2012 Eagleman Race Report aka 'A Sunday in Hell'
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Introduction
This was my second 70.3 race, my first was Muskoka in 2010 just after I joined EN. I had planned to do Eagleman last year but unfortunately broken my collar bone in a crash 2 weeks prior to the race. I'd had a good OS and a solid block of training leading up to the race. My first race rehearsal had gone well and got some great feedback from Patrick. My second race rehearsal was rained out so I did it on the trainer instead. That had not gone so well as I struggled to maintain my watts in the last hour. The run off the bike (on a treadmill) went ok but not great.
Pre Race
Arrived in Easton on Friday. Checked into the Hampton Inn (nice place!) and then made my way down to registration. Picked up my packet and attended the briefing. No real surprises. Bumped into Patricia as well as Carol and her husband from EN. Very nice to meet them and put some faces to the names!
Did very little on Saturday, simply racked my bike and relaxed back at the hotel. Dinner at 'Out of the Fire' in Easton consisted of a salad and Margarita pizza. Back to the hotel and asleep by 9:30.
Race Day
Arrived at venue just after 5am. Parking not to bad on the surrounding streets so walked into transition and prepared my spot. Took a walk around and bumped into David from EN and confirmed time of team photo! Quick bathroom break and then ran into more friends also doing the race. Returned from photo and by then it was time to move down to the river.
Swim
The water looked pretty calm on the morning of the race. I was in the first wave after the pros so it was an early start for me. Made my way about half way between the starting buoys and then we were off. Not much contact at first then a couple of bumps and - bang - a good solid kick in the eye. Goggles slipped but did not come off, but quickly started leaking water. Stopped to adjust but it took me 3 attempts to get a good seal. Settled back into my rhythm and checked my sighting again. Made steady progress up to the turn after that. Swimming is not my strong suit although I have shown some time improvements since the swim clinic with Coach P. I still do not take all those technique improvements into the OWS and that shows in my times. However after a couple more bumps after the turn I was pleased to come out 38:00 minutes, a 3 minute PB over my last HIM. Lessons learned?
1. Need to focus on taking improved technique to the OWS
2. Learn to swim straight! Veering to the right throughout my swim.
3. Check current. Clearly some advatage the further left you lined up on race day.
Bike
I was looking forward to the bike as I had ridden the course a couple of times and felt very comfortable. Starting off nice and easy as per plan. Almost immediately noticed something odd with my Joule. The watts number was not changing very much at all. I soon realized that it was showing average watts. I tried to change this while riding but the display appeared locked. I had been able to make these changes before while in training so was a bit surprised. Decision time. Stop and adjust or just work with average watts? I decided to continue with average watts and just maintain steady pace. Second issue I noticed was with my heartrate. It was about 10bpm over where it should be. This I believe is where I made an error. My watts were good, my pace was good but I decided to ignore the HR. I believe I should have slowed somewhat , allowed my HR to come down to my 'normal' race rehearsal rate, and then continued. I did not and I believe this may well have contributed to the problems I encountered on the run.
Nutrition seemed to go well. I used my gu roctane fluid for the first hour, and then swapped to gu roctane gels with water for the rest of the ride. I had no problems with that and was pretty much on schedule from a nutrition perspective. I took on a plenty of water.
As the ride continued the HR was pretty consistent until the last 20 minutes where the watts dropped down as well as the pace and HR. Not a good sign for the run! However I did complete the ride in 2:50, right on my expected pace/time. This was also a PR for the HIM distance - of over 1 hour. So I should not be too disappointed. Lessons learned?
1. Double check equipment at the start. I had checked that the Joule was working in the morning. I had not checked whether it was showing average or actual watts. Duh!
2. Listen to my body. My heart rate was too high and I did not give it enough of a chance to drop
3. For me, at least for a HIM, living off the course for nutrition worked.
Run
Now it was getting hot! Temps had been rising steadily all morning and as by the time I headed out for the run it was approaching 90 degrees. My plan on the run was to start out very easy at approx 9:30 pace for the first 3 miles, stopping at every aid station, increase to 9:00 for the middle 7 and then see where I was. Well it did not quite work out like that! For the first 3 I was on 9:30 pace, but when I tried to go a little faster the body started to complain - a lot. So I settled on 9:30 until the turn for home. At that point the wheels really started to come off. It was over 90 at this point and even though it was relatively early there were people walking all over the course. I took ice and water at every aid station and a gel at 3 and 7 miles. Perhaps not quite enough? By mile 11 I was struggling. Good news was that I only walked the aid stations and was able to keep moving forward but not at the pace I wanted. Lessons learned?
1. I suspect my run problems were caused on the bike, no surprise there.
2. I believe I may also have underestimated the effect of the heat when estimating my race pace
3. More discipline needed when walking the aid stations. Very easy for 30 steps to become, 40, and then 50!
Crossed the line in 5:54, below 6 hours which was my goal, a personal best of 1 hour and 15 minutes, and collapsed straight into the arms of a volunteer who took me to a seat and then I went into the shady confines of the medical tent. I did not need an IV, but did need a cooler place to rest for 15 mins. After that I decided that rather than wait around I should get to a cool air conditioned location as soon as possible so made my way back to the hotel where i quickly ate the remains of the previous nights pizza!
Conclusion
Although not quite the race I had hoped for I did enjoy the experience (ok maybe not the last 3 miles of the run!) and it was great to meet up with fellow EN'ers. Also I learnt some valuable lessons in execution that (I hope) will serve me well in future races. Congrats to my fellow EN team members who performed so well on a difficult day.
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Comments
Way to battle Ian. Lessons learned and come back stronger and smarter. Congrats.
Gee, I'd say a 75 minute PR, and only walking within aid stations sounds like a successful race to me. When temps are in the 90s, throw your time expectations for the run out the window. You kept going, even as the effort got harder and harder. Showing not only good attention to hydration, but also mental toughness - both will serve you well next HIM.
Great report and Congrats on the massive PR! and +1 to what Al said...