Fire It Up! 3/31/07 Race Report

I’m sure that I was the only person from Michigan who flew all the way to San Diego to race in the Ford Ironman California 70.3 (formerly known as Ralph’s). Originally I picked this race thinking it would be a good training day and a great opportunity to check in with my training for my A race, Ironman USA Lake Placid. The night before the race I realized, “hey, why can’t I push myself, why do I always save my energy and race conservatively?” My friend Caroline told me more about where the hills were on the bike course and that I should really try to push it. My race strategy changed and I was Fired Up! to test myself and see what my limits are.

Saturday morning we woke up at 4:00 am for our pre-race ritual. The first most difficult part of a triathlon that I have yet to master is eating oatmeal and drinking vanilla Boost for breakfast at 4:00 am or whatever ungodly hour it is to allow for 3 hours of digestion before my start. I’m convinced that humans are not supposed to eat that early in the morning! We’d packed the car the night before and my friend Matt and I drove 35 miles from PB to Oceanside rockin’ out to the Rose Bowl pump up mix. After parking the car and pumping up our tires, we rode in the dark to the transition area. We were Fired Up! This morning ride was magical; the semi-full moon lit the way and the spray of the rolling waves glistened along the beach. The pre-race ritual continued with the setting up of transition and getting body marked (when your race number and age are written on your body with a permanent marker). A Marine sang the national anthem and the pros started the race swimming like flying fish over the top of the water surface. The sun slowly peaked its way over the hills, and the intensity of the swim start and the day ahead grew in my stomach.

Finally it was 7:40 am, time for my wave. Since we weren’t allowed to warm up, our swim out to the start buoy was the only warm up opportunity. The count down began and we were off! My first open water swim of the year. I wore a neoprene cap and wax earplugs since I wasn’t used to the 60 degree cold water. My goal was to focus on my stroke and to not swallow too much salt water. Since the swim is my weakest event, I’ve really been working on my stroke all year and I have become more confident and efficient in the water. You can’t tell by my time, because I haven’t gotten any faster, but I was not tired at all after the swim which I believe is a new training breakthrough. Another lesson learned is to always try your equipment before racing. My new swim goggles were filling up my right eye for the first 8 minutes of the swim. Luckily I’d had experience swimming with poor visibility with Justin in the CCRB pool, so I wasn’t bothered and was able to fix them during a break in the madness. For the entire course of the swim, the guys in the two waves behind me proceeded to swim over and on top of me more than any in other race. This does not make focusing on your stroke easy when you’re worried about getting hit in the face. The bright sun was like a fireball each time I looked up to sight and the water was quite salty when I gulped it by mistake while trying to breathe. I swam very straight and was right on track with the buoys. I was so happy to be in the open water where I could just keep swimming and not have to stop at the wall every 25 yards. For someone who’s afraid of sharks in the swimming pool, I never had any shark or jellyfish fears during the swim and actually enjoyed the buoyancy of the salt water. Finishing up the swim, I kicked very fast the last 150 meters to get the blood flowing into my legs since I barely use them in the swim. I ran up the boat ramp and looked at my watch: 36 minutes!!! Holy cow, this was a personal record, I’d never swum less than 43 minutes before. I was fired up and ran all the way through transition. Now, I’ve never been fast at transition. I was freezing and hadn’t had to do a transition since last September, so I took some time preparing for the next few hours that I would spend biking 56 miles. Bodygliding my feet, putting sun block on my face etc… Back to that record swim time, I checked my watch leaving Transition 1, it still showed 36 minutes – Bummer! The stop button must have been hit in the madness of the swim. My total swim time was really 45 minutes.

The second event, the 56 mile bike, was spent in harmony with my yellow Vela Lightspeed. Vela means sail in Italian, and I rode like the wind. My strategy on the bike was to leave all my energy out on the course. The first part of the course is windy, flat and smooth along the Pacific coast of Camp Pendleton U.S. Marine Base. The Marines were outstanding controlling the traffic and cheering for racers throughout the day. It was an honor to ride on these roads that are typically closed to civilians. I was cruising on the bike and I maintained my cadence between 90 and 100 rpms. Mile markers 10, 15, 20 and 25 flew by. The first of three hills hit at mile 30. I was cranking and passed everyone on the hill in front of me. The second and third hills at mile 35 and 40 were just as rewarding; I continued to pass everyone that I spotted ahead in the distance. This was the first time in a race that I played chase. I knew I was on record track for the bike; I felt strong after the hills and was prepared for any headwinds while riding west towards the ocean. With 16 miles to go, I remained committed to test how hard I could physically push it to the transition all the while determined to give it 110%. 56 miles down in record time of 13:18.

Transition 2 came and went. I contemplated putting on additional sun block, but figured it was probably already a lost cause. I racked my bike and helmet, changed my shoes, put on my visor and ran off through transition to start the 13.1 mile run. I wasn’t certain of the outlook of the remainder of the race, since I’d pushed so hard on the bike. I didn’t have the typical “jell-o” legs. This is when lactic acid builds up during the bike and your legs feel wobbly and barely move while trying to run. It is quite funny to watch triathletes run, they wobble like penguins. The breeze from the ocean felt nice, but it was still really hot on the course. I didn’t eat anything on the run; I only drank flat Coke and poured water on my head to try to cool down, because it was hot! I was on track, each mile ticked by on the double out and back course. I ran the entire course and walked through the aid stations. This was my fastest half marathon run ever, 2:05! When you finish a triathlon with a strong run, this means you’re in great shape. The fact that I pushed it on the bike and still got my PR on the run shows that training in the winter in Michigan indoors on a trainer watching Grey’s Anatomy isn’t so bad!

Results:
1.2 mile swim: 45:32
56 mile bike: 3:18:49
13.1 mile run: 2:05:28
Total: 6:26:06, my PR!

I have a long way to go to be prepared for Wildflower in May and the full Ironman in July, but this PR is a great way to kick off the 2007 season! Fire it Up!