Sunday, May 17, 2015
Woke up at 3:40 AM
Woke up at 3:40 AM
Drank the crappy coffee in the hotel room.
Tried to eat instant oatmeal (240 cals) as I always have a hard time with Chobani+granola on race morning, but couldn’t down it either. I guess it is the nerves on race morning. I still managed to eat half of it and had a gel to cover the calorie difference.
Put on 4 layers - tri suit, Skins jersey, full sleeve jersey, shell jacket - to prepare for the cold 7 miles downhill ride from T2 to T1.
Drove to T2, rode 7 miles to T1.
Got busy chit chatting with buddies and got late for my wave - doh! The gun went off at 7 AM sharp but I was still getting in the water for a mandatory warmup. It took me 3 mins or so to get to the start line by when the women had already lined up. I just took off behind the men’s wave instead of waiting for the next wave.
Swim (1:26/100yd)
Pretty uneventful. Didn’t get to draft much, but went tempo-ish as I was pissed about missing the start and wanted to make up some time. There was a short walk/climb from swim exit to T1 and the shoes I had kept at the swim exit came handy.
T1 - 4:25
Quite pathetic, really. Need to work a lot on transitions.
Bike (173W NP, 151 Avg. HR)
This course KICKED MY BUTT! ~5500 ft of elevation gain over 56 miles = INSANE! To my credit, I think I paced well and stuck to my power caps and even held back on some of the longer climbs. 80-90-100 rule really applies to a “normal” HIM bike course. For the monstrosity of a course that this was, all rules are chucked out the window. Only one rule applies - conserve yourself for the run (which, by the way, was equally brutal.) I got a flat at about mile 19 which cost me 7 minutes or so. Need to work on being able to fix a flat in under 5 minutes. (Note to self - carry 2 spare tubes and CO2 cylinders at IM Boulder) Bike is still by far my weakest leg and I need to get much much faster on the bike.
T2 - 2:58
Again, super pathetic. I found myself thinking in T2. Transitions need to be mechanical without any mental involvement.
Run (8:09 min/mi)
It was a very scenic, beautiful and at the same time soul crushing, butt wrenching HIM course with ~1200 ft of elevation gain over 13.1 miles. Most of the run was on semi-technical single track and fireroad. The only portion that was on a paved road was also a long ass 400 ft climb. My HokaOneOne Huakas were my one true friend on this brutal course. I am happy that I was able to run ~98% of the course except for a couple of super steep climbs where it didn’t make sense to run up anyways. There was no bonking, cramping, or injuries and I was able to finish strong.
Official timing:
Swim: 33:23 (late start)
T1: 4:25 (Ugh!)
Bike: 3:34:53 (7 mins fixing flat)
T2: 2:58 (Ugh!)
Run: 1:46:43 (Woohoo!)
Total Time: 6:02:24
Actual swim timing - 30:07
Actual Total time - 5:59:08
I secretly wanted to go under 6 which I really didn’t think was possible, but I made it! As I started the swim over 3 minutes late, that puts me at 5:59:08. For all practical purposes, that is my time.
What went well
- Paced well on the bike
- Nailed the nutrition
- Paced well on the run
- Walked the steepest hills
- Did not bonk, cramp or get injured
What went poorly
- Missed the start
- Transitions were pathetically slow
- Took too long to fix the flat
