White Lake HIM (5/7/11) Race Report
2011 White Lake Half – Race Report
Dusty Holcomb
Results: (Clydesdale Category)
· Total Time – 5:22:16 – 7th out of 15 competitors
o Swim – Canceled
o T1 – 2:19
o Bike – 2:43:43 (rank #2)
o T2 – 1:18
o Run – 2:35:17
Well this was my first half ironman race and I was psyched for it having spent the last six months training between the out-season and 10 weeks of the half-iron plan. To prove the coach’s point about staying in your box this particular race was an emotional roller coaster for me. The race is about a 3.5 hour drive from where I live and my buddies Jody (an EN peep) and Richard (not an EN guy but a badass all the same) and I piled in the car around 1:30 or so. We got to the race site and picked up our packets and admired the beautiful lake. I was amazed at how clear the water was and couldn’t wait to hit the water in the AM. I saw a couple of other folks I knew there and then we were headed out for the hour and a half drive to Richard’s condo at the beach where we would be crashing for the night. That’s when something else crashed…
I had a sudden sinking feeling that I had forgotten something… and it didn’t take me long to figure it out. Unfortunately that something was my Garmin 500 for the bike and Garmin 310 for the run… Now ordinarily I am an extremely meticulous individual, aw heck, let me be honest, I am an anal retentive OCD type of person who will pack and repack everything just to make sure that I haven’t left anything out. It was really out of character for me to forget anything, much less something as critical as my bike computer! I knew as soon as I thought about it that I didn’t have them with me. I had packed the night before (Thursday) and decided to take both out of the bag and plug them in. Evidentially I thought it was a good idea to make sure that instead of the 98% charge both were showing that I needed to plug them up to make sure that I had a 100% charge…. Bonehead move!!! I completely forgot to take them off the chargers and put them in the bag! Double stupid on me because I was taking my chargers with me too, I could have charged at the condo!
Okay, so after about 5 minutes of deep breathing and controlling my emotional output (on the outside I was calm and collected, on the inside I was freaking out!) I went to the expo to see if they had a 310 or anything that I could use for the race. No luck so I resigned myself to rockin’ it old school with no electronic gadgetry. I had actually made peace with this and was completely comfortable with the idea, well not completely comfortable but definitely resigned to the idea. Fortunately I have some awesome friends that put together a wicked relay race to get the Garmin’s from my house and halfway to me. Long story short I ended up leaving the condo at the beach at 8pm and going to get my gear. Made it back to the condo at 11:30PM and finally crashed around midnight.
4:15 AM wake up call came early…way too early, especially when you consider my activities of the night before. Got everything loaded up and headed out at 4:40, nice 1:25 ride to the race site. Everything went great getting set up in transition, I loved my rack spot, easy to see and get to for a quick exit. So now the drama begins…my buddy Richard was in the Masters Open category (he was supposed to be in the Masters 45-49 but somehow screwed up his registration and chose the Open group. The chick next to was a real Bi%#$ and looked at him disdainfully and said “are you sure you are supposed to be here?” Now Richard is relatively new to Tri’s, this was his third HIM, but he has run over 80 marathons with sub-2:55 times so he’s no slouch. Though it probably didn’t help that he was putting on his wetsuit backwards…. J I think he was doing this on purpose to mess with her…Anyway, he was in the first swim wave scheduled to go at 7:00. By 6:45 the area by the lake was packed with probably the biggest collection of nerves and energy I have ever been around. The good news is that it was a nice cool morning; the bad news is that the cool day had created an extremely dense fog over the entire lake. By dense fog I mean so thick that you couldn’t see the first buoy only 50 yards off the end of the pier!
They delayed the start till 7:15, then 7:30, then to 7:45 when they finally made the decision to cancel the swim. This really sucked because the swim is the highlight of this race. White Lake is incredibly beautiful and the water is crystal clear. The irony of it is that between 7:55 and 8:00 all the lifeguards in kayaks packed up and left, and at 8:04 the fog lifted…naturally…
So they did a wave start coming into T1 and allowed everyone to have on helmets and shoes if they chose to do so. They started everyone in groups of 10 by original wave assignment and let them go about 30 seconds apart. I was in wave six, and I chose to treat it just like a standard race and other than the fact that I didn’t have on my wetsuit came into T1 just like I would have coming been coming out of the water. Managed to get out on the bike course without incident which is an accomplishment considering how many folks were bunched up on the bike. I followed my plan to the letter, 30 minutes at Z2 intensity (power) and found myself passing tons of folks even though I was really taking it easy on the bike. At 30 minutes in I dialed it up to my target watts for the rest of the ride (215-225 watts). Again I was rocking the bike and since this is a flat course I was really zipping along.
Okay, so now for the 2nd dose of irony for the day (fog lifting within minutes of swim cancellation was the first one) at mile 30 my power meter died. My signal was gone, none, zip, nada…. After all the efforts that went into getting my garmin for the race this was truly funny. I actually laughed out loud when it died. At this point I knew that this was going to be a fun day and I just needed to enjoy it and take what the day would give me.
2nd half of the ride was into the wind so I lost some speed on this portion of the ride. Since I didn’t have power I just used RPE to try and keep my effort at the right level. No idea if I did it right but had a great ride and really enjoyed the bike portion of the race. I blew into T2 and smoked the transition in 1:18 and headed out for a short little jog….not!
Okay the run sucked, but only the 1st mile, the 7th mile, the 8th mile, the 9th mile, the 10th mile and the 11th mile. Other than that the rest of the run was great! Okay so I am a little tongue in cheek but I learned a ton about the long-distance runs in triathlon today. I came out way to fast. I had to work hard to get my pace down to my goal #’s. The first mile my calves were really tight, probably didn’t help that I was running a pace that I had no business running. I managed to slow it down by the end of the first mile and started feeling pretty good. I actually felt great until just after the turn and then my feet started going numb. I had switched out the laces for some Yankz laces a couple weeks before and done lots of runs with them but I think they were too tight and causing my feet to fall asleep. Between that and my uber thin socks riding down below the tops of the shoes and I had to keep stopping to pull them up… my feet were really bugging me the last 5 miles or so. I ended up walking a short bit, then running a short bit and alternated all the rest of the way in. Once I got to mile 12 I told myself to man up and run it in. So I did. Should have manned up earlier! I passed Jody’s wife Cecilia on the run at about mile 12.5, she yelled at me, “how are you feeling?” I yelled back, “I’m hurting!” to which she replied, “then why are you smiling?” and I shouted, “because I love this, I’m having a blast!” it’s a good hurt! The really cool thing is that my buddy Jody was only 3 minutes or so behind me on the run when we finished. It was cool to finish close together after doing so much training together. If I had known he was that close behind me I would have waited so we could run in together. Lots of long hours put in training together that would have been a cool finishing photo.
So, all in all I had a great race and really enjoyed my first HIM (duathlon) experience. I was a little nervous about the day but I knew I had put in the training time and the race was the reward for all the hard work. It was disappointing to not get to do the swim but that might lead to a cool “reboot” opportunity…
Lessons Learned:
1. Don’t leave without doing a final run through of the packing list!
a. I left my garmin 310 and 500 at home. I packed them the night before and decided to take them out of the bag and charge both just to make sure they were 100% ready for the race. I left both sitting on the counter when I grabbed my bags. Like 98% wasn’t enough of a charge. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid! OCD gone horribly wrong!
2. When possible take the day before a major race (A race) off when possible.
a. I was rushing when I got to the house to grab my gear, this made me skip my process of pulling out my list and checking off the important stuff. I won’t do that again!
3. When possible stay close to the race the night before:
a. The 1.5 hour ride from the race site to the condo and back again the next AM was painful. Could have used that time to relax or sleep. Closer is better, whenever possible. Free was good though, and greatly appreciated.
4. The night before I need to eat what I am used to, not what the group eats.
a. Pizza, no matter how awesome, was a bad call for me, my stomach was not happy Saturday AM. I was slightly queasy most of the bike ride. The good news is that I didn’t have any dizziness issues like I have had previously.
5. Start taking salt tabs as soon as I get on the bike, not an hour in.
a. I started getting a cramp, which reminded me to take my S-Caps. Should have started earlier and I need to get the right intervals to take them dialed in before my next big race. Every hour, ½ hour, etc.
6. Change the batteries in the power meter before a race.
a. It didn’t even dawn on my to change the batteries in my power tap….won’t do that again!
7. Pay more attention to RPE and get a sense of feel for each zone.
a. In case I ever have an issue with my power meter in a race again I need a backup plan so I am going to pay attention to RPE on future training days to get this dialed in…just in case. Murphy’s law reared it’s head a couple times on this race, but who’s to say it won’t happen again!
8. Take water from every aid course on the bike to refill the speedfil.
a. I refilled my speedfill with water at the water station at mile 32. I decided not to get any at the last stop (I think mile 46). Bonehead move. I ran out shortly thereafter and couldn’t hydrate up before the run or take my s-caps….
9. Put one more sunscreen in T2 or have some to reapply on the run.
a. I put on sunscreen first thing in the morning but between putting on my wetsuit, taking off my wetsuit and riding the bike it must have worn off completely. My shoulders and arms are absolutely fried. My blistered shoulders are the most painful part of my recovery! I’ll have a spray bottle to reapply on the run next time.
10. Wear thick socks.
a. I’m a big guy, with big feet. My body isn’t built to wear the minimalist gear. My 245 pound body needs all the cushion it can get. I used really thin socks at the race, that didn’t do anything for me. The grit I had on my feet from transition didn’t get worked off into the sock like it would have on a thicker sock. Yes, I know it will take a few extra seconds to put them on, but it will be worth it! Hurting feet really slowed me down on the run.
11. Rinse feet or make sure that all dirt is off before putting on shoes.
a. See #10. Really, see #10. Think of sandpaper, that’s what my feet felt like.
12. Don’t take anything off the run course I haven’t trained with!
a. I knew better than this…but I still broke the rule. They had cut up oranges on the course that looked really appetizing around mile 7. It tasted good too, until it hit my stomach. I spent the next 20 minutes wanting to puke my guts out. I love oranges, but evidentially not when I am running.
13. Only worry about what you can control.
a. I can control being ready for the race from a training standpoint, and having all my gear. I can’t control what happens if the swim gets canceled, or anything else environmental. I will only worry about that which I control, my box…
14. Let the day happen, don’t stress.
a. It would have been easy for me to stress out over the forgotten Garmin, poor sleep, poor choice of night before meal, canceled swim, running out of water, etc. Take what the day gives, and remember that this is fun!
15. Never become the person who takes themselves and triathlon way to seriously.
a. Richard’s experience with the twit in the open category was a good reminder to me not to take myself or triathlon to seriously. Yes, I love the sport, and have thoroughly enjoyed training and competing. But I will not be defined as an individual by how good my bike is, how great my race was, or anything else for that matter. I do this for fun, to improve myself, to get better and to make myself a better person. Not become a bigger jackass than everyone else…
Comments
Dusty,
Great race report. I love how you dealt with the issues that came up and then moved on. Looks like you learned a lot from your first HIM.
Suggest you really focus on the bike hydration and run execution issues you have raised. I am also a big guy (officially in the old fat fart category since I also turn 50 next year) and always have to focus hard on those two issues.
Great race!
Paul
thanks Paul! I had a blast and since they are offering a discount for the White Lake Half II race this weekend I am going to do it again, with the swim this time. Won't have a goal other than to execute better and take what the day, and my body, will give me. Man I love this stuff!