04:13:57 AM: Race morning. Up at 2:45am. Timestamps on the site are an hour ahead. Coffee brewing. Oatmeal going down.
04:14:57 AM: Not much of a race plan today. Hard cap 160bpm on the bike. Attempt to stay close to 150bpm. In last year's race report I mention that 160+ felt easy on the bike and that maybe I should use more hr next year. But I blew up on the run. What was I thinking? Attempt to negative split the run but I'm not sure where the half point is because the far end is a rounding circle. Swim will suck. If I'm going to pr, which requires 4:55 or less, I need to do so by smart pacing. It won't be via fitness this year.
05:18:20 AM: Terp sunscreened me. Or should I say she over greased me.
05:25:03 AM: Way early to transition area. They're towing at Alvin's Island but they were kind enough to tell me as much so I moved to Spinnaker's. Nobody here right now.
02:27:29 PM: What happens when you have decent race execution and things feel good but your time sucks? Blame Mother Nature. 4:56 something. No PR.
10:53:59 PM: Mother Nature handed us a deceptively ugly race day. What was supposed to be overcast, less windy and slightly cooler than expected became sunny, annoyingly windy and hot as heck with big humidity to boot. On the swim the waves weren't the biggest I've raced in but there was some sort of undercurrent that made the trip out very slow. On the bike we had a nice tailwind followed by a steady and fairly strong headwind. On the run the clouds lifted and the heat kicked in at true Gulf Roast levels.
11:18:08 PM: My watch stopped working on the swim so I had absolutely no idea where I stood all day. So I went with it. I swam hard and thought that I probably did a decent time. I did have a timer on the bike and was able to see that the tailwind going out created a nice cushion over the 20mph average. By 30 miles I was 15 minutes up on a 20mph average. On the way back I stopped gaining time but didn't lose much. I ended up with a bike just a few minutes slower than last year.
But the important part is that, for the first time, I defended my run legs by sticking to my plan. I definitely saw 160bpm but generally I sat at 152 and occasionally dropped to 147 or so. So I figured I was ahead of last year going out onto the run. Again, I stuck to my plan. Eased into it. Increased pace the entire time. Really started to kick it in the park, as the heat came out. Felt good. Thought I had a solid PR on my hands.
But I was wrong.
I was slower in the water. The bike was a couple minutes slower. And I think the run was faster. I only took a quick glance at the numbers. It was frustrating.
I liked racing without knowing the time. I pushed a lot harder. And why? Because I let my fantasy world take off. I didn't let numbers tell me that I wasn't having a good day. If my watch had worked my time would have been ten minutes slower. I wouldn't have pushed. By the time I got off the bike I would have “known” that a PR wasn’t going to happen. As it was I was pretty darn close. (Another side of the argument is that if I had known I was within a couple minutes I could have kicked it harder… but today I really gave the run course what I had.)
Frustrating to feel so good but not see the PR. I'll have to get the official results to figure out what the culprit was. It's tempting to think it was the heat but my run (where the heat was today) was the one discipline that was faster on.
Dan Moss... rocked it. Amy Kloner... f'ing rocked it. Wow. I haven't gotten the official word from anybody but speculation was that she beat the pros as an amateur. Smiling the whole way.
Saw Danielle near the end of the bike. She passed me. She's strong. Saw Keith, Bob, Hunter, Rod and Ashley on the run. And many others. Like Tatiana Spencer whose blog I've been reading but I've never met. She was out by the park with a cowbell! Alex and everybody at the All3Sports tent, keeping it exciting!
Most fulfilling part of the day was that I finally did a half without blowing up. I paced the run right. At the start of the run there were about ten fasties who dropped me like crazy. I caught them all. No kidding. And I thought there was no chance early in the run. They just looked strong. And that's the worm that always gets me to bite. I think "geeze, if I don't catch them now I'll miss my chance, lose the race and have to lick the soles of their feet while they eat pizza." Nope. I'll let them burn themselves out from here forward.
Still, never as easy as it sounds to pace properly. But I'm getting the hang of it on the run. Bike, not so much. Swim, I got nothin'.
Swim lineup? Awesome. Best yet. Far right, front row. I experienced very little traffic, unlike last year's washing machine.
Nutrition? Minimalist. Five 2x caffeine gels throughout the day. Three on bike. Two on run. One cup of coffee in the am. One portable Starbuck's espresso in a can 10 minutes before start. Gels, water and gatorade on the bike. A few salt tabs on the bike. Five or six on the run. I eat when I feel like I need it. It's becoming second nature and most of my nutrition issues seem to be gone. Knock on wood. I'm sure I'll pay the price for such a bold statement.
Hung with Blair and Ashley Folkes after the race. Blair crashed early in the bike but was lucid despite a good knot on her forehead. Wishing her a quick recovery.
Then I high-tailed it back to Destin for some family time. We spent about six hours with the little ones on the beach. Ava just loves it.
I've been thinking a lot about a man who died on the swim today. He was 38 years old. That's too close to my age. Then I learned that one of my friends knows him. It really brought it home and is a terrifying reminder to enjoy the people in your life because at any time you may be gone. My heart goes out to this man's family and friends. I'm truly affected and reflective tonight.
Post-Ironman Melancholy