The setting: Buck Creek State Park in Springfield, Ohio.
The race: The 2013 Great Buckeye Challenge half Ironman race.
The contender: This guy!
This was it!! My first half Ironman race. I've been thinking about doing this race for over two years. Well, actually, I guess I've been dreaming of doing a full Ironman (140.6 miles, twice the distance of today) for two years, but this was the next step on my journey. I went from being unable to jog one block (no joke), to running a 5K (3.1 miles), then a half marathon (13.1 miles), then an Olympic-canoe-instead-of-swim distance triathlon, then a full marathon (26.2 miles), then a sprint triathlon, and now the half Ironman.
Background: sprints triathlons are the shortest, usually a 500-800 meter swim, 20K (12.4 mile) bike, then 5K (3.1 miles) run. Olympics are next, at 1500 meters of swimming, 40K (24.8 mile) bike, and a 10K (6.2 mile) run. The full Ironman is a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and then full marathon of 26.2 miles. Yes, it's nuts/badass. All done back to back, in one day. The half Ironman is just half of the full: 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run.
I could have done an Olympic triathlon before the half Iron, but the swim (my main concern) is not much different between the two. The Olympic swim is 1500 meters and the half Iron swim is 1.2 miles (1800 meters). I've run one full marathon and 5 half marathons, and I've biked a lot lately. Plus, the LMT that I always talk about is almost an Olympic distance race, and I've done that 4 times. So, I figured I could go for the half instead of doing an Olympic first. I'm glad I did though. What you're about to read has a happy ending.
Springfield, Ohio, is about 30 minutes from Dayton, and about 1:30:00 from Cincinnati. My brother lives in Huber Heights, suburb of Dayton, so I crashed at his place Saturday night. We watched Pain & Gain and had some laughs before bed. This saved me some time, and I woke up at 5am instead of 4am, if I had stayed in Cincinnati. I got up, put on Body Glide all over and then an extra layer of petroleum jelly. I added some Band-Aids to cover my nipples, and put on my Pearl Izumi bib shorts and Cincy Express triathlon top. I like the shorts because they have a big bike pad, which I don't mind running in. My Cincy Express bib shorts are good to bike in, but the leg seam cuts my leg when running. Too bad, because they look sharp with the tri top. Bib shorts are bike shorts with shoulder straps to hold them up and in place. Now that I've used regular shorts and bib shorts, I will only wear the bibs going forward. Otherwise, my shorts fall down and need adjusted constantly. The tri top is basically a tight bike jersey without sleeves, with two pockets in the back.
It took about 25 minutes to drive to the State Park. I forgot to pack sunscreen, and grabbed some at the gas station near the park entrance. When I was leaving the gas station, I saw a line of cars with triathlon bikes on the roof or back making their way into the park. I jumped on the back of the line. It was nice to see so I knew I was in the right place. I parked around 5:30am, and was one of the first people to arrive. My starting time was 8:17am, so this gave me plenty of time to get ready. Rushing would only add to the anxiety of doing my first half. I had a peanut butter sandwich and some Gatorade, and started taking stuff to the transition area. At 5:30am, it was pitch black out and the park had no lights on. Most of the other people getting ready had cave diving headlamps so they could see. I'll remember that for next time.
I ran into three Cincy Express people (Mike, John, & Kim) before the race, got into my wetsuit and joined everyone at the beach. I also talked to two BAM Racing guys (Bill and Joe) and some other non-club guys I met there. For the non-club guys, this was their first half. Mike, John, Bill, and Joe have done this before. I never saw Kim again that day, but she won 2nd in her age group. The Cincy Express girls are crazy fast. They often win their divisions. Mike was doing the Olympic today. I love being part of two triathlon clubs/teams. I have access to several people with many years of triathlon experience. For just $30 a year, I can ask people directly what to do or which races they liked, instead of trying to figure everything out on my own. Not sure which wetsuit to get or what bike setting to use? Ask the group and several people will respond with their opinions. It's great. Not to mention the group training sessions. I love it! Plus, I have people to BS with before/after a race. It's great!
They had several race distances going today: mini, sprint, Olympic, and half. The lake/reservoir was setup for an easy swim, very beginner friendly. We had to swim in a giant "L", if the L was backward and on its back. So, small lap up and down, then way far right and back to the start. The Olympic was the same route without the up and down part. So, the up and down part was only 300 meters, and at the 150m turn around buoy it was shallow enough to touch if needed. The water was 76 degrees, so it was wetsuit legal. This was a relief!
So, I started at 8:17ish with the other 30-49 males and Clydesdales (males 200+ lbs). I signed up as a 215 pound Clydesdale. Until I'm 199, I'm going with the big boys. Better chance of doing well in my division, I figure. I was in the back of the group off the beach, and I walked into the water casually and started swimming. I heard Bill and Joe cheering me on from the shore. It took about 150 meters for me to get a groove and feel comfortable. So, after the up and down buoy, I was in my groove. I pretty much zoned out on the swim after this. The water was not clear and I couldn't see a thing in it. The water temperature was great and it was mirror flat: no waves to worry about. Because I was at the end of the pack, I didn't really bump into too many people. The group behind me was the older guys, and then the ladies. They sent groups off every two minutes. A few ladies passed me and I'm sure the old guys too. But like I said I was pretty much alone, swimming off to the side by myself. I got to the furthest right buoy and zoned back in and asked a kayaker, "Is this the last one?" Sure enough, just a 750 meter swim left and I was done. Along the beach for this last lap and it was shallow enough to stand if needed, but I was fine. I've done the swim distance in the pool many times and I wasn't anxious, so was able to get out of the water without any issues.
I figured I could do the swim in 50-55 minutes, with an hour being a worst case scenario. But I wore my Timex to see my swim split, as I wasn't sure if HFP (the group organizing the race) would give split times. I was out of the water in 45 minutes! Way better than I predicted. Looking back at my race, I could probably shave a few minutes off by learning to site better. I was zigzagging like crazy. But for my first half Iron swim, I'm very happy with my casually paced 45 minute swim. With some effort and experience, I think 40 minutes is possible for me. I wore a swim cap and by the end of the swim it and my goggles were giving me a headache. The transition area was up a big hill and I half walked, gathering myself, then jogged the last half. The official swim time didn't stop until I got to the bikes, so it shows 48:03, ranking my swim 96 of 126 (76%).
It felt like I was in transition all day. Socks, bike shoes, helmet, sunglasses, snacks for bike saddle bag and my shirt, and bike gloves. My time felt slow, but they clocked it at 5:42. I predicted 8-10 minutes. I'm off to a good start.
The bike course wasn't bad at first. I remembered the elevation chart showing a slow incline over 12 miles or so, but the first 20 miles felt really fast. I think there was a tail wind, and the roads were nice and smooth. I set my Garmin 310XT to show 4 numbers: distance traveled, time traveled, current speed, and average speed. I've never used the average speed setting before, but it's great to keep things simple while out there. At mile 28 I was averaging 18.5 mph! I predicted a 4 hour bike time, which is averaging 14 mph. At this point I was feeling on top of the world. I beat my swim time by 10-15 minutes, and was blowing through the bike - even passing some people. I was thinking I might only do 70.3 races going forward. This is my distance!
By about mile 36, I was changing my tune. My back was starting to hurt and I was all out of Gatorade. I blew by the first water station at mile 13 at about 25 mph on a downhill, so I missed a refill opportunity. I had eaten a few things I brought and was looking for the next water station like a dying person looking for water in a desert. Finally, I found it! I refilled my water bottles, took a banana and Coke. Hot, regular, Coca Cola never tasted so good! I ate the banana and a Clif Bar, just sort of strolling along at 14 mph. The last 20 miles of the bike were a grind. I was mostly alone and the wind was fierce most of the time. There were even three short hills that had me in my granny gear and one had me standing while in the granny gear. They were short but tough. The worst one had people walking. Not me! Hah ha, though I was struggling.
I eventually finished the bike. Like I said, I felt great at the beginning. I didn't really push hard, it was all tailwind and seemed easy for the first half. I just fell apart. Oh, and the heat and humidity was pretty bad. Before you think I'm a baby, others were complaining about the heat too. I finished the bike in 3:21:51, averaging 16.5 mph. Again, way ahead of my 4 hour estimate. I even thought 3:30:00 would be nice to hit. So, a 3:21:51 is great, especially since I fell apart on the last 20. I would have been well under 3 hours if I could have held my pace. My bike ranked 111 of 126 (88%).
Here is the Garmin Connect bike data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/369104331 (it took a few minutes for the watch to get a satellite at the beginning)
Here is that same info in Strava:
My second transition felt even slower. My armpits were chafing from rubbing on my shirt, so I put more petroleum jelly on and chugged a Gatorade. Official T2 time was 6:13. Still better than my 8-10 minute estimate.
The run was a mostly flat bike trail out and back, four times. So, basically four 5K's. The trail was almost entirely in the open sun. I got sun burn on my shoulders and neck, and the humidity was in full swing as it was around noon. Very hot. They had water stations every mile though, which really helped. Because of the 3.2 miles out, 3.2 miles back, then repeat, I got to pass people way ahead of me. I saw John from Cincy Express who ended with a personal best of 5:45. I saw Bill and Joe from BAM who were just ahead of me. I tried to close the gap and catch them, but after a couple miles I was toasted. My 13.1 goal time was 2:30 to 2:45, and I wound up walking a ton and finishing in 2:59:19 (107 of 126 or 85%).
My total race time was 7:21:10, ranking me 112 of 126 (89%). I was 4th in my Clydesdale division too, though there were only 4 of us! Hah ha My goal was to just finish, which means under 8 hours. I think they disqualify you after 8 hours. And, I had a stretch goal of 7:30. So, I'm very happy with my time. Coming from me, that says a lot. I'm usually unhappy with several things and pissed at myself. So, this is a nice change.
Here is the Garmin Connect run info: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/369104342
Here is that same info in Strava:
My wife didn't plan on going, though she surprised me with the kids at my mid-13.1 turn around. That helped push me through the last 6 miles. I couldn't imagine watching my crazy son for an hour in the hot sun! At the end, I ran the finishing chute with my kids. It was great. I finished my first half Ironman!! The run was the worst part. The heat killed me, and more bike fitness would have saved me to have a better run. But, you can always train more. But the swim went well, my transitions were okay, and my nutrition plan was fine. I just need more fluids next time.
I'm writing this the day after, and I'm not really too beat up. The full marathon I ran was much worse. Today, my lower back is sore/tight, my quads are sore in the "I had a good workout yesterday" way, and I have sun burn on my shoulders. I have a tiny chafe spot, but otherwise I got off very lucky. My spirits were high yesterday, I loved the crowd and will definitely want to do this again.
My preliminary plan now is to rest a couple days, then focus on speed work as my next race is the LMT. It's a 6 miles canoe, 5 mile run, half mile hill climb, then 18 mile bike. I will work on short distance speed work and keep biking like I have been. After the LMT, some guys from work and I are hoping to run a November 5K that's in Blue Ash and pretty flat. So, the speed work will continue after the LMT. After the next two months of speed work, we'll be in the winter. My winter plan is to bike 6 hours a week, whether in spinning classes or on the bike trainer in the basement. I also want to do 2 hours a week of leg/core strength training. I saw this on a bike speed program. I will save up for a triathlon specific bike, and hope to hit 2014 twice the biker I was yesterday. Because biking is the largest part of triathlons, it's easier to drop 30 minutes off the bike time than the run or swim. I also enjoy the bike A LOT, and hope to one day be decent at it. A triathlon specific bike will be faster with less effort and it'll save my legs for the run because of the frame geometry. I still want to drop another 15-20 pounds to get my power to weight ratio up, and the lighter weight will help my run. I'm pretty okay with the swim. It will get better with time and I'll stick to swimming once or twice a week at the YMCA.
So, I have two more races this season. I think the Buckeye Challenge was my 8th or 9th race of 2013, so I'm winding down and almost done. I hope to break 3 hours at the LMT and 25 minutes at the 5K. These aren't fast times, but good for me.
Here are some photos from yesterday:
Excellent report Brandon! Congratulations!
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