How Far to the Big Island?.....415 Feet! (Eagleman Race Report)

The goal for this race was to try and get one of the coveted qualifying slots for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii....the holy grail of long distance triathlon racing! As I had previously stated, to get one of the slots I would need the race of my life, either that or hope for a roll-down.

The weather was almost perfect for fast racing, there was cloud cover, a slight breeze and no blazing heat. The 30-34 age group swim wave was one of the last to start and was an hour after the pro's had already started. By the time that we got onto the course about 90% of the racers were already out there.



The swim was slightly choppier than I expected. The swim is always relatively choppy in the Choptank River, but with only a slight breeze I though it would have been calm. I felt good in the swim, not super fast as the swim is the weakest of the three elements, but I came out in 24th place in age group. I really need to try and work hard on my swim training as I generally lose a couple of minutes to the rest of the top guys.



From the off I felt strong on the bike and was quickly at race pace and trying to keep it powerful and efficient. Having been out on the course the last few weeks and all day on Saturday, I knew that the first half of the bike would be a tail or cross wind and so decided to make hay while the going was good. At around mile 8, I had a minute or so of panic as it felt like the front tire was going soft....fortunately it wasn't and so must have been the pavement surface or something like that. The bike continued to go well and a few guys from the 30-34 age group gradually caught me and we had a group of us together for quite a period of time (5-6 of us). Some of the guys were blatantly drafting while the rest of us were working together (legally) and trying to push the pace. It wasn't until the referee's came by at around mile 35 that a couple of the guys got drafting penalties (fortunately they were the ones drafting the majority of the time) and then the group split for good. The headwind started to kick in at this point and I rolled off the front of the few remaining guys to try and get some separation. It was at this point that you noticed that the slight breeze at the start had kicked up a few notches around the bike course and the going wasn't so easy now!

After 2hr 22mins on the bike at 23.7MPH (12th in AG) I rolled into T2 and exited for the run in 14th place. The run is an out and back and so I knew that at some point I would be able to find out my position, or at least approximate it. This is when it really becomes a mental game. I knew that if I had had a good bike split then the real strong cyclists would have had equally as good days and it would be up to me to run everyone down. I really need to drop a few minutes off the bike but keep my run speed!



So the run started off real well at 6min/miles and the legs were feeling good. That's always a positive thing as you never get quicker, you only gradually get slower on the run! By this time in the race the sun had come out and was beginning to make you bake....water, gatorade and ice were my choices at the aid station with the ice going straight down the top. Coming to the turnaround I had calculated that I was in approximately 9th place and was 12mins off the leader...the goal continued to be to get as high as possible for any slots that might roll down! Over the remaining half of the run I settled into a solid 6:30min/mile pace and tried to focus on any potential guys from my age group that were up ahead. It was difficult to make out those guys as the course was pretty full at this point and people get crafty about showing the age on your calf! (i.e., rubbing it off or smudging it etc)



Coming into the finish it was cool to hear Sarah and Lisa cheering as they had been all day but I knew the Kona slots were out of my hands....no top two, so I would have to hope that people would turn it down! I placed the 5th fastest run at 1 hour 25mins and a final time of 4hrs 20mins 53secs....a PB for the Eagleman course.



The final results went up and I was in 7th place in age group (although the first two placed overall in the amateur so I did get a 5th place award) and 33rd overall (out of 1600!). The World Championship slots would be given out at 1:30pm and so it was about an hour to hang around and wait....and wait......

After going through the younger age groups we finally got to 30-34 age group and the first two guys quickly said no to the slots (both Kona and Clearwater)....their was a glimmer of hope! From there it all went a bit awry, one guy I think he was 3rd took a slot but they didn't announce what slot he was taking....still a chance. 4th placed guy was a no-show and so was 5th place. We still didn't know if the 3rd place had taken a Kona slot....6th place was called and took a slot, what was it, tell me god damn it, did they not know that people wanted to know! The 6th place guy sat down near us to fill out his forms and we saw it was a Hawaii form.....one had definitely gone! We needed to find out what 3rd was taking!

In a matter of seconds the dream at Eagleman was shattered, Sarah asked the 6th guy what Kona slot he had taken.....2nd slot! NNNNNOOOOOOOOO! And then my name was called, did I want a Clearwater slot at 70.3M Worlds, I double checked that Kona had all gone, which they had, and declined my Clearwater slot.

I had missed out on Kona by a mere 31 seconds....at my running pace I was 415 feet away from the Ironman World Championships on the Big Island. That was my day at Eagleman 2009 and that 31 seconds will stick with me for a long time :-(

Onwards to Ironman Louisville at the end of August where there are tentatively four slots for Kona!

70.3M World Championships - Race Report

Time for the last triathlon of the season and so what better way to finish off than with the World Championships over the 70.3M distance. Besides it was a good excuse to head south for a final few days of warmth before the winter temperatures of the Mid-Atlantic kicked in!

The goal going into the race was to set a personal best and put the "bad" run of last year behind me. Thursday and Friday were just chilling days and putting in some small workouts along with every other pointy headed triathlete along Gulf Boulevard...that's partially the trouble with Clearwater Beach, there aren't many places to ride! We managed to head to some of the usual haunts of the North Redington Beach area such as the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary and Bad Ass Coffee Company....oh yeah and we met up with Team Banks who had already been sunning themselves in Florida for the past 10 days!

Race morning came along pretty quickly and luckily the 30-34 wave was at 7:10am. Last year I was in the final wave and it seemed like an age that we had to wait around. Going earlier in the day also meant that we would be out front of the rest of the field and hopefully away from the distinct "packs" that can form on the pancake flat bike course.





Beach starts are always cool and this one was no different and we all piled into the water with the cannon ringing in our ears. The swim was as it always is...a bit of a fist fight to start with and then a slight calming down before we catch the racers in the waves in front and you have to negotiate traffic. Although I didn't feel like I had a great swim I came out in just under 30mins and felt as though I hadn't wasted much energy (perhaps I should swim harder!). T1 was a blur and the main thoughts were trying not to slip on the wet ground while running with cleats to the bike mount line (particularly not in front of Team Banks....that would not be cool!).

Knowing the bike course from 2007 was a definite help and with weather conditions relatively similar to last year it was good to know where the wind would be coming from and where the windier sections would be. It was also good to be in the first of the waves as the road ahead was pretty clear and we didn't have hundreds of other racers to contend with. The first hour on the bike went to plan, pushing along at 24MPH and making sure the nutrition plan was to schedule (drink every 15mins and a gel every 30mins). The wind was light all day and so the bike section was a steady effort the whole course.....no major headwinds or tailwinds to speak of.

I was still feeling comfortable at mile 40 and knew that I had a 24MPH ride on the books. Trouble was I had been joined by about eight others from my age-group and despite trying to surge to get rid of the them, they just hung onto my rear wheel. Fortunately the group actually worked legal (i.e. not drafting) for the main part and for the final 15miles I was either trying to get away from them (didn't work!) or was hanging off the back conserving some energy for the run. Many people complain about drafting at this race and later on while on the run course as other riders were coming into T2 I saw some pretty large packs but the guys I was with for the final miles seemed to be doing the right thing and keeping the legal distance. With some 20minutes to go before the run I popped down a pack of my new favorite race foods....Fruit Punch Jelly Belly Beans and begun to think about the run. Coming into T2 I saw Team Banks and I had a 2hr 21mins bike split, ever so slightly slower than last year. I think I could have gone faster in those final 15miles but I didn't want to just pull the rest of the guys along particularly as they were in my age group and so it was a calculated effort to get me into T2 ready to run away from them.



T2 went well and my right bike shoe finally stayed on the bike after the last few races when it kept being flicked off as I dismounted (that's what a little bit of tightening will do!). I came out of T2 like I had stolen something and went through the first mile in 5mins 40secs. Realising that I had started like that last year and then suffered from some stomach issues, I begun to control the pace a bit more and tried to keep at about 6min/miles. The only trouble with that was the 12% climb up and over the Memorial Causeway just before mile 2 but that went well and I knew I had my running legs with me. If you have read my previous race reports from this season you'll know that the run has been without a doubt my strongest portion of the races this year.



The first lap (6.5miles) was perhaps the best I have felt all year in a triathlon and I was consistently at about 6mins 10sec pace. I had my first gel on the run at mile 6 and clocked about 40 minutes for the first lap. At this point I had 43 minutes to get under 4hrs 20mins and a new personal best....it would be close but certainly do-able. Just before the 2nd lap I also saw Kerri heading out onto the run course, unfortunately she was to struggle later on in the run after what looked like a promising finishing time.

On the 2nd lap the miles seemed to be getting further and further apart....had someone moved the mile markers? It wasn't too bad though and it was only about 6mins 30 secs between them. Knowing that I only had one more ascent of the bridge certainly helped and I was also aware that my current pace would get me a new PB for the 70.3M distance....motivation if you ever needed it! The only real trouble I had (aside from general fatigue!) was at about mile 8-10 when I felt as though a stitch was forming every time I had a drink. Luckily this kinda passed after some deeper breaths but would come back at the next aid station after a drink.



So with only a couple of miles to go I needed to keep my 6min 20sec pace to get in under the 4hrs 20mins time and a great end to the season. Coming into the traffic circle and along the finish straight with a slight increase in tempo I crossed the line in 4hrs 19mins 13secs....a 5 minute PB and last years race demons put to rest.

That time put me 30th in age group (out of 141) and 178th overall out of 1,300. A good race and great end to a long but rewarding season.



Just as a side note, if you have never heard of Dick and Rick Hoyt, take a look at the Team Hoyt website. Once again they were racing at Clearwater and no matter how many times I see them it never loses it magic. I first watched an Ironman on TV in 1999 and it was the World Championships from Kona when the Hoyts completed the race. It really inspired me then and still does 10 years later when I get to compete in the same races with them.

World Champs 70.3 - Brief Recap

Just got back to Maryland last night and back to work today so will try and post a full race report in the near future. In brief though I had a good race and managed to post a personal best at 4hrs 19mins 13secs. Good enough for 30th in Age Group (out of 141) and 177th overall (out of 1,300). The run was great and put the demons of last year to rest....1hr 22mins this year :-)

Rest of the trip was great, enjoying the sunshine and beaches.....probably overloaded on sugar and fatty foods over the past two days though!

Race report and pics to come shortly.

Upcoming: 70.3M World Championships.....

The final race of the season is upon us and after Saturday I head into a rest period for about four weeks. The 70.3M World Championships is an odd race really, obviously it was great to qualify and a cool location to finish off the season, but I don't go into the race thinking about winning or getting top five etc. I know that the competition is amazingly strong (last years AG winner is now a pro!) and as such I am racing against myself and aiming to set a personal best at the 70.3M distance. The harder I race the higher in the results I will place but I realise that to be vaguely close to the front of my age group I will need to be in the 3hr 55min - 4hr 5min time range. I'm not there!....yet :-) (15 minutes or so to go!)

So the race will be a last hurrah for the 2008 season and give me a good idea of items to work on as I into head into the winter training phase (although I have a pretty good idea already). Hopefully I'll get a PB and not have a meltdown on the run as I did last year.....

The race will be covered live on ironmanlive.com starting at 6:45am on Saturday Nov 8th.

70.3M World Championships Race Report

The final triathlon of the season is done and dusted, and what a race to finish with...the 70.3M World Championships. If you have read the previous post you will know my finishing time and overall placing. I was just slightly outside of my goal time but it was a good race nonetheless and certainly has given me food for thought as I head towards next season.

After registration on the Thursday I knew that our age group was in the last swim wave at 8:00am....this meant that despite our late start I still had to get up early and make sure that my transition was set-up and ready to rock by 6:45am, just before the first wave of pro women went into the water. Waiting for just over an hour for my start enabled us to watch the pro's exit the swim and head out onto the bike course. It also enabled me to have a warm-up swim (not that it was much of a warm-up, the water although not cold wasn't warm, tepid perhaps!).

With it being the World Championships I knew that the caliber of the field would be high and that the swim start would be a crucial part of the race. The start certainly didn't disappoint and with a "Baywatch" style beach run to get to the water it was chaotic to say the least. A couple of guys to my right fell or tripped as they began and were simply trampled as they went down. I didn't hang around to see what happened but reports were that they eventually hobbled into the surf to start the swim.

So once we got into the water all hell broke loose. This was without doubt the roughest swim I have ever taken part in and that includes Ironman Florida last year when 2500 people entered the water at the same time. There were about 210 people in our swim wave and with it being the World's there aren't a lot of weak swimmers. In total I think I got punched, kicked and slapped about 10 times and coming out of the water my goggles seemed embedded in my eye sockets (it is definitely a good move to put your goggles on underneath the swim cap). Despite getting hit many times I made sure that I got my own back and probably gave as good as I got. I ended up coming out of the water in 29mins 39secs, which I was pleased with. Swimming is my weakest facet of triathlon and will be a major part of the winter training schedule.

Transition 1 was a run up the beach, through the showers and after collecting my bike gear bag it was into the changing tents. Due to having to go into the tents and the relatively long run up the beach it made the T1 time quite long compared to usual. My T1 time was 3mins 40secs rather than a typical 2mins. However, before long I was out onto the bike and buzzing along.


I was looking forward to the bike as the course and weather conditions were great. The only significant obstacle on the course was the short (but stiff...12% grade) climb of the Memorial Causeway as we headed away from the beach and into Pinellas County. Settling into a nice pace I headed through the first 20miles in 50mins and was passing a lot of racers from earlier waves. However, it was during this period that I had to make a major ethical decision. With the course being flat and fast and the high level of racing, there were many racers of relatively comparable ability and this lead to the creation of some large "pelotons" going around the course. A number of times I had blazed past some smaller groups and made a significant effort to separate myself from these racers, only to see them pass me while they latched onto the back of a much larger group of racers. And this is where the decision had to be made.....do I myself latch onto the back of the group and get a much easier ride to T2 (but risk the chance of getting a drafting penalty) or ride my own race, let the group go and then push along on my own. To me there was no real decision and as such I found myself letting the group go and pushing along on my own while riding legal and racing clean.

In the entire 56mile course I didn't see one referee and I have no idea whether any of the large packs were penalized. Despite those issues I had a great ride and even after heading into a stiff headwind through the last 10-15 miles I came into T2 after a 2hrs 20mins ride at just under 24MPH and a new personal best 1/2 ironman bike split. Of course I knew that the hard and fast bike would probably have some effect on my run time and I could have come into T2 much fresher had I followed on the back of the larger groups.

T2 was again slightly longer than usual due to having to go into the changing tents which probably added another minute or so to the overall time. Coming out onto the run course I was looking good to come in under 4hrs 30mins if I could push through.

The first mile was great and was covered in a speedy 6mins 20mins. Leaving T2 it was through the streets of Clearwater Beach where the crowds were huge and it was good to see Team Banks (Sarah and Parents Banks and Toft). The run course was a two-lap affair and included two ascents of the Memorial Causeway (and its 12% grade) every lap. On the first descent of the Causeway I began to have some stomach issues which plagued me for the next 3 miles or so. This dramatically slowed me down and rather than concentrating on my running pace I had to make sure that my breathing was consistent and steady. This didn't bode well for the next 8-9 miles but fortunately the stomach issues relinquished somewhat, so much so that my 2nd lap of the course was faster than the 1st. Coming into the final 3 miles of the run I knew that I would be very close to get in under 4hrs 30mins. I also knew however, that I didn't have enough in me to go hell for leather for the last 3 miles to get in under that time. Gradually I began to increase the pace so that when I got into the last mile I stood an outside shot at the goal time. My final mile was run in 6mins 30secs but I crossed the line in 4hrs 30mins 27 secs, just 1 second outside my personal best and 27 seconds outside the goal.

That time enabled me to finish 339th overall out of 1500 racers, good for the top 23%in the world and 63th in my age group (which just goes to show how strong and fast the 25-29 age group is, considering that many of the pro's were ahead of us). Overall the race was a great event and it was so cool to be at the World Championships. It was also a great race to end the season with as it gives me a ideal way to target training for the winter knowing what I need to do for the 2008 season (which will be upon us before we know it). Before then though I have a 4 week break where I will just "tick" over and generate the plan for the winter and the prospective race schedule for 2008.

Vacation Check-In..

Hey. Well the 70.3M World Championships are over and now the off-season has truly started. I will do a more detailed race report when I get home but quickly; I came 339 out of 1500 racers and did a 4hrs 30mins 27secs time, not quite under the 4hrs 30mins that I was trying to break but close....the race went pretty well, the run was very tough particularly through miles 2-5 when I had some stomach issues (hence the negative split over the two halves of the 13.1m run course). I am pleased with the overall result though and it gives me a great race on which to build for next season.

Other news is that I am seriously considering Ironman UK on Sept 7th 2008....just trying to work out the logistics at the moment.

Anyway I back off to the beach and a beer........

The taper has started....4 days to go

Well, only four days to go before the 70.3M World Championships and the taper has begun in earnest....in terms of exercising anyway! (Work wise it is a different story). Yesterday was an inadvertent day off due to working late into the evening and having to run some urgent errants relating to our never-ending immigration process.

On todays schedule is a nice gentle swim with a few intense lengths to get the body ready for race day. The bike box is packed and ready to go and then tomorrow at 8pm we fly down to Tampa.

We are staying in nearby North Redington Beach and will move into Clearwater Beach, the race site, on Friday night before heading back to North Redington Beach after the race for a week of sun and relaxation. Should be a good time and hopefully a great race to end the triathlon season.

The Power of Positive Thinking

The last few weeks I seem to have been lolloping along on my long runs, which in preparation for Clearwater are in the 1hr 50min range at the moment. I can't get my pace much below 7:10min/mile and I normally get about 15miles in. I know that it is partially due to the cumbersome Camelbak that I am running with (need to carry at least 50oz of liquid for that distance with the heat) as I always feel like a packhorse rather than a gazelle but still I never feel ready to push the pace.

So last week I begun to look at potential spring marathons. Besides the IMFL marathon and my ultras I have never run a stand-alone marathon and I am interested to see how I could do.....obviously under 3hrs would be the goal and with a 3hr 43mins IM marathon and a PR of 1hr 19min for the 1/2 marathon I think that it should be achievable. The marathon that looks quite appealing is the Shamrock Marathon down in Virginia Beach on March 16, 2008.....having a beer as your main sponsor certainly helps!

With that in mind, I proceeded to try and push the pace on my next long run and see what I could do and for how long. Much to my surprise, even with my packhorse in tow, I managed to keep up a consistent 6:50min/mile pace and surpass 16miles in the allotted 1hr 50mins. It felt good as well and I could have continued were it not for the fact that dinner was waiting at home :-) The Power of Positive Thinking is definitely a huge deal (not that us endurance athletes didn't know that already) but with that success last week I can't wait for this weeks long run and then the forthcoming 70.3M World Championships....what better place than to try the "Go From the Gun" approach!