Eagleman 70.3: A Real Triathlon Race

So Eagleman was supposed to be my big race for the year.  The course was flat and expected to be fast. It was a perfect opportunity to set a new PR. Jessie and I were able to go down about a month before with my co-worker, Chuck, to check everything out. Everything seemed in check as the final preparations were heading out.  The temperatures were high the days leading up to the race so staying inside was a priority as to not get extra fatigued.

Gotta do my pre-race selfie. It is just a thing now.

Race morning was very easy going. I tried to keep the stress down and it seemed to be working. I was very relaxed as I made my race morning checks.  My wave would be the last wave so it was important to focus the extra hour I had before the start.  I was able to check on the swim, watch transition of the pros, and slowly warm up.

Kristine always looks so good on race morning.

I got to the swim a few minutes early which was good because they somehow skipped a wave and I was going one wave early.  The swim to the start line was extremely dirty but the start had about a waist deep start.  I got settled a little back as I didn't want to deal with the starting chaos.  The gun went off and it took a few seconds before I could start swimming.  Looking back I probably should have moved further up and taken the risk of getting physical.

The swim was pretty smooth for me.  Right away I got into a good rhythm and started moving past other waves.  It sounded like others had a difficult swim compared to how I felt it went.  The hot water likely paid something to that as the race was not wetsuit legal.  There wasn't much contact as I made my way around the course.

The first of my mistakes started at the end of the swim.  I started seeing a lot of people walking in the water and got confused.  Apparently the finish was quite shallow and people were able to stand.  I figured I would wait for a while to stand as it is more energy to try to run through the water than to swim.  I made it about halfway through the standing area until I stood up. I hoped this would be shallow enough to get my knees and ankles out of the water but it was not.  This was the point that I should have kept swimming but instead I tried to run through the water.  By the time I exited the water my legs were shot and not in the mood for running or biking.

My transition was quick as I was able to move past a lot of people.  A quick jump onto my bike on the edge of the road and I was out for the big determine factor of the day, the bike.

Such a long run to exit for the bike. You can just BARELY see the bike out on the far other end.

My goal for the bike was to take a risk, push it all along.  This was the second mistake of the day.  I started out strong and wanted to try to keep a steady pace all day. Right away I was making moves and passing everybody on the bike with ease.  The wind was down and I was pushing a strong pace.

My mind was on keeping cool. As I drank I also would pour some water on myself to keep the temperature down.  The aid stations were a little confused about moving when I pointed at them.  Luckily, I didn't have any drops this time.  The stations were well placed that I was able to restock each time.

For the first half of the bike I was right on cue. My splits were perfect as I pushed it but kept it easy.  There were a few times that I wished there was a hill so that I could shift up positions or coast the downhills but there was none of that for this course.

By the halfway point I realized my mistakes were going to be costly.  My legs were getting fatigued and my body was beginning to ache from sitting in aero position all day. I backed off a little bit but still continued to pass everybody. I made my turn to the worst part of the course, Egypt Rd., which is a 7 miles stretch of a rough road that really wears on you.  I kept my head and worked through the segment. As I made my way back to town I was ready to be off the bike. There were times I even considered not doing the run (this probably would have been a better idea).

When I got off bike there was a good crowd at the transition that was cheering that made it a lot easier to keep moving.  I made my way back to my spot in transition and noticed that not a single bike was on my rack.  This meant I was in a really good place in my age group and if I could pull off the run I know I can, things would be good. Running shoes were on and I was off to run.

Right away I was making moves on the run.  Passing people was a typical story again as the waves ahead of me started to fade.  I made my move and was feeling okay for the first mile when I saw my split, 6:45. It was okay but I knew the heat was taking its path so I made no moves to try to push harder. Instead I focused on getting a consistent effort going.  Mile two came by and I knew it was going to be a sluggish day (7:00). There was no shade and it was really just going to be an aid station to aid station run for me.  The nice thing was that I could keep moving through the aid stations and didn't have to walk as the next few miles got slower and slower (7:30ish).

By the time I hit the out and back stretch things were going further south.  The heat was worse than they expected and the mistakes I made earlier were catching up. I no longer saw 7:XX but was above 8 minutes per mile.  The only positive thought I had going was that EVERYBODY was suffering as nobody had passed me and I continued to work further up the crowd.  By mile 5 the aid stations were so crowded that I had to walk through them to get all of the stuff I needed.  Each one went something along the lines up: Water-dump on head, Ice-stuff in top, Coke-drink, Water-drink half and dump half again on head. This system worked well in keeping me moving and still passing others.

At least this leads to a fast exit to the run........Closet rack to the exit.

I found Jessie around the turn around and it sounded like she was having a tough day too.  I gave her peace of mind that it was a bad day for everybody as I shuffled forward and made the turn back to home.  I started realizing how far back I was from my goal time of low 1:20s:XX and thought more about not giving up.

This is where I want to point out the reason I love this sport.  For most races I am a pretty quiet guy on the course; I make my passes and focus on working hard. Selfish would be a good word to describe me as I have one goal in mind and that is for me to go as fast as possible. On days when things go wrong I am able to see everything else that goes on around me when I don't take the time to look. Everybody is out encouraging each other.  If the runner next to you starts to walk, you cheer them on to run with you. You see random strangers running side by side having a conversation to help the miles pass. As I made my way to mile 9 there was a girl that started walking to which I told her to stick with me for the last 1/4 mile to the aid station. She was able to get moving again and stayed with me the whole way. Every time that somebody passes another, there is a moment where they congratulate each other on the work that they are putting in. Nobody has it easy on the tough days and it is always great to see the community of racers pull together to get everyone to the finish. They always talk about the "spirit of triathlon" and it is never more evident than on race days.

With two miles left I got to enjoy that spirit. I was closing on a group of three runners and said, "Alright let's stay together and finish this up." to which one of the runners got by my side and we began running together. We joked about how the decision to sign up for this race was a lot better at the time we actually did (her at 2am and me back in January). With a mile left our pace began to quicken as we fed off each others energy. My watch started showing 7:XX again after seeing 9:XX for the past 5 miles. We began counting down the distance and the number of turns to the final finish. As we made our way to the finish chute she encouraged me to pick it up for a strong finish and we pushed each other to the end together.  The feeling at the end was wonderful as volunteers dumped 2 full bottles of water on me to cool off. As I recovered in the shade Laura, finally figured out her name, came over and thanked me as I helped her reach a new PR for the day.

My day was not as bright. I missed my goal by about 30 minutes. I was still able to finish in under 5 hours which on a day like that, was quite an accomplishment. My swim was only a minute behind the pro women even on a long swim course. My bike and run were faulted due to poor decision making, something I've prided myself on NOT doing. Looking at my relative results (place based on number of people) I actually competed as well on a bad day as I did on a good day two years ago in my last 70.3.  There is still some bright things to take from the day but I think the best thing was just being able to finish the race and support everybody else on the course.

The happiest part of the day. Before sh*t hit the fan as Jessie says.