Timberman 70.3 - 2010 Race Report

Official Results: 475th OA out of 2,141 / 59th AG M25-29 out of 161

Pre-Race:
I had signed up for this race only a day or after registration opened up last year and unlike last year I wasn't going to make the mistake and wait until the race got closer to book a place to stay so right after I registered I booked a place to stay. Last year we unfortunately stayed at a B & B called the Black Swan, lets just leave it at that. This year we stayed a brand new Hampton Inn and I must say the newly renovated Hampton Inn's are amazing! Jess and I had a suite that had just about everything in it.
Since the race was on a Sunday my parents drove up to meet Jess and I at our place and then we followed each other up to the hotel. Once we all checked in and dropped everything off, it was off to check-in at Gunstock and then drove off my bike at the park. Once we did that, we then were able to meet up with my Aunt and Uncle who have a house on Lake Winnipesaukee which was only about a 30 min drive from where we dropped my bike off. It was great to meet up with them for dinner, but Jess and I didn't stay long since it was going to be an early morning. After we got back, I headed down to the hot tub to loosen up and stretch out since my adductor started acting up from doing nothing the last few days before the race, it was odd. Once I got stretched out we headed to bed around 9:45-10pm.
Jess and I were up for the race I think at 4am? This blog post is overdue that I can't remember. Anyway it was still dark out went to meet up with my parents. Once we meet up with them it was off to the park. Luckily we got there early enough that we were able to park just outside of the park where the race started and ended. Once we got there I set up my transition area and prepared for the day ahead.

Swim 1.2 Miles: 79th AG / 859th OA; 37:51 (1:58/100m)
For my age group I was in one of the 3rd or 4th to last swim waves to start so we didn't hit the water until an hour after the pro's hit the water. Going into the swim I knew that I was totally unprepared for this since I hadn't been in the water for 9 weeks! The last time I did swim, I swam 5,600 yards for the week. Needless to say I knew that I had to suffer through it and get it over with. Considering that I didn't have the training going into the swim I was just happy to finish.

Bike 56 Miles: 40th AG / 338th OA; 2:38:24 (21.2 MPH)
Once I finished the swim I was looking forward to the bike again this year since before the season started I purchased a set of Zipp 404's and I was really looking forward to trying them out over a long distance. Needless to say they were great and the first half of my bike I had averaged 22.59 MPH, but it was the way back that I only averaged 20.0 MPH. First off I tried to take less nutrition with me on the bike leg and tried to pick up more while I was out there. I took with a bottle of water and a bottle of HEED with 3 scoops mixed with water. I also had 2 gel bottles with me that held 4 servings each. Either the nutrition wasn't enough or I hadn't but in enough long rides or high intensity rides for the race that on way back to T-2 I just feel short of where I wanted to be. The last 15 or so miles of the bike my legs where just in pain. I've never had such pain from a ride, my quads were just burning. I'm okay with how I did on the bike leg, but I was hoping that I would have been able to be faster.

Run 13.1 Miles: 78th AG / 651st OA; 1:51:07 (8:29/mile)
Once I got into T2 and ditched my bike I was off on my run. As I exited T2 I saw my mom and Jess and I stopped and gave Jess a kiss. She was so caught off guard by it that she thought something was wrong, I was like nope, I just wanted a kiss, haha. Once I hit the road I was struggling, my legs were dead and my head wasn't in it anymore. I was ready to give up on this race and I wasn't even a mile in yet. I saw my dad out on the course at about the mile mark or so and I think he could tell I was struggling. I told him at some point that I just wanted to finish standing up. It really wasn't until the last 25% of the half marathon that I felt like I started to come around and was back in it mentally. Coming to the finish line, it was great, Chrissy Wellington was again handing out finishers medals, but as my mom went to take the picture, a guy walked in front of her so needless to say I don't have one to post yet again. Oh well!

Post Race:
I was glad to be done with this race once I finished. Once I was out of the finish chute I headed over to the food tent and grabbed just about everything in sit and then meet up with my parents and Jess who were waiting for me on the beach. We got to talking and I told my parents how I just wanted to quit during the run and my dad goes "How many times have you ever started a race and not finished it?" My answer was Never. I've never started a race and never finished it.
After hanging out on the beach and refueling I packed up and we headed home. A few weeks after the race and still now I don't think I'll be signing up for any Half Ironmans next year, with our wedding next year and the new job being an hour away it's just not in the cards. I'm okay with that since I've been more focused on running this year anyway.
Up next Call to Honor Triathlon, stay tuned for another well over due blog post on that race.

New 10K PR - Lone Gull 10K - Gloucester, MA

Official Results: 19th OA, 14th AG M20-39, Time: 36:09 (5:49/mile) NEW PR

I had signed up for this race hoping to crush my 10k PR because the course was mostly flat and I knew that I had a good shot at doing it and that is exactly what I did! I ended up beating my old PR by 4:33!

The race didn't start till 9am, but with the race about an hour away Jess and I were up at 5:45am and we left our place at 7am so we could be there at 8am. Once we got there, I checked in and had about 30 minutes to warm up and stretch out because where registration was and where the start line was, was a bit of a walk. It was a great location to have the race since it was at Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester.

I knew that going into this race I wouldn't be finishing in the top 10 so I was just hoping for a top 20 finish considering a lot of clubs run in this event it attracts a lot of fast runners. Once the gun went off the race was on and the first mile came to fast at 5:18 and I was about 10th and the lead pack was definitely under 5:00! I quickly readjusted and let off a little since I had continued at that pace I would quickly fade and not have anything left to finish. During the race my legs just felt heavy, sluggish and dead. It was a strange feeling since I haven't felt that way before. I was worried because I thought I wouldn't be able to hit the time I wanted, but once I got through the first few miles I knew that I was still on pace. I hit the 5k mark at 17:39 and felt good. A few more people were catching me, but I wasn't concerned, I wanted to race my race.

All and all it was a good race, I'm just not sure I would run it again. The race I thought wasn't very well organized unless you had done it before. There was no one there to direct you to where you needed to pick up your numbers and where the start line was, etc. I'm just thrilled that I was able to get my 10k PR and my 5K PR within a few months of each other. It's been a great year in running for me this year with all the my records falling. I'm really looking forward to concentrating more on running I think next year than triathlons. If I do any triathlons next year it might be a few sprints and olympics, no halfs or fulls since I don't have the time to train for those with my new commute to and from work being so far away.

After we got the results Jess and I decided to make an afternoon of it since we hadn't been up to Gloucester in a very long time. So we ended up driving to downtown and walked around for a bit and checked out the stores and then headed home.

Here are my mile splits from my Garmin Forerunner:
Mile 1 - 5:18
Mile 2 - 5:52
Mile 3 - 5:48
Mile 4 - 6:02
Mile 5 - 5:54
Mile 6 - 6:04
Last 2/10 Mile - 5:10