http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2009/09/23/oth_549212.shtml
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2009/09/29/met_549847.shtml
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Final consensus
So my first half Ironman event has now passed and everything is beginning to settle in. Other than having some really sore legs, I am feeling pretty good. I can't even begin to describe how happy I am with my results. This race came out of nowhere!
The only area I felt confident in, the swim, was the area that disappointed me. I just never got comfortable.
On the bike, during my normal training rides, I average around 17.5 mph. This would give me a finish time of around 3 hours and 5 - 10 minutes with tired legs.
With running being my weakest area, I can normally hold just under a 10 min/mile time for the 13 miles. This puts me in the 2 hr 10 min range.
Throw in the transitions, and six hours is pretty close to my expected time.
Keep in mind, these are stand alone times, not one event following the other.
I don't know where the strength came from. The only thing I can think of is adrenaline on the bike and seeing my family so many times on the run. It was great having everyone there supporting me. Every time I would see them I would get a little extra spring in my step.
The only area I felt confident in, the swim, was the area that disappointed me. I just never got comfortable.
On the bike, during my normal training rides, I average around 17.5 mph. This would give me a finish time of around 3 hours and 5 - 10 minutes with tired legs.
With running being my weakest area, I can normally hold just under a 10 min/mile time for the 13 miles. This puts me in the 2 hr 10 min range.
Throw in the transitions, and six hours is pretty close to my expected time.
Keep in mind, these are stand alone times, not one event following the other.
I don't know where the strength came from. The only thing I can think of is adrenaline on the bike and seeing my family so many times on the run. It was great having everyone there supporting me. Every time I would see them I would get a little extra spring in my step.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Race report from beginnertriathlete.com
Ironman 70.3 Augusta
2009-09-27
Augusta, GeorgiaUnited States
Premier Event Management
87F / 31C
Sunny
Triathlon - 1/2 Ironman
Total Time = 5h 32m 33s
Overall Rank = 744/1808
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 131/268
Pre-race routine:
After very little sleep the night before I got up just before 5am. I had my bags packed and was ready to go. After showering, I ate 1/2 bagel with pb and 1/2 banana. I left the hotel around 5:30 and headed to the shuttle bus pick up outside another hotel that would take us to transition. Then I waited, and waited. The bus shows up around 6:15. At this point I am getting a little nervous. My swim was goes off at 7:42 and I still have to take another bus back to swim start! We are moving along pretty good the unthinkable happens- we get stuck behind a damn train!!! Seriously??? This is not starting out very well. Finally I walk into transition and the announcer says "For all of you who have the start times before 8:00, you need to make your way to swim start now!" I make it to my bike, have stuff flying everywhere! I grab my wetsuit, googles and make a run to catch a bus back to swim start. Then there are the lines of people. I have to wait for three buses before I can get on one. At this point, I am beginning to panic. I still had to pick up my chip once I got to the start! Luckily I make it on time and get my chip, make my way over to the dock where all of the AG's were getting together. The national anthem plays and the pro men and women go off, followed by the physically challenged athletes - what an awesome sight to see. They are truly inspiring. I get my wetsuit zipped up, then they start the AG's. I was in the second wave. WOW, that was close!
Swim:
Comments:
Swim was not very good. I never felt comfortable in the water. I usually like to swim about 200 to warm up and was never given the chance (not that I would have had time if I did). I'm sure my nerves were a little shot too.
What would you do differently?:Maybe leave a little earlier? I don't know. Just some bad luck with buses.
T1
Comments:
I'll explain why such a long T1 in the bike section. We did have strippers! I like strippers. They are very helpful. Nice people. Fun to be around. Overall, I was making great time. Helmet, sunglass, shoes, etc. Should have been around 2:30.
What would you do differently?:Hmmm..... see the bike.
Bike
Comments:
So, as if I was not stressed enough from showing up right on time for the swim, I had a bunch of extra drama. Coming out of T1, I jump on my bike, make two pedal strokes and......nice, a flat tire!!!!!! I pull over to the side of the road to change it. The lady who is directing people where to go tells me to move because I was in everyones way, even though I was on the side of the road! I had to run with my bike back into T1, (350+ yds), back up to the front of T1, fix my flat and head back out. As I was running down the carpet, the bike tech guys saw my issue and told me they would be ready for me. I run my 1000 yds and get to them. They proceed to tell me that they cannot touch my bike since I had already left T1, but they could give me the supplies I need. I get all of my stuff apart, then put back together, and back out on the course. At this point, I have not had much luck today -hard time getting to the race sight, not a very good swim, bad luck coming out of T1 and all that went through my head, was "wow, eight months worth of training for a horrible race day." Mentally I was out of it. So, after cruising at about 20mph, I get to about mile 5 and I hear a "pssssss" sound and feel my backend kind get a little loose. My first thought was "not again!!" I stop and check my tire and it's fine. I did not even notice, but the wind had picked up and not being used to using 80mm wheels, it was kind of pushing me around a little. So, after I get going again, for some reason, the first thing that pops into my head was seeing Chrissie Wellington in the WC last year getting her flat and then zooming through the bike course. At this point, I say screw it! Let's just bust it's a$$! I was averaging 26 on the flats and just hammering it. I spun up the hills and recovered coming down. I was worrying about my nutrition beforehand, but it was spot on. Everything worked out perfectly. On one of the last sections of flats, I was just hammering it to get it back in and a guy yells "do it dude!" I look down and I am at 26mph flying by people. With about 4 miles to go, I open my bento box to get my last two Endurolytes for the run and off they go, like a kite in the wind - at that point, nothing surprised me. So I get out of the saddle and stretch the legs. Surprisingly, my legs feel great. They are not even tired! Thank goodness for taper week!
What would you do differently?:Umm, not get a flat. That would have been nice.
T2
Comments:
Good T2. With 3300 contestants, it was a huge transition area. I was kind of in the middle.
What would you do differently?:Nothing.
Run
Comments:
The run course was awesome. Coming out of T2, my legs felt great. They were not even fatigued, I knew I had made up some time on the bike that I lost changing flat. If I had a good run, I thought I may still be able to break 6 hours. I am going along for the first couple miles and they seemed to go by pretty quickly. I hear my Garmin go off after the first mile and I look down - 8:36 pace. Whoa, I need to slow down! Mile 2 was around 8:54 pace. During this time, I have my entire support crew (6 people) cheering me on at different points throughout the race. They were easy to spot since they were wearing shirts my wife had made. Check out the pics below. They are really cool! As I get to mile 5, I feel a blister developing on the ball of my right foot. Somehow a couple miles later it goes away, not sure how that happened, but I wasn't asking questions. The course had aid stations every 1.5 miles. They had GE, water, Powerbars, PowerGels, bananas and cold sponges - I love those things. My nutrition was right on. I take my first gel at mile 1.5 since that's where the water was. I take my second at mile 6. Still feeling good. I get to mile 7 and I start to have a slight problem - a blister is developing on my right heel. I was afraid of this, but the lady at the running store told me not to worry about it, I won't get blisters with these shoes. They were made to not wear socks with. Mile 8, left heel starts hurting- pretty badly too. By mile 9, I can't stand it. I'm sure most of it was from the water I was dumping on my head to keep cool, but it really hurts! Now, my quads were beginning to feel the effects of some cramps. At the aid station, I grabbed a banana, GE, water, everthing I could get my hands on. By mile 10, it all hit my stomach - like someone dropped a bowling ball in there. I walked for about 100 yds, then told myself, "you've only got a 5k left, you can do this." I start running again and get to mile 11. At this point, my legs are starting to get numb and I can no longer feel the pain from my blisters and I pick up the pace. Once I get to mile 12 I told myself "give it all you've got. Only one mile left." I can't say I sprinted the last mile, but it sure felt that way. The finish line was awesome. There were people three rows deep for the last 400 yds. I was the only coming down the chute and I hear "Here comes triathlete #278, Chris Dill from Greer, South Carolina" and everyone let's out a loud cheer. It was amazing. The main clock said 5:49 when I crossed the finish line but I knew they had thrown in a few extra minutes right before my wave. I knew I had broken 6 hours.
What would you do differently?:Wear socks!
Post race:
Warm down:
Found my support crew, drank a bunch of water and Gatorade.
What limited your ability to perform faster:
Flat tire, blisters, and late start. Overall being my first HIM, I have thrilled with my results. I was hoping to break 6 hours and to know if I did not get the flat, I could have been around 5:20. To me, that was unthinkable.
Event comments:
Being an inaugural event, there are things that will need adjustments, but with this race the only thing I would have liked to see were more buses race morning. Other than that, I had an amazing experience. Everything was on time. The race crew did a great job organizing the event with the town of Augusta. The volunteers were so helpful. I don't have any other M-Dot race to compare this to, but if they are better, I can't see how. Great job by all.
2009-09-27
Augusta, GeorgiaUnited States
Premier Event Management
87F / 31C
Sunny
Triathlon - 1/2 Ironman
Total Time = 5h 32m 33s
Overall Rank = 744/1808
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 131/268
Pre-race routine:
After very little sleep the night before I got up just before 5am. I had my bags packed and was ready to go. After showering, I ate 1/2 bagel with pb and 1/2 banana. I left the hotel around 5:30 and headed to the shuttle bus pick up outside another hotel that would take us to transition. Then I waited, and waited. The bus shows up around 6:15. At this point I am getting a little nervous. My swim was goes off at 7:42 and I still have to take another bus back to swim start! We are moving along pretty good the unthinkable happens- we get stuck behind a damn train!!! Seriously??? This is not starting out very well. Finally I walk into transition and the announcer says "For all of you who have the start times before 8:00, you need to make your way to swim start now!" I make it to my bike, have stuff flying everywhere! I grab my wetsuit, googles and make a run to catch a bus back to swim start. Then there are the lines of people. I have to wait for three buses before I can get on one. At this point, I am beginning to panic. I still had to pick up my chip once I got to the start! Luckily I make it on time and get my chip, make my way over to the dock where all of the AG's were getting together. The national anthem plays and the pro men and women go off, followed by the physically challenged athletes - what an awesome sight to see. They are truly inspiring. I get my wetsuit zipped up, then they start the AG's. I was in the second wave. WOW, that was close!
Swim:
Comments:
Swim was not very good. I never felt comfortable in the water. I usually like to swim about 200 to warm up and was never given the chance (not that I would have had time if I did). I'm sure my nerves were a little shot too.
What would you do differently?:Maybe leave a little earlier? I don't know. Just some bad luck with buses.
T1
Comments:
I'll explain why such a long T1 in the bike section. We did have strippers! I like strippers. They are very helpful. Nice people. Fun to be around. Overall, I was making great time. Helmet, sunglass, shoes, etc. Should have been around 2:30.
What would you do differently?:Hmmm..... see the bike.
Bike
Comments:
So, as if I was not stressed enough from showing up right on time for the swim, I had a bunch of extra drama. Coming out of T1, I jump on my bike, make two pedal strokes and......nice, a flat tire!!!!!! I pull over to the side of the road to change it. The lady who is directing people where to go tells me to move because I was in everyones way, even though I was on the side of the road! I had to run with my bike back into T1, (350+ yds), back up to the front of T1, fix my flat and head back out. As I was running down the carpet, the bike tech guys saw my issue and told me they would be ready for me. I run my 1000 yds and get to them. They proceed to tell me that they cannot touch my bike since I had already left T1, but they could give me the supplies I need. I get all of my stuff apart, then put back together, and back out on the course. At this point, I have not had much luck today -hard time getting to the race sight, not a very good swim, bad luck coming out of T1 and all that went through my head, was "wow, eight months worth of training for a horrible race day." Mentally I was out of it. So, after cruising at about 20mph, I get to about mile 5 and I hear a "pssssss" sound and feel my backend kind get a little loose. My first thought was "not again!!" I stop and check my tire and it's fine. I did not even notice, but the wind had picked up and not being used to using 80mm wheels, it was kind of pushing me around a little. So, after I get going again, for some reason, the first thing that pops into my head was seeing Chrissie Wellington in the WC last year getting her flat and then zooming through the bike course. At this point, I say screw it! Let's just bust it's a$$! I was averaging 26 on the flats and just hammering it. I spun up the hills and recovered coming down. I was worrying about my nutrition beforehand, but it was spot on. Everything worked out perfectly. On one of the last sections of flats, I was just hammering it to get it back in and a guy yells "do it dude!" I look down and I am at 26mph flying by people. With about 4 miles to go, I open my bento box to get my last two Endurolytes for the run and off they go, like a kite in the wind - at that point, nothing surprised me. So I get out of the saddle and stretch the legs. Surprisingly, my legs feel great. They are not even tired! Thank goodness for taper week!
What would you do differently?:Umm, not get a flat. That would have been nice.
T2
Comments:
Good T2. With 3300 contestants, it was a huge transition area. I was kind of in the middle.
What would you do differently?:Nothing.
Run
Comments:
The run course was awesome. Coming out of T2, my legs felt great. They were not even fatigued, I knew I had made up some time on the bike that I lost changing flat. If I had a good run, I thought I may still be able to break 6 hours. I am going along for the first couple miles and they seemed to go by pretty quickly. I hear my Garmin go off after the first mile and I look down - 8:36 pace. Whoa, I need to slow down! Mile 2 was around 8:54 pace. During this time, I have my entire support crew (6 people) cheering me on at different points throughout the race. They were easy to spot since they were wearing shirts my wife had made. Check out the pics below. They are really cool! As I get to mile 5, I feel a blister developing on the ball of my right foot. Somehow a couple miles later it goes away, not sure how that happened, but I wasn't asking questions. The course had aid stations every 1.5 miles. They had GE, water, Powerbars, PowerGels, bananas and cold sponges - I love those things. My nutrition was right on. I take my first gel at mile 1.5 since that's where the water was. I take my second at mile 6. Still feeling good. I get to mile 7 and I start to have a slight problem - a blister is developing on my right heel. I was afraid of this, but the lady at the running store told me not to worry about it, I won't get blisters with these shoes. They were made to not wear socks with. Mile 8, left heel starts hurting- pretty badly too. By mile 9, I can't stand it. I'm sure most of it was from the water I was dumping on my head to keep cool, but it really hurts! Now, my quads were beginning to feel the effects of some cramps. At the aid station, I grabbed a banana, GE, water, everthing I could get my hands on. By mile 10, it all hit my stomach - like someone dropped a bowling ball in there. I walked for about 100 yds, then told myself, "you've only got a 5k left, you can do this." I start running again and get to mile 11. At this point, my legs are starting to get numb and I can no longer feel the pain from my blisters and I pick up the pace. Once I get to mile 12 I told myself "give it all you've got. Only one mile left." I can't say I sprinted the last mile, but it sure felt that way. The finish line was awesome. There were people three rows deep for the last 400 yds. I was the only coming down the chute and I hear "Here comes triathlete #278, Chris Dill from Greer, South Carolina" and everyone let's out a loud cheer. It was amazing. The main clock said 5:49 when I crossed the finish line but I knew they had thrown in a few extra minutes right before my wave. I knew I had broken 6 hours.
What would you do differently?:Wear socks!
Post race:
Warm down:
Found my support crew, drank a bunch of water and Gatorade.
What limited your ability to perform faster:
Flat tire, blisters, and late start. Overall being my first HIM, I have thrilled with my results. I was hoping to break 6 hours and to know if I did not get the flat, I could have been around 5:20. To me, that was unthinkable.
Event comments:
Being an inaugural event, there are things that will need adjustments, but with this race the only thing I would have liked to see were more buses race morning. Other than that, I had an amazing experience. Everything was on time. The race crew did a great job organizing the event with the town of Augusta. The volunteers were so helpful. I don't have any other M-Dot race to compare this to, but if they are better, I can't see how. Great job by all.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
The final day is here... The last day before I get see if my months of training has prepared me for my race. I have come a long way since I orginally signed up - very little experience on a road bike, nevermind a tri-bike, lack of running knowledge and an amount of self doubt. I have learned alot about myself over the past eight months. My main reasons for doing this race was to prove to myself two things: I can make a long term, self fullfiling commitment and keep it and to see how mentally strong I really am. It is very easy to say you are going to do something that's a year away and have it sound good, then during the time leading up quietly back out. I wanted to make sure this did not happen. If I signed up for this race and didn't show up, nobody would know. Nobody would care- except me. All of my training has proved to me that I am a strong person mentally. I did those early morning workouts and even got some in after working for 15 hours. I am ready. I am prepared. I will finish this race. The excitement has been building this entire week and I can't wait to jump in the water at 7:42 on Sunday morning. 6 hours later, I will be half way there.
Here are a few pics some people sent me showing the transition area on Friday:
Swim exit
My next post will be on Monday with a full race report. I will warn you, it will probably be a long one. You can track my progress live at www.ironman.com.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Three days left...
Three days and counting. I just got my bike back from Carolina Triathlon after it's final tune up. It even looks fast! Check out those race wheels!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Final week
I am now entering the final week of preparations for Ironman Augusta 70.3. I am feeling pretty good. Over the past week, my workouts have been getting shorter, but more intense. After my run today, I officially begin my taper. From here on, I will not have any workouts longer than 40 minutes. This is the time to let my body recover and get fully charged up. My diet is also a consideration for this week. I will be eating quite a bit of lean protein and carbs and drinking a ton of water. The biggest change will be the addition of salt to my diet. Adding extra salt allows my body to retain water much easier. After my workout tomorrow, I will be taking my bike to Carolina Triathlon for it's final pre-race tune up. My running shoes should be broken in. I had a great swim yesterday. I felt real strong throughout and great after. From what I have read, the current may be a pretty decent aid in the swim. That is great news.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Less than two weeks
It is now less than two weeks until my race. Thursday was my last long run day. I ran 11 miles and kept a pace under 10 min / mile. Tomorrow is my last long bike ride. My plan is to drive to Augusta and ride the bike course (56 miles). Beginning Wednesday, I shift gears from long training days to shorter, but much more intense speed training sessions.
I have also begun my logistical planning sessions. I need to get my new running shoes in order to break them in enough for race day. While on that side of town, I am going to head to Carolina Triathlon to pick up my raceday nutrition (Strawberry/ Banana Gu, White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cliff Bars), look at renting some race wheels, and schedule my final tuneup before the race.
While in Augusta, I am going to check out the transition area, hotel location, run terrain, and just the overall layout of the race.
I have also begun my logistical planning sessions. I need to get my new running shoes in order to break them in enough for race day. While on that side of town, I am going to head to Carolina Triathlon to pick up my raceday nutrition (Strawberry/ Banana Gu, White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cliff Bars), look at renting some race wheels, and schedule my final tuneup before the race.
While in Augusta, I am going to check out the transition area, hotel location, run terrain, and just the overall layout of the race.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Good workouts
Things seem to be coming together. I am feeling really strong right now. I haven't done many long swims lately but might try to get a couple in during the next couple weeks. I have heard about the open water swim groups in Clemson on Wednesday evenings. I might try to catch one of those before the race. This way, I can actually get in another swim in my wetsuit. The shorter, more aggressive swims I have been doing are going well. I can maintain a pretty fast pace even while swimming 1000 meters. I've been able to keep it around 16-17 minutes during my time trials.
I became a little nervous on the bike after reading a few comments about biking on hills vs flats. Most of the terrain in the upstate is fairly hilly. Therefore, there is alot of climbing and some coasting. Knowing this, I try to continue pedaling even on the downhill sections. To make sure I am getting the flatland training in, I have been on my trainer for the past few sessions. This keeps me pedaling the entire time. I have ridden for one hour and one hour, twenty minutes. I was a little concerned at first because I was getting kind of fatigued early on (within that timeframe), but once I got off the bike, I realized that I was actually just getting bored and my legs were fine. That was a relief. The other thing I noticed is that the resistance on the trainer makes it more difficult as well. I can't remember the exact slow down rate after pedaling has stopped, but it seems to slow down pretty quickly, which means the set resistance is higher than that on the road. I'll spend a few more rides on the trainer to make sure I am in where I need to be. I have my last long bike ride (3 hours) scheduled on the 14th. I might try to get in two more. It all depends on what other activities I have scheduled. The long ride might be the Augusta course. We'll see how that turns out.
Running has been going very well. I don't know what it is, but things seem to be improving. Last week, I did a couple shorter runs as well as my long run. The long run was 10 miles and I completed it in 1 hour 30 minutes and felt really good after. Even the next day, my legs were not tight at all. I was extremely surprised. I am attributing this to two things - better fitness (obviously) and cooler weather. When I ran, the temps were around 70 with low humidity. Very nice conditions. I am not expecting this for my race, but we'll see what happens. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
I became a little nervous on the bike after reading a few comments about biking on hills vs flats. Most of the terrain in the upstate is fairly hilly. Therefore, there is alot of climbing and some coasting. Knowing this, I try to continue pedaling even on the downhill sections. To make sure I am getting the flatland training in, I have been on my trainer for the past few sessions. This keeps me pedaling the entire time. I have ridden for one hour and one hour, twenty minutes. I was a little concerned at first because I was getting kind of fatigued early on (within that timeframe), but once I got off the bike, I realized that I was actually just getting bored and my legs were fine. That was a relief. The other thing I noticed is that the resistance on the trainer makes it more difficult as well. I can't remember the exact slow down rate after pedaling has stopped, but it seems to slow down pretty quickly, which means the set resistance is higher than that on the road. I'll spend a few more rides on the trainer to make sure I am in where I need to be. I have my last long bike ride (3 hours) scheduled on the 14th. I might try to get in two more. It all depends on what other activities I have scheduled. The long ride might be the Augusta course. We'll see how that turns out.
Running has been going very well. I don't know what it is, but things seem to be improving. Last week, I did a couple shorter runs as well as my long run. The long run was 10 miles and I completed it in 1 hour 30 minutes and felt really good after. Even the next day, my legs were not tight at all. I was extremely surprised. I am attributing this to two things - better fitness (obviously) and cooler weather. When I ran, the temps were around 70 with low humidity. Very nice conditions. I am not expecting this for my race, but we'll see what happens. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
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