It’s been awhile since I wrote a long race report, but figured I had to explain my happiness with my continued average performances.  For perspective, I am at Calypso in downtown CDA being subjected to some really, really bad coffee house music.  Nice people at the shop, but a guy hanging out with a guitar, a voice, and no talent.  I believe Robert Plant would strangle this dude, if he had heard him butchering Stairway to Heaven like this. Be glad I can’t download a video of the dying cat and his guitar for your torture. Please, excuse my digression.

I was pretty fit and focused for this race.  IM CDA has been the primary goal since the collegiate season ended and I put most of my tri focus back on myself. Going into the race, my swim has been pretty comfortable and I have enjoyed swimming all this year thanks to my work with Karlyn Pipes in January.  Dr. Phil (physfarm genius) has really helped me dial in the bike, getting me closer and closer to my potential over the past 18 months.  The run training was not great this spring and fall, but as we all know, I can always run.

The swim was not bad, as I had a good start and a good pack for the outbound section on the first loop. I could have done without the age group wave pounding me on the second loop and causing me to lose a ton of momentum.  Having already swum through the chop and rollers on the far end of the course in the first loop, it was less of a shock to me on the second. Unfortunately, the crowds with me nearly stopped at points as they tried to navigate the far turns. I actually found myself not moving a couple times.  Lesson: get a faster swim, so you don’t have to deal with that!  A 35 minute head start seems to be WTC’s intention for the future and I actually kinda like it, minus yesterday’s 2nd loop debaucle.

The bike leg was set-up great, as I had two guys leave transition with me. I really felt I could use them to keep myself in check and then launch by sometime late in the loop. They were crushing it, but I stayed back (legally) even pushing a few more watts than I wanted to maintain contact.  One guy was just killin’ the hills as I spun up close to my LT watts.  My little group, 20 minutes off the front of the lead, was being watched carefully by an official from behind.  On one steep hill the little dude passed me and I dropped back chuckling at his crazy riding, but apparently not in time. I was assessed a four minute red card penalty for not dropping back to 10m in 25 seconds.  I was not upset about the penalty but the fact that the official was not in position to assess distance and it was a hill going about 12 mph.  I feel like I was 10m back, but she did not.  She was off my left back quarter and there was nothing on the road to judge distance.  Jimmy Ricitello has been pretty clear at meetings on how these penalties would be judged. I just wish she had been really looking at the distance to clearly make the call and also noted that I was not going to get an advantage on that incline.  Nothing I could do, no complaints on the road, it wasn’t worth my energy at the time, I just sucked it up and took my four minute break at mile 28 with a grain of salt. I really lost momentum at this point due to losing my mini group.  I then poorly paced myself over the following miles since I was over excited to be riding again.  It may look like I even split this race on paper, but I spent 4 minutes eating a power bar, drinking juice, and stretching in that first loop.  Lesson: Groups are good, penalties suck (spend the downtime wisely), and keep the day as a whole in perspective when bad stuff happens.

I got off the bike well over 6 hours and knew my original goal of 9 hours was pretty much out the window. I found some new mini-goals: course PRs, getting into the top 10, etc.   I ran really well for periods, but also had some SUPER low points.  I had some mid-marathon miles in the upper 7 min range and some late miles close to 9 min pace.  This could be assessed as a pacing issue, but when I closed with three 6:45s, it was clear I had not kept on my nutrition.  I had the legs, just not the energy for short periods.  I was eating and drinking AFTER the lows and had not kept on it in prevention of those points.  Lesson: Eat and drink better before I am tired (I am so good about that on the bike).

The finish was great, as I had the street to myself to sprint downhill with the amazing CDA crowds. CDA is definitely one of the best venues in North America for ironman. All the people are so happy.

Throughout the day I had the support of my very, very gracious homestay and Lara.  I am afraid to mention Rich and Melanie Houghman for fear another pro is going to request them as a homestay in the future.  They were rockstars all weekend.  They could not have made my stay in CDA more relaxed.  Did I mention Melanie had chocolate chip cookies out at all times?  Lara and I enjoyed sharing stories of military life (their son in-law is a Marine lawyer), athletics (they both have multiple bikes and many ironman and marathon experiences between them), and happy life in athletic minded communities. They also pointed Lara and I to Paul Bunyan for post race milkshakes.  Finally, but most importantly, my amazing Lara flew in early Saturday morning and drove to the airport at 0400 today flying home after supporting me to make it back to work this morning.  Seriously, she does an awesome job giving me an opportunity to pursue my goals and dreams.

One ironman down, two, or maybe three, more to go in 2010. I really enjoyed my weekend and the ironman racing.  This is where I thrive and am considering some more long racing closer than ever before. Check back to see what that might be.

(sorry no pictures of this weekend)

later,

billy