Pre Race
First let me put in my shout outs. All kinds of people deserve thanks, Bryan, Trigal, TriAya, Rudedog, Trix, Lockout, Shane, all the people who have been in my mentor groups, anyone who has answered any of my stupid questions... It would take a whole page to thank all you guys on BT and ST. Beyond that my LBS Cycology bicycles and my fitter Eddie Sloan, who's worked with me for countless hours on my position.
Also my best friend Wes who has to listen to me talk about triathlon 24/7.
David, who's not just the only man I've ever met paler than I am, but also a fantastic coach and friend who has to listen to me whine.
Finally, my family, especially my mom, who doubles duty as moral support, mechanic, Medic, cook, driver, etc. Anyways, that's enough of the gushy stuff, on to the meat and potatoes.
Getting to Augusta has been a bit challenging. My first two "A" races this year have been pretty disastrous as DNF's (Flatting out at Rev3 Knx and going off course at Amica 19.7) so I was a bit hungry to show I could perform. A week or so ago, I got a little overzealous on my run and ended up doing "something" to my back/butt/left leg. It basically put me to a super easy taper and quite a bit of doubt as to how I was going to hold up on race day. My goals were set up like this
worst case scenario - finish (I really wanted to avoid a DNF)
meh day - 5:05 or better
happy day - sub 5:00
good day - 4:52
great day - anything below that
I arrived in town midday Friday to our hotel in Aiken. After we dropped off the essentials it was a quick drive over to Augusta Marriot to get signed in, then to scope out swim start and transition. I ended up walking (in sandals no less) quite a bit farther than I expected to / should have. Most of the day Saturday I spent laying around besides setting up transition and driving the bike course. My grandparents and dad arrived later in the afternoon, and while my family went out for the night I walked across the street to Applebees, had dinner and went to bed early. (About 7pm)
woah, already some people I have fallen out of touch with that I miss. Actually the mid-2000's BT forum folks in general were all pretty great. You can see I sucked at taper's from the beginning.
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| I look so small in this picture! |
Warmup
I got up Sunday at 3:15a.m. took a shower, had breakfast and coffee, took care of the essentials and got the rest of the car packed up. I was feeling pretty good overall, my ankles were a bit sore from walking around in sandals Friday, but no big deal. I set up the rest of Transition, jumped the bus to swim start, and waited around there until they started calling for my wave (wave5, second half of men 25-29) Jumped in the water, and had to make an effort to stay behind the start buoys. It began raining while we were waiting to start, but just sprinkled and had stopped before I got out of the water.
Perfect stuff, spend all day the day before the race on your feet...
Swim
The announcer said the current was not nearly as fast as it was last year, but I dunno, it seemed like it was certainly moving to me. I started at the front of this wave, and got melee'd back to my "ideal" spot. I've found this a better solution than starting back too far and having to battle people kicking. I quickly found some feet and had a very uneventful swim... every minute or so I'd stick my head up to make sure we were on course, but honestly it would have been very tough to get off course. It did seem like we were pretty close to the shore (too close for the fastest part of the current) but I decided it was better just to sit and draft than it was to break out on my own. About 1k to the swim exit we ran into some very thick "seaweed" (whatever you call it in a river) which was a bit gross, but no big deal (or so I thought)
I was looking at 35min going in, so when I saw 27' on my watch I knew it was going to be a good day.
You could throw a potato chip bag in the swim start at Augusta and expect it to do close to a 35' swim, so my 27' was certainly not impressive in the least. I didn't drown though.
T1
The run up the ramp and into transition was extremely long. (the entire length of the transition area) and I had to dodge the wetsuit stripper pile up. I had cut about 1.5" off the legs of my wetsuit prior to the race and it made a huge difference getting it off fast, I highly suggest it! As I'm pulling my left leg out my calf cramps!! OUCH. I shake it off fast and keep moving. Helmet on sunglasses on Out the door. Had to dodge a few people all over the course, but finally got into my shoes and down to business, calf being a PITA all the way.
I actually still acutely remember the pain in my calf. I've never experienced the same kind of pain before or after, and I hope I never do again.
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| Out of transition! No flying squirrel though |
Bike
This was the first time my bike ride has ever been a "controlled" thing. Generally I just ride...hard. The goal at Augusta was to stay in the neighborhood of 200watts, and around 270-300 for the climbs. The first 10 miles or so this was very easy as I was fighting with my calf cramp along with the miles of people lined up. I spent this time making sure I was getting my calories in and massaging my leg. Eventually the crowds started thinning and my calf gave me some relief. Any time my watts climbed over 230w I would sit up on the bullhorns, just to stretch / grab a drink. The rest of the time I spent in Aero.
At about mile 15 I was having a new issue. Severe pain in my crotch. I tried to push through it, but it was not subsiding and I was becoming quite worried. Finally I sat up on a downhill and reached down to see what the issue was. I pull my hand out with a fist full of that stupid seaweed! WTF! I try to wash my junk with my water bottle and clean up the situation. I got enough of it to make life tolerable the rest of the ride.
I was hoping for a 2:33 and ended up with a 2:27, and never felt like I left my comfort zone doing it, so I would call it a good day.
Avg. Watts: 191
Max. Watts: 532
NP: 206
Ahh yes, seaweed crotch. One of my finer moments. Not a particularly impressive bike ride, from the max watts you can see I followed the plan of "around 270-300 on the climbs" almost perfectly... It would take me another 6-7 years to figure out how you pay for stuff like that. Still, it wasn't a terrible bike for the fitness I had at the time.
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| Man, the Planet X... I miss that bike |
T2
Coming into T2 crossed some covered train tracks and otherwise rough pavement. I was about to swing my leg over the saddle when I remembered my cramps earlier in the day... I came to a full stop and stepped over, losing a second or two but saving my dignity. (What there is of it to save that is)
Otherwise T2 was pretty uneventful. Again, I did have to run the entire length of transition to get out. (same as the swim but reversed)
Well, common sense seemingly did play a part in my early triathlon career.
Run
And here we were. 13 miles to the finish, two hours to beat my goal of sub 5. I come out of the gates just a bit hot (pun intended) but quickly slow down to a more tolerable 7:3x pace. The first three miles go pretty well and I am feeling fairly comfortable. Then, like a scene from a movie, the sky parts (it had been fairly overcast all day) and the sun beams down in all its glorious suffering. The heat pretty much skyrockets into the 90's and I immediately feel it. The aid stations on the run were also not exactly a mile apart, so after I miss getting a drink at mile 3 (I was throwing water on myself as opposed to down my throat) I can feel myself burning out. At 4.5 or so I can feel my left leg throbbing a bit in the back area, so I decide to stop and stretch it out. TERRIBLE idea, as soon as I stop and lift my left leg my calf balls up on itself and very nearly puts me on the ground. I get that worked out and decide that stopping is a bad idea in general. New plan - Walk every aid station and make sure to get 1 coke and 1 water (plus as much Ice as I can pack onto myself / under my hat) At one point I have 5 sponges shoved in my tri suit. At mile 8 I start feeling considerably better, but continue to walk through the aid stations. I see that I can very nearly walk the last 3 miles and still beat 4:52, but press on. I do take some extra time at the last aid station to "clean myself up" (Zip up my jersey, remove the sponges, clean coke off my face) and try to make myself look presentable at the finish line. I come into the finish with a last surge and stop my watch (after pictures of course) at 4:46ish... I'm pretty ecstatic as you can imagine!
Planned Run was 1:40 and I came in at 1:44. With some of the small issues I had leading up to and during the race I can't say I'm unhappy with it, but I can't help but think if I had had a good run today I would almost certainly have been going to Vegas.
Run splits per mile
1.) 7:23
2.) 7:43
3.) 7:07
4.) 8:14 (started walking aid stations)
5.) 8:21
6 & 7.) 16:28
8.) 8:01
9.) 8:03
10.) 8:21
11.) 7:47
12.) 8:47
13.) 8:18
Considering my open 1/2 marathon PB was 1:29:55 this is slightly less embarrassing than it first looks. Not an excellent 1/2IM Run, but better than any I managed after it. (Sadly)
Also, even though at the time 1/2IMWC was not well loved (Clearwater was hated and nobody was quite sure about Vegas) I wasn't anywhere near qualifying.
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| The heat was on. In those awesome Adidas Adios |
Post Race
I quickly got checked out in medical (they shipped me over there despite me telling them I just "LOOKED" like crap. The medics seemed to agree and quickly got rid of me) Next it was over to the recovery area, where I graciously accepted a Bud Light, well deserved IMO. Next I found the family and we watched some more of the race, then walked across the street to BEEMIES (sp?) bar/restaurant and had lunch (Great food btw)
Post race binge -
- 1 order onion rings
- 2 order french fries
- 1 crab cake
- 1 appetizer fried calamari
- Appetizer platter dinner (Shrimp, Chicken fingers, Fried Fish, Oysters)
- 1 Bowl Ice cream
- 2 Pitcher Water
I also waited around at the rolldown, but being only 2 slots in my AG and me being 13th I knew there wasn't much hope. Nonetheless it rolled down about 6 people... enough that it would have been mine with a 1:36 or so run... well within my fitness on a flat course :/ Oh well.
Disgusting... Bud Light? I really was young and stupid. That Beemies bar was pretty awesome though, if it's still there I highly recommend.
Mehh... knocking 8 minutes off my run at that time (or any time since) was a little delusional. Looking back, I don't know that I could have knocked 4 minutes off with a perfect day. Still, that's part of youth!
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| Am I ok? |
Augusta was a race I still fondly look back on. I went back the next year and came away 13 minutes slower, falling prey to some foolish mistakes and being impatient in both lead up and execution. Somewhat sadly looking back I never did another 70.3, and I think it was a distance I could have been pretty good at with enough time and work. Priorities shift and now that I'm pretty much a dedicated TTer it's not something I can jump back into easily. Maybe in a few years when things settle down a bit once more I can dedicate myself back to training to be mediocre at three sports instead of one. Anyways, thanks for giving me something to write about this week Facebook!
Until next time, thanks for reading!
- Christopher Morelock
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