2008 Firmman Half Race Report

Official Results:
14th OA out of 246, 1st M25-29 out of 19; 4:36:03

All I can say is wow! I blew away my predicted time by 9 minutes! I have never been so calm the day before and the day of a race than I had been at this one. I was actually able to sleep well and didn't even wake up thinking about the race, which was awesome! Usually I have the hardest time sleeping before a big race. The funniest part was that my parents and Jess were shocked that I was soo calm, I think they were more nervous than I was.

The day before the race we didn't have time to drive the course because we had a late start heading down to Connecticut because of prior commitments Jess had. We ended up staying at my parents house the night before the race because we also were celebrating my dad's birthday, which is September 23rd. We ended up celebrating his birthday at my favorite restaurant, California Pizza Kitchen. They make this killer pizza that I love called the Tostada, its basically a taco covered pizza. So that was the pre-race dinner "carbo-loading," if you will. Anyway, after celebrating my dad's birthday it was an early bed time at 9:30PM and we were up at 4:00AM the next morning so we could drive part of the race course. Needless to say we left a little later than we wanted because I'm so slow getting ready in the morning so we only drove the first and last 5 miles of the bike course and none of the run course. It really didn't worry me for some reason that we didn't drive the course because I figured there would be enough volunteers on course that I wouldn't be able to get lost and also because I was in the last swim wave and I'd be catching people all day.

Swim 1.2 Miles: 29:20, 50th OA, 6th AG
Since this race was postponed 2 weeks it was a cold start to the race. The air was about 50 degrees, but the good thing was that the water was much warmer and in the Upper 60's, if not 70 degrees. It was my first ocean swim ever in a triathlon, which was very interesting needless to say. If you don't know Narragansett Beach, then I'll tell you that the waves are about 3-5 feet high. Each swim wave started on the beach and then everyone ran into the crashing waves. After you fought the waves on the way out, it was pretty calm water. The good thing was that you were swimming with the current, which made the swim times pretty quick. I started in the last swim wave or the 5th swim wave. The start for me was a little crazy trying to get through the waves, but once I got through them I settled down and got into a good pace. It was tough to sight the buoys since I was up and down in the waves, so I think I spent more time sighting than any other race. The swim exit was also interesting since you had to fight the waves on the way back in, luckily that was pretty uneventful for me. Once I got to shallow enough water I stood up slowly because the last time I did a half I made the mistake of standing up to fast and my hamstrings froze up on me. This was the first race I came out of the water not feeling tired and my arms didn't feel like they were going to fall off!

Transition 1: 2:20
This was pretty uneventful, but there were no wetsuit strippers at this race, but I was still able to improve my time from my first half, since I didn't have to fumble around with my helmet. I did have a hard time getting my gels into my jersey pockets because my hands were cold from the swim, oh well.

Bike 56 miles (actually 56.34): 2:36.01 (21.5 mph), 33rd OA, 2nd AG
This was my best bike leg in a race to date! I've never felt so comfortable on the bike till now. My long rides seem like they are starting to pay off. As soon as I got on the bike I started drinking water. I didn't start to intake gels till about 1 hour into the ride. For whatever reason my body wasn't craving the food even as I started taking in the gels. I figured I should get them in now even if I wasn't hungry because if I didn't get them in early then I would pay for it on the run. I was catching people the whole bike ride from the 4 swim waves ahead of me. The whole bike ride I kept looking for guys in my age group and I didn't start catching guys in my age group until about 20 miles in when I caught 2 of them at about the same point and from there on I didn't see anyone else. The bike course had a few little hills, but nothing crazy and was pretty flat. The only thing that sucked about the bike ride for me was I hit a rough patch of road and lost of my premixed Accelerade bottles, so I missed out on some needed calories, carbs and protein, which was another reason why I ended up going through all my gels on the bike. The good thing was that I was prepared for this and had carried extra gels with me just in case. The only thing I ended up picking up at the bike aid station was an extra water. Returning to the transition area my legs felt great.

Transition 2: 1:39
This went pretty smooth, but lost some time because I had a hard time finding my rack...rookie mistake, what can I say about that. Once I found my area, I threw on my socks, shoes, grabbed 4 -5 more gels and my race number belt and headed out for my run.

Run 13.1 Miles: 1:26:41 (6:36/mile) 3rd OA, 1st AG
Time and Time again this has proven to be my fastest and strongest leg for the triathlon, so needless to say I wasn't that surprised to learn that this was my where I finished with my Overall place and Age Group place. I felt so good coming of the bike that my 1st mile split was way to fast at 5:48! I quickly settled in to a much slower pace after that 1st mile. I actually had upper abdominal cramps up through mile 4, but then they went away after that. I think that was because I ate 2 gels with about 10-15 miles left on the bike. I skipped the first few aid stations, but then started stopping at most them and took in HEED and water. I took my first gel in at mile 7-8 and then took a caffeine gel at mile 10 for insurance, to make sure that no one would catch me. The worst part of this was that run finish was on the beach. I had decided to take the longer run down to the water to avoid the deep sand and then worked my way back up to the finish at the transition area finish line.

Race Recap:
I knew I was on pace for a 4:37 half by the time I reached the 8 mile mark in the half marathon and because I was keeping track of my mile splits I had a good idea of where I was going to finish. I knew my goal was a 4:45, but I ended up crushing it. All and all this race has given me the confidence I need to continue my training for B2B and I'm looking forward to see how I make out at the Iron Distance Race. I also want to thank my Parents and Jess for all there support for coming to watch and supporting me during my training and races. I wouldn't be able to do it without the love and support of my friends and family. So here's a big thank you to everyone that has had a big influence on me in triathlon (Jess, Mom and Pop Ellis, Scott DeWire, Rebecca Dewire, Thor Kirleis and my other Trifurian training partners.)