High Cliff Half Ironman

So I realize that I have fallen off of the blogging wagon for quite a while and I will try to be better...summer happened and I've been busy.  I mean who wants to sit on a computer when you can be outside?

Yesterday was my first real "test" of the season.  I raced a half ironman up in Sherwood, WI.  Training has been going alright, but I haven't been running at all...thank goodness for the base that I had put in this winter because it's carrying me through the current time.  My plan for the year is to race myself into shape, and so this was the first true test.  My mom and I drove up to Appleton on Friday afternoon, it's awesome having her at my races because I just know she'll find something to do while I'm out on the course, and that she'll fill the quiet voids leading up to the race when I'm kind of out of it with some sort of conversation.  Thanks Mom!!!

The race...the swim took place in Lake Winnebago (I think).  As we were driving in the water seemed calm in...however as soon as we arrived at the race site we found out otherwise.  There was some major chop and even white cap waves at times.  The only positive about the swim is the fact that they must have measured the distance wrong...there is no way I go from swimming a 37 minute half ironman swim in Kansas last year (which I think was marked long) to swimming a 26 minute half ironman swim this year.  Sure I have been swimming more, but not that much more.  Anyway I was glad to be out of the water.  When I arrived at my bike I was amazed to see that there were still a lot of bikes racked.

About .2 miles out of transition there is a huge hill, nothing too crazy, just long.  I had gone out to ride the hill the previous day, and earlier on race morning so I made the decision to let my heart rate stay high for the duration of the hill and then I would get things in check.  I think this was a good decision because I passed about 7 people on that first hill, and once I passed them there was no looking back.  I was on a mission to catch and pass whoever was in front of me.  The bike was more difficult than I was expecting because of the wind.  Either it was a head wind or a cross wind...where the heck was the tailwind?  Oh well I moved up in the field pretty well and ended up going under 2:20 with an average speed of 24.3 mph.  Here is the question I have, how do I average 25 mph during a sprint distance race of 16 miles and 24.3 mph for a half ironman with a distance of 56 miles?  Wierd huh?

The run, well let's try to forget this run.  I ran a 1:30 which is respectable, but this was the worst I have ever felt during a race.  First of all we had to run up that big freakin hill, so I just kept things in check and made my way up, once up top we headed out into the trails.  I would say more than 95% of the half marathon was on trails.  I rolled my ankle about a mile and half in, and after continuing to run for about a quarter mile I was able to run off the pain.  But that wasn't all...I got a nasty cramp in my right leg at mile 3.  The type of cramp where it comes on within seconds and paralyzes you from going further.  So I stopped briefly rubbed my leg and then said suck it up and run.  The mile 3 marker was also the mile 9 marker (2 loops) and I was soooo wishing I was at mile 9!  I figured that I needed to dig in and gut it out for 10 more miles.  As I got to about mile 6 I saw my mom, and she let me know (not at the time) that I looked like crap, that's good to know because I felt like crap!  It's funny though, right then is when I started to turn things around.  I started to get into my groove and I eneded up running the second loop 10 minutes faster than the first.  Now sure I didn't have to run up that hill, but wow.  The miles started clicking off faster, and I was feeling better.

I ended up finishing 9th overall with at time of 4:18.30.  I would have to say the brutal run made up for the short swim.  It was an awesome first "test" of my fitness and I definitely know where I need to improve...more biking and running needed.

Thanks to CycleOps my new powertap came in so that should definitely help with my training leading up to my next race 5 weeks away from today.  My nurtition was dead on, and the GU Roctane and GU Brew were a perfect mix for a great day.  My Brooks T6 Racers held up amazingly on some tough trails and I was blister free once again, I love those shoes!!!  Thanks to Kyle Zake of AXA Financial for the race entry, I appreciate it more than you know!  Also a special thanks to Lululemon, what an amazing store, and an incredible group of people to work with.