I traveled a long way down to Virginia to get in a half ironman before IMCDA. I needed to do this race to see where I am after all this training over the last five months. This would be my fourth half IM. My goal going in was to break 5 hours. In previous attempts I tried but couldn't capture this coveted goal of mine. Sure, the three other were Timberman and the ultra tough Nutmegman, but my coach kept giving me hell about not coming in under 5 in any of these. I headed down Thursday, met up with my friend Matt on Friday and we raced Saturday morning.
Swim:
I got to the race early, set up and got in the water about 15 minutes before the start. I haven't been in open water since IMFL so I knew the swim was going to be an adventure. It always is with me. I just wanted to be relaxed and smooth and try to beat my previous times for this distance. The start was uneventful. With my last swim having been with 3,000 people, having only 100+ in a wave was way comfy. I got bumped a bit and tried to grab feet early. It was a two loop swim so I started hard out to the turn and then settled and tried to grab feet. I caught some and held on to the next turn and then lost them. Found some on the last 100 yards and got out made the short beach run and hit the water again. I was much smoother on the second loop and swam side by side with a guy for nearly the whole lap. I got out of the water and saw my time was 34, not good but I'll take it. Short run up to transition and hit the bike.
Bike
With all the riding I've done I hoped to put down a solid time. The course was flat compared to what I've been training on but when there's no hills there's almost always wind and annoying rollers that don't allow you to get into a rhythm. I pushed pretty hard the first loop with my HR around 160 for most of the loop. I passed quite a few people and then found myself up with the biking hardcores and found myself racing a little too much yo yo'ing back and forth on uphills and downhills. Too much surging. I stopped myself and found myself in a group of about 4 guys and we were pushing pretty hard. The heat was racheting up and I took down 3 1/2 bottles of water on the bike and a gel every 20. I was one short because of my lack of math skills. My legs were achy the first loop but settled in on a second. I was shooting for 2:30 and when I made it back to the park entrance on the second loop my watch as at 2:31. I hit the transition and crossed the timing mat at 2:38. That's my fastest half IM bike by more than 10 minutes so I was pretty psyched.
Run
The run was three loops with many annoying, energy sapping moderate climbs and one good hill. It didn't seem like much when I ran it on Friday, but having to do it three times was a different story. There was also two other little climbs that just sucked. I had high hopes for the run. Not having done a marathon this year I was eager to see where I was off the bike. On the first hill my legs screamed back a little but I kept my strides short and hit the 1 mile marker at 7:10. I would be really happy if I could hold this the entire race. I hit the flats and started rolling. I took a gel at 3,6, and 9. At mile 3 I was at 22 and happy. Then I got a little energy sapped. The run was not shadded and the humidity was climbing. I was dumping water on myself at each aid station to cool off and shock me out of bad thoughts. My HR was between 165 and 170 for much of the run. The second loop I got a burst and made up some time and hoped to hold the pace but on the little inclines with the heat and sun bearing down I slowed some. It was hard and probably my hardest half IM run ever. The third loop started good and held all the way to mile 10 or so. I got a little slowed and bad thoughts entered again. I forced myself to pick it up and got the HR over 172. I let it go at mile 11 and when two females came up on me I got even more angry and opened my stride to pass them. One caught me in the woods and just took off. The other dropped further and further back. At mile 12 I started really working and held it sprinting to the finish for a run time of 1:40. I was hoping for a 1:35 but considering what I went through I'm happy to have pushed through some awful mental games that were going on in my head and regain focus. The heat was just terrible. It was the one thing I kept cursing about and feeling the entire run. No leg pain or lung pain just that skin roasting feeling.
In the end, i crossed the line at 4:57. I finished 24th out of 500 and finished 5th in my AG.
I finally got under five hours and was happy to see that number. I had hoped for a better time by maybe 8-10 minutes but this was a very rewarding race for me. Never before in a race have I wanted it to be over so bad. The run was just murder for me and I totally underestimated the run course which played with my head the entire run. I now know how much conditions can mess with your head and body.
Summary: I set many PRs for in this race. My fastest bike, fastest swim and best overall time. I'm pleased with where I'm at and hoping to improve more in time for IMCDA. This race felt like an all out sprint or olympic for me. I was only comfortable on the first bike loop and first run loop which is a good sign I'm pushing harder than I ever had in races. This is something I've been trying to do for more than two years now. To know how it feels is something I can draw on in the future. Another PR was set by my friend Matt who finished in 5:16 - 45 minutes faster than his previous half IM.
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