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G8R80 & FF - Gator Half Iron Thread
- Thread starter tsilcyc
- Start date
I had a DNF....
didnt even reac h the firstr swim bouy and had a change of heart... no fun. I am so tired of swim/bike/run
Time for the next phase of my life and athletics!!
Caber toss here I come. I am planning to compete in the highlands next year April 2010 in Dunedin FL.
I need ya Evo!
G8r80 was looking great as he went onto his bike! I look forward to hearing the report.
didnt even reac h the firstr swim bouy and had a change of heart... no fun. I am so tired of swim/bike/run
Time for the next phase of my life and athletics!!
Caber toss here I come. I am planning to compete in the highlands next year April 2010 in Dunedin FL.
I need ya Evo!
G8r80 was looking great as he went onto his bike! I look forward to hearing the report.
Gator Half 70.3 4/5/09
The full report:
I wake up at 4:30 because one of my border collies, Flash, has psoriasis and needs another treatment. I let Flash out and go back to bed but can't sleep. Get up at 5:00, have oatmeal, get ready, wake up the kids a little later, and load everything up. Leave the house at 6:15.
Arrive at the site at 7:00. People are getting ready and organizing their stuff at the transition. I pick a spot and lay out my stuff. I make mental notes of where the bike is although from past experience, I know this is not necessary because will be only a handful of bikes still there when I arrive out of the water.
I meet up with Flyinfree, one of the folks who got me interested in this sport and told me about the Gator Half. I listen to the last minute instructions. One wave start - no chip timers - manual timing.
At 8:00 the race starts. I position myself in the middle away away from the bulk of swimmers. I get going and I get one quick shot of anxiety but miles and miles of pool time (plus a wetsuit) overcomes that and I get into a smooth stroke. Others begin to pull away and I stay relaxed and calm and let them go. I stay reasonably on course, keep steady speed and don't stop to rest the entire swim. I finish in 48 minutes, which is about as fast as I can go in the pool. This must have been a fast group as there are only 2 swimmers behind me. The other 120 swimmers were faster than me.
I get out of the water, after swimming a little farther than I had to because the flags to mark the exit had fallen down and nobody had put them back up. Slip out of wetsuit (after remembering how it is fastened), dry off, put on socks, bike shoes, helmet and Garmin, walk through the transition zone and take off. The roads are okay - flat with relatively little traffic. There are police officers at all intersections with lights or stop signs. I have a profile design aero bottle and a water bottle behind the seat. After 10 miles, the aero bottle is empty and I transfer the accelerade from the rear bottle to the front. That is a slick setup! At 20 miles, I am low on liquids and decide to fill up at the stop. But, there is no water at the stop and they are waiting for the water! The next stop is at 38 miles, so I go hoping that was not a big mistake. After about 30 miles, I notice the telltale sign of the onset of a cramp - the twitching - in my left quad. Then my right quad. I back off a little from about 19mph to 18.5 and that seems to help. By 35 miles, I am completing out of liquids. At 37 miles, the straw extender on the aero bottle flies off and I debate whether to go back for it or continue on without it. I continue on. By 38 miles, I am looking for the water stop, but not seeing anything. By 40 miles, I'm getting concerned. By 41 miles, I'm getting angry. By 42 miles, I see it, stop, refill the aero bottle and replace my water bottle with theirs, full of accelerade. Because I am missing the straw extender, I have to put my face almost to the bars to drink. I get by. At 56 miles, I roll in to the transition zone.
I rack the bike, take off the helmet, change my shoes - remembering how to correctly tie a reef knot versus the granny knot I have been using for 49 years - thank you Runner's World.
I have done bricks and sprint tris before and I knew the first mile of the run was painful as the legs don't want to run after biking. I thought I would start out at a 10:30 pace, but that quickly slowed to a 11:00 pace and then to 12:00 pace. I did the first 5.5 miles in one hour. After about 5 miles, I couldn't go more than .1 mile without severe cramping. So, for the last 7+ miles, I trotted at 12 - 13 mm pace and walked .1 mile.
Total time: 6:33.
The good and the bad:
Good: I ran the best race I was capable of. Even though it was in the high 80s with unrelenting sun, I drank constantly and think I maintained my hydration. I was unwilling to use electrolytes other than those in solution, like Gatorade or Accelerade because I was concerned how it would affect my blood pressure. I was properly tapered. The two-week layoff from running allowed my shins to heal and I had no shin problems whatsoever. The bike worked flawlessly and I saved a lot of energy on the bike with a good aero position and the equipment. It would have been real easy to head into the transition zone after the bike and certainly after the first 6+ mile lap of the run, sit down in the shade and come back to fight another day as many others did. But, I gutted it out. My countless hours in the pool and lessons allowed me to get through the swim unscathed.
The bad: I'm still a slow swimmer and that may never improve much. Although I have trained extensively for this, I was not in the shape that I would have liked to have been. I should lose 13 pounds and get to 180 for another long course event. Maybe no one ever feels that they are prepared enough... I dunno.
I do know that I have a long way to go to step up to a full Ironman, but I have plenty of time to work on that. I only have two sprints on my schedule for the rest of this year, the Tri-Shark in June in Illinois and the Boulder Tri-for-your-cause in September. I'll try to pick up an oly length later this year and I want to do some more short bike time trials.
__________________
The full report:
I wake up at 4:30 because one of my border collies, Flash, has psoriasis and needs another treatment. I let Flash out and go back to bed but can't sleep. Get up at 5:00, have oatmeal, get ready, wake up the kids a little later, and load everything up. Leave the house at 6:15.
Arrive at the site at 7:00. People are getting ready and organizing their stuff at the transition. I pick a spot and lay out my stuff. I make mental notes of where the bike is although from past experience, I know this is not necessary because will be only a handful of bikes still there when I arrive out of the water.
I meet up with Flyinfree, one of the folks who got me interested in this sport and told me about the Gator Half. I listen to the last minute instructions. One wave start - no chip timers - manual timing.
At 8:00 the race starts. I position myself in the middle away away from the bulk of swimmers. I get going and I get one quick shot of anxiety but miles and miles of pool time (plus a wetsuit) overcomes that and I get into a smooth stroke. Others begin to pull away and I stay relaxed and calm and let them go. I stay reasonably on course, keep steady speed and don't stop to rest the entire swim. I finish in 48 minutes, which is about as fast as I can go in the pool. This must have been a fast group as there are only 2 swimmers behind me. The other 120 swimmers were faster than me.
I get out of the water, after swimming a little farther than I had to because the flags to mark the exit had fallen down and nobody had put them back up. Slip out of wetsuit (after remembering how it is fastened), dry off, put on socks, bike shoes, helmet and Garmin, walk through the transition zone and take off. The roads are okay - flat with relatively little traffic. There are police officers at all intersections with lights or stop signs. I have a profile design aero bottle and a water bottle behind the seat. After 10 miles, the aero bottle is empty and I transfer the accelerade from the rear bottle to the front. That is a slick setup! At 20 miles, I am low on liquids and decide to fill up at the stop. But, there is no water at the stop and they are waiting for the water! The next stop is at 38 miles, so I go hoping that was not a big mistake. After about 30 miles, I notice the telltale sign of the onset of a cramp - the twitching - in my left quad. Then my right quad. I back off a little from about 19mph to 18.5 and that seems to help. By 35 miles, I am completing out of liquids. At 37 miles, the straw extender on the aero bottle flies off and I debate whether to go back for it or continue on without it. I continue on. By 38 miles, I am looking for the water stop, but not seeing anything. By 40 miles, I'm getting concerned. By 41 miles, I'm getting angry. By 42 miles, I see it, stop, refill the aero bottle and replace my water bottle with theirs, full of accelerade. Because I am missing the straw extender, I have to put my face almost to the bars to drink. I get by. At 56 miles, I roll in to the transition zone.
I rack the bike, take off the helmet, change my shoes - remembering how to correctly tie a reef knot versus the granny knot I have been using for 49 years - thank you Runner's World.
I have done bricks and sprint tris before and I knew the first mile of the run was painful as the legs don't want to run after biking. I thought I would start out at a 10:30 pace, but that quickly slowed to a 11:00 pace and then to 12:00 pace. I did the first 5.5 miles in one hour. After about 5 miles, I couldn't go more than .1 mile without severe cramping. So, for the last 7+ miles, I trotted at 12 - 13 mm pace and walked .1 mile.
Total time: 6:33.
The good and the bad:
Good: I ran the best race I was capable of. Even though it was in the high 80s with unrelenting sun, I drank constantly and think I maintained my hydration. I was unwilling to use electrolytes other than those in solution, like Gatorade or Accelerade because I was concerned how it would affect my blood pressure. I was properly tapered. The two-week layoff from running allowed my shins to heal and I had no shin problems whatsoever. The bike worked flawlessly and I saved a lot of energy on the bike with a good aero position and the equipment. It would have been real easy to head into the transition zone after the bike and certainly after the first 6+ mile lap of the run, sit down in the shade and come back to fight another day as many others did. But, I gutted it out. My countless hours in the pool and lessons allowed me to get through the swim unscathed.
The bad: I'm still a slow swimmer and that may never improve much. Although I have trained extensively for this, I was not in the shape that I would have liked to have been. I should lose 13 pounds and get to 180 for another long course event. Maybe no one ever feels that they are prepared enough... I dunno.
I do know that I have a long way to go to step up to a full Ironman, but I have plenty of time to work on that. I only have two sprints on my schedule for the rest of this year, the Tri-Shark in June in Illinois and the Boulder Tri-for-your-cause in September. I'll try to pick up an oly length later this year and I want to do some more short bike time trials.
__________________
Last edited:
lol....seriously?
yes seriously... LOL!!
I am an ironman and now I will find another persuit.
Todd