out what I'm doing/not doing well. I didn't have to take off a wetsuit and I was still in T1 for 3:30. T2 was the same... I think a bento box on my bike will help.
3) I WANT power. Kate blew by me during the warm up portion of the ride... sigh... lots of people blew by me... but I knew that I was sticking with my plan. The first 25 minutes of the bike was so rough... I was staying in Z1/Z2 and getting rolled over... it totally stunk. I was elated when my timer went off and I could pick it up and hit Z3... I did overtake some folks, some folks still overtook me. I didn't see many folks in my age group go by... who knows. During the ride I kept telling myself, "ride the ride I should, not the ride I could" I have a 2 hour run ahead of me and I'll need my legs! My watch hardly beeped, a few times when I was overtaking folks it would beep too high, but settled right back down... My legs got stiff a few times, but standing up to stretch fixed that... When I got back from the ride, lots of bikes were on the racks. That was demoralizing. Time was 2:59. Avg speed about 18.7... slower than last year, but I broke 3 hours (and did better than both RRs).
About the ride: Per Nemo's friends' recon (they rode Saturday) - we were told to be prepared for wind the whole way... usually the first section is fairly calm (compared to miles 40-52), that wasn't the case ... well, the ride was windy the whole way and hitting mile 40 was no different than any other mile. That was a bummer. Oh, and it was hot. When I programmed my Garmin I decided to set alarms every 15 minutes to remind me to drink... I'm glad I did and I found myself drinking more often, too... so, at mile 26ish or so I took my last swig of my first bottle of Infinit and new I'd need to refill the aquacell...
Happy news/major bike accomplishment: when I needed a refill in the past I'd pull over and stop, reaching around for the bottles behind my seat. For who knows what reason yesterday I sat up, slowed down and pulled a bottle out of the back of my seat post (I've done that once before). Unfortunately that was the water bottle. I opened the top and I filled up my aquacell on the fly! And then... drumroll... I reached back around and put the bottle back in the holder! No tipping, no swerving, no near crashing! I've never even tried that part before... I was very proud of myself. But, before I get too big of a head, I will admit that I was still unable/unwilling to take my left hand off my bar, and my Infinit was on my left side... so I reached farther around with my right hand and got the bottle out and filled up my aquacell... now what? I actually stopped to put it away, just couldn;t will myself to try with my left and the reach back around would have been hard to manage. Gotta work on that... but now I have the confidence I can do it. And even more confidence I'll be using bike aid stations by the time IMFL rolls around. 
I got through all my Infinit and lots of water and took an S!Cap every hour on the bike - followed the plan! That was a first (and it was necessary... didn't need or want food on the run... other than the swig of hammer gel I took in T2, which is how I trained). So, as far as nutrition goes, got about 500-50 cal on the bike (made 2 bottles with 3 scoops each)
4) The run. Oh, the "run." I walked out of transition putting my hat and glasses on, stuffing gels in my back pocket and changing my watch program... no sense in standing around doing that ... then it was go time... used the portapotty before the first waterstop... then continued on my way. I stuck to the plan... went a bit fast and had to slow myself down (goal time for the first 3 = 9:26). I walked through the aid stops... drank water, gatorade, stuffed ice down my bra (already needed it). The watch beeped I was too slow (I opted to keep the alarm to keep me on track... I figured I'd have trouble staying in zones because of the heat and humidity, but if I turned if off who knows what I'd do - wouldn't have the accountability factor). I did manage to pick things up between the aid stations and my first 3 miles were slightly slower than target but I was fine with that - 9:48, I think. Then the "fun" started. The little bit of shade we had was gone... I didn't even come close to getting into zone for the next 7 miles (target pace should have been 8:56). It was early when I had to start talking to myself. I wanted to walk so much but I wanted to prove to myself that the system works... that I didn't have to blow up on the run... actually, my legs felt okay (not like the marathon lead quads feeling), it was just so hot I couldn't go any faster... As a DC Tri clubber passed me on the run he heard my watch beep and he asked me what it meant. I told him "that I'm too slow, go figure..." and he laughed. I know it was annoying, but I'm kind of glad I had it on... every beep I'd check my pace and try to will myself to keep it up and try to ramp it up...
I passed more people than passed me (I think)... but, lots of folks were walking... one guy even commented to me that I was running (hardly). At some point in the first half I started getting goosebumps. I didn't know what it meant, but I figured it was a bad sign. They'd go away after an aid station (water, ice in bra), but they came back a few times in the first half... didn't notice them the second half... My average for the 7 was over 10 (should have been 9).... At some point I realized I lost my flask with the S!Caps in it.; it must have fallen out of my back pocket. That stressed me out for an aid station (and I took some potato chips for the salt)... but then I remembered I tucked some endurolytes into my bib belt pocket... Here's planning for contingencies! So at the next station I took 2 of those. I was drinking gatorade, washing it down with water, and tucking ice in my bra at every stop. That saved me. Some time in the second half I could feel my arms burning so I stopped to put on sunscreen...and a guy on his way out on the run asked if he could have some, of course! Not sure if it helped (too little too late) my shoulders are on fire - hurt to carry my purse this morning... and despite putting sunscreen on, I have the strip on my lower back from the tri top. I will certainly scare small children with my freaky tan lines on the beach this weekend! 
LOTS more folks walking the second half... I shuffled along the best I could. During the last 3 miles I pondered the 30" walk, 4:30' run strategy...and did the walk... and started running again and just decided to keep on shuffling. I finished the run - slower than last year. I felt off kilter. Found a shady spot to stand and inhaled the water and gatorade I was given. I saw Dan (my BF). Went to the DC Tri club tent to lay down and stretch.
Then I went to get my results print out (and got the unofficial results this morning). Bummer: 6:02:30. 43:23, 3:28 T1, 2:59:15 bike (2 minutes slower than last year); 3:29 T2, 2:12:55 run (last year was 2:10, avg pace 9:59). What was amazing is (1) my run and bike weren't that much slower in much worse conditions... (2) the tentative rankings from the printout listed my swim up there, my bike not so much and my run up there... huh? What matters to me, since my time was slower, was whether I improve as far as the field went; did I beat the heat better than my competition (see below)? Went back to the tent to get out of my wet clothes... saw Kate... we compared stats (she had a great day! We figured we were off our times from last year by about the same margin...but she lost more time on the run than I did comparatively). Kate went home, I went to get food.
Dizzy in line. Grabbed a Pepsi, didn't help so much. Got to the tables and grabbed a banana and cookie... took a bite or two of the banana and 1 of the cookie... not so much... threw them away, couldn't stomach food. Got through the line, corn on the cob, black beans and rice, a bit of pasta, carrot cake. Sat down at a shady table with some tri clubbers. Inhaled more water - then I was able to eat. Felt better! Ran into some EN'ers I hadn't met the night before (Joe, Dan and... Casey (?)), chatted a bit... then headed to the car.
LOOOOOOng ride home - 16 mile back up on 50 starting before Easton. Another accident (per the radio) along the way at a merge point. I didn't get home in time for my 6:30 massage... but the therapist is a superstar and will stay late tomorrow to see me. Showered, went to my favorite place for my standard post race meal (lasagna and red wine)... followed by an ice cream sundae! Then home do do some foam rolling and sleep.
Dan has done this race a few times before. Notably in 2008 when the heat index was 103 (per the Columbia website, yesterday hit 101). He was very impressed. He said my training definitely paid off in that I was able to run the whole way except the water stops... he doesn't really get the training (it's hard to ride with him when I have to take my recovery time... ) and he definitely doesn't get the o'dark thirty wake up to drink a smoothie... but he admits he has great rides followed by blow ups on the run... so that was nice.
Nemo took dinner pics, race pics are on Dan's cameras... will post eventually!
okay, here's what the coaches want to see... my stats from this year and last... keep in mind this is my second HIM and 7th tri altogether:
The official results aren't up, but the unofficial results went up this morning. From what I could cobble together based on the unofficial results (based on the numbers, I think the ranks are overall, not sex or division):
2010 2009
Division place: 36/90 32/78
sex place: 173/452 203/442
swim: 43.23 35:15
rank 564 rank 629
T1: 3:28 3:30
bike: 2:59:15 2:56:56
avg: 18.7 avg 19.1
rank: 1148 rank 922
T2: 3:29 4:25
run: 2:12:55 2:10:40
avg: avg: 9:59
rank: rank: 918
TOTAL: 6:02:30 5:50:45
#finishers: 1552 ?1535?
#female: 460 ?442
#male: 1092 ?
avg: 6:15:16 ?
Comments
Nice RR, Becky!! Sounds like a brutal, brutal day. I bow to your ability to tolerate that kind of heat!!
Great report and congratulations for toughing the heat out. I got sweaty just reading it. Its hard for me to imagine racing in that kind of heat when its only like mid 70's still out here!
Recover well.
Nice job Becky! We were following you while driving home from LP. Sounds rough out there
Well done Becky! Sounds like our racing weather was like hot and cold, literally! Cold and rainy in Minneapolis and hot and humid in Cambridge! Way to get er dun though
Rest up.
Way to execute, Becky! It was a brutal day yesterday so be proud of yourself. Sorry we didn't get a chance to meet up (I did connect with Dan, Joe, Cary and Tucker). Hopefully next year!
-Chris
thanks, coach P... I'm looking for feedback re: the swim from other EN'ers as well as tri clubbers who were there. My only thought is it was mismarked - no way not wearing a wetsuit cost me 8 minutes (I've done OLYs without wetsuit in 27 min, so it shouldn't take me another 16 to swim 400m).
FWIW, a friend sent this to me:
Enjoy your recovery!
Becky,
Nice to meet you post race!
To finish within 2 minutes of last year's time is amazing. You had a great result whether it feels like it today or not. In contrast I totally blew up at mile 10 on the run, just as you were heading out of town. Even though I dialed my bike ride way back (IF = .79), stayed disciplined early on the run, and executed a good nutrition strategy, the heat & my ever present asthma took over. I was, simply, road kill! I was a full 26 minutes off my goal time. You did well.
As for that swim, not sure what's up. I took 43 minutes out there, too. My goal was 32:xx. I swam straight lines and was also surprised by how many bikes were racked in my AG as I entered T1. Another data point: 3rd place pro finisher Andrew Yoder grew up nearby and trains at our pool when in town. He's an amazing swimmer. His swim time was 28 minutes. No way does it take him that long to swim 1.2 miles in a speed suit. This was the first time for the new swim course. Just sayin.' They'll never admit to a mistake b/c several athletes were DQ'd for missing the swim cut-off.
Plan to post my own report later.
Dan
The word on the street in another forum is that the swim was 400 meters longer. In Vig's defense, I did hear him stress that you should just site the orange bouys and that you didn't need to be inside the yellows. Now I see why. But I did keep the yellow to the right and for that my time was 15 minutes slower than last year!! I have only been an EN peep for 6 weeks so I wasn't prepared to be zone 3 on the bike without out hurting so I did my best and didn't zone out like I usually do and cut my bike time by 10 minutes from last year. The run was brutal mentally and physically. That was by far harder of a day than my ironman experience. I did manage to negative split my run (barely) and best my last years run by :46 secs/mile. PRd the race by 4 minutes even with that shitty swim. I can't wait to see what I can do when I have a full year of EN under my belt!!
Dan: I met you in transition. I saw you on the run and you looked awesome! I was thinking. Dam, this EN stuff works, look at him go. I think it was late in the race too. That was simply not a day for PRs. It was tough.
SERIOUSLY!!!!! I was there both years and can testify to that fact!!! Call this a W for sure Becky! You did awesome!
Yup- lots of consensus that the swim course had a combination of being mismarked and swum into heavy currents based on the new route. I looked at the swim times of ladies who finished within 10 places either side of me last year vs their times this year and found times 10-15 min slower across the board. No way was that all from lloosing a wettie.
Good news is that we all faced the same course and those within your age group faced the same current (apparently the current got stronger later in the morning).
Either way- a great execution! Enjoy the victory!
@Lesley - sorry I didn't meet you out there... congrats on a PR out there... AWESOME!
oh, and to set the record straight, I was about 12 minutes slower than last year (8 min off on the swim, about 2 slower in both the bike and the run... actually pretty amazed about both... I hated going so slow on the bike... and the run seemed like I was absolutely crawling). If we factor in the messed up swim and I shave 8 minutes off my time, my finish was 1:54:30 - 4 minutes slower than last year... which, with wicked wind and 101 heat index, I'll take! Thanks Cary, Nemo, Dan - definitely a W! Looking forward to your reports.
How funny I didn't even notice the current, I really enjoyed the swim and felt great... was just so confused by the time... nothing I'd change about the day.. .knowing that not factoring in the swim I was only slightly slower than last year in ridiculous conditions (and I thought last year was hot... yikes, I don't know hot).
Here are a few pics (I hope - my first attempt to upload failed bc I was told they were too big)... one of me and Kate Green at the start and finish and one of me suffering from heat stroke and hallucinating...now they're a bit small ... they're on FB, too as is a longer (if you can believe it) version of my race report.
Way to adjsut and race smart given the conditions. It's the only way, and why you had such a great result given that brutal day. NICE!!!! Congrats, Becky!