5430 Half
!’ve read that recovering from an IronMan lets you absorb a whole lot of fitness from that workout. Maybe the 7 month taper ! put in prior to the race. And the altitude training ! did. Last week ! “trained low and slept high” The low was on the beach in Alabama and the high was the 4th floor condo 100 yards away. ! did a 5k jog on Tuesday and spent the rest of the time hurling my 6 year old nephew across the pool. A couple jet ski sessions rounded out the speed work.
The plane touched down a little after 4pm Saturday and ! had a party to get to. ! also had to be up at 3 the next morning to get to the res. to pick up my packet. It’s still dark out. ! chatted with Spiderman (yeah, we know each other. It’s a superhero thing) and Roberta (yeah, ! know her). She was up to volunteer since Paul was racing. ! thought ! was really early. Not. There was a long line outside transition to get my arms and calves tickled. That’s still my favorite part of the day.
The team was all over transition. Charley and Brett had snuck in somehow even though they were just there as TnT coaches. Denny couldn’t make it. ! suppose he was still in bed dreaming of pony rides. The big deal about this race was the TnT group. Mary Carey decided to put together a ½ IM gang. Every one of them made it to the finish. ! would say that experiment was a success. Mary didn’t race. She’s working on getting some hardware in the 0-4 age group. She loves ½’s until mile 8 on run. Then they suck. ! was pretty excited at mile 8. Longest run !’ve done in a long time. 10 mile trail run w/ Brett and Michael was the longest since January.
In the water ! found Len who has mostly been MIA since his IM last year. ! hate Len. He’s always right where ! want him until late in the run. As soon as ! fall apart he goes on by. Did ! mention ! hate him? On the line we were staring into the sun. ! could see 50 feet ahead of me. The first buoy was farther out than that. !’ll just follow the fast guy with the welding mask.
And they’re off. There were 2 guys right in front of me and 94 more pairs of arms right behind. Of course ! had my fastest swim ever. Still the pummeling went on. Eventually ! found my spot. Big enough for me. ! was drafting the same guy for a while. ! couldn’t see him. He was clearly into barefoot trail running. If his decomposing corpse is found they’ll ID him by his callous feet instead of dental work. ! always knew it was him. ! went out fast just to survive. Then settled into a faster than usual cruise pace. Two minutes faster than last year. A few of the swimmers from the wave after me got by, but none behind them. That’s partly because ! was in the next to last wave. There were even bikes still in T1 when ! got there.
T1 is just about the lowest point on the whole bike course. That means there is a 10.5 mile grind to the highest point on the course. ! just wasn’t feeling it for the first few miles. 3 miles in ! heard someone shouting my name. No sirens so ! wasn’t sure just what was going on. It was Matt. His swim “sucked”. He was slower than me so he was right. Must have gotten lost out there. Near the top of the climb ! found something and blasted over the last rise. Then onto that really smooth, fast road. 48.2 mph. Around and around we went. ! moved pretty well until ! came upon the aid station at mile 20/47. ! nearly had to stop both times. Bikinis. Roberta was marshalling bikes at the turn-around. She was very explicit in her instructions as ! approached. Using her outdoor voice and her pointing instrument to make sure ! knew to turn around. Some of us need that personal attention. ! know how Paul feels when it’s time to take out the trash.
T2 came along and ! was concerned. My quads wanted to cramp for the last 5 miles of the ride. Would ! be able to run? Would ! be able to play piano after the operation? ! couldn’t do either before. The 3rd pro was coming in. Under 4 hours. He had a 27 minute head start. If ! could pull out a 26 minute ½ marathon ! would make the podium. That’s just 30 mph. Surely ! could run that fast. !’ve done two 8-mile runs recently so ! wanted to get at least that far before walking. ! started off feeling pretty good and backed off the pace a bit to make it last. ! was doing a little better than 10 minute miles. Even @ that pace ! could PR. If ! could hold it. There was that damn hill. First aid station. ! calculated that ! would be 8 miles in next time ! got there. ! can do that. Surely ! can. Just keep moving. On and on. ! walked the aid stations. Only from the first Gatorade waitress to the next water waitress and just far enough to get it drunk and dumped on my head. Back to running.
This was not as bad as ! had feared. Just keep running. There was ice. Charley and Brett were out riding the course backward to cheer TnT on. They never saw me walk. Passing the boat lot now and still running. Not fast, but moving in a running like fashion. There’s Steve. ! think it’s Steve. He’s walking and people can see him. Something was wrong. He DNFed. On ! went. !’m on lap 2 now. My goal is the next aid station. There was a couple ahead walking. ! told them they should hold hands if they were going to walk around the res. They started running again. The goal aid station. ! made it. One of the waitresses approached me with a wet towel and slapped it on my chest. It was icy cold and ! was stunned. She was confused. Thought ! didn’t like it. ! was confused. !’m a triathletes. ! can keep going. ! was already at 9.17 miles. My longest run since January was 10 miles with Brett and Michael before Roth. ! can make it another mile. There’s Brett now. ! can chat too. We chatted for a bit until ! remembered ! was in the middle of a project. ! have a really short attention span. Time to run on. And on. The long, straight, hot section was nearly over. ! can do this. Just through the next aid station ! heard someone cheer for Jocelyn. ! know Jocelyn. But not that one. The real Jocelyn was done, recovered and into her next workout. This was another one. There were 3 Jocelyns out there. ! had just enough sugar left in my brain to be skeptical of having her behind me 10 miles into the run. Much like the sensation you get when a politician talks. It took another ½ mile to quantify those misgivings.
It was by now the hottest part of the day. 94 degrees ! hear. Certain Death Canal still didn’t have the appeal of last year. Nor did the plague section along the dam. ! was still moving. Calves wanted to cramp up. Keep running. If they lock they lock. No point giving in to a threat. My feet hurt. Oh swell. And a blister was starting up. Keep running. ! walked a bit here and there. Less than a mile total. ! was pretending to be in shape. Last aid station coming up. Some one is yelling “out of my way” That damn Len. 1.5 miles to go and ! hurt. That’s his plan. And he was running well. Then he was gone.
Keep on running. There was the romantic walking couple again. The guy was walking behind. She had gapped him. ! told him he should pick up the pace before she started holding hands with a guy who walks faster than him. Keep running.
! was off the damn dam. Onto the blacktop. It still looked like a long way to go. It was downhill. ! was running now and you could tell (barely). Then there were people along the road. Zipper up. Number front. Hammer. Can ! go faster? ! can. ! did. Get around the back markers. The fans mistook me for someone who was running. ! heard my name. ! saw the icy water tub. And it was over. They wanted to repo my chip. ! saw the water tub. ! advised the girls to move to a safe place and the bitter cold engulfed my torso. !’ll drink a Gatorade instead.
! took 11:48 off last year’s time. Slower on the bike and slower transitions. Swim and run faster.
Matt 05:33:45
Katrin 05:09:58
Jordan 04:24:36
Jocelyn 04:50:40
Marcus 05:23:47
Steve DNF
Rick the Clydesdale 06:03:50
Doug 04:54:33 Fastest of 12 Dougs
Doug!! 05:55:00 7th of 12 Dougs
Paul 05:02:15 3rd of 12 Dougs
Brian 05:48:46
Len 05:52:52
Bobby 05:13:39
Average time 5:22 puts us @ 279th of 884 or top 32%. 11 spots ahead of Marcus. ! guess he’s an average RMTC guy and he still got whooped by all our girls.
Only 4 of our times are slower than my PR for this distance.
You get this kind of statistical analysis because !’m a Numberjack. And ! don’t have social life to get in the way.
The plane touched down a little after 4pm Saturday and ! had a party to get to. ! also had to be up at 3 the next morning to get to the res. to pick up my packet. It’s still dark out. ! chatted with Spiderman (yeah, we know each other. It’s a superhero thing) and Roberta (yeah, ! know her). She was up to volunteer since Paul was racing. ! thought ! was really early. Not. There was a long line outside transition to get my arms and calves tickled. That’s still my favorite part of the day.
The team was all over transition. Charley and Brett had snuck in somehow even though they were just there as TnT coaches. Denny couldn’t make it. ! suppose he was still in bed dreaming of pony rides. The big deal about this race was the TnT group. Mary Carey decided to put together a ½ IM gang. Every one of them made it to the finish. ! would say that experiment was a success. Mary didn’t race. She’s working on getting some hardware in the 0-4 age group. She loves ½’s until mile 8 on run. Then they suck. ! was pretty excited at mile 8. Longest run !’ve done in a long time. 10 mile trail run w/ Brett and Michael was the longest since January.
In the water ! found Len who has mostly been MIA since his IM last year. ! hate Len. He’s always right where ! want him until late in the run. As soon as ! fall apart he goes on by. Did ! mention ! hate him? On the line we were staring into the sun. ! could see 50 feet ahead of me. The first buoy was farther out than that. !’ll just follow the fast guy with the welding mask.
And they’re off. There were 2 guys right in front of me and 94 more pairs of arms right behind. Of course ! had my fastest swim ever. Still the pummeling went on. Eventually ! found my spot. Big enough for me. ! was drafting the same guy for a while. ! couldn’t see him. He was clearly into barefoot trail running. If his decomposing corpse is found they’ll ID him by his callous feet instead of dental work. ! always knew it was him. ! went out fast just to survive. Then settled into a faster than usual cruise pace. Two minutes faster than last year. A few of the swimmers from the wave after me got by, but none behind them. That’s partly because ! was in the next to last wave. There were even bikes still in T1 when ! got there.
T1 is just about the lowest point on the whole bike course. That means there is a 10.5 mile grind to the highest point on the course. ! just wasn’t feeling it for the first few miles. 3 miles in ! heard someone shouting my name. No sirens so ! wasn’t sure just what was going on. It was Matt. His swim “sucked”. He was slower than me so he was right. Must have gotten lost out there. Near the top of the climb ! found something and blasted over the last rise. Then onto that really smooth, fast road. 48.2 mph. Around and around we went. ! moved pretty well until ! came upon the aid station at mile 20/47. ! nearly had to stop both times. Bikinis. Roberta was marshalling bikes at the turn-around. She was very explicit in her instructions as ! approached. Using her outdoor voice and her pointing instrument to make sure ! knew to turn around. Some of us need that personal attention. ! know how Paul feels when it’s time to take out the trash.
T2 came along and ! was concerned. My quads wanted to cramp for the last 5 miles of the ride. Would ! be able to run? Would ! be able to play piano after the operation? ! couldn’t do either before. The 3rd pro was coming in. Under 4 hours. He had a 27 minute head start. If ! could pull out a 26 minute ½ marathon ! would make the podium. That’s just 30 mph. Surely ! could run that fast. !’ve done two 8-mile runs recently so ! wanted to get at least that far before walking. ! started off feeling pretty good and backed off the pace a bit to make it last. ! was doing a little better than 10 minute miles. Even @ that pace ! could PR. If ! could hold it. There was that damn hill. First aid station. ! calculated that ! would be 8 miles in next time ! got there. ! can do that. Surely ! can. Just keep moving. On and on. ! walked the aid stations. Only from the first Gatorade waitress to the next water waitress and just far enough to get it drunk and dumped on my head. Back to running.
This was not as bad as ! had feared. Just keep running. There was ice. Charley and Brett were out riding the course backward to cheer TnT on. They never saw me walk. Passing the boat lot now and still running. Not fast, but moving in a running like fashion. There’s Steve. ! think it’s Steve. He’s walking and people can see him. Something was wrong. He DNFed. On ! went. !’m on lap 2 now. My goal is the next aid station. There was a couple ahead walking. ! told them they should hold hands if they were going to walk around the res. They started running again. The goal aid station. ! made it. One of the waitresses approached me with a wet towel and slapped it on my chest. It was icy cold and ! was stunned. She was confused. Thought ! didn’t like it. ! was confused. !’m a triathletes. ! can keep going. ! was already at 9.17 miles. My longest run since January was 10 miles with Brett and Michael before Roth. ! can make it another mile. There’s Brett now. ! can chat too. We chatted for a bit until ! remembered ! was in the middle of a project. ! have a really short attention span. Time to run on. And on. The long, straight, hot section was nearly over. ! can do this. Just through the next aid station ! heard someone cheer for Jocelyn. ! know Jocelyn. But not that one. The real Jocelyn was done, recovered and into her next workout. This was another one. There were 3 Jocelyns out there. ! had just enough sugar left in my brain to be skeptical of having her behind me 10 miles into the run. Much like the sensation you get when a politician talks. It took another ½ mile to quantify those misgivings.
It was by now the hottest part of the day. 94 degrees ! hear. Certain Death Canal still didn’t have the appeal of last year. Nor did the plague section along the dam. ! was still moving. Calves wanted to cramp up. Keep running. If they lock they lock. No point giving in to a threat. My feet hurt. Oh swell. And a blister was starting up. Keep running. ! walked a bit here and there. Less than a mile total. ! was pretending to be in shape. Last aid station coming up. Some one is yelling “out of my way” That damn Len. 1.5 miles to go and ! hurt. That’s his plan. And he was running well. Then he was gone.
Keep on running. There was the romantic walking couple again. The guy was walking behind. She had gapped him. ! told him he should pick up the pace before she started holding hands with a guy who walks faster than him. Keep running.
! was off the damn dam. Onto the blacktop. It still looked like a long way to go. It was downhill. ! was running now and you could tell (barely). Then there were people along the road. Zipper up. Number front. Hammer. Can ! go faster? ! can. ! did. Get around the back markers. The fans mistook me for someone who was running. ! heard my name. ! saw the icy water tub. And it was over. They wanted to repo my chip. ! saw the water tub. ! advised the girls to move to a safe place and the bitter cold engulfed my torso. !’ll drink a Gatorade instead.
! took 11:48 off last year’s time. Slower on the bike and slower transitions. Swim and run faster.
Matt 05:33:45
Katrin 05:09:58
Jordan 04:24:36
Jocelyn 04:50:40
Marcus 05:23:47
Steve DNF
Rick the Clydesdale 06:03:50
Doug 04:54:33 Fastest of 12 Dougs
Doug!! 05:55:00 7th of 12 Dougs
Paul 05:02:15 3rd of 12 Dougs
Brian 05:48:46
Len 05:52:52
Bobby 05:13:39
Average time 5:22 puts us @ 279th of 884 or top 32%. 11 spots ahead of Marcus. ! guess he’s an average RMTC guy and he still got whooped by all our girls.
Only 4 of our times are slower than my PR for this distance.
You get this kind of statistical analysis because !’m a Numberjack. And ! don’t have social life to get in the way.
posted by Doug!! @ 3:52 PM
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