Saturday I was lucky enough to kick my 2011 race season off with a half ironman in Taylorsville, Kentucky. This race fit well into my schedule for leading up to Ironman CDA and I thought that the terrain would be similar.
Pre-Race: I left Friday at around noon to head down to Louisville, after a quick run and spin on my bike to make sure everything was in working order. The drive was easy and I ended up getting down to the hotel at around 6 (they are an hour earlier than us). After checking in and a quick 10 minute shake out run it was time for dinner. My typical pre-race lasagne some salad and it was time for bed. I slept well until about 3 a.m. or so which is pretty typical for me the night before a race.
Race morning started with some steal cut oats, strawberries and a bottle of GU Brew. We packed up the car and were off to the race site. The weather forcast called for rain off and on with some of it being pretty heavy. We arrived at the race site with about an hour and fifteen mintues to spare, checked in, set up transition, and I was off for a quick warm up run. At this point I realized that there was a serious hill that I would have to run up immediately out of transition (we'd have to ride it too...but I wasn't as worried about that). So my warm up run consisted of running half way up the hill, back down the hill, to the porta-potty and around the parking lot a few times. After some watermelon Gu Chomps I was ready to race. The lake that we swam in was super high...so basically we swam into transition because the lake was flooded all the way up into the parking lot. The race atmosphere was super chill...just what I needed for my first race of the season. I put on my Zoot Prophet wetsuit and was ready to hit the course!
Swim - 33:55
I am satisfied with my swim, I thought that I should be in the 33 minute range based upon the times I've been swimming in the pool. My siting was good considering the number of buoy's that were out on the course. It was an out and back swim...which you had to do twice. This really wasn't a problem, and I LOVE my Zoot Prophet wetsuit. I felt extremely comfortable the entire swim, and the most important part is that I felt fresh coming out of the water. So the time wasn't the fastest...I was ready to do some serious work where I knew that I could...the bike.
T1
Uneventful, fast and I found out that I had come out of the water 9th. I wasn't expecting to be that far behind but that's alright.
Bike - 2:17:21
I immediately saw 4 people in front of me. So I looked to the furthest guy ahead and made him my target. Within 2.5 miles I had passed all four, at which time I saw 2 more. By mile 8 I had ridden myself up into 3rd place overall. A few miles passed and I hadn't seen anyone up the road. I made sure to stay calm and to remind myself that there was a lot of race left. At about mile 13 I saw 2nd place up the road. I tried not to hammer to bring him back all at once, and ended up passing him about a mile later. As soon as I came up on him I could see the leader. Again not trying to bring it back all at once I slowly closed the gap. This was a bit more effort because at this point in the race there were dogs out on the road. Yep dogs and bicycles don't mix...especially when you're going 20+ mph! So I slowed down, and ended up making the pass about 16 miles in or so. I'm not sure how quickly I rode him off of my wheel, but would get a better idea a little while later. At mile 20 we turned in for an out and back section which was 8 miles total. When I hit the turn around I glanced at my watch. I figured that I had about a 2:30 lead at that point which was about the half way point on the bike. I wanted that lead to grow to about 5-6 minutes so I decided I would ride a hard 10 minutes, followed by 5 at tempo, and then put one more 10 minute effort in before I backed it down to prepare for the run. There were a few good climbs out on the bike course and I feel as if I rode them well. I typcially don't go into the small chain ring, but I did just to spin up, and it turned out to be the right thing to do. I ended up averaging 24 mph on the bike which I'm happy with. The Ridley Dean was amazing, and my Zipp wheels helped me to the fastest bike split of the day by 10 minutes.
T2
I took my time, through on my Zoot Ultra Race 3.0's and was on my way.
Run - 1:24:50
I do believe this is the fastest I have ever run in a half ironman. The best part about it is that I didn't run hard. Not that I ran easy, but I was comfortable the whole time. The bike course overlapped with the run course so I could get an idea of how much of a lead I had. I was running for about 5-6 minutes before I saw the first bike come back. I came to find out after the race that I had an eight minute lead off of the bike. The run course (after the huge hill) was an out and back three times. I was able to get some time checks at each turn around...the first one I figured out I had a 1.2 mile lead. Then 1.3, then 1.4, and after it moved up to 1.5 I started changing my focus to seeing if I could break 4:20.
Overall - 4:17:56 - First Place & Course Record
I thought that the course record was 4:23:xx and as it turns out I was right. I felt good all day, and know that I had more in the tank if I needed it. I'm definitely happy with my result and with where my fitness is right now. I know I still have some work to do, but I'm feeling good right now.
Thanks to Jake and the crew at Zoot Sports, I was getting the "Go Zoot" cheers all day, and after the race I answered a ton of questions about Zoot gear. Thanks to GU, nutrition on the bike was 5 GU Roctane (Blueberry Pomengranate), run was 2 Cherry Lime Roctanes, and GU brew to drink throughout the day. Thanks Ridley and Zipp and Cycleops, fastest bike split by 10 minutes. Thank you Garmin, I always knew where I stood on the course with distance and pace. Endure It my bike was primed and ready to go. Lululemon...need I really say any more about how comfortable pre and post race clothing can be? And Kyle Zake for your continued support!
Also a huge congratulations to Sara for her first overall win! She smoked the course in 5:10 and won the overall womans race by 16 minutes (better than the 13 I won by)!! Can't wait to see her smoke Ironman CDA!!!
Pre-Race: I left Friday at around noon to head down to Louisville, after a quick run and spin on my bike to make sure everything was in working order. The drive was easy and I ended up getting down to the hotel at around 6 (they are an hour earlier than us). After checking in and a quick 10 minute shake out run it was time for dinner. My typical pre-race lasagne some salad and it was time for bed. I slept well until about 3 a.m. or so which is pretty typical for me the night before a race.
Race morning started with some steal cut oats, strawberries and a bottle of GU Brew. We packed up the car and were off to the race site. The weather forcast called for rain off and on with some of it being pretty heavy. We arrived at the race site with about an hour and fifteen mintues to spare, checked in, set up transition, and I was off for a quick warm up run. At this point I realized that there was a serious hill that I would have to run up immediately out of transition (we'd have to ride it too...but I wasn't as worried about that). So my warm up run consisted of running half way up the hill, back down the hill, to the porta-potty and around the parking lot a few times. After some watermelon Gu Chomps I was ready to race. The lake that we swam in was super high...so basically we swam into transition because the lake was flooded all the way up into the parking lot. The race atmosphere was super chill...just what I needed for my first race of the season. I put on my Zoot Prophet wetsuit and was ready to hit the course!
Swim - 33:55
I am satisfied with my swim, I thought that I should be in the 33 minute range based upon the times I've been swimming in the pool. My siting was good considering the number of buoy's that were out on the course. It was an out and back swim...which you had to do twice. This really wasn't a problem, and I LOVE my Zoot Prophet wetsuit. I felt extremely comfortable the entire swim, and the most important part is that I felt fresh coming out of the water. So the time wasn't the fastest...I was ready to do some serious work where I knew that I could...the bike.
T1
Uneventful, fast and I found out that I had come out of the water 9th. I wasn't expecting to be that far behind but that's alright.
Bike - 2:17:21
I immediately saw 4 people in front of me. So I looked to the furthest guy ahead and made him my target. Within 2.5 miles I had passed all four, at which time I saw 2 more. By mile 8 I had ridden myself up into 3rd place overall. A few miles passed and I hadn't seen anyone up the road. I made sure to stay calm and to remind myself that there was a lot of race left. At about mile 13 I saw 2nd place up the road. I tried not to hammer to bring him back all at once, and ended up passing him about a mile later. As soon as I came up on him I could see the leader. Again not trying to bring it back all at once I slowly closed the gap. This was a bit more effort because at this point in the race there were dogs out on the road. Yep dogs and bicycles don't mix...especially when you're going 20+ mph! So I slowed down, and ended up making the pass about 16 miles in or so. I'm not sure how quickly I rode him off of my wheel, but would get a better idea a little while later. At mile 20 we turned in for an out and back section which was 8 miles total. When I hit the turn around I glanced at my watch. I figured that I had about a 2:30 lead at that point which was about the half way point on the bike. I wanted that lead to grow to about 5-6 minutes so I decided I would ride a hard 10 minutes, followed by 5 at tempo, and then put one more 10 minute effort in before I backed it down to prepare for the run. There were a few good climbs out on the bike course and I feel as if I rode them well. I typcially don't go into the small chain ring, but I did just to spin up, and it turned out to be the right thing to do. I ended up averaging 24 mph on the bike which I'm happy with. The Ridley Dean was amazing, and my Zipp wheels helped me to the fastest bike split of the day by 10 minutes.
T2
I took my time, through on my Zoot Ultra Race 3.0's and was on my way.
Run - 1:24:50
I do believe this is the fastest I have ever run in a half ironman. The best part about it is that I didn't run hard. Not that I ran easy, but I was comfortable the whole time. The bike course overlapped with the run course so I could get an idea of how much of a lead I had. I was running for about 5-6 minutes before I saw the first bike come back. I came to find out after the race that I had an eight minute lead off of the bike. The run course (after the huge hill) was an out and back three times. I was able to get some time checks at each turn around...the first one I figured out I had a 1.2 mile lead. Then 1.3, then 1.4, and after it moved up to 1.5 I started changing my focus to seeing if I could break 4:20.
Overall - 4:17:56 - First Place & Course Record
I thought that the course record was 4:23:xx and as it turns out I was right. I felt good all day, and know that I had more in the tank if I needed it. I'm definitely happy with my result and with where my fitness is right now. I know I still have some work to do, but I'm feeling good right now.
Thanks to Jake and the crew at Zoot Sports, I was getting the "Go Zoot" cheers all day, and after the race I answered a ton of questions about Zoot gear. Thanks to GU, nutrition on the bike was 5 GU Roctane (Blueberry Pomengranate), run was 2 Cherry Lime Roctanes, and GU brew to drink throughout the day. Thanks Ridley and Zipp and Cycleops, fastest bike split by 10 minutes. Thank you Garmin, I always knew where I stood on the course with distance and pace. Endure It my bike was primed and ready to go. Lululemon...need I really say any more about how comfortable pre and post race clothing can be? And Kyle Zake for your continued support!
Also a huge congratulations to Sara for her first overall win! She smoked the course in 5:10 and won the overall womans race by 16 minutes (better than the 13 I won by)!! Can't wait to see her smoke Ironman CDA!!!
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