As of the 2007 cycling season, Omega Pharma will replace Davitamon by Predictor as the main sponsoring brand of the Pro Tour cycling team with top cyclists like Robbie McEwen, Cadel Evans, Leif Hoste, ... In conformity with the current specifications the official name of the team will become Predictor-Lotto.

...

Just as Davitamon, Predictor is one of the seven Star Brands of Omega Pharma, i.e. the international brands of the group. The Predictor assortment of home diagnostics represented last year a turnover of EUR 23 million. In the course of next year, a number of line extensions are scheduled to be launched. Similar to the objective for Davitamon at the beginning of the sponsoring program, Omega Pharma has the ambition to double the turnover of Predictor in five years’ time, thanks to the introduction of line extensions and the investments in brand awareness. The first designs of the team wear will soon be finished and will also feature the names of the co-sponsors like: Brustor, Q8 and Creyf’s. The main color will be the salmon pink tint that is used for the packaging of the best known product in the Predictor range, i.e. the pregnancy test kit.

Somehow, I don't think it will be as cool as it sounds to cruise through the Alps in salmon pink trying to out-hustle the other riders. Another big minus would be the giant pregnancy test kit image on the front/side of the jersey. That being said, it would be much better marketing to dump McEwen and Evans (sprinters) and try to replace them with climbers... the maillot à pois rouge would appear to be more brand friendly for a company who's products main positive/negative indicator is a (pink) dot.

Actually, I've been running in 20-minute spurts for the last week. Then, last Thursday I got the results from my MRI and the report stated, "no evidence of a stress fracture or soft tissue injury."

This is a Good Thing.

Today I went out for a slow paced, 60-minute run. It went very well. Covered just over 6.5 miles! (imagine this run, but only go half way). Hell yea. And, it felt good. No leg pain. A little winded, but that was expected.

I'm very, very stoked.

I've got 10 weeks to get into "fighting" shape... or at least good enough shape to get me through the Goofy Challenge. I'm not looking for land speed records, just a relaxing run with friends and the Loving Wife™.

I've even gone a little nutz and have been thinking about IM-Ken-sucky (/me makes dueling banjos sounds.) even though I've been saying I wouldn't be doing an IM next year. It's hard to a pass up an inaugural event when you have a chance. I've also been to Louisville and it wasn't that bad... time will tell on this one.

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes on getting better. The good vibes helped get me moving!

This (happy) Monday marked 6 weeks since I was diagnosed with a stress fracture of my right tibia. I've not run in 7 weeks since it took a week for me to get an appointment to see the doctor (which is not too shabby, really).

Walking around for the last 2-3 weeks has been pain free. No problems on stairs. The whole body felt pretty good. I have put on about 5 lbs since I stopped running.

With the follow up appointment this afternoon I decided to take ye olde leg out for a jog. I thought it would be migthy dumb of me to walk into the doctor's office saying I felt fine and then have the leg collapse or something the first time I went out. Out the door at 6:00 AM for a 20-minute out-and-back along the recently repaired D&R Canal.

The run itself felt pretty good. Leg didn't hurt. My hamstrings have lost more strength than I realized or expected. Lung power felt okay, but I was clearly a little more winded than I'd like to be. Not pain per-say in the lower leg after 2-miles. Felt more like a classic shin splint than anything else. All discomfort went away within 15 mins of ending the run and while there wasn't pain, I was aware than the musles in that lower leg had been used.

Confidence was high.

The appointment didn't go as well as I would have liked. Doctor asked me how it was going. I told him about my run and the resulting discomfort after the run and that while it didn't hurt, it didn't feel like the left (injury free) leg.

He then proceeded to feel up my leg and jam his thumb into inside shin about 6-8 inches above the ankle. "Does this hurt? You're making a face." Well, yea, it hurts. If you did that to the other leg, it would hurt too.

He thinks the stress fracture may not have healed. Wants me to get an MRI and continue to not run until we have a chance to look at the films. &^%$#!!!

Personally, I do not think this is a stress fracture. It feels like a muscle injury. What really pisses me off is that if I'm going to be able to complete the Goofy Challange in 13 weeks I need to get out there on the road. With about a weeks time between now and when I can schedule a MRI... and when they have an open slot at the MRI machine... and a trip to China some time around the 23rd... it could be well into November until I get a chance to see the MD and find out what is actually wrong. Never mind how long it takes to actually heal the injury.

This is bringing me down. I think as long as the pain doesn't rise above what I had this morning, I'm going to try and slip in a 30-minute run everyday in addition to spinning and swimming. How unwise does that seem?

]]> tag:www.ayerd.com,2006:/triathlon//3.812 2006-09-18T19:08:49Z 2007-02-01T03:50:29Z

Check it out, you can see my finish on IronmanLive.com. I hope they keep that up there for a while. It is very cool.

OMG, the guys at IM-CDA kicks ass.

After Florida I expected to spend the whole two days before the race running around and waiting in various lines to get my chip and bags. CDA had it down. Cold. Cruised into the Athlete Village about an hour after they opened on Friday morning to score the paperwork and pick my bike up from TriBikeTransport. Instead of a huge line that stretched into forever with no clear direction on where to go next, here there was a short line to confirm my number, fill out the waiver, have my ID checked, get weighed, pick up the wrist band, and get the bag with all the other bags. Timing chip was verified on the way out of the tent. The whole thing took about 15 minutes. A large improvement over the 4-5 hours spent in Florida.

The bike made the trip across country without any big problems developing. The handlebar tape did get a little dinged, but the super- nice guys at the pick up offered to fix it and/or pay for new tape if I wanted someone else to re-tape the bar. Luckily, the fine folks at Elite Bicycle sent out Max to take of any Elite bikes in the race. Nothing eases pre-race bike jitters like knowing the person making that last bike check is the guy who put it together back in Philadelphia.

After the bike and bags, it was time to walk around the Village and score some overpriced Ironman-branded merchandise.

Then it was back to the hotel to pack the bags and generally sit around eating and drinking lots of salt-laden fluids.

Overall, it was a stress free registration. A big improvement over Florida. I'm not sure if it was me knowing what to expect. a difference in how the race was organized, or just the feeling in the air knowing the whole city was gearing up to cheer for the race. Probably a little of all three.

The Swim

The swim start was stressful. Nothing like lining up on the beach with 2,500 other people waiting for a cannon to go off so you can start an Ironman. I thought about headig in to the water — which was a comfortable, if somewhat face numbing 60° — but decided to pass. I've been swimming before. No matter how good, bad, hot, or cold you feel at the start of a swim all you need to do is get your arms moving. The body knows what to do and after a few strokes you're comfortable and moving with a purpose.

Waited on the beach for the start with Karen who was starting her first IM and full of nerves. She tends to get nervous before any and all racing events. A 5K soups her up just as much as Ironman. Still, it wasn't as bad as I thought and I knew she was going to have a great day.

Bang.

The swim awful. I love open water swims. My favorite swim of all time is a 1-miler that was held in 6-8 foot seas. This swim sucked. I got punched. Kicked a few times. Couldn't take more than a single stroke or two before hitting someone else. It was relentless. I just kept moving and spent the time praying the person in front of my wouldn't develop a sudden urge to start kicking.

The first loop felt pretty good. Wasn't tired but my goggles had taken on some water after someone caught my head with their hand on the second turn. Walking up to the timing mat I pulled the goggles off and tried to re-set them before jumping in for round 2.

Second loop was a little better. We were starting to space ourselves out and there was at least a little swimming room. The turns were still Hellish and there was a drop or two of water trapped in my left goggle. More irritating than a real problem. At least it gave me something to think about while working my way through the last 1.2 miles.

T1

Coming out of the water is always a tough for me mentally. My biking is fairly average and the stronger riders seems to spend all day passing me. The key is to not loose track of my race and instead try and keep up with them. I normally use the walk out of the water to keep telling myself to stick with my race and let them worry about theirs.

Sadly, once again I had sunscreen problems in transition. During Florida I spaced and missed the sunscreen applicators on the way to my bike. This time I stopped for the sunscreen but instead of happy folks smearing the 'screen on my arms and legs, they were using this new spray-on product. I pulled over for the misting, but even as I walked away from them, I knew it wasn't going to work. /sigh

I got very luck in terms of transition placement. On the outside, near the exit, next to a big tree. Very easy to find and I had a clear path from the tent to the bike.

Bike

Idaho ain't Florida. The ride in Florida is like a 6-hour spin class. You just drop into the aerobars and pedal away. Idaho has hills, nay mountains, and lots of turns. Getting on the bike felt pretty good after the swim. Started out of transition by zipping through town following the run course for a while before passing the run turn-around and heading up a nice little climb before the road dead ends and you head back to town. That part of the trip took about 40 minutes.

Back through town and now we started the hard part. Just outside of the city there was the first real climb of the day. Whoa. Up and up and up. It actually wasn't too steep but made up for it with distance. Over the top and down a fairly fast and twisty stretch of road. Nothing makes you respect the "go slow" signs like a sharp corner with no safety rail and a 50+ foot plunge waiting for you if you miss the turn.

The second climb of the day was exponentially worse than the first. Just after a nifty downhill we made a sharp left to drop all the momentum and then started a 1-mile or so fairly steep climb. Ick. I was already pretty sure I didn't want to go up that thing again.

A bit more downhill then it was time to settle in to the aero position for a mostly flat ride through farmland, a Go-Cart race track, along a train-track overpass (covered with plywood for the day), and then up, and back to town.

Loop 2 was a disaster.

The temperature started to peak for the day right around 100 degrees. The sun was relentless. It all got to me. I was taking in a bottle to a bottle-and-a-half every hour, but couldn't seem to take in anything more substantial than Gu every hour. I tried to gosh on my Cliff Bars, but I could tell as soon as they hit my mouth it wasn't going to work. Even taking all that liquid I stopped sweating around hour 4 and my calories in where hovering around 200-250. Not nearly enough and my stomach was twisting away. Not bad enough to stop, but every time I went to put food in my mouth it started to complain.

The second loop and the two hard climbs were as bad as I expected. The heat was really getting to me and I think there was some mental pain as well. I had hopes of doing just a bit better than Florida and it was starting to fall apart.

Just past my second time into the Go-Cart track turned Velodrome I saw some guy having a bad nutrition day. Just for the record, apparently you can barf on moving bike without crashing. Hopefully I'll never have to give that one a try, but it is good to know it is possible.

Needless to say, I was happy to get off that bike.

T2

Sitting the shade of the changing tent for a minute or two helped the stomach. Not a lot, but enough that I didn't think I'd kill myself if I started the run. I was a bit concerned because even though I had taken in as much fluid as I could handle, I still hadn't felt the need to take a leak since just after the swim. A bad, bad sign.

Run

The run actually started out pretty well. Shot of the tent and first mile felt nice. I knew I needed some serious liquid so as soon as I hit the first aid station I dropped to a walk an picked up a few cups of Gatorade. I'm sure I could use the salt and calories as much as the liquid. After that first aid station I settled into a run (shamble) 8-minutes/walk 2-minutes pattern with extra walking when I got the aid stations. I was pretty sure a great time was no longer in my future but I knew I had plenty of time to finish so as long as I kept moving.

I hit mile 7 one hour into my run. Blazing speed for me. Alas, when I tried to start running again, I could tell it was over. (This continues to piss me off. Why can't I make it through the longish run at the end of a triathlon? I just reach this wall and am unable to move my legs. True, I was a little woozy from the lack of fluids, but other wise I felt pretty good.)

I thought about it for a bit I knew there was nothing left to do but buckle down and start walking as best as I could. When I felt up to it, I put in a minute or two of running.

Near the start of the second loop I caught up with this fine fellow, Dwight. It was his first IM and was thrilled to be as far along as he was. We started talking and ended up finishing the marathon together. A long walk, but having someone to talk with made it seem much quicker.

Finish

Ahhh, the finish line. Nothing is sweeter. Just outside of town, the crowds really picked up and that put something extra back in to the tank. The fast walk we had kept up for the last 3 hours became a slow jog. The sun was just starting to set and we really wanted to finish before dark.

Just before the finish line Dwight's two daughters found him so I slowed up a tad to let them get a good finisher's photo.

Crossing the line was better this time than in Florida. There I just wanted to be done: I felt horrible and was more than a little disoriented. Here, it felt good.

Once across the line the great job by the race director came back into place. The "catcher" at the line was this nice tall young woman who held me up, made sure I got something to drink, pointed me at my finisher's medal, got me over to the photo area, and then was leading me over to the food tent when I found Bretta, Karen, and Drew.

As expected Karen had a great race and finished a few hours before me!

Wow, what a great day. My time was better in Florida, but this race seemed more fulfilling. Maybe I realized how great the race itself was? Maybe it was the crowds? Maybe just the day itself? What I do know is that this finish feels like an accomplishment.

I am an Ironman!

Post-Race

Unbelievable thanks to Bretta for helping me get through another Ironman. I know it is not easy putting up with the training, the complaining about the training, and picking up all the little things around the house that I just don't get to. And, did I mention putting up with all the pre/during/post race logistics? Not easy. Not easy at all.

Thanks to Karen for talking me into the race. I got signed up for CDA a few months before IM-Florida. I was hoping it wouldn't suck, and it didn't.

Thanks to Chris for pointing me in the right direction for training. I can say for sure that I would come anywhere near being ready without the training plans and the words of encouragement.

Thanks to everyone else for helping with the long ride, long runs, and generally helping me get through the training. Sometimes that decompression talk during a run or lunch does more good than you realize.

Now, it is time to get back to the business of cleaning up after the latest flood and trying to think of all the cool stuff — sprint tri-s, food, games, Real Life™ — that I want to get between now and the Marine Corps Maration.

The taper is going well. I've gained a bit more weight than I wanted — up to 194 according to the scale this morning. That is around 3-4 pounds more than I'm hoping for during the race. It happened when I cut the exercise for the taper but failed to cut the down the calories in. I'm hoping I can push it down a little before the gun goes off... but being extra careful to make sure I still get enough food-stuff in my maw.

The bike was dropped off at the LBS that deals with Tri Bike Transport yesterday. Pretty painless. It is a somewhat leap of faith that it will make it there. I'm sure it will, but I'm still a little stressed about it. What is they lose the bag with my helmet and pedals? What if aliens abduct the driver and the bikes don't get delivered on time? So many concerns and unreasonable fears, so little time!

One big down-side to the early bike drop off is that I still need to get in a ride or two this weekend. Hummm. I thinking I could (1) blow off the rides or (2) see about catching a spin class (or two or three) at the gym. I need a 2-hour ride on Saturday before a short 30-minute run. Since the usual Spin class is only an hour, I'll need to sneak in way early and get moving. Blowing off the ride sounds like a winner, but my legs are starting to get "twitchy", if you know what I mean.

Weather looks like it might be okay on race day. Dry Day.com claims maybe rain, but Weather.com is claiming (via the highly iffy 10-day forecast) for awesome weather. Here's hoping Weather.com has their shit together. Know what I'm saying?

More later.

Today was a 48K TT that included a Cat 4 climb and then another climb before finishing up with a bit of downhill. CSC's Dave Zabriskie unleashed a honking does of whoop-ass: 52.48. Damn. That works out to just a bit over 30.5 mph (52.48kph).

Tomorrow starts the moutains and I'm pretty stoked to see it unfold.

This year will better. I have a plan. More importantly, I have a better list based on what did and didn't work so well.

True, I still need to decide on clothes and what-not, but, hey, that should technically be the easy part.

Taper time! Feel the Real Life™ start to come back. I'm all tingly... and I'm not talking that feeling you get after you ease out of the saddle after a long ride. Oh yea!

Only 26 days left until Ironman. Gasp. I think I'm ready.

Had two big swims over the weekend. 5K in the pool on Saturday morning (before jumping on the bike for a couple of hours). Then on Sunday there was the Nav-E-Sink swim: a 2.4 mile Ironman format swim. Ready for the 2.4 time? 57 minutes. Oh yea! I was still a little tired from the workout on Saturday and put almost no effort into the swim. 57-minutes! I think my goal of a 55 minute IM swim is really possible.

Special note here: Loving Wife™ also did the swim in a personal best 1:14. I know she said Ironman was a nutz distance to race, but I think she is finding out that as you do more, the distance starts to seem more reasonable.

Monday was a hot, hot, hot with temps in the 90°s. I celebrated with a 2:30 run along the canal path. It was indeed hot, but the 14+ miles I got in didn't feel that bad. This was my first run in real heat since Florida. The body remembered what do to... fluids "in" is the key.

After the run, Bretta and I went out to a local Chinese place for lunch. After my second order from the "lunch" menu we cracked into the fortune cookies. I got a great one:

You have great physical powers and an iron constitution.

I even got some lucky numbers out of the deal. Hell yea.

It was a great weekend. Now to work on my taper. Lots more speed work.... and hopefully more posts!

Here are a few tips for those important people in our lives to help them understand us!

"I am an outdoors type of person." Really means: I train in any type of weather. If it's raining, snowing, 90 degrees w/100 percent humidity, or winds gusting at 30 mph. I don't want to hear any complaints because I will still train in it and you're just a big wuss for complaining about it.

"I enjoy riding my bike." Really means: with or w/o aero bars, alone or in a peleton, I don't care. If you can't do a spur of the moment 30 miler then you're not my type. I will let you draft, but if you can't hang and I drop you - I will see you later. I am a capable mechanic, but don't expect me to change your flats or tune your bike. You need to learn that on your own.

"I enjoy jogging." Really means: Let's run hills until we puke. I have just as many shoes as you only mine are better because they are functional and all look the same.

"I enjoy dining out." Really means: I enjoy eating out, in or anywhere else I can find food. Don't be shy because with the amount of food I eat, you can have that main entree instead of a salad and you will still look as though you eat like a rabbit in comparison. Don't get your limbs too close though as I may take a bite out of you. Most importantly don't expect any taste off my plate unless you can bring something to the party like more food. Eventually though if your not burning 4,000 calories a day your going to plump up and have a terrible complex due to watching me eat deserts and not gain any weight. Friends and family will eventually decide not to dine with us anymore due to my horrid table manners. Oh, and don't ask me any questions during breakfast, Mid Morning Lunch, Lunch, Afternoon lunch, Dinner or Recovery Dinner as it does not lend to efficient food intake.

"I enjoy quiet walks on the beach." Really means: Walks on the beach warming up into an 8 mile run and then plunging myself in the lake for a 2 miler. If you get in my way you're going to find out what mass start is.

"I find fulfillment in charitable work." Really means: If I am not racing, I am volunteering and I expect you to be there along side me as I stand out in 90 degree weather for 8 hours handing out sports drink to cyclists going 20 mph. Just stick the ol' arm out there and hope it doesn't get taken off.

"I enjoy sharing quiet moments together." Really means: It's taper time. Just back off because I am strategizing and in a pissy mood because I am worried about my "A" race and can't workout.

"I am an active person." Really means: Aside from my 40 hour job, and the 8 mandatory hours of sleep a night. 10 hours a week are devoted to me during the off-season and 20 during race season leaving us 4 hours. 2 of which are spent inhaling food and you not talking to me, so let's make the best of the 2 hours we will spend together on average each day. If you are a licensed message therapist or doctor this would make the most optimal use of our time together. Nutritionist is also acceptable, but I probably already know just as much as you.

"I enjoy road trips and leisurely drives." Really means: You have your choice of Wisconsin, Idaho, Florida, California, Arizona, and New York, but don't expect to do much site seeing. If I get enough support from you we might be able to include Hawaii in there.

"I enjoy site seeing." Really means: Lets grab a mountain bike and get our HR's up to RPE 19. There's plenty of time to look around on the descent as trees and bushes whiz by you at 40 mph.

"I like stimulating conversation." Really means: while we are running, we can talk about food. Then we can talk about how we decided what to wear on this run based on the temperature at start time versus the temperature at the time we expect to finish, how horribly out of shape we are, how many miles we did last week, and how many we will do this week and next week. Then we can talk about food.

"I enjoy relaxing soaks in the tub." Really Means: I'm going to stop on the way home and buy two bags of ice, throw them in the tub with some water, and sit in this torture chamber for 30 minutes.

"I'm interested in photography" Really Means: My camera is permanently perched a tripod in front of my trainer. I obsess over taking photos of my bike position and analyzing them to get the perfect setup.

"I'm into in technology" Really Means: My HRM and bike computer are my best friends. Until you can give me some hard data that can improve my training, don't bother trying to buddy up to me. You could one day break into the top three if I find you as entertaining on long runs and rides as my mp3 player.

Another 'Half in the bag. A good race! Maybe could have been a tad faster, but still a good race.

However, Saturday (Saturday... Saturday...) there was NASCAR race scheduled outside of Richmond, VA. You'd think the fans of a sport that revolved around driving would know how to merge. But, they don't. (See a pattern here?) After a trilling 2 hours we traveled almost 10 miles made it past the exit for the speedway. The rest of the trip actually was fairly quick. Got to the hotel around 5:30 instead of 3:30. If you have a chance to stay at the Days Inn in Clinton, SC: don't do it. Room was labeled "Smoke Free", but that was only because we hadn't yet smoked in it. The previous generation or two of guests must have missed the sign. There was a goodly amount of mold in the bathroom. Yea, I've seen worse, but on those occasions I had paid a lot less for the room.

The worst part of the late arrival was that I was forced to push back my last meal before the race by a few hours. That meant I skimped a little bit on the solids and tried to add more liquid calories. Don't think this impacted the race, but you never know. Still got plenty to eat, just wish it was earlier in the day.

The weather on race morning was cloudy, warm, and humid. The clouds were scheduled to burn off later in the day and the tempurature was going to top out around 85°.

Even though there was plenty of time for set-up, getting the timing chip, body marking, and actually getting to the starting line, it went by way to fast. After a quick "good luck" to friends and the Loving Wife™, I had just enough time to suit up and get a few warm-up strokes in before the gun went off.

White Lake itself was pretty nice. Cool — 68°-ish — fresh water. You could almost make out the bottom of the lake even with the clouds overhead.

While waiting for the start I knew that the Tri-Daddy would be in my wave and I wanted to say "Hi" before we got going. I thought about the best way to spot a guy I've never seen before in a group of dudes wearing (fashionable) blue caps, wet suits, and standing around in neck deep water. I decided on a brute force approach: "JOE!?". Luckily, the guy right next to me turned around and it was him! Sweet. Got my "hi" in and wished him well on his first ever Half-Iron distance race.

The swim was everything I expected. I worked my way to the middle-front of the pack before the gun went off tried to put in a bit of effort in at the get-go order to get clear of the gobs of dudes I knew I could out-swim. The course was laid out as a triangle with the start and finish a point at one tip near the shore. After 5 minutes or so, I was with a group of three other guys and we were working together pretty well. I let one of them slip a bit head and tucked in beside his knees for a good draft on the first length of the triangle. Length 2 was more challenging because the guy was drafting dropped back. Me and other two guys were swimming in a tight bunch and I kept smacking the guy on the left with my arm every 4th-5th stoke. At the start of the 3rd length I took a second to see the lay of the land. I could see where the course buoys had drifted a bit out of line. Rather than follow the now oddly shaped course, I took my sight on the finish and off I went. Another of our little group choose the buoys rather than the finish line and I watched him swim away. His loss! Third length was going well and then we ran right into the back of the previous wave. Some weaving, one stop to avoid getting killed by guy with more kick than swimming ability, and the swim was over.

I felt great. Almost no engery spent and the time wasn't too shabby. A little longer than some of my other swims, but nothing to be ashamed of.

The exit from the water was via ladders! Weak. There was a pile up at the nearest ladder, so I took the extra 4 stokes and shimmied up the 2nd and started towards the transition area. I really considered just swimming the last 15 yards to the shore and hoping out, but figured it might be frowned upon.

It only has only taken 3 years, but I think I've finally got a good set-up for the transition area! Bike hooked on to the bar by the break handles. On the seat goes the helmet and then sunglasses pushed into the helmet vents. Across the back tire goes a small towel for getting sand and what-not off my feet before putting on socks and shoes. Right under the bar and to the left is my transition bucket that I use to cart everything around in. After the swim the cap, goggles, and wet suit get dumped into the bucket. To the left of my back wheel is my race belt, socks and bike shoes. To the right there is Gu for the run, my hat, and the running shoes. Keeps everything apart, yet together.

T1 didn't feel too slow and I peaked at my watch after I mounted the bike: 33 minutes. (Talking with Bretta, we think their swim times are off by a bit. Her watch had her swim time about 2-minutes faster... I have the same difference between my watch time and the official time.)

Started out on the bike just as the sky was making a move from partly cloudy to mostly sunny. Then, about 1/2 a mile into it I realized I had my bike number in the wrong spot on the frame. Just a bit too far back on top tube. Each pedal stroke caused one of the corners to rub against one my legs no matter how I pulled and pushed it around. In the end, I just pulled it off and tucked it into a pocket on my jersey. If an official asked, I could produce both the number and a clever story about bad sticky tape!

The bike was dull. Only a few turns and then just follow the road. Parts of the course were overly patched and made for a bumpy ride. The sun also started to come on pretty strong. After 15 mins for my stomach to settle I started on my drink/nutrition plan. With only water available at the aid stations along the course, I knew I would be cutting it close with only two bottles of Gatorade (laced with extra salts). At the first water station after I had an empty Gatorade bottle, I tossed the empty and picked up a water to carry me through the last 15-20 minutes of riding. I felt Calories "in" were pretty good over the distance. Between my Gatorade, Gu, and Cliff/Lara bars, I'm guessing between 300 and 350 cals/hour and 2 and a half bottles of fluid. Maybe a little high on the calories for the distance, but a great practice of my IM nutrition!

My heart rate monitor and bike clock had the bike at around 2:40. The whole ride felt fairly strong. If there was better drink and more food on the course (dare I say a 'Special Needs' bag?), I think I could have gone another 56.

Then the run, my old nemisis. A flat, 2-loop, spiral course. Spiral in 3 miles or so to the turn-around and come back out. Repeat. Very little shade and by this time the sun was in full effect. Saw lots of people stopping to chum along the way. As always, once off the bike I was passed again, and again, and again. I just kept moving my legs because my only real goal on this race day was to run the whole distance. Time wasn't a factor.

First loop felt good but my heart rate refused to drop down to a reasonable level. It started about 10 bps more than my training pace/rate and wouldn't drop. For drink along the run they had Cytomax and water. After trying 1 sip of the Cytomax (lemonade flavored) at the very first aid station I decide the flavor wasn't worth risking it. Since I've never used Cytomax in training I wasn't sure if it would sit well or not. I stuck with gels and water for the run.

Kept moving the whole first loop. Sadly, I don't have a split for that first loop because I screwed up my watch when I reached by to scratch my back. I must have hit every possible button combination and am probably lucky the thing didn't explode. By the second loop I was feeling the heat and the gel/water combo wasn't sitting great. Felt like I needed to belch, but the gel kept getting in the way of a good one. Not real discomfort, but it could have been better. Made the final turn-around and was still running! Around 2 miles from the finish I felt rock lodge into my shoe after running across a sandy lot. The heat, long day, rock made a perfect storm of suck and I dropped to a walk a little way into mile 12 to try and move the rock to a better spot in my shoe. (Kids, don't try this at home. After lots of running on the D&R canal path, I'm pretty good at this.). Alas it wouldn't budge and after a few more steps I had to stop and take off the shoe to get it out.

Mistake.

I tried to get going again, but the usual stuff wasn't working. Bretta, who was doing one loop of the run after the relay swim and who I managed to pass on my second loop, passed me and asked how it was going. I'm pretty sure I said disparaging things about her ancestry but then thought better of it and encouraged her to keep going, I would catch up. Since my only goal was to run the whole time, I was pretty pissed because I wasn't running. I started feeling bad about myself and very bummed in general. After about a quarter mile of cursing and walking, I hit the last aid stations and started jogging again. From there to the finish, it wasn't bad. I was closer then I had realized.

Total race time of 5:49 — bout 10 minutes faster than Eagleman last year and 30 mins better than Timberman! A new PR! But since my goal was to run the 13.1, no gold stars for me.

Still, a good race under pretty icky conditions. Even with the heat and not enough of my liquid of choice on the bike, I felt pretty good nutritionally. The very minor discomfort I encountered during the run didn't last 5 mins past the finish line. The bike was boring but I'm pleased with the time. Transitions went well. Swam at a good pace and wasn't tired after the 1.2 miles. I think the biggest take-away is that I still need to work a smidge on the mental endurance during the run and, as always, run speed.

Über congrats to the TarHeelTri for completing his first ever Half with an awesome time! You're going to rock the course in Florida later this year!