Patriots Half Ironman Race Report
Hi all,
I am posting as I recover from my first running of the Patriots Half in Williamsburg, VA, yesterday 9/11/10. Teh weather and venue were spectacular. Low 80's, water temp 74 degrees. Flat bike and run courses. Lots of support on the course and my fans ie. my wife said there was plenty of areas for her to see me with lots of shade and the parking was easy to get in and out.
This was my 5th half IM in 4 yrs. I am currently training for IM Florida so this seemed like a great race to help with fine tuning nutrition etc. I added up the fastest times of all segments from previous races and came up with 6 hrs. This was my goal to beat.
I swam steady, not too fast and tried to keep form. The bike went really well staying in zone 2 for 30 min then zone 3 for the rest. I had some really fun segments where I found myself in large packs of bikers. My numbers on the bike; IF .79, VI 1.03, TSS 179, NP 181 and avg speed 20 mph. This was my first race with my power meter and I loved it. I felt great for the run but didn't follow my game plan. I went out too fast for the first 3 miles. My MP is 9:30mm but I ran first 3 miles avg 8:30. I slowed down after mile 3 and kept a 10mm pace til mi 8 where I started walking the aid stations. Last 4-5miles were painful and I had to dig deep to keep a 11-12 mm pace. I averaged 10:44 mm for the run and total time was unofficially, 5:58!
I reached my goal but learned I need to work on improving my run off my bike and not going out too fast on the run. I got caught up with the excitement. I really believe EN helped me break the 6 hr mark. I got passed by so many people on the run but kept telling myself, race your own race. I did what I wanted to achieve and I feel confident that I will only improve as I continue training.
Thanks EN!
Ps I also saw one other EN member who found me afterwards. He came close to beating the 5hr mark and was in a different class than myself. I shout out to Rob for his words of encouragement on the run and congrats to his awesome time.
Comments
Great job Dennis. I didn't have my EN gear on but I saw you out there on the run and yelled to you. It really was ideal conditions and I like that race. Unfortunately, my day was not as good as yours. I had a stomach virus earlier this week and I could not get hydrated. Ended up with massive hamstring cramping on the run that blew up my race. But it was a fun day and I will be back next year. Hope to see you there and good luck in Florida.
John
I am sorry I didn't get to meet you on Sat.
Good Luck with training and I will definitely be back next year.
I hope you are feeling better.
Dennis and John,
Good talking to yall at the race. Dennis you looked like you were having a good time out there. Maybe I will see you at another race next year. I may try to get out to Smith Mountain lake in the spring.
John, Sorry you had cramps the heat kinda snuck up on people. Atleast it did not rain on us
Ralph.
P