Catching up... Myrtle Beach Half Marathon

Now that a month and a marathon have passed since I did the half in Myrtle Beach, I figured I better follow up over here...

Executive summary: Gun time 1:37:50, chip time 1:37:23... new PR by almost 2 min
19th/196 age group (M40-44), 168th/3128 overall


I've often made the mistake of getting myself caught in between just having fun and racing all-out, and end up really doing neither. But I dare say this was a weekend that I managed to do both. Myrtle Beach has long been a favorite in the Wilmington running community, as it had been the closest marathon until the Wrightsville Beach Marathon started up last year. The recipe for fun was there... Shawn would "just" be doing the half, having already crossed SC off the list... Holly would be making her annual pilgrimage to Myrtle Beach... and our friends Audrey and Dave would be down from St Louis.

Race morning was a mild 55F, but at the beachfront condo we could see a pretty good breeze in the trees, even at 5am. Wind was going to be a factor in some way, but we just didn't yet know how. An easy 15 minute drive had us parked within easy walking distance of start/finish by 6am. About 2/3 of the way through that easy walk to the start, I realized that I left my race number in the car! Thus came my inadvertent warmup jog as I headed back to get it. I was supposed to find my sometimes-training-partner Sami before the start, but she never made it to the designated meetup spot, and at just under 5 feet tall there was no hope of finding her in a crowd.

I've been focused most of the winter on training for Shamrock Marathon, so in a lot of ways this was a train-through race. No real taper, with a 21-miler two weeks before race day, and 17 the week before... but at the same time Coach Kristen had thrown some half-marathon pace runs at me as well. Those runs weren't real encouraging, as I was struggling to hold 7:35s for just 4-5 miles at a time. Between that and keeping the big marathon picture in mind, I thought anything under 1:40 would be pretty optimistic.

When the race started, it was surprisingly easy to find running room even though the half was not at all seeded (unlike the full on the other side of the street). I managed to settle in around a 7:30 pace until the first turn about 3/4 mile in. That's where I finally saw Sami, and edged over to that side of the street. I had to pick it up a bit to hang with her as she was down around 7:15 at that point, but it only felt like so much work. I could feel that heat was likely to be a factor, as it was feeling a bit toasty in the tailwind. We ran together until the water station just after 2 miles... 7:30/7:13

I lost Sami as I walked that water station, and would watch her disappear up the road and lock herself in with the 3:10 marathon pace group. I decided I'd see what I could hold... put some time in the bank and maybe end up with the ugliest PR ever. After all it's still a PR, right? I locked in a good pace as the sun came up over my left shoulder. Crosswind was manageable, and I stayed aerobic. 7:20/7:21/7:29, got me to 5 in 36:53, just under my race PR at that distance.

I thought the turn into Market Common would bring more headwind than it did, probably because I was expecting NW and Mother Nature had already come around to north. A longer walk through the 6-mile aid station to do a gel, but otherwise I pressed on. I will say I liked this new section in Market Common because it provides a really good spectator spot out on the course, something that the old MB course largely lacked. Around the square and back out the way we came, with the 8-mile mark coming just as we got back out to the oceanfront. Starting to get some more Z4, but keeping it just out of the red... 7:21/7:26/7:21

Now it's starting to get warm, and the oceanfront high-rises are a mixed blessing. The shade is nice, but in places the wind is getting deflected in a really nasty way. I'm thinking it's a little early to push through too hard, but somewhere in the 10th mile I end up settling right on my threshold...165bpm. 7:24/7:22... can't touch my 15k PR, but a huge unofficial 10-mile PR of 1:13:47, 2 solid minutes under my split at St Louis last year, and 4 min under my official 10-mile PR from Broad Street in '07.

In the 11th mile, the high-rises are a bit more dense, and the wind that's getting deflected is tough. It's gusty, it's inconsistent, and this is the part of the race that's getting painful. At about 11.4 is the split where the marathoners continue up Ocean Boulevard, and the half makes the turn inland toward the finish. The injured Audrey and local running buddy Frank are cheering at the split, and would later share differing opinions on my pace. Just after the turn is the last water station... I walk it just like I did all the rest, and hope I'm good to go to the finish. We're in full sun now and I wished I had taken another cup to pour down my back. 7:32/7:40, still right on my threshold.

Right around the 12-mile mark I'm trying to figure out who is up the road. Is that... Sami? Can I catch her? It's the last mile, so tailwind and heat be damned I'm digging for whatever is left. I later found out she was too, because I never could take any real time out of her in the last mile. That last turn into the familiar quarter-mile-of-Jersey barriers... round a curve to bring the finish line in sight... there's no catching Sami, and no breaking 1:37 but I don't have much in the tank anyway. 7:27 for mile 13 and 0:58 for what Garmin called 0.13 miles. I'll take a solid PR on marathon-trained legs!

In the chute Sami is beyond ecstatic... "did you see what we just did?!" I'm not sure who had been the bigger sandbagger in the weeks before the race, but we both crushed it. Coach Kristen met me with a high-five and "F**K yeah, dude!" The rest of the morning was spent on race-weary legs cheering home finishers... especially Shawn, and later Holly.

I wasn't done for the weekend, knowing I had 33 miles on the bike on Sunday. So my recovery when we got back to the condo was about 10 min hip-deep in the ocean. Talk about cold!

Nothing too too fancy about the Sunday bike ride. I started close to the front and we quickly shook out a group of 7, which also included triathlon buddies Steve and Katie, and Holly's husband Jim, all 3 of them on fresh legs. I did a lot of work, but was feeling the effects of the half in my legs at quite a few points. I'd say I'm just lucky that Katie was there, or else Steve probably would have split the group. Averaged just over 19mph for the ride, which was actually my longest ride since B2B last November.

If you're still reading, I salute you. Now back to running, and on to Shamrock!

Quasi-short Shamrock Marathon report

Someone remind me to never, ever do that again.

Official finish: 3:49:34 gun time, 3:47:13 chip time, 694/3159 overall, 538/1883 men, 91/310 M40-44

Splits and brief comments...

7M: 59:47 (8:32 pace, think it was a tenth long)... Planned to hold 8:45s for the first 3, but the tailwind changed that. Ran myself out of the 3:50 pace group almost immediately, and felt good enough not to back off. All tailwind out to the turnaround at 5.7 miles. The turn seemed a bit far, because 1-5 were dead-on, but then 6 was at 6.1. A little slow in mile 7 to do a gel, throw away the gloves. Also let a cute runnergirl in obnoxious shamrock shorts take my pic when she saw me on her way out.

13.1M: 1:51:38 (8:29 sector pace)... Had to fight the headwind here, especially for the bridge over Rudee Inlet just before 10, and then a mile and a half on the Boardwalk. Luckily, the concrete surface didn't hurt my legs that badly. In the 13th mile it turned into more of a Z3 race, and I did subtly feel it.

18M: 2:34:59 (8:52 sector pace)... Second gel just after I crossed the mats at halfway, and a quick stop at 16 because I was well-hydrated. Just before 16 I gave the hashers a big "on-on!" and told them I'd be back in an hour. That's also the left turn onto Shore Drive, where there are no spectators, but tunes being blasted at a couple of points, signs with "Confucius say..." and leprechaun jokes, and most important, no headwind.

Finish: 3:47:13 (8:47 sector pace)... Turned into Fort Story... and the wind... at mile 19. These were the tough miles and the Garmin data show that I started to hit the wall in the 21st mile. Switched over to Honey Stinger chews for my nutrition. After the lighthouses at 21, we were done with the wind. BUT...walk breaks were still more frequent, and there was the extra few seconds to enjoy that beer from the hashers just before 23. Sometime after 23, I saw Shawnie on her way out... she wasn't a happy camper. :( Covered the watch up and pushed for whatever I had, and now looking back at the numbers it's a good thing I did. Didn't worry about how much I was slowing down, or how high my HR was getting... just got to the finish, where Holly and Keri were cheering.

After... I could barely move, but I knew I couldn't stop. According to Holly and Keri, I was having issues even forming coherent sentences. That really was all I had. Pretzels looked better than a banana in the chute, and I found my way into the tent for Yuengling and Irish stew. By the second beer, I had color beyond salt-tracking, and was coherent enough that nobody was worried about me passing out or falling asleep in the shower, so I went to get cleaned up so I could come back and see Shawn finish.

Shawn is working on me for Big Sur, and I know there's not much point in doing 21 miles and NOT doing a marathon, but other than that I think I'm pretty content to stick to the half.

Race Report: Beach 2 Battleship Half-Ironman

THE LONG STRANGE TRIP:
I'm Ron and I don't swim worth a damn. But after watching a couple of triathlons back in '06, I thought I'd try it out. The swim in a sprint tri seemed a smallish price to pay (well, as long as it was a pool swim) to get to push myself on the bike, since there ain't much bike racing to be done around these parts. So in January 2007, I signed up with the YMCA Triathlon Club here in Wilmington, and entered my first tri.

The next 3 months were something of an adventure, even if it seems sooooo small now. Just like in Kung Fu Panda, I think the TriClub swim coaches learned that "there is now a level zero." And that was defined as "Ron! Get your face in the water!" Somehow I made it through that mini-sprint at the end of March. But somehow, the words "never again" managed not to come out of my mouth.

After a couple weeks, I decided to re-up for the rest of the season, because I was addicted to multi-sport, but more importantly the people in the TriClub were such a positive and encouraging bunch. The rest of 2007 and 2008 would involve more sprints with pool swims, and volunteering at the first Beach 2 Battleship tri. It was at the first B2B, as a lot of folks from our club were hanging around watching the mid-pack and back-of-pack finishers, that Swim Coach Todd planted an idea in my mind. He thought I could do a half-ironman, and sold it to me on the basis that the swim is a much smaller chunk of the race, compared to an olympic and most normal sprints. It sounded crazy... but not as crazy as a marathon!

So then hatched a plan... I would do White Lake sprint in May 2009, and if I could get along with open water, look at working my way up to the half there in 2010. Well, we all know how well it worked out with me in open water that time. DNF... hired Coach Kristen... back to the scene of the crime, to complete an Oly where I had failed in the sprint. And then came the decision... I would take my first shot at 70.3... not at White Lake, but at B2B... in the salt water.

PRE-RACE:
The usual hectic build-up to a major race, but at least I was familiar with my choices of where to eat, and sleeping in my own bed. Water temps were a little scary, especially knowing it would be low tide just before race time. Oceanside had dropped to 63F and the sound side was fluctuating between 56 and 61. Thought about neoprene booties and hood, but (1) the expo vendors sold out too quickly and (2) nothing new on race day, right? When I did my shakedown ride on Friday afternoon, my bike computer was dead, so throw in a last-minute detour to replace batteries before bike check-in. Had about a 45 minute sitdown with Coach Kristen to talk about nutrition and tactics. Carb-loaded at Fat Tony's downtown, then spent the evening organizing my gear/transition bags and watching Talladega Nights with Shawn.

Saturday morning started at 5:15 for an 8:30 race start. Left the house just after 6am, and got parked near T1 by 6:30. Made my way through the checklist (body marking, drop off T2 bag, set-up T1) quickly enough that there was time to be nervous. Finally hopped a shuttle to swim start at 7:30, and got there in time to see the full-distance field coming by. Between the swimmers and the docks there were 3 dolphins heading the opposite direction. The wind was already kinda nasty, and what was really telling was hearing that the first of the full-distance people would be out of the water around 52-55 minutes. Compared to 38-39 minute first-out-of-the-water times the last 2 years, we knew it wasn't a good day.

THE SWIM: (43:34, 65th/84 in age group, 529th/676 overall)
When I had finally gotten into my wetsuit, it didn't seem too bad because the sun was getting higher. But then comes the problem of wading into 62 degree water (if that, one soundside observation was showing 56-57F) and then WAITING... for five minutes before our wave went off. It was a much different animal than walking into 70 degree water and just getting on our way, as with my last 2 practice swims. I did a "Tarzan" for the first 20-25 strokes just to lessen the shock of putting my face in the cold water for the first time. And then I realized what would be the biggest challenge...the chop. The tidal current was starting to pull...weakly even if it was in our favor. The wind was directly opposing it, which made for some nasty chop. It seemed like every time I tried to sight I'd get smacked in the face by a wave. The first 200 yards were, indeed, a "WTF?" moment. But then one of the kayakers was pointing to get me out toward the middle of the channel. And THEN I picked up the turn boat. Suddenly I had a lot more trust in my sighting, and would only sight every 3-4 breaths. Just before I got to the turn boat, I started passing people. Once I made the turn I was in very familiar territory, but a lot more traffic as I was back into the thick of the next wave of swimmers. It was annoying and it was cold, but there was no question that I'd make it. Just don't get kicked in the head (tricky when you come up on the odd guy doing breaststroke). When I got to the ladders, it took me a couple of tries to get on because my feet were too numb to know if I was getting a rung! I got up on the dock and ran around the corner to find my swim partner Lori, who was working as a wetsuit stripper. She whipped the wetsuit right off of me masterfully, without yanking off my timing chip or my tri shorts, then helped me up, gave me a hug and some words of encouragement, and sent me on...

T1: (10:53)
A 300-yard run into the actual transition area is long enough, but on freezing-cold feet? I'm sure my shuffle step was a thing of beauty, but at least I couldn't feel how rough the pavement was. As I crossed the main road onto the sidewalk, I saw Shawn in the crowd. She told me later that I had a huge smile, and I stopped to give her what was probably quite a salty kiss. When I got to my rack, I realized just how crazy cold it was. Even though I tried to dry off my feet and arms, socks and arm warmers never go on that easily. But I was sooooo cold, it was 10 times harder with hands shaking and fingers not working. In retrospect I wonder if I wasn't mildly hypothermic coming out of the water. Shoes went on fine, but even the Garmin was tough to handle with cold hands. Tucked my nutrition in the back pocket of my tri top, sunscreened my face, tried to wiggle gloves on. Packed swim gear back into my T1 bag, and I was off... hopefully the slowest transition I will ever have.

THE BIKE: (2:45:13, 18/83 AG, 116/666 OA)
If I was cold it didn't last long. The bike started out with mostly headwind and my big challenge here was not to get too worried about my actual speed. But I couldn't seem to get my HR down out of Z3. I figured that would be ok in the headwind, as long as I wasn't pushing the edge of Z4 the whole time. About 30 minutes in I realized I would not see much Z2, so HR be damned, it was time for a nutbar just as we got on that nice stretch of I-140. It was crosswind, and I'm sure I gave up a little time using the first mile as my feed zone. It was a different feel from last year, since I was actually in the pack, rather than getting a head start courtesy of a relay swimmer. But there were only a couple of slightly dicey moments as I came up on people. First hour of the bike averaged 19.6mph, better than I even expected. Then came the northbound leg out Hwy 421 and onto some rural roads, pretty much into the wind. Here I was just trying to stay smooth and not fight the wind too much. The turnaround at mile 36 came up at 1:51 and I realized my A-goal of a 2:50 bike was well within reach. The last 20 miles had a nice tailwind, and it was tempting to drop the hammer. But I resisted the temptation and just rode smooth and strong the rest of the way. I think I spent as much time in Z2 as in Z3 for that section, but that tailwind was just enough to keep the speeds strong. Tried to keep my cadence above 90 for the last couple miles, and didn't fight the bridges. Rolled into transition with an eye-popping (for me) time and hoping I had saved
enough for the run.

T2: (5:15)
Never really clean in a point-to-point race because you're working out of a bag rather than having it laid out. Off with the gloves and arm warmers, change the shoes, grab the run belt (Spibelt with my nutrition already in the zipper pocket), sunscreen my arms, then throw the bike gear back in the bag before I was off. I saw Coach Kristen in T2 and got a high-five out of her. Told her what my bike split was and she yelled back "I told you!" She told me to go on after I said a few griping words about the swim. :)

THE RUN: (2:00:35, 23/80 AG, 146/647 OA)
This one was mostly about slow and steady, stay hydrated, and don't do anything I'll end up paying for before it's over. Clearly I started out well hydrated, because my time includes the better part of a minute in the portajohn not 100 feet past the run start timing mat. Just as I got out to the access road into the Battleship, I saw Shawn, now properly armed with cowbell! :) I think my first couple of miles over the bridges might have been a bit quick... 9:19 including the potty stop, then 8:39. Just before the 3-mile mark we hit Water Street downtown, and I had to consciously hold back so that the crowd energy wouldn't make me start pushing too hard. Still, the crowd energy, what with so many people I knew and even the TriClub running the aid station at mile 3/10, was amazing. It's a home-race advantage that just can't be beat. Once I got past downtown, I found the sweet spot... generally holding 8:55 while running, and taking most of a minute walk break every other mile through the aid stations (at least the ones I got fluids at). The bridges in the last 2 miles were just about survival, and I just stayed on pace... brought it home solid even if it didn't feel that strong. I saw Coach Kristen smiling bigger than life and came over to the barrier to high-five her... and she told me that Shawn was up ahead (with the requisite obnoxious cowbell). Shawn couldn't have been more than 50 feet from the very spot that I jumped out in the road as she came to the B2B finish line last year... and where I asked her to marry me at the Battleship Half last week.

I crossed the finish line with a time of 5:45:27... 24th of 80 finishers in my age group, 171st of 648 overall finishers. Next year there is a certain appeal to B2B because it will be 2 weeks earlier, with water temps closer to 70F. But after Shamrock Marathon in March, I think I'll want some more time to not have to train hard.

If you're still reading this, I salute you!

Wrightsville Beach/Wilmington YMCA Sprint Tri

Never underestimate a milestone. The Wilmington YMCA Triathlon at Wrightsville Beach was my 2nd open-water tri, and I had done just about all of my open-water training in Banks Channel, swimming along the docks.

THE SWIM: 1500m in 31:10, 111th of 113 in my age group, 656th of 705 men
This would be my first time actually swimming ACROSS the channel. The first 300m or so got me a little freaked out. It was cross-current, and suddenly felt like such a vast expanse of water. I was redlined and went for the lifeguards, just so I could grab on to a surfboard and take a moment to collect myself. Of course, this put me in an annoying little eddy that I would have to fight my way out of when I started up again. But soon I found the current, and got into a comfort zone, at least enough that the second sharply-angled leg (at least it was mostly downcurrent) didn't bother me nearly so much. Some annoying chop at the end (when the wind is directly opposite the current, it doesn't take much) but I made it.

THE BIKE: 12 miles in 32:18, 19th/113 AG, 81st/705 men
Solid and strong all the way, might have had more if not bottled up in the 1.5 miles worth of no-passing zones on this course. I knew I had to save something for the run, but did I save enough?

THE RUN: 5k in 24:04, 38th/113 AG, 178th/705 men
Hot and slow, but steady... splits were almost even. I've got to remember that it was, in fact, hot... and I'm not the same runner that went 21:55 off the bike at Azalea in March.

Total time with transitions: 1:31:20, 73rd/113 AG, 335th/705 men

Go! St Louis Half-Marathon

The executive summary...
1:39:12, new PR by almost 3 minutes on the toughest half course I've ever tackled.
Official 6-mile split: 46:17
Unofficial 10-mile split: 1:16:38

The long version...

Back in November, when I stayed on the lower deck and chatted with Coach Kristen for a while on the B2B awards cruise, Go! St Louis Half-Marathon became pretty well established as my A-race for the spring. Now I know that at that moment, I still didn't fully realize what else was already happening on the upper deck, or would happen in the 5 months since. ;)

In the winter racing season, Kristen kicked my butt in run training, partially aided by this El Nino winter that kept me focused on running, instead of wishing I was on the bike like I had at times last winter. I put up some stout numbers, including a 1:07 in the 15k at Gasparilla in February... but some little detours in March had me going into St Louis feeling like I had the speed, but not the miles, for a really strong halfathon. I was pretty sure that my A-goal of 1:37 was gone. Mind you, much like Gaspy, a PR was almost a lock, but if it was the highlight of my weekend it would have to be considered a fail.

Shawn and I got into town (literally from opposite directions, thanks USAirways and Frontier!) Friday afternoon, and my old running buddy Audrey picked us up at Lambert. With Audrey's wrestler-corrupted-into-running fiance Dave in tow, we hit up the expo and then started the grand beer/food/sightseeing tour of St Louis, which went from Growlers Pub on Friday night all the way through to Ted Drewe's after dinner on Sunday night. Along the way was a tour of the Anheuser-Busch brewery, the journey to the top of the Arch, plenty of Schlafly beer, enough pasta and St Louis-style pizza to feed a small army at Joey B's on the Hill, and a meetup with Shawn's friend Kecia for some of Obama's favorite pizza at Pi. I think it may take me half of tri season to work all that off.

Sunday morning was a bit warmer than expected... close to 60, which isn't quite ideal racing weather for me. Dave had the hook-up on parking, so we didn't have to leave until a bit after 6am for a 7:00 start. Chilled out with Shawn until about 10 minutes before the race start, then made my way to an appropriate start with both the 3:20 marathon and 1:40 half-marathon pace groups. The race ended up starting a few minutes late, but that wasn't a big deal. I was across the start line in about 30 seconds, and quickly settled in with the group.

The first 2 miles were pretty flat, down Market and then turning south a couple blocks short of the river...then heading toward Anheuser-Busch. Mile 1 came up on schedule at 7:35, and mile 2 at 7:36. The third mile included the first water station, and a couple of turns as the course snaked thru the brewery. With a total of nearly 13,000 finishers between the two races, this section of the course got a little tight, and I was up on the sidewalks a couple of times just to find daylight... 7:49. Out of the brewery and onto Lynch to start the 4th mile with the first legit hill of the race. This was my first real serious push into Z4, and I knew it was "on" when I remained solidly in Z3 going down the hill back to Broadway... 7:29. Heading back up Broadway it was amazing just how far back the rest of the field stretched. Yes, I was looking and I had drifted way over toward the median, even knowing that Shawn likes to run on what was the opposite side of the road and would be hard to find. A pothole that nearly turned my ankle was the wake-up call I needed to get back to my race, if I was going to have a good day. There would be plenty of time to find Shawn later. 7:27... finishing the "easy" part of the race in 38-flat.

The turn up Chouteau held the next nasty hill, and I was taking more frequent looks at the Garmin, knowing I'd be in Z4 but not wanting to be pushing too hard against my threshold at this point. At the end of the 6th mile was my brief moment of crisis... in my haste to get my GU, the zipper on the mini-pocket on my Mizuno shorts was stuck! I wasn't sure how this was going to fly, so I got my Gatorade and went on, semi-resigned to the idea I might have to make do without gel. Heading up Olive is where the hills got nasty... not very steep, but looooonnnng. Miles 6/7/8 were 7:35/7:25/7:39. Disaster was narrowly averted at the end of mile 8, when I took a few moments to walk calmly and get that pocket unzipped to get my GU. Guess I coulda made do with Hammer Gel at that point too. Of course, I got at my gel as I was rolling into the aid station with *gels*... water would have to wait almost a quarter mile. WTF were they thinking?!

In this 9th mile, I started to ease ahead of the pace group. Of course, this is also where my quads started to hurt a bit. At least it was that "working hard" kinda hurt, as opposed to the burning of dehydration from my first halfathon. There were a few more spectators on Forest Park Avenue headed out toward the turnaround near 10, and that was starting to feed my energy. Coach Garmin said 9 and 10 were 7:37 and 7:34... some quick math as I looked at the clock at the actual marker told me I hit 10 in 1:16:38... a new PR at that distance!

So I had PR'd 10 miles and barring a major collapse, had a halfathon PR in the bag. But I still needed a fairly special 5k to meet my B-goal of 1:40. It was time to go racing. Accordingly, I picked up the effort a little bit and would spend most of the remaining 5k on my threshold. Mile 11 went by pretty nicely in 7:22. But I had the full sun on me, and low 60s is a bit warm for me to race in the sunshine. At the water station, I drank a cup of Gatorade, then a cup of water, and then dumped a cup of water on the back of my head and neck. Between that slowdown, and a sun-baked climb of an on-ramp as we transitioned from Forest Park Ave to Market Street, the 12th mile would be a 7:41. The water station just after 12 would be a bit quicker... drank the Gatorade, then just took one cup of water to pour on my head. The rolling hills would have their last big hurrah, a dip by Union Station, and then one sadistic uphill after that... so nasty that the race director put the jog to Chestnut at 18th, after which we still had to climb some more before finishing with the last block (maybe 2) downhill. Mile 13 in 7:08 per Coach Garmin, and then kicked in at a 6:32 pace. (total race distance per Garmin was 13.18)... last 5k per race clocks in 22:34.

Finished at 1:39:39 on the clock, 1:39:12 on the chip... almost a 3-minute PR, and that's going from a dead-flat course (Shamrock, only Myrtle Beach is flatter) to the most challenging half-marathon course I've run, and not PR weather for me at that. Not bad for a boy who felt "fast but undertrained." Chalk up halfathon #14 or 15.

Waited a few minutes in the chute for Audrey and Dave to finish, after which we collected our Chick-elob and headed back to their place to get cleaned up. A big cheer on the drive home when Shawn txt'd to say she made halfway and her ankle was still feeling ok. We would venture out to find her on course between 20 and 21, and then back downtown to see her finish. As good as I felt about taking 3 minutes out of my PR, I'd have to say it's on equal footing (at best) with seeing Shawn overcome her bum ankle to slay the beast that was Go! St Louis, and check off marathon #16 and state #15.

Now I have a little time to chill, but I know bike and swim will re-assume center stage sooner than later. I'm 7 weeks out from Tour de Cure, and the channel is up to 63 degrees. Coach Kristen is hinting strongly that the Cervelo will be out on Saturday, and the wetsuit on Sunday. Philly (olympic) Tri in June... B2B Half in November... Charlotte Thunder Road half-marathon in December. Philly in November is tempting, even (especially?) as a drink-beer-and-sherpa-for-Shawn function, but the planning schedule shows me on graveyards that weekend, so even tho I technically could swing it (you know, a little va-cay), one or more individuals will probably have a hissy-fit.

Gasparilla Distance Classic 15K

Ahoy mateys!!

About a year ago in all the pre-B2B scheming with the Tampa Tri Posse of Two, I was all but dared to partake in this year's Gasparilla festivities, tho originally to the tune of a 15k on Saturday and a half-marathon on Sunday. Somewhere along the way we came to our collective senses (running at least), and my weekend would become the 15K on Saturday, followed by the marathon relay on Sunday, where I teamed up with Shawn, Linae's husband Joe (in full Jack Sparrow costume), and their friend Molly. Working backwards here, the marathon relay was just an all-around fun time for all involved, which may or may not be recapped in a separate RR.

Now for the 15K, I'd say it was originally supposed to be an A-minus race, with the Go! St Louis half just 6 weeks away, but I knew it would be a legit PR opportunity given that my 15K mark was so soft (previously 1:13:44, lowered to 1:11:08 last month). That said, after easing me into it after the first of the year, Coach Kristen sure seemed to be training me like it was an A-race for the past month or so. She thought, based on my 5K effort coming off B2B, that I was capable of 1:08 in this race, and accordingly she had me throwing in about 10 minutes of goal race pace on almost every run for the last few weeks.

Executive summary:
1:07:12! Hit the halfway point in 34:13.
Mile splits per Garmin:
7:14/7:20/7:21/7:17/7:12/7:12/7:09/7:13/6:56(!)/2:15 on the last .32

Going into this race I had been thinking a lot about the weather, because the forecasts had been calling for fairly solid NE winds, which meant it would be right in my face for the last half of the race coming up Bayshore. Other than the wind and the first hints of rain moving in when I hit the last half-mile, the weather was perfect... overcast, upper 40s... just warm enough not to need a 2nd layer, just cool enough that I wasn't looking to throw away my gloves.

The other effect of the wind played into my favor. It got me to talk myself and my coach out of a serious negative-split strategy. Kristen had told me to aim for goal pace (7:20) going out, maybe 7:10s if it felt good and I could hold low/mid Z3. Then I'd try to hang on coming back, mostly watching for the lactate threshold just so I wouldn't blow up completely.

When I went to line up, I worked my way up thru the crowd, and kept going when I hadn't seen any pace balloons faster than 9:00/mi... before I knew it I was about 10 rows behind the barricade separating the sub-1:00 people from us, the unwashed masses. I asked around, and a couple people I talked to said they were aiming for ~7:15/mile paces, so I figured I was in the right place.

The race went off right on time, and the crowding was fairly minimal early on...actually just enough traffic to keep my pace sane. Made the turn off of Platt Street and headed down toward Bayshore, and the Garmin said I was sub-7:00 pace but still in Z2. Half-mile came up at 3:37. Got onto Bayshore with a 7:14 first mile and I thought I was in business. The tailwind was less than I expected... and just enough that it actually got kinda warm fairly quickly. From there I tried to settle in, but was higher in Z3 than I wanted while just barely holding goal pace. Mile 2 was 7:20.

In the 3rd mile I couldn't seem to keep it out of Z4 anymore, so I just tried to keep it on the lower end. Mile 3 was 7:21 with a gel. In the 4th and 5th miles, the story was the same... just trying to maintain low-end Z4 as best I could while staying on pace. I hit the halfway point in 34:13 (it was good per the Garmin), knowing that I could meet Kristen's A-goal for me if I could maintain pace (which I wasn't so sure about), but figuring my B-goal of sub-1:10 was still very makeable. I guess there was just enough form-focus to let me hit 7:17 and 7:12.

Coming back up Bayshore wasn't too bad until just after the 5-mile mark, where there's no longer anything between us and the bay. I drafted whenever the opportunities presented themselves, and let my HR drift farther up into Z4, but staying just off what I had perceived to be my threshold in a previous race (luckily it's close to the high end). Mile 6 came up as a 7:12 again; could I really do this? The 7th and 8th miles were where I started to notice the bad pavement on Bayshore. Cutting tangents on the right was also limited by a very uneven and raised white line marking the bike lane (also very unforgiving for bikes, if ya wanted to cycle on Bayshore!). I knew I would have to be careful, even tho I was pushing hard. But Mile 7 came up as a 7:09, and Mile 8 was a 7:13 with what would be my last water stop and a few cautious steps.

After the 8-mile mark, I didn't want to go into the red too early. Fortunately, this race shares a finish line with the marathon, the 5k, and the half-marathon. I knew that 2-mile for the 5k was 1.1 to go, and at that point I tried to dial up whatever I had left. But of course, this is where I realize that this part of Bayshore is not asphalt, but concrete. Really unforgiving concrete. Talk about a painful end to the race! About a half-mile to go and it starts raining. At the 9-mile mark I see the Garmin click the lap...6:56! I was just ticking over 1:05, could I actually BREAK 1:07? Unfortunately there's not another gear. Under the Davis Island Bridge... then the barricades start... there's Linae cheering, and I'm not sure who's more amazed with my time. Crossed the line at 1:07:21 on the clock, 1:07:12 chip time.

I think the wind... both the forecast and then it being a bit lighter than expected... actually played in my favor. Otherwise, I might have left too much on the table by splitting too slow early in the race. I think Kristen having a good handle on what I could do, training me appropriately, and getting me to believe in that possibility, played a huge role in making it happen. I wonder what may be in store for St Louis in April... if I haven't peaked too early here.

William Craig 15K and soft PR's

The long and short of it is the weather was perfect (clear and 40F), and the execution of Coach Kristen's game plan was pretty good... the end result, even tho it was a B-race, was a 1:11:10, taking a good 2 minutes out of my soft former PR at this distance.

My old "official" PR was 1:13:44 at the same race (different course) two years ago... and unofficially, I've got several splits around 1:13-flat in halfathons and the last time I did Broad Street. I knew this one was more than ripe for the picking, and probably didn't have to "race" for it.

Kristen wanted me to start off at 8:15 pace the first couple of miles, then build to 7:45s in the middle of the race, and push 7:30s in the last couple miles. I knew if I followed her plan, I would PR (yes it's THAT soft!). Chip timing was a good thing today, as I was off to the side and had just re-tied my shoes when the race started, and that meant a couple extra seconds getting my gloves back on. The first quarter, maybe half mile was all about finding a pace to settle into. I might have used a little bit much as I hit the quarter in about 1:51. By a half mile, I was settled in a lot better then I hit the 1-mile mark in 8:00. Maybe I can pull off the
progression, only a bit faster than prescribed.

So I tried to hit 8-flat again for the second mile. Finally I had broken enough of a sweat that my HR monitor picked up properly, and I had enough feedback to know I was in the low end of Z3. It came up in 7:48, but where's the first water station? It would be at about 2.6, and now that I didn't quite trust things I decided that was the time to take my GU. Trust me, cold GU that you decide to use seconds before you hit the aid station is not the fastest fueling proposition. And it showed... the 3rd mile was 8:14.

Now this would be the telling part of my race... can I get what Kristen wanted? I tried to settle in at that 7:45ish pace for a bit. Mile 4 and 5 came up in 7:42 and 7:46, with my HR dancing on the edge of Z4, but I felt good and I was passing people. The 6th mile was 7:36, how well could I take this down?

In the 7th mile I caught my South African running buddy Charles. For almost 5 years now, he's been kicking my butt on the hills on Tuesday nights, but my race day ritual is that I catch him, pass him, and pull away. I slowly closed in, and as I passed him I said "you knew that was coming." A few seconds later, he tells me "you knew this was coming" and surges past me. I just kept my effort steady, but that led to a couple more leapfrog exchanges... I knew he would pay for those surges. Mile 7 was 7:29, and now I was solidly in Z4 but still below threshold.

At this point, I knew Kristen wanted me to push... "not hammer, just think strong." I tried to stay on the threshold through the 8th mile, and did a pretty good job at 7:22 and I started to pull well away from Charles, right on schedule. The last bit was a battle of how deep I should dig, and I went ahead and let myself go into the red here. My 9th mile was 7:12, and I knew a third of a mile was a long way to kick. So the last bit turned into more of a build, but I did eventually max out... 1:58 for the last 0.32mi, and a 1:11:10 total time.

Sooooo this begs the question going into my A-minus race at Gasparilla in a few weeks... how much more do I start to use, and how soon? I'm guessing I could start out quicker, but I don't know that I would be able to build to the same late-race paces as today. I want to go sub-70, and I'm pretty sure I can... Coach Kristen thinks I can do 68. Of course, Florida weather could throw any of that out the window. :/

2009 by the numbers

Swim distance: 205850 yards (that's almost 117 miles, WTF?)... up from 94500 yards in 2008
Bike distance: 4113.8 miles... up from 2203 in '08
Run distance: 726.5 miles...DOWN from 978.5 in '08

Races or events: 15 (started, finished 14)
Half-marathons: 3
15K: 1
10K: 1
8K: 1
4-mi: 1
5K: 1
Sprint tri: 2 (includes the 1 DNF)
Intl tri: 1
Tri relay: 1 (bike leg of 140.6)
Bike events: 3 (30-mile, century, back-to-back century)

PR's not involving a new distance: 4 (1:42:11 half-marathon, 45:18 10K, 21:13 5k, and 1:01:51 Azalea tri)

States raced in: 5 (AZ, SC, VA, NC, NY)... one of those was a new addition, guess which one?
Tri-DRS encounters: 5
Dead encounters: 4, or 1 depending how you look at it (2 I already knew, 1 wasn't yet Dead at the time)
Blogger encounters: 5
Blue Moons handed out after Beach 2 Battleship: 4
Bike miles to get to said Blue Moons: 3 (after I had 112 on my legs!)

2010 races already signed up for: 5 as of Jan 2 2010
Flats on the bike: 1 (still can't believe that one, of course it would be the rear!)
Weather goats sacrificed for good race-day conditions: None

Anything I've got too much decorum to mention here... priceless!