NashVegas 70.3 Race Report...New PR!!!!

I spent my birthday driving to Nashville with my bride worrying about the weather. The forecast was calling for thunderstorms all morning on race day and highs in the low 70s. So as we drove in 90 degree weather, I was not looking forward to racing in the rain...again. Last year at Ironman Branson 70.3 is was a monsoon, so while I knew I could do it, I wasn't looking forward to the rain.

RACE DAY:

I had my alarm set to go off at 4:30 AM, which would give me plenty of time to eat something, and get everything ready. I wanted to be at the race site by 6AM for the 7AM start, which we made very easily. I was able to rack my bike in the first rack and get everything setup like I wanted it. i also remember to bring a plastic bag to wrap my socks and shoes in since the forecast was calling for rain. They stated the water temp was 84 degrees, which was surprising since it did rain all night, so that meant no wetsuit. I always feel more confident with my wetsuit on, but I really wasn't to nervous about not wearing it. All I had left to do was get body-marked, spend some time talking with my wife and friends and then get a little swim in before the siren started!

SWIM: 37:15

The swim started as a wade in the water wave start. I was in the second wave, basically the over 40 age group. We had about a 150 yard swim the the first buoy, a right turn, then about a 1000 yd swim, a right turn, another 150 yards, then a right turn back to the exit. The first two buoys were rough. People were bumping me a lot, it had to them because I swim in a straight line. It wasn't until that last buoy that I actually felt like I had room to swim. Once I saw the swim exit, I was actually surprised it was over. My swim time was 37.15, which broke down to a 1:46/100 yds!

T1: 1:26

T1 went fine, not a whole lot to talk about here. It had not started raining yet and with no wetsuit to get off, it was basically just a matter of putting on gloves and shoes and going!

BIKE: 3:08:27

I had not gone 6 miles before it started raining and then it started raining harder and harder. The wind really picked up also, which at times made it a little scary. The course itself was pretty good, it had some challenging hills to it, but a lot of rollers.My bike computer quit working around mile 15, so I had to wait to hit the mile markers to tell where I was on the course. I made sure to hit all my nutrition on the bike, which included salt pills, 2 bottles of GU Brew, 3 gels, energy shot blocks and 2 bite size Snickers (which was like manna from Heaven). I wanted to have fuel for the run, I left nothing in the bento box. I do not enjoy riding in  the rain and wind. This weather system made me hold back on some of the downhills because the wet roads and winds scared me some. There were parts of the course where I could see no one in front of me and no one behind me, which was weird. I mean the course was well marked, with signs and law enforcement, but there were still times when it got lonely out there. The rain finally stopped with about 25 minutes left on the ride. I was ready to get off the bike, and I was so looking forward to having dry socks and shoes on my cold wet feet.

T2: 2:07

The only thing that took time in T2 was getting my socks and shoes out of the bag I brought, and I gladly gave up those extra few seconds to have on dry shoes. This is a lesson I learned last year, and it made a huge difference. it felt so good putting on something dry.

RUN: 2:20:00

Awesome run course to run!!

I felt surprisingly well off the bike and starting the run. Really surprised!! I actually felt good! The run was about a mile of road, then it turned into a Greenline run. I had a great pick me up moment, when I spotted my wife about a mile into the run, I was wondering where she was when I came into T2, so it was a nice surprise to see her and to stop and get a quick kiss. I knew at this point I had a chance to go under 6 hours, I just needed to average under 10 minute miles, which was doable...for the first 9 miles. I was actually on pace, and this is with me walking through the water stations long enough to drink the water. Some stops had Coke, that sweet elixir of the Gods!  It was good! At mile 9, things starting getting really tough on me. I resorted to a run a mile, walk a minute. The legs were hurting. At one point, I decided I was going to run to mile 11 and then walk some, but my wife was at mile 11 taking pictures!  And I can;t walk with my wife standing there!!! So I shuffled through 11, walked ran through 12 and started cramping at 13. Right where everyone was! But I did make it.

Wanna know something interesting? I ran a half marathon in March with a time of 2:07, I ran a half marathon after a 1.2 mile swim and a 56 mile ride in 2:20!!  Who has been working on his run???

It was sweet crossing the finish line. 6:09:15. A new PR! 16th in my AG!  My last attempt at a 70.3 was 7:35, so I was thrilled with knocking off that amount of time.

My cheesy Olympic medal winning pose!!!

Open Letter to Myself...

So here we are. 1 day before you turn 41 and 2 days before your big race of 2012. It has been a long year leading up to this point, but you (I) am ready. You can do this, and this is not a "yeah, you can do it" patronizing letter, but this is more of a Ray Lewis in your face "You can do this". I expect you to do this.

I know you have trained hard with tons of miles on the bike, tons of miles on the road and thousands (and thousands) of yards in the pool. There have been early mornings. And I am talking about early, but you loved it. Do not deny it. There was a definite purpose I saw in myself by getting up that early. The darkness of morning was special. I know you have no regrets.

I know this year has been more about competing rather than completing races for you. You have done better if just about every race you have raced this year and there is no reason why you should not expect the same results. I think it is time that you start believing in the results you have gotten. You are faster than you think. You ride faster than you realize, you run faster than your pace states and you swim faster than you ever have. It is time for you to believe that you are not a 10 minute miler, that is not acceptable. So believe in your training, trust your plan, run your race.

So let's talk about goals for this race. You have a 70.3 race under your belt already, so you have an idea of where you stood a year ago, so we will base goals off those numbers. Last year your total 70.3 time was 7:35. We have to beat that time this year, and we will. Here is my goals for you:

Swim: under 45 minutes for a 1.2 swim is totally doable, if it is wetsuit legal, than I expect closer to 40 minutes.

Bike: 3:10-:3:20. Last year at Branson, you did the 56 miles in 3:55, but there will be significantly less hills on this course, so i want to see time improvement. This is totally achievable

Run: No more 3 hour half marathons Ford! Anything under 2:30 will be awesome.

Total Time: I expect to be in the 6-6:30 hour range.

Let's do this. Let's expect this. Let's not race to complete. Let's race to compete! I know you are looking forward to racing, we have been waiting and training all year for this race. we can use this to build on our marathon coming up in December and then use this as a step towards the ultimate goal!  IRONMAN! I believe in myself, I have confidence in myself and I am not nervous or scared of the course, it should be scared of me.

This will be a great birthday present. A new PB at the 70.3 distance. Let's do it!

Finally...

I signed up. I finally signed up for the half Ironman I have been training for since March.(And just so we are clear, it is a half iron distance race, not a branded Ironman race, but I don't care, I am still calling it my HIM). Now I do not know why I wait so long to register. I knew I was going to do it for a long time already.

The worst thing I could think of was doing all the training and being ready and then not being able to register.And doing a lot of training I have been doing. It seems like I am more tired this time around than I was last year when training for Branson. My mileage is up over last year on my bike and swim and I feel stronger. These past couple of weeks have given me a lot of confidence. I have about 2 more weeks of training, then it is taper time!

So I have really been thinking about what I have done different this year as compared to last year. I have come up with several things:

• Getting up at 4:30 AM to get in my training. So much of this summer has gotten me out of bed early to fit in the miles, either due to the heat or because I need the time to get it all done.
• I have done a lot more riding on my trainer this year than in the past.
• Speedwork on the treadmill.
• I have been paying attention to my diet, I am actually about 10lbs lighter than I was last year.
• Water, water water. I have not stopped drinking cokes, but I do not have one everyday.
• PR's!!  I have had more personal records this year than ever!
• Dumping the Garmin and iPod. I still will carry the iPod on longer runs and might use it late in the run, but it is no longer a necessity.
• Sleeping more

So overall, I am happy with where I am training wise. I think I am so much stronger than I was last year going into this distance. Last weekends 52 mile ride and 12.3 mile run felt good, and what is better than that, is I felt good after the run, which is more important to me. I am more physically tired than I was last year, but I think that is totally normal. I am on track to have my biggest mileage month ever on both the run and bike (my pool has been closed for the last 2 weeks), but after the taper, I feel confident in beating Branson's time.

I Tried to Tell You...

I did.

I remember saying it, over and over and over. Go here to see for yourself!

In 2012, I am Bringing it!!!

This morning, I surpassed all of 2011's swim totals and it is only June. In 2011, I swam 84,992 yards or roughly 48.29 miles. After my morning swim, I have reached 85,695 yards swam in 2012. That is 48.69 miles.  And I still have more to go.



This is one of the places where I BRING IT...

Consider it brought...
Consider that this is just the beginning...

Also you might be interested in knowing that by next week, my 2011 bike totals will go down as well.

BROUGHT!

Is it any wonder I am seeing better times in my swim and bike???  I thinks it says that I am Bringing on the bike as well!  I am on pace to crush all my training volume from last year and I am seeing the benefit of swimming/biking/riding more. Funny how that works huh?

Also , I have not missed an early morning workout since I started my HIM plan either. That certainly sounds like someone is bringing it, does it not???

My focus is pinpoint accurate.  This bell has been rung, this train is movin down the tracks, full steam ahead! My diet has changed, my workouts have changed and my attitudes have changed since I started bringing it. You know what has changed since I first started to Bring IT?  My race times! Yeah, I have already like 5 PR's this year. Go ahead, look at my race schedule page and you will see a theme, a trend, A new PR theme and you see that new theme because why??? That's right, I'm Bringing it!

So let me ask you this. Are you bringing it on your workouts?? Are you fearing the hat???

I Made some Decisions...

I know that we are all busy, but sometimes I have to remember to pull back and not worry about my training schedule. This does not mean that I will not be bringing it, but sometimes I have to Bring It to other parts of my life, namely my family. February has been very tough so far with traveling for work and other duties I have as a husband and dad, that I felt pretty worn down. Let me give you some of my schedule last week

Monday: 1400 yd swim, then work, then 22 mile trainer ride
Tuesday: Valentines Day, 2350 yd swim work, mushy stuff ;) ;)
Wednesday: work followed by a 6.45 mile run, then meeting at church, followed by small group I lead (6th grade boys group I lead in small groups at church)
Thursday: 1800 yd swim, work, science fair, coach a basketball game (we are 6-0 now), dinner, then 16 mile ride
Friday: work, 5 mile run (was suppose to be 9) then worked security at the youth event at church
Saturday: unscheduled rest day
Sunday: 27 mile ride in lieu of a muddy wet dank trail race I was scheduled to do.

Now I am in no way making excuses, but I could tell I was tired, physically and mentally, so I deviated off my schedule and I am glad I did. I know I do not have to make every workout, because I can't, but I know I have to make every workout count, which I did.

Other notes:
I have decided that I am not going to race IM Augusta 70.3 this year after all. I have decided on another non IM branded race near Nashville. When I got to looking at travel time and cost, it just did not make that much sense to me. I would have to pull the boys out of school for a week again and it is just not worth it for my hobby. The Nashvegas Half distance Triathlon appears to be every bit as challenging as Branson. I have already done an Ironman branded race, so it being a non branded race is not a big deal to me. I know it will be a great race. Plus the money I save will be great. Another advantage is that Nashvegas  is a few weeks earlier, which will give me more time to train for the St Jude Marathon (I have to beat my previous time).

I have also really been aware of what I am eating and drinking. I want to be down to around 180lbs my the time MIM comes around in May. Right now I fluctuate between 186 and 189lbs, so hopefully I am on the right track. I also want to be able to wear my square legged Speedos my wife bought for me and not feel ridiculous! It's good to have goals right? 

That's all I have time for right now, thanks for reading!