A Perfect Storm
On Sunday, I raced the 4th annual Spirit of Racine Half. It turned out to be the best race of my career. The weather was perfect, mid 60's at the start, sunny, a slight northeasterly wind ( blowing in off the lake to keep things cool ). Couldn't ask for better conditions.
Swim
I seeded myself in the front row, on the buoy line. It was the most 'washing machine' of any of my starts. Lots of arms, legs, bodies thrashing in the water. It sorted out by the first buoy though.
I was able to draft about 90% of the race. I found some good feet, and hung on for dear life. This was my best drafting job ever. I stayed with the same guy the entire leg down the beach. I lost him at the final buoy when we turned into the beach, but at that point it was good.
There's about a 250 yd run across the beach to T1. So I took my wetsuit off in the ankle deep water, rather than run across the beach encased in neoprene. It added to my swim time, but made for a fast T1 time.
Looking at overall times, the swim seems a bit long. It also includes the run time up to transition from the water exit.
Time: 34:36
T1
Suit got a hung up on the chip taking it off in the water at the end of the swim. When I got to my rack, I threw my stuff down, and apparently my goggles went in the front wheel. I start running with my bike, and noticed my goggles were broken and hung up in the spokes. I retrieved them, and threw them back by my stuff. Good thing I didn't need them any more.
There's a hill out of T1, but it's not long, so I decided to leave shoes on the bike, rather than run with them. It actually is easier to ride with feet on top, than to attempt to clip in, so that helped. I kicked out the bottle I had in my bike seat bottle carrier while mounting. It was just water, so I didn't go back for it. I had a full aero bottle, and my Perpetuem mix was on the downtube. First water handup was 15 miles, and I knew I could last until then with what I had.
Despite the mishaps, I had a good T1.
Time: 1:09
Bike
Biked very well. I was able to push a fast pace, without massive amounts of power. I averaged 187 watts for the ride, which is low for the speed that I held. It's a fast course.
I used my aero-helmet, as the weather was a gift. Cool from the start, so I didn't have to worry about overheating.
Since I lost a bottle at the start, I made sure to pickup 2 water bottles at the first hand-up. Refilled my aero bottle, dumped the rest over my head and back to keep cool, and stashed the second one in my bottle carrier for backup.
Took 1 bottle at each of the remaining aid stations. Topped off aero bottle and dumped the rest over my head and back. It worked well for Floyd, and it worked well for me. ;)
At the last aid station, I tossed the spare bottle, and topped off my aero bottle for the last 15 miles in, so I was running as light as possible.
Zipps were awesome, as was the aero helmet. Great combo. It definitely aided my time, as when we had headwinds, I was able to hold my power zones and pass people with less aero setups.
Nutrition was: 1 bottle of perp ( 5 scoops + 2 gels + 3 endurolytes ), and 2 more hits of hammer gel from my flask, about 3.5 aero bottles worth of water. Nailed nutrition and hydration. No gas, no bloating, no having to pee 800 times.
Time: 2:35
T2
T2 was a little fun. I was the first one back in my row. The racks were a-frame design. As I was lifting my bike up to hook the seat, I hit the bar and one side of the a-frame legs fell off. I made a split second decision not to fix it, and rested the bar on the a-frame of the next section of rack. It worked. Phew, problem solved.
Put on socks, shoes, visor. Grabbed race belt, small flask of heed, and my endurolytes. I *FORGOT* my two gels for the run. Doh! Fortunately, they had hammer gels on the run, so I ended up getting the same gels anyway.
Time: 1:30
Run
First loop was great. By second loop, one my shoes was damp, which sucked, as I started getting blisters on bottom of my foot. I ignored the discomfort and kept pushing.
My PR for a standalone 1/2 mary is 1:45. I came out of T2 about 3:14. I knew that I was on track to hit my qualifying time for Half-Max nationals of 5:10 unless I completely imploded on the run. I also thought I had an outside chance at hitting my "secret" goal of a sub-5, but I would have to have the run of my life.
I hit the turn around and saw 4:0x on my watch. I knew then I had a solid shot at sub-5. I was hurting at this point, and getting a bit warmer out, and I had one shoe that was damp. I just kept pushing away the second lap. It hurt, but I knew the sub-5 was possible as long as I didn't crack. I passed the 12 mile marker with about 9 minutes to go before 5 hours, so it was a flat out mile with everything on the line. Somehow I managed to lift my pace back up to a low 8 min mile.
I crossed the line pushing with everything I had. I was right at 5 hours, and wanted very badly to make it. My max HR in the last .1 was well over my run threshold. I got wobbly when they were taking off my timing chip, so I had to kneel down for a few seconds. They asked if I was okay, I assured them I was, then got back on my feet with some assistance and made it out of the post-finish area.
Splits:
Mile 2: 15:30, AHR 154
Mile 3: 7:41, AHR 157
Mile 4: 7:49, AHR 158
Mile 5: 7:52, AHR 159
Mile 7: 16:26, AHR 158 (turnaround, back up the hill)
Mile 8: 8:32, AHR 157
Mile 9: 8:35, AHR 157
Mile 10: 8:36, AHR 158
Mile 11: 8:17, AHR 158
Mile 12: 8:37, AHR 159
Mile 13: 8:17, AHR 162
Mile .1: :36, AHR 167
Time: 1:46.
Official Race Time: 4:59:31
I did it! I made it sub-5 hours, even if only by 30 seconds. I can't really describe how happy I am. I went into this race with a goal of breaking 5:10. I had done the math, and thought that a sub-5 hours HIM was possible, but I didn't think I would hit that at this race, let alone this year! As the title suggests, it was the perfect combination of conditions, preparedness, and execution that led to it.
Swim
I seeded myself in the front row, on the buoy line. It was the most 'washing machine' of any of my starts. Lots of arms, legs, bodies thrashing in the water. It sorted out by the first buoy though.
I was able to draft about 90% of the race. I found some good feet, and hung on for dear life. This was my best drafting job ever. I stayed with the same guy the entire leg down the beach. I lost him at the final buoy when we turned into the beach, but at that point it was good.
There's about a 250 yd run across the beach to T1. So I took my wetsuit off in the ankle deep water, rather than run across the beach encased in neoprene. It added to my swim time, but made for a fast T1 time.
Looking at overall times, the swim seems a bit long. It also includes the run time up to transition from the water exit.
Time: 34:36
T1
Suit got a hung up on the chip taking it off in the water at the end of the swim. When I got to my rack, I threw my stuff down, and apparently my goggles went in the front wheel. I start running with my bike, and noticed my goggles were broken and hung up in the spokes. I retrieved them, and threw them back by my stuff. Good thing I didn't need them any more.
There's a hill out of T1, but it's not long, so I decided to leave shoes on the bike, rather than run with them. It actually is easier to ride with feet on top, than to attempt to clip in, so that helped. I kicked out the bottle I had in my bike seat bottle carrier while mounting. It was just water, so I didn't go back for it. I had a full aero bottle, and my Perpetuem mix was on the downtube. First water handup was 15 miles, and I knew I could last until then with what I had.
Despite the mishaps, I had a good T1.
Time: 1:09
Bike
Biked very well. I was able to push a fast pace, without massive amounts of power. I averaged 187 watts for the ride, which is low for the speed that I held. It's a fast course.
I used my aero-helmet, as the weather was a gift. Cool from the start, so I didn't have to worry about overheating.
Since I lost a bottle at the start, I made sure to pickup 2 water bottles at the first hand-up. Refilled my aero bottle, dumped the rest over my head and back to keep cool, and stashed the second one in my bottle carrier for backup.
Took 1 bottle at each of the remaining aid stations. Topped off aero bottle and dumped the rest over my head and back. It worked well for Floyd, and it worked well for me. ;)
At the last aid station, I tossed the spare bottle, and topped off my aero bottle for the last 15 miles in, so I was running as light as possible.
Zipps were awesome, as was the aero helmet. Great combo. It definitely aided my time, as when we had headwinds, I was able to hold my power zones and pass people with less aero setups.
Nutrition was: 1 bottle of perp ( 5 scoops + 2 gels + 3 endurolytes ), and 2 more hits of hammer gel from my flask, about 3.5 aero bottles worth of water. Nailed nutrition and hydration. No gas, no bloating, no having to pee 800 times.
Time: 2:35
T2
T2 was a little fun. I was the first one back in my row. The racks were a-frame design. As I was lifting my bike up to hook the seat, I hit the bar and one side of the a-frame legs fell off. I made a split second decision not to fix it, and rested the bar on the a-frame of the next section of rack. It worked. Phew, problem solved.
Put on socks, shoes, visor. Grabbed race belt, small flask of heed, and my endurolytes. I *FORGOT* my two gels for the run. Doh! Fortunately, they had hammer gels on the run, so I ended up getting the same gels anyway.
Time: 1:30
Run
First loop was great. By second loop, one my shoes was damp, which sucked, as I started getting blisters on bottom of my foot. I ignored the discomfort and kept pushing.
My PR for a standalone 1/2 mary is 1:45. I came out of T2 about 3:14. I knew that I was on track to hit my qualifying time for Half-Max nationals of 5:10 unless I completely imploded on the run. I also thought I had an outside chance at hitting my "secret" goal of a sub-5, but I would have to have the run of my life.
I hit the turn around and saw 4:0x on my watch. I knew then I had a solid shot at sub-5. I was hurting at this point, and getting a bit warmer out, and I had one shoe that was damp. I just kept pushing away the second lap. It hurt, but I knew the sub-5 was possible as long as I didn't crack. I passed the 12 mile marker with about 9 minutes to go before 5 hours, so it was a flat out mile with everything on the line. Somehow I managed to lift my pace back up to a low 8 min mile.
I crossed the line pushing with everything I had. I was right at 5 hours, and wanted very badly to make it. My max HR in the last .1 was well over my run threshold. I got wobbly when they were taking off my timing chip, so I had to kneel down for a few seconds. They asked if I was okay, I assured them I was, then got back on my feet with some assistance and made it out of the post-finish area.
Splits:
Mile 2: 15:30, AHR 154
Mile 3: 7:41, AHR 157
Mile 4: 7:49, AHR 158
Mile 5: 7:52, AHR 159
Mile 7: 16:26, AHR 158 (turnaround, back up the hill)
Mile 8: 8:32, AHR 157
Mile 9: 8:35, AHR 157
Mile 10: 8:36, AHR 158
Mile 11: 8:17, AHR 158
Mile 12: 8:37, AHR 159
Mile 13: 8:17, AHR 162
Mile .1: :36, AHR 167
Time: 1:46.
Official Race Time: 4:59:31
I did it! I made it sub-5 hours, even if only by 30 seconds. I can't really describe how happy I am. I went into this race with a goal of breaking 5:10. I had done the math, and thought that a sub-5 hours HIM was possible, but I didn't think I would hit that at this race, let alone this year! As the title suggests, it was the perfect combination of conditions, preparedness, and execution that led to it.
posted by Chris Parker at
12:18 PM
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