If you’re really bored, read on:
Age group place 65 out of 207
Overall 287 out of 1,060
PETER WARNER 35 ARLINGTON VA
(Swim) 37 35:15 (T1)29 2:35
(Bike) 34 2:30:36 22.3 avg. mph (Cum time & place) 23 3:08:25 (T2)46 2:09
(Run) 111 2:08:59 9:51 avg. pace
Finish Time- 5:19:32
Total Calories: 4500 (rough estimate, does that sound about accurate?)
Avg. HR entire race: 163
Swim: Avg. HR 161 : max 174
Bike: Avg. HR 160: max 182; low 148
Run: Avg. HR 167 ; max 174; low 149
Personal Stats:
Bike: Z1 threshold 145, AT 160
Run: Z1 threshold 150, AT 165
Pre-Race Nutrition: Bowl of oatmeal, blueberry bagel, Sport Drink with carbs, vitamins
Nutrition: One egel about 25 minutes before the swim. Sipped down 4 crank gels on the bike @ 150 Calories. Drank water roughly 4 bottles (sort of lost track. I started with 2 and know I picked up at least 2, maybe 3).
Run: Took egel at mile 1, mile 4, mile 8. Drank water with gels. Downed Coke at mile 10 and 12 and it seemed to perk me up a bit.
RACE DAY:
I actually felt pretty good Sunday morning upon awakening. I had been battling a stomach virus (from something I ate, I believe) the prior week, which really started to concern me when I did my light workout on Saturday. I had a nasty stomach cramp just a few minutes into my light jog after riding for 30 minutes. I rarely cramp, so this was more than a little disturbing. I chalked it up to part of the recovery process from the virus. Thankfully, my wife (who is naturally smarter than me) went to her doctor on Friday because she was having stomach cramps as well. She shared some of her antibiotics, which I took Friday evening and Saturday.
Nothing out of the ordinary as far as race set up went. Said hello to Martin and Eduardo and began waiting in line to take care of business. I wish they would leave about 4 porto-potty’s open to the age group on deck, so racers wouldn’t have to wait in line so long and then just barely make it to their wave. Slipped into my wetsuit a few minutes before my swim wave was ready and jumped in the water for a little warm-up. Deep down inside, my goal was to finish under 5 hours. I realized with the weather forecast calling for upper 80’s & high humidity, this was going to be a real test. I wasn’t going to injure myself trying.
Swim: I felt pretty good the entire swim. I tried not to kick very much in order to save my legs as much as possible. I felt like I was zigzagging a lot on the way out. I was attempting to draft off a few others in front of me, but I soon realized that they weren’t holding very good lines, so at the turn I went it alone. A couple of times, I felt some pretty good swells and lost the orange buoys, but overall I was pleased with my time. I had a feeling the swim was taking everyone a little longer than normal.
Bike: Well, I guess everyone has their favorite discipline and the bike is definitely mine. For some reason, I’m able to get in a very comfortable mental zone while I ride and avoid distractions. My wife and her little brother gave me a good shout out as left the transition area. It was nice to see them. My strategy was to get up to speed pretty quick and hold a comfortable pace until I arrived at Church Road. As Eric pointed out, if the wind was blowing against me here, I knew I would catch some tailwind on the second half of the race. I kept the cadence pretty high and averaged around 19-21 mph for this section. My HR was hovering around 170 for about the first 30 minutes, but my perceived effort felt like around 150. When I got to the halfway point and some wind behind me, I picked it up considerably and averaged around 23-26 mph. Generally, my HR stayed between 152-157 for the second half of the race. I said hello to many members of the IMFL team out on the bike, Andrew, Greg, Eduardo & Kevin. It really does help to be in a jersey you can recognize and see a familiar face out there. I can’t really recall how many times I had to politely tell other racers that they were blocking and they needed to either please pass or move over. I actually had guys move over across the double lines to let me by on the right and then I’d have to tell them that it’s a penalty for me if I pass on the right. I’ve come to realize that blocking is a foreign concept to many racers. I even tried to save one guy from a penalty as the official was jotting his race number down right next to him from blocking about 3 of us from passing. The final 2-3 miles I backed off the throttle and went to a high cadence. I remembered (unlike Columbia) to get out of my shoes with a ½ mile to go so I could dismount and start a quick transition into the run.
Run: I started the run thinking I had a shot at a sub 5 hour race. If I could run a 01:50:00 half, I could make it. Maybe I was already delusional at this point from the heat! Although I wore my HR monitor the entire race, I’m contemplating now if it was such a great idea. High fived Igda's little brother (Emir) as I headed out. I looked down at about the ½ mile mark and my HR was about 175. I thought, holy crap, I can’t run this ½ marathon at an HR that high. I ducked into the porto-potty and had some time to collect myself and then I was off. At about mile 3, I lost total mental focus! I think I was too concerned with my HR. I started doubting myself and the negative thoughts crept in. I should have broken it down into small segments and whittled away at the course. Instead I was preoccupied with the enormous challenge ahead of me. I threw ice in my hat and downed water at every stop. I was resorted to walking at each water stop. Well, my walks kept stretching out a little longer at each pit stop. I remember seeing Stacy at the 5 mile marker cheering me on. A few minutes later, I was thinking to myself. Hey, she’s supposed to be racing, too, I think. Maybe she had the right idea. Maybe I should stop and cheer people on. I’m telling you, I thought about everything other than the task at hand. There was one stretch between miles 7-9 that I thought I was running in “Death Valley” mid-summer. My cooling system was on overload when Eric rode by to offer encouragement around mile 10. I grabbed a Coke and downed it and immediately began to feel better, so off I charged…uh…trot. I only stopped on one more occasion after mile 10, but I did manage to suck it up and polish off the last mile without stopping…although I think I could have walked faster. During that final mile, I do remember hearing Eric’s voice in my head from the meeting the day before, “I want you to finish the race feeling strong and that you could keep going. Your final 10k should feel strong.” I must admit that I failed that part of the test. I was just happy to make it to the finish line! I really didn’t care to feel like running any farther….sorry.
To reiterate something everyone has touched on, Eric & Gail, it was great having you out there cheering us on during the run. It meant a lot. Next time, though, I’ll trade you for your bike (yes, that negative thought occurred as well during my run). Congratulations to all and Eduardo if you’re reading this, I hope to see you back in action soon. Get well!
Pete
Things I feel I did well:
Training- Stuck to the plan. Trained consistently. Missed very few workouts. Sticking with IT band therapy from Dr. K as prescribed.
Preparation- I don’t think there’s anymore I could do for the swim or bike. I was very happy with those results.
Race Day: Stayed very relaxed on the swim. Felt like I was zigzagging a little bit. Tried to avoid kicking as much as possible. Another good thing was that I didn’t suffer any IT band issues. My bike fit was pretty comfortable. I never really felt that I had to stretch out my back. Naturally, it was little tight towards the end, but nothing noticeable. Transitions were pretty smooth and fairly quick. Kept mentally focused on the swim and bike.
Thing I feel I didn’t do well:
Training- Be more consistent with nutrition plan and stick to it.
Preparation- Returning from 10 day vacation 1 week out from race day not a great idea. I put on 5 pounds and ate like a king.
Race Day- Nutritionally, I don’t think I took in enough calories. I was worried after having a stomach virus the prior week that anything solid may be a bad idea. So I just went with the egels. I took 4 on the bike and 3 on the run for a total of 1,000 calories. When you saw me I was drinking Coke and I seemed to feel a lot better about 3 or 4 minutes after that. I probably should have slowed it up on the bike to save up for the run. I lost considerable time on the run relative to my age group. I got mentally distracted on the run. The gremlin got the best of me. I didn’t stay positive through the pain.
Solutions:
Do more bike to run workouts. Must get more comfortable off the bike.
Need to improve running economy on the run. Don’t know if adding some more speedwork to my routine will help or if once/week is enough??
Get out and train in the heat, Acclimate!
Perform more core work, suffered some side stitches on the run and stomach is a little sore today.
I need to check with Dr. Kathy about the full length orthotics. When they get wet, they get heavy.
I need to keep working on breathing every 3rd stroke on the swim. Reverted back to two stroke breathing during race.
I need to calculate my sweat rate.
When I feel really good on the bike, maybe I should tone it down a notch because I’m probably pushing too hard.
Come up with a better nutrition plan!
Practice staying mentally focused on the run! I’m going to have to put myself through some tough workouts to build my focus and practice executing the mental strategies.
a. Positive self-talk
b. Realize pain is inevitable and not to fear it
c. Focus on breathing
d. Focusing on segments of the race rather than the overall result (here and now)
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