This was my second attempt at the half-Ironman (or “Ironman 70.3″ as they’re now insisting on calling it) distance. The first (Diamondman in 2007) was an almost complete meltdown; I finished that one fourth from last overall, and I was determined to do better than that this time, aiming for better times in all three events.
The day started out fairly warm and only got warmer, and despite multiple assurances at packet pick up the race director called for no wetsuits for the swim. Not a huge deal, I’ve done a non-wetsuit race before and I’m feeling much more confident on the swim in general (though I’m still slower than I’d like to be). Did remember to put lots of body glide on my underarms so there was no chafing this time. Popped into the water, started out fine. Discovered that I was consistently pulling to the left and never seemed to be able to correct without overcorrecting and subsequently zig-zagging all over the course. That had to be the most frustrating part of the swim for me – not being able to swim in a straight line no matter what I did. Zipped out of the water and hit the lap button on my new Garmin 310xt, and saw a very, very disappointing 1:00 time. I had honestly expected to do a hell of a lot better than that based on my Columbia time (forgetting how much of a difference a wetsuit can make). It was very dispiriting, but still faster than Diamondman by over 3 minutes, as well as not feeling completely blown out after the swim, so I took it and ran.
I was expecting wind on the bike, having done rides on the Eastern Shore before. The bursts of speed and slow just seemed to come at random, however. I’d be zipping along at 20+ MPH and then suddenly *bam* the wind would hit and I’d be down to 16 or less. This was the first race where I picked up bottles from volunteers, and I thought it went pretty well. Slowly enough and I was even able to pick up from the first volunteer and fill the Aerodrink and toss the bottle before I was out of the area. Tried that at the second one because I found the grabbed bottles annoying – they didn’t quite fit the water bottle cages, so tended to slip over and hit my calf while pedaling. Also, being able to stop at a port-a-john at the aid station at mile 23 was a godsend. I’m willing to pee during the swim, but I’m not hardcore enough to do so on the bike. Nutrition followed as per plan, lots of water and shot-bloks (I like that I have to chew them). Next race I think I’m going to alternate the margarita ones, which have extra sodium but which seemed to upset my stomach when I popped only them down at regular intervals, with other flavors and see how that goes since the stomach did seem to calm when I switched to the sleeve of mountain berry. Anyway, got in at 3:09, about 6 minutes faster. So far, so good.
The run? What else to say that other club people haven’t? It sucked. No cover, hot as hell, just miserable. I did do a lot better on nutrition this time, paid a lot more attention to how I was feeling, and never felt like I was going to bonk. I carry a hand strap water bottle when I do long runs so I can sip as I feel like I need to rather than depending on aid stations, so I had that on me, and several gel packs in my pockets. I sucked down a cup of Gatorade at almost every aid station, and still managed to almost empty my own water bottle between each station. I must’ve been sweating like mad, ’cause there was never an ounce of pressure on my bladder even with all that liquid. Insane. I never touched the gels, the Gatorade and water were enough. Club support, from other racers, from club volunteers/spectators, and from random folks yelling out “Go DC Tri!” was a huge boost. 90% of the run at Diamondman was completely devoid of spectators because of how the course is set up, so this was a welcome change. Thanks to the multisport time mode on the Garmin I knew with 2 miles out that I was going to get the PR, even if I walked the rest of the way. That felt really good, and provided a little bit of boost to get into the chute. Absolutely fried my shoulders and neck in that sun out on the run, though. Hell, even the top of my scalp is burnt, though the hair! Very glad I wore a visor, so my face isn’t really burnt, but I think a full hat will be in order for the next hot race of any distance. Finished the run in 3:04, a good 10 minutes faster, securing my PR.
Overall, I shaved about 15 minutes off my Diamondman time, finishing in 7:19:18, and nowhere near fourth from last. That felt really, really good, and cemented my record for the season with 4 distance PRs in the 4 races I’ve done to date (half-marathon, 10 miler, Olympic, and half-Iron). Two more races to go, both new distances for me (Total 200 next month, and IM Louisville in August), but so far I’m really, really happy with how this season is turning out.
