Hulaman ½ Race Report - Or Waves, Trains & Aerobar-mobiles (ok, sort of)

The short version: Despite warm, muggy weather and legs that felt like lead, I somehow pulled myself together for a narrow PR in the ½ Ironman distance.

Stats:
Swim 38:03
T1 2:21
Bike 2:43:48 (20.5 mph average)
T2 3:05
Run 1:59:35
Total 5:26:52, good for 22nd overall out of 77 and 3rd in my AG

The longer version:
At the beginning of this year, I made a resolution to try to get a personal record (PR) at every distance of triathlon I raced. I didn’t make this resolution public because the closer I got to race season, the more meager my training seemed to become. However, I’ve been running more and perhaps a little smarter than in the past and somehow, I have actually been able to realize my resolution.

In the ½ Ironman distance, I did get a PR this year at Pacific Crest, but given that race actually has a 57.8 mile bike, it didn’t equate to a purely time-based PR. On an alternate course, I actually had a PR of 5:31. So for Hulaman, my goal was to break 5:30 and additionally, expunge the memories of last year’s race that resulted in my one and only DNF.

Unfortunately, it seemed that conditions were conspiring against me. A pre-race ride on the bike course revealed that the road crews had dumped ‘chip seal’ on 4 sections of the course totaling roughly (get it?) 10 miles. Luckily, these got mostly cleaned up in the week prior to the race, but still caused some careful corners on descents and at intersections. Additionally, the 3 days prior to the race were all over or right at 100 degrees and stifling. Race morning actually dawned cloudy, but that only added a suffocating humidity to the day that most Oregonians don’t deal with very well.

My #1 support staff, manager, and wife, Holly, graciously drove a group of us out to the lake including Tom “Betty Ford” Kiessling, Steven Livermore and the sponsoring group’s bike mechanic, Todd. It’s good to have a relationship with a bike mechanic, as you never know what might happen in a race (foreshadowing). When I asked Todd if he needed a ride back from the lake, he told me he’d be riding back in the sag wagon.

After a quick T1 set-up, we set out on a 2 loop swim in the calm, but murky waters of Hagg Lake. Betty wears a wetsuit with distinctive green highlights and all through the first lap, I could make out Tom just off my left elbow. Upon completing the first lap, the wind at Hagg mysteriously picked up and the whole second lap of the swim became a bobbing, sputtering thrash-fest. I could see the Sheriff’s boat and thought he must be cutting cookies just outside the swim area, but all the on-lookers declared it was the wind. Man I wanted to yell at someone. At least I was hydrated!

I finished the swim and quickly got out of transition and onto the challenging, rolling bike course around Hagg Lake. On my second loop around the lake, I hit the rough pavement just outside the transition area while in my aero bars. As I’m usually a competent bike handler, I thought this wasn’t a big deal until the shock of the bump made my right aero bar completely twist and loosen in the mount. I couldn’t put weight on the aero bar, so I ended up riding sitting up. With my bar end shifters, changing gears also became a challenge… which is not a good thing on the rolling hills around this course. My now fragile ‘race-brain’ went into defeatist mode as I imagined riding the rest of the 45 miles with no aero positioning and troublesome shifting. Luckily, just 6 miles later, I spotted the previously mentioned sag wagon (unfortunately, they were aiding an Ironheads teammate, David Embree, whose front derailleur cable had come loose). Todd was just finishing up and was Johnny on the spot with a 5 mm allen wrench to tighten my bars and send me on my way. Trouble averted!! I quickly set off hoping to keep Mr. Embree in my sights, knowing he would quickly set a good pace. Unfortunately, my legs simply felt dead, heavy, snap-less and as we ascended Clapshaw hill, David pulled away. At least we were entering the flat section of the course where a rider can settle into a tempo and recover… oh, unless you just happen to get stopped by a freight train. I made the left-hander onto Roy Road and there was Mr. Embree and another rider stopped at a railroad crossing with a train moving slowly from left to right. After approximately 3 minutes and a gathering group of riders that now numbered about 10, the final car passed and we set off again. At this point I pushed a bit to try to get back into a rhythm. It didn’t work and with 10 miles to go in the bike leg, I felt myself quitting. I eased into T2 having made he decision that I was again going to DNF Hulaman. It was muggy and I felt like crap. Why run a ½ marathon?

In T2 Holly and both the kids were cheering for me. Holly said I was ahead of the schedule I had given her, which I couldn’t figure out. So I put on my running shoes and walked over to tell her I was done. As I carefully explained I just didn’t have the mental fortitude to continue, Scott Benjamin, a fellow Ironhead shouted from behind Holly “Hey! This is a race! Get moving!” Being the generally obedient and malleable personality that I am, I obeyed, jogging out of T2 and onto the run course. Now, the run course mile markers were mysteriously missing, so I never really knew how fast I was running. However, it was easy to note that any water and sweat on my kit wasn’t evaporating and it felt almost like I was swimming through the air. I was able to cruise pretty steady on the flats and only slow down a bit during the aid stations and short uphills through the corporate park. Surprisingly, I turned onto Evergreen the second time with a 15 minute buffer to meet my sub 5:30 time goal. Since I grew up on Evergreen, I knew exactly how far it was to the final turn into Hillsboro stadium, so I picked it up a bit and thought, “I’m golden, I’m kicking A$$ on this race!” Of course, at the turn, I realized I had to reverse the big loop around the stadium and for the next 5+ minutes, a slew of explicatives ranged through my mind at having forgotten I had to run this circuit.

In the end, I finished in 5:26:52, a PR by almost 5 minutes… and that’s not subtracting train waiting time. I had a best ever ½ marathon in a triathlon, finally breaking that nasty 2 hour barrier by the narrowest of margins. Despite all my negativity, I ended the day on a massively positive note. Huge thanks to Ironheads teammates for the positive support… like the well-timed support from Bill and Jen on the run, Steve at mile 11 of the run and especially Scott yelling at me in T2. I got to race with friends like Tom and Steven and when I crossed the finish, my whole family was there handing out the medals and water bottles, which is simply a great sight at the end of a tough day. The moral for the day… sometimes the body comes through, even when the mind isn’t willing. It was a great lesson for my upcoming Ironman that I need to work on my mental training just as I’ve worked on my running and not let little bumps, loose bars or trains keep me from beating myself.

Blue Lake Mid-Summer Olympic - Race Report

Short version: I PARTICIPATED in the Blue Lake Midsummer Olympic tri because I thought I might be able to get a personal record (PR). My previous best was something like 2:27 and I negotiated time to race even though it was my wife’s birthday given I could deliver the gift of a 2:23 Olympic PR. Thanks to a late surge in my competitive juices, mission accomplished!

Swim: 27:44 (69/183) 48 seconds faster than June 2008
T1: 2:09
Bike: 1:03:46 (27/183 and ~23 mph average) 15 seconds faster than June 2008
T2: 1:33
Run: 47:48 (63/183 or 7:43/mile pace) 3:12 faster than June 2008
Total: 2:23:01 (40 of 183, 7th in AG) 4:39 faster than June 2008

Longer version: I can do some truly idiotic things when it comes to my preparations for race day. To start this season, I harbored a secret desire to set a PR at every distance I raced in triathlon from sprint through Ironman. Obviously, some PR’s are definitely easier targets than others and frankly, I didn’t know if I could break my ‘calculated’ PR at the Olympic distance. I figured that aiming for this midsummer race would provide ample time to tighten up my ‘skillz’. Unfortunately, it also provided ample time to do something stupid… namely, unplanned speed work just 3 days prior to the race.

A friend of mine convinced me to take my kids to an ‘all-comers’ track meet on Thursday night and before I could say ‘Shizzle’, I was sprinting the corner as part of a 4 x 100 relay team. We did win the blue ribbon, but it’s been a LONG time since I ran as hard as I could for 100 meters. Add to that a pacing run to help a kid to a 1 mile PR and an 800 meter live coaching run and my hamstrings were tighter than violin strings. I tried stretching, hot/smelly stuff and some easy spinning, but when race morning dawned, my hammies were still feeling taut.

As I positioned my bike in transition, I said hello to many of my Ironheads teammates and then realized my race wasn’t going to start for 90 minutes. So, I did a little warm-up jog and tried to keep myself busy and doing anything to loosen my legs. The cloud cover stayed in place making it a cooler morning than I had anticipated. When I finally entered the water, I decided to start my watch when the starter gave us the 1 minute warning, that way I could start the swim with both hands rather than fumbling with my buttons. Of course, I had difficulty right out of the gate. I got behind a zig-zagger and struggled to get around him. First I tried left, then right, then left again. Each time he would zig or zag in front of my just in time to get my follow-through right in the middle of his back. I finally just stopped and let him go. Eventually, I got my own rhythm and by the first corner, felt good enough to push it. I swam at about 80-85% for the rest of the swim and felt good coming out of the water. Of course, at that point, I looked at my watch and thought, “Crap, I lost time!” Yes, this is the point where I forgot I started my watch a minute early. Nothing like some negative motivation!

I hustled through T1 pretty quickly, deeply appreciating the supportive Ironheads like Varney and Benjamin yelling encouragement. I quickly got into the bike frame of mind and set a steady tempo. I spotted Darren Smith on the outbound run in the sprint and gave him a yell. I’m not sure what came out of my mouth, but I hope it sounded positive. After the first turnaround, I was passing a lot of people on Marine Drive westbound when I attempted a difficult nasal surgery on the bike. I leaned forward to drink from my aero bottle just as I hit a pothole and nearly got the plastic straw right up the nose. Yikes! Just shows you need to always pay attention and be looking ahead on the bike. No blood no foul as they say, but it hurt. Good thing the cool morning kept both my feet AND my nose numb. I started to notice the slight head/cross wind more as I neared the last turnaround and couldn’t distinguish if the music I heard was my aero helmet whistling or my hamstrings thrumming with each revolution. I was relieved when my speed easily jumped back up on the eastbound return and the slight tailwind allowed me to ease just a bit. I got passed by one cyclist on the day and couldn’t be disappointed since the guy was simply smoking.

My cyclocross dismount didn’t buy me enough time in transition to stay clear of the fast-flying Taylor Bethel, an Ironheads teammate in his first Olympic distance. Before I could even get out of the park, I watched Taylor bound away taking 1 stride for every 3 of mine. I decided to once again keep my mile splits, hoping it would provide some good motivation. So as I’m hitting my watch, another guy with a 40-something number on his leg passed me. He didn’t pull away real fast, so I made it my goal not to lose him. This is where the competitive juices kind of kicked in. I was able to keep my rabbit/rival within 100 feet or so by maintaining my splits between 7:25-7:40 pace. At the turnaround, I decided to try a surge. I’ve never actually surged before, so it was an unusual feeling. I did pass my rabbit and clocked a 7:15 mile 4 and surprisingly, still felt pretty dang good (despite the music playing on my hammies and still numb feet). I kept up the pace and maintained 7:40 & 7:35 splits coming home for a PR run split in an Olympic distance triathlon.

Just after the finish line, I remembered the one minute buffer and realized my final time was 2:23:01 against my 2:23 goal. I can live with 1 second. So I achieved my goal and set a PR (and my wife couldn’t be more excited about her birthday gift… riiigght), but now I feel even more confident that I can achieve a sub 2:20 next year. Huge thanks to all the Ironheads cheering and racing on Sunday. It truly makes the day more fun. Now on to Hulaman!