But first, sorry for the long gap in posts Sports fans. I could say it’s been a crazy fall and winter and spring. Well, I said it, so that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. I hope to give some recaps of my two fall and one spring marathon, as well as the olympic tri I did the week before Eagleman (was that the smartest thing to do? asked Jordana). As a little preview, in case you did not see my Facebook status update last December, I broke the 3 hour barrier at Rehoboth Marathon in December – running a 2:58:19.
But I digest...
After completing her first tri at Rocketts Landing last year, Jordana caught the tri bug and decided she wanted to try Eagleman this year. We both missed the entry deadline. I put myself on the waiting list and she registered as a charity runner for Team Win the Fight to stop melanoma. I got in off the waiting list, so we were both on board. Jordana spent the spring dedicated to training – swimming, biking on the trainer in the basement, running. Me? Nada except doing my spring marathon training (I had a May 6 marathon). Indeed, I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit that prior to Eagleman I had swum and biked only 4 times (including the tri the week before). I believed that my marathon training would carry the day.
Meanwhile, as race day approached we saw the weather forecast showing increasingly hotter temperatures. Oh well – we had a string of about 5 days of really hot weather, oh was it April? Would that suffice for heat acclimation?
Race weekend came. With the grandparents watching the kids, Jordana and I packed our bikes and gear and headed off to Cambridge, Maryland. We went through packet pickup and had enough time to listen to the pre-race talk (to a standing room only crowd). "It wouldn’t be Eagleman without the heat" said the race director. "If it was a cool day, you’d all have just stayed at home, right?" Afterwards, I went through the expo to purchased a new bento box for my bike (my old one was too small to hold the Cliff Shot Blocks that I now rely upon for fueling during the bike portion) and a new set of sunglasses (lost my old ones in Israel). Then, we headed off to the race to rack our bikes (at Eagleman, you rack your bike the day before).
We got to transition and racked our bikes. A number of people were taking practice swims, so we got our wetsuits (the race director said it would be touch and go whether the race would be wetsuit legal – notwithstanding the high air temps, the water was around 75 degrees – 76.1 F being the magic number for whether you can wear wetsuits). We did some practice swimming, which greatly reduced some of Jordana’s anxiety about open-water swimming (the James River at Rocketts Landing, although a river, was like swimming in a pool). On our way back to the car, we saw a few people running – too late for heat acclimation now, I thought.
Back in the car and off to Bethany Beach where we were staying. Lunch at Panera in Salisbury. We made a pasta dinner to carbo load, then headed to the Bethany boardwalk for frozen yogurt. Early to bed and, following Ben Franklin’s wisdom, early to rise. The alarm rang at 4 am Sunday morning and it was time to go! Got our water bottles filled with gatorade and ice, made sure we had everything, then back on the road at 4:30am.
We arrived at the shuttle parking lot at around 5:45, hopped on the bus to the race start, and heard it was going to be a wetsuit legal race. (As an aside, wearing a wetsuit makes the swim much faster.) We arrived at the race and proceeded to set up our respective transition areas. I’ve gotten the hang of this now, and can set up a pretty swell transition area. I helped Jordana with hers. We slathered each other with sunblock – nary a cloud in the sky and there is not an inch of shade on the bike or run course. At 6:45am, we had to exit transition as the pro’s were about to start. Of course, Jordana’s swim wave did not start until 7:58 and mine 8:06 – such is triathlon – so we hung out in the shade or in line for the porto-johns.
Soon it was time to help Jordana into her wetsuit. As I said at Rocketts Landing, the very best part of doing a race with your spouse is kissing him or her good luck just before the start and saying "have a good race" and "see you at the finish." The 7:58 horn went off and off went Jordana! I got my wetsuit on and waited for my start.
The SwimA little confusion at my start. We were standing in the water and heard the race director call out "1 minute to go." Almost immediately, the horn sounded. Some of us started swimming, others looking confused. The race director then shouted "go - start swimming!" So we did.
I started to the side and a bit in back. No need to get swum over by the aggressive faster swimmers. So, I never really encountered much in the way of the cuisinart-start. Yes, I occasionally swam into someone else or was swum over – but not much. I actually had a very good swim. I settled quickly into a good stroke/breathe/sighting rhythm. I sighted very nicely (much better than the week before at Naylor’s Beach).
Not much else to say about the swim. About midway through, I started passing swimmers in the wave in front of me – sometimes wondering if one of those swimmers was Jordana. Likewise, I was passed by a few of the stronger swimmers in the wave behind me.
I finished the swim in 36:52 – almost 10 minutes faster than last year. Some of that is attributable to the wetsuit – you swim much faster wearing one. But not that much faster. So part of it is that I am a stronger and better open water swimmer.
Out of the water, peeled off my wet suit and headed into transition.
T1Had a decent transition. It was a bit slower than last year, but that is mostly due to having to take off a wetsuit. Of course, I could spend hours practicing, but why, really. My T1 time was 3:23. Last year it was 2:59. Anyhow, off to the bike.
The BikeI really wasn’t sure what to expect on the bike. I expected a faster swim if only because I was wearing a wetsuit. I didn’t know what to expect now. I hoped to bike a bit faster than last year, but then I biked faster than I thought I would last year. Anyhow, I ate a Cliff chomp and had some gatorade to replenish after the swim and settled into aero position.
The one thing I noticed pretty quickly was that I was cycling at a good clip – ranging between 20 and 22 mph. I also noticed that I was passing a lot more cyclists than were passing me. So I felt pretty good. I felt comfortable in the bike. I kept to my fueling regimen of a cliff chomp and gatorade every 10 minutes.
At the 20 and 40 mile marks, I realized my times were such that I was probably going to bike faster than last year. At around halfway through the bike, I found myself often getting very anxious for the 10 minute fueling/hydrating mark to arrive – not so much because I was hungry but because I was thirsty. I also found myself going through my gatorade much quicker (I was carrying three bottles). Indeed, I ended up taking a fourth bottle at one of the aid stations. I probably should have focused on that a bit more but, alas, did not.
At around 40 miles, I started to feel the strain of maintaining a super-20mph pace and found myself having to work harder to pedal that fast. Indeed, my speed was more in the 18 - 19mph. I also noticed, but again, did not focus on, the fact that when I stood up into power position, I could feel the faintest hint of quivering in my quads. I did start thinking, though, that maybe I was pushing the bike portion to hard. After all, I still had a half marathon in the hot sun to run. Not that I made any conscious decision to slow down, but I think my body did.
Eventually, I passed the 50 mile mark – 6 to go. Around this point, the bike and run portion meet and we triathletes starting in the later swim waves get to look jealously at those athletes who were on the "back" portion of the out-and-back run course.
I rode to the finish, crossed the dismount line and ran the bike back into transition.
Bike time: 2:49:36 (19.81 mph average) and a bit over 6 minutes faster than last year.
T2Another decent transition. Switched biking for running gear. I realized that I hadn’t started my Garmin before the bike so quickly turned it on and hoped that it would lock signal before I was done getting my shoes on. I was really hot now, and sweating. I had a bottle full of water for my feet (in case they were sandy after the swim, which they weren’t) so I dumped almost all of it on my head and chest. The watch got signal, and I was off. Grabbed a cup of gatorade as I headed out of transition.
T2 time: 3:04 (last year it was 3:00)
The Run (or welcome to the lava fields)The run, what can I say. My legs felt fine (as last year, my legs felt better after biking 56 miles than they did at olympic tri’s having biked only 24 or 26 miles – go figure). My first mile was a nice 7:04 pace. My spirits were up, having just been cheered on by Big Al Navidi (thanks for coming out)!! I looked at my overall time and thought, if I can keep this pace up I will have an awesome PR.
Famous last words. The next mile was a 7:28. The mile after that was a 7:58. Then my Garmin shut off (I had left it on top of my running hat in the blazing sun and it just overheated – I remember how hot if felt when I put it on my wrist). I tried to start it up but it stopped again. Oh well, I thought. Run "naked." Of course, it did not occur to me to just use the "lap" feature of my chronograph.
As with most of my tri’s, I was passing runners left and right – albeit not as quickly as I had hoped. I overheard one runner say to another "welcome to the lava fields" (a reference to the baking lava fields of Kona).
I was so thirsty and not really in the mood for gatorade. At each water stop (about a mile apart) I would grab three cups of water – drink two and pour one on my head. I still had three cliff shot chomps in my pocket – I was planning to take them at the turn around (no stomach for chocolate GU).
Meanwhile, I had not seen Jordana since the start. Pre-race, she was very anxious – would she finish the swim before the cut-off? Would she finish the bike before the cut-off? Would she get a flat tire on the bike? Would she get DQ’ed? Would she DNF? As mentioned, a portion of the bike course and run course parallel each other. As I entered this part of the run course, I scanned all of the incoming bikers. Where was Jordana? Then I saw her cycling by – that was a relief – she had finished the swim and was only about 6 miles out from finishing the bike (in more than enough time to beat the cutoff). Now I could return to focusing on my own heat-baked misery!!!
I kept plodding along (or what felt like plodding). I neared the turnaround and had one of the three remaining chomps. As I was getting the second chomp out, I dropped the package and then it was stepped on by another weary runner. Oh well, at least I had one chomp.
I reached the turnaround in 52:06 (7:57 pace). Only 6.55 miles to go!!
The last 6.55 were mostly a blur of plodding along – running from water stop to water stop, chugging several cups of water and pouring a third over my head. I kept thinking maybe I should just start walking, but realized if I stopped running to walk I would probably never start running again. Meanwhile, shortly after the turnaround, I was passed by a fast running women. Crap – until I looked at her leg "R 24." 24 year old, relay runner. Well, that was OK – she should be running fast, she’s only doing the run portion of a relay – no bike, no swim. Shortly afterwards, another runner passed me. In total, about 5 people passed me (although I may have repassed 2 of them). So much for that goal.
Meanwhile, now I was looking at all the approaching runners for Jordana. Eventually, we passed each other "Hang in there!" I yelled. And kept moving forward. Eventually I passed the 10 mile mark – only 5K to go. I’d like to think that I started picking up the pace. About 1 ½ miles to go, I passed a runner being loaded into an ambulance. That’s not good. Then a mile to go! Again, I’d like to think I picked up the pace even more. I kept thinking, once I cross the finish I can topple over!!
I made it to the finish and like to think I finished strong. My second half time was 55:29 (8:28 pace). Overall run time: 1:47:35 (8:12 pace).
Total time: 5:20:30, a 5minute PR from last year! I was 487th out of 1836, and 49th out of 211 in males 45-49.
And as crappy as I felt on the run, I had the 27th fast run in my age group and my overall place went from 877th after the bike to 487th after the run (moved up 390 places). So not bad.
Post RaceAs I said above, the word for the day was HOT. But there were other words for the day: how about mild hyponatremia? Or dehydration? Or IV in the medical tent? I guess I was sitting in the chairs a little bit too long after the race. I was feeling dizzy and nauseous, my hands and arms were tingling. So they escorted me to the medical tent. The doctors figures I was so combination of mild hyponatremia and dehydrated. So they hooked me up to an IV. An hour later, I felt much better.
I’ve always known I was a heavy sweater, but I think I need to do something about losing so many electrolytes. The first culprit is that I normally drink only half strength gatorade (I use the powder and only put in half the amount). Now gatorade already only minimally replaces electrolytes, and I was only drinking half strength at that. Plus on the run I was drinking almost exclusively water. Previously, I was starting to notice calf cramps and had been starting to take magnesium and potassium supplements. I had taken 500mg magnesium pre-race and 595mg of potassium after the swim (before the bike). I had planned to take another 595mg of potassium after the bike but forgot. And of course, this doesn’t replace the sodium. I have heard a lot about salt tablets (like Succeed S Caps, etc) for sodium replacement and think I will spend the summer and XMP getting used to taking those. Hopefully that will correct my electrolyte imbalances.
All in all, though, Eagleman 70.3 was a blast. Jordana and I had so much fun pre-race and post-race. I am so proud of her finishing the race (despite all her worries). I think she is very proud of herself as well. Indeed, just last night she was talking about next year’s Eagleman....?
There you have it sports fans. In upcoming posts, I’ll try to recap my last three marathons (2011 Marine Corps, 2011 Rehoboth, and 2012 Potomac River Run) and 2012 Naylor’s Beach tri.
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