2008 Season Recap

I wanted to take some time and reflect on my 2008 triathlon season.

My main goal for this year was to finish 2 Half Iron races and 1 Full Distance race.
Let me tell you that this goal sounded absolutely crazy at the beginning of 2008, especially since last year I had only done 2 Sprint Distance triathlons. I was so hooked on the sport of triathlon after last year that I really had to step it up a notch in 2008. So when I started thinking about the races I wanted to do, which was in November / December of 2008, I had definitely decided that I wanted to do 2 Half's and then shoot for a Full in 2009. That goal quickly changed once I spoke with Scott DeWire and he told me about Beach 2 Battleship in Wilmington, NC and that if I was going to do 2 Half's, why not just do a Full in the same year since training for a Full is just a little more volume. Trust me, it didn't take much convincing on his part! I think I thought about it and made a final decision in a day or two. I was scared, nervous, excited and overwhelmed at what training lie ahead all at the same time after I signed up for that race.

Now if you know anything about setting goals, you have to set small goals to achieve the main goal you are after. With that said, my small goals were to use the sprint triathlons as training races and improve my times at races and/or distances that I had done the previous year. The first real race of the year was the Great Bay Half on April 6th and the purpose of this race was to see where my training stood at that point, since I started training for my First Half Iron on January 20th. This race was a great first goal or milestone for me to reach in my training since I was able to PR my Half Marathon time by 6 minutes! After such a great PR for this race, I was really excited to see how I would make out at Mooseman, my first half iron race. After the Great Bay Half I used the JCC Sprint as another measuring stick for how I would make out at the Spring distance this year and yet again I surprised myself with good results by placing 3rd overall and 1st in my Age Group. With these small goals and sticks of measurement met and Mooseman less than a month away I was ready. As you may or may not have known, the goal at Mooseman was to A) Finish and B) try and finish under 5 hours. Even though I was very close to making my B goal, the weather didnt quite cooperate that day so I was very happy with how I performed, but also knew that I could have had a much better race in more ideal race conditions.

With the 1st goal met, it was time to switch training plans and start the Iron Distance training plan, which I thought was going to a very daunting task. B2B training started about 2 weeks after Mooseman and it wasn't long before I had my next race, The Powow Triathlon. This race was the 2nd time I had done this one and was the last race of the year last year. I was excited for this race because I knew that with all the base I had I could really improve my time this year from last year. I ended up improving by 4 minutes, which was great and I moved up in the standings and once again won my age group. After doing well at Powow I had some fill in races to keep my race fitness up and then I had the Firm Man Half, which I had scheduled in as part of my B2B training plan as another goal and measuring stick of performance. Firm Man ended up being an awesome race! Not only was this a huge PR for me, but it was the most comfortable I've ever felt racing. There were many factors that had helped me in my favor, the race was postponed a week because of a hurricane so I had to take a 2 week taper in lieu of a 1 week taper. Also, the weather was perfect and the course was flat. After a such an awesome performance at Firm Man I was even more pumped for the upcoming B2B race. Firm Man ended up having a few goals as well A) try and break Scott DeWire's PR at the 70.3 distance, sorry Scott, and B) Win my age Group and guess what, I did both.

With my 2nd season goal meet, it was time for B2B. The training that lead up to this was by no means easy, but would I do it again, most certainly!! I can honestly say there is nothing more exciting and thrilling than finishing an Iron distance race. B2B training consisted of some very long and mentally tough rides and swims. There were times when I wondered why the hell I was doing this in the first place. There were also the times I didn't even want to train or talk about triathlon. In fact, I think I ended up taking 2 or 3 days off in a row because I was so sick of the training routine, but hey sometimes you just have to listen to what your body is telling you. I've found that you learn so much about yourself, your body's limits not only physically, but mentally as well.

Now that B2B is over, it's now officially the off season and it feels like such a huge relief off my shoulders to be done with this season. All and all this season was an amazing experience and I can't wait for what next season holds in store for me.

Thank you!
Now, I just have to finish this post with a HUGE, I mean HUGE thank you to Jess who absolutely had to deal with my high training volumes during this season. I also have to give a GINORMOUS thank you the support my Parents, Mr. & Mrs Ellis gave me as well. Without them I wouldn't have been able to do what I did this season. My dad was a great support for me and has been for quite sometime. For those of you who don't know, they made it to all of my track and cross country meets in high school to support me and have been to every major triathlon event I've done. The exception to that was my 1st ever triathlon because I was superstitious about them being there since the first one I signed up for I ended up getting injured.

Beach 2 Battleship 140.6 - Race Report - Wilmington, NC

Official Results:
12:17:35
178th OA out of 397, 14th M25-29 out of 22

B2B was not only my first Iron distance race, but it was also the first time Setup Events had put on an Iron distance triathlon. Now I've heard all the great things about Setup Events from Triathlete Magazine, but I've also heard about them from two local triathletes who have experienced a lot of their races, Scott DeWire and Rebecca DeWire, who I also went to high school with and live down in North Carolina. Setup Events put on the most amazing race despite all of the logistical issues they had to deal with. The only other company I can compare them to is EndorFun Sports who also puts on Timberman and Mooseman up in New England.

Pre-Race Events..
Race morning started out with me getting up at 4:00am to have breakfast, shower and get ready so that Jess, Dad and I could make it to T1 by 5:30am. We got down to T1, got bodymarked and then I went into T1 to make sure my bike was all set before the race. I went to go top off my tires with air only to find my rear tire flat. So I went to go find the bike tech for the race only to find that many other triathletes had the same problems with flat tires. By the time he got around to my bike it was time for me to catch the 2nd to last bus out to the Swim Start. Since I had spent all this time making sure my bike was all set for the race I had no time to stretch out prior to the start of the race. Once we got out to the Swim Start drop off I hurried off the bus and was able to stretch for about 5-10 minutes only for race officials saying we needed to hurry up and get down to the swim start because we only had 10 minutes till the start of the race. After stretching a little I hurried and threw my wetsuit on and got down to the swim start. Needless to say my day was off to the wrong start and I felt so rushed race morning that I didn't have time for my usual pre-race rituals and stretching.

Swim 2.4 miles: 55:58, 113th OA, 11th AG
You'll look at this swim time and be wowed, but don't be fooled, the race took place in a tidal ocean channel. They told us that we would be starting our swim at the peak of the tide so the current would be really fast and it was! The water temp at the swim start was 68 degrees and didn't feel cold at all despite the fact that the air was 38 degrees at race start, but once we got towards the marina for the swim exit, there were pockets of some seriously cold/freezing water!

I finished the swim a little faster than I had anticipated because of the current. The swim exit consisted of climbing up ladders attached to a boat dock and then running / jogging 300 yards through a parking lot, across a street and then into T1 to grab my changing bag for the bike leg. The run from the marina to T1 was absolutely FREEZING!! The whole run I couldn't feel my feet and I felt like I was running with ice blocks on my feet. Once inside the changing tent, it was packed with guys changing into there bike gear, but luckily I was able to find a chair to sit on and put on all my gear. T1 took awhile because I struggled to put on my arm warmers and leg warmers since I was shaking violently because I was so cold and I couldn't feel my hands that well. While I was there I also put on gloves and for the first time on the bike leg I wore bike socks to keep my feet warmer. I didn't put on much warmer clothing because I didn't want to sweat later on the bike since that day it was going to get up to 72 degrees.

Bike 112 miles: 6:45:59 (16.55 mph), 284th OA, 19th AG
Two words come to mind for this leg: FREEZING & FRUSTRATING. The first hour to hour and half on the bike was absolutely freezing! I think that I was suffering from hypothermia for a little while and was ready to DNF that first hour. I was so cold that I was shaking violently while I was riding that I thought I was going to fall off my bike. After that first hour on the bike I warmed up enough, but didn't start to get feeling back in my toes until about mile 75 or 80.

The bike leg was very frustrating for me because I ended up having to deal with 2 front tire flats during the race, which cost me 45 minutes to an hour of down time. My first flat as you know was while I was in T1 before the race. My second flat came at about mile 45. I was able to get my tire off and the blown tube out and then new tube in, but then I couldn't get the tire back on because my hands were cold. While I kept trying to get my tire back on, bike support came by and finished it and got me back on the road in no time, but this 2nd flat cost me about 30 minutes of time. Once back on the road I started catching the people that passed me while I was on the side of the road and was getting back into a good rhythm. By the time I got to mile 60 it was warm enough to stop at the Bike Special needs aid station and I dropped off my arm warmers and gloves. I didn't take off my leg warmers since I still couldn't feel my feet. I then made it to about mile 85 and I had another front tire blow out. Since I had used all my spare tubes for the first 2 flats, I had no tubes left to fix it. Fortunately enough, someone going by stopped and gave me their last tube. I was very thankful of them, I just wish I had caught there number so I could contact them and tell them thank you. Again I had to wait for bike support to get my tire back on again. This time I was down about 15 minutes to 30 minutes. I knew that once I got my 3rd flat my family and Jess would be really worried that I hadn't been in my predicted time. Well sure enough, they were. As I exited the run I yelled to my dad that I ended up with 2 flats and that besides that everything was good.

Despite all my bike issues, I loved the flatness and openness of the bike leg, I just wish I was able to pull off a decent time.

Run 26.2: 4:18:16 (9:51 per mile pace), 86th OA, 9th AG
Heading out of T2, my legs were a little tired, but they didn't feel that bad. I had a hard time getting my mile splits on the first loop since the mile markers where a little off so I had no idea where I was time wise until I came around to head back out for my 2nd loop. I ran the first half marathon in about 2 hours. The 2nd loop was a different story. I ended up walking a little more since I was really starting to get tired. The portions I walked the most was when we had to head up the bridges and on ramps since these were the only hills to speak of on the run course. The run course was okay, but the best part was when we headed into downtown Wilmington and there were a ton of people down there supporting everyone that went by, which was great. The run definitely required a lot of mental strength and there were times where I thought I was just going to break down, but I just kept thinking of the finish line and seeing my family and Jess there waiting for me. I can't say that I hit the wall at all during the run. I made sure that I listened to my body and took in whatever I needed when I felt it coming on. I remember hitting the aid stations at miles 15 and 18 and eating Oreos and washed them down with water. I've never eaten Oreos that tasted so good! After fueling up between miles 15 and 18 I felt great again and ended up running strong from miles 18 until the finish line.

The finish line was amazing! What a great feeling it was coming down the finish line chute and they are calling out your name as you cross. After crossing the finish line I was quickly greeted by my mom, Jess, Katie, my parents friends and childhood babysitter Kari and Gary. Also, Mr. DeWire and my Dad came shortly after because they were down at the entrance to Battleship road to give me a high five as I came in.

Below is a post race photo of Jess, Scott and Rebecca Dewire and myself:

Post Race Comments:
I'd really like to thank my family and most of all Jess for supporting me during my racing and training for such a long event. I knew that it took lots of time for me to train for and now it's over. I'm really looking forward to spending more time with Jess and my family now that the triathlon season is over. Looking ahead to next season, I can't wait to tackle the 2 half's I'm signed up for and I'm already thinking of doing another Iron Distance race in 2010 because of this race performance, but we'll see.

B2B Quick Update

Back in CT for the night before I head back to MA after the long drive back from NC.

Results:
12:17:35 (S=55:58, B=6:45:59, R=4:18:16)
179th OA out of 500
14th M 25-29 out of 22

This was not the race I had expected nor wanted to have. Morning started off with a rear flat before the race started and then 2 front flats during the race.

Full report to follow.