Montauk MightyMan Half IM - Race Report
Montauk, NY. October 3rd, 2010. 53 degrees F at 6:49AM swim start. Overcast, and VERY windy.
Swim was a triangle in a very clean large pond/small lake. I'm guessing the water temp was high 68-70 degrees but it was very nice.
Bike course was 2 loops and moderately hilly the whole time with very few flat sections. It was Very windy all day.
Run course was also 2 loops around a ~6.5 mile loop, with at least 2.5 miles uphill, some of which were fairly steep.
Disclosure, I've been part of EN for about 2 weeks... I 've only done 2 sprints and 2 Oly's in my life and have never run more than 10 miles at a time. I'm 205 lbs (Clydesdale Division) and before this weekend I've never run more than 10 miles at any one time. Every one of my previous races have ended pretty bad. One was a disaster with nutrition causing stomache problems. Each of them caused me to fall into a heap after the finish line and not be able to walk or talk for 30 mins to a half hour.
I have decent month of training leading into this race and have been reading/watching/listening to all things EN over the last couple of weeks. This time I had an actual plan for my race! I was going to try to do an easy swim, stay pegged at 200 watts on my bike, ease into the run and try to hold on...
| Clock Time | 6:02:16 |
| Overall Place | 174 / 349 |
| Swim | 40:35 |
| Swimp | 133 |
| T1 | 4:17 |
| T1P | 277 |
| Bike | 3:01:23 |
| Bikep | 114 |
| T2 | 2:00 |
| T2P | 166 |
| Run | 2:14:01 |
| Runp | 238 |
4AM breakfast. Bottle of Recoverite with a scoop of heed and a shot block. Not the normal pre-race breakfast, but I wanted calories/carbs and have something I knew I would absorb quikly but be out of my stomach by race time. I also sipped on a gatorade all morning and had a bit of water.
Swim: Water was perfect temp for swimming and I started off at a nice comfortable pace. About 5 minutes into the swim it seemed "too quiet" and when I looked up to sight I was almost near the sure and at least 50-75 yds away from the rest of the group... I can't believe I was "that guy" but I was way off course. I swam back to and through the group and overshot and went too far inside. Wow, I am an idiot! I got back in line and sighted much more often. I caught some people from the wave in front of me before the 1st turn bouy. I went way wide on the 2 turn bouys and got off course again. On the leg back to the start/finish spot I was swimming and felt the bottom of the lake... when I looked up again I realized I was off course again and was near the shore... I had at least 5 more minutes of swimming to calculate that I had probably swum an extra 200 or so yds... I wasn't the least bit tired though and jooged past people breathing hard as I went into T1. Note to self: Learn how to swim straight and/or sight more often.
T1: It was cold out, so I made the executive decision to take longer in T1 and not be miserable the rest of the day. This day was about following a plan and I didn't want "cold" to ruin that. I had an extra towel and dried of completely. I had a bit of a cramp in my calf while taking off my wetsuit (never came back all day). I put on a pair of compression socks (added at least 30seconds) and I put on a running shirt and bike jacket.
Bike: I put my full fingered gloves on while riding. I took it easy for the first couple miles (with RnP in the back of my head). I regretted not reading the "gearing section" of EN prior to the day before my race. If I had read it a week earlier I would have deserved a swift kick in the nutz since I had a 11-23 cassett and 39-53 crank. Many people passed me freely going up the hills and I blew by them at the crest or down the other side. I didn't see any of the beautiful scenery because my eyes were fixed on my computer and glancing up to not run over anybody the whole time... Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep it down at 200 Watts when you go up a steep hill and weigh over 200 lbs? I had my computer set on 3 second power and average power per 2 mile lap. I liked that because it was a constant reminder to keep my average power consistent the whole day. Along with watching my cadence and keeping it between 80-95 it felt like I was playing a video game. It was all about keeping those numbers dialed in. It was a bit hard to control with the swirling wind. Even going down hill often felt like going uphill with the wind in your face. And I don't know how this is possible, but it always fekt like it was a head wind. Never a tail wind... Every 30 minutes an alarm went off on my computer for nutrition. 1 salt stick, 1 advil, and 2 blocks of a shot block. Swig of gatorade and wash it down with a rinse of water. I had a bit of trouble doing all that with my gloves on and trying to keep my power constant so I probably have a minute of bad pedaling exactly every half hour. I made a minor gaffe at the bottle exchange. It was literally right after the turnaround and I missed it. I figured I had enough water in the bottle between my aerobars but I ran out at ~mile 40. I didn't run out of gatorade though. I took my last nutrition and drink at 2:30 which gave me a half hour before the run for my stomach to empty. It did get hard to keep my power dialed in over the last 15 miles or so and I started to see a lot more variance in the numbers. Sorry this is so long, but at about mile 50 or so I was passed by a woman as was coming up a hill right befor a turn into a cul-de-sac street. The volunteer at the turn started yelling encouragement saying "You just got passed by a girl... catch her! Don't let her gain on you!!!" It was actually funny. It allowed me to have a little conversation in my head that I didn't care if I got passed be a 300lb Elvis impersonator, I was gonna stay locked in on 200 watts and not worry about it... I was actually thinking about this post and laughing inside my head. The old me would have chased her down on the hill and passed her. As a side note, I passed her on the next downhill and never saw her again. With about a mile or so to go on the bike I shut it down. Stretched my legs, coasted some. Did some easy spinning and got ready for the run.
T2: Uneventful. I took off my jacket, swapped my shoes, took my sun glasses off and put on my bandana. I lost a few seconds as I put on my nutrition belt. Quick stretch of the legs and I was off.
Run: I started off good. I felt great, but had to pee. I looked down at my garmin and oh crap 7:30 pace... WAY too fast. I purposely slowed myself down and settled in to about a 8:45-9:00 pace. Right where I wanted and I felt weightless, but I really had to pee... I would never make it 2 hours if this was all I was thinking about so I made a 30 second stop after 2 miles to use the woods... I averaged ~8:45 pace to mile 3 and then I came to the hills! I hate hills! At 205 lbs and 60 miles into my day I really hated them... I was slowed to about a 14 min pace on the really steep ones. I made some of the time back on the downhills, but my quads were aching... Did I mention that I hate hills. I was glad I chose to run with my hand held water bottle because at the 30 min mark I took a salt stick and 2 blocks of a shot block. I was sipping my water randomly, but could run right past all of the aid stations. At the half way point I checked my watch and was at 1:05 and change. I was hoping before the start of the race that I could do a 2:00 run if everything went well, but I didn't account for a hilly course. I still wasn't too far off especially considering the smails pace I was climbing at. The 2nd lap was pretty uneventful. When I ran out of water I simply unscrewed the top before I got to the aid station and the volunteers poured 2 cups of water in and I was off. I didn't stop at any aid stations, but did walk a couple of the hills when I realized I could keep the same pace as the people around me trying to run but I felt as thought I was conserving a bit of energy. The bottom of my foot started to get hot/sore which I think might be from the socks, not sure. My knee was a bit sore also, but the foot and knee got numb after a while as I ignored them. I remember thinking to myself at the 10 mile point,"self, this is the longest run of our life... Only a 5k left, no big deal". The last 1.5 miles I turned it up a bit. I passed or dropped most of the people I had been running near for the last hour or so. I counted 6 new people that I passed and 4 that passed me. I was running strong into the finish and actually put my hands in the air and was smiling. It's the 1st time I ever crossed the finish line in a race and didn't collapse into a heap on the ground afterwards. I truly felt great! My 2nd lap was only about 2 minutes slower than my 1st lap. My garmin said 13.33 miles and 10:04 pace.
I immediately walked over, chatted it up with some friends, got something to eat, put on my compression pants and then made the 3 hour drive back home to play with my kids... This is by far the best I have ever felt after a race. I certainly need to learn to sight better and swim straight. I feel like I actually nailed the nutrition (1st time ever). I think my pacing was good on the bike, but I certainly plan to get my FTP up in the OS! And I can always get stronger/faster on the run. And of course it will all be better if I drop 15lbs or so! Today (day after the race) I feel great but my quads are aching. Also my knee feels a bit like it's bruised inside. Nothing a few days of rest and lots of Ibuprofin won't fix.
I'd love any comments, suggestions, etc. that you ENers (with much more experience than me) may have...
Comments
Nice job with the race execution and writing up a great report. I've done that race (back in '06, the epic storm year) and know the course well especially that nasty section of hills on the run. Those hills are tough, even more for a big unit like you.
Well done.
John,
Welcome and congratulations on a great race! You really did nail the execution which is huge. I also love how you got home in time to play with the kids instead of being in a heap! Can't wait to see what you do next year!
Matt
Only two weeks in and your executing like one of the wicked smart members. Great job on your race.