Muncie 70.3-ish

EXTREME!  Sweet, sign us up!

Swim:   24:57 (1:34/100m)

Bike:    1:07:29 (25.8mph)

Run:     41:36 (6:43/mi)

Time: 2:18:30 (3rd AG, 32rd OA)

We got to travel down to Muncie, IN to race the Muncie 70.3 half ironman this past weekend. Unfortunately, due to a National Weather Service Excessive Heat Warning  (Heat Index forecast of 115 degrees), the Race Director had to make a hard decision to shorten the race.   (1mile x 29 mile x 6.2 mile run).  Nobody was happy about it.  I personally don't think it's in our personalities to concede that something is TOO hard (or in this case, TOO hot).  In the end, at the awards ceremony, Greg Bennett said it best "the right decision was made, no one died today and that was the goal."

This was the first huge wave start race I've done and right off the bat I wasn't happy about being in Wave 16 of 18.  Sit around for an hour after the transition area closes, twiddle thumbs waiting for wave to start, all to find a horrendously crowded bike course.  The shortened course would make the crowding even worse but after I had mentally accepted the fact that we wouldn't be racing a true 70.3, I next had to devise a strategy on how best deal with the masses, notably on the bike.

Swim:

Shit, now where did I leave my goggles!

I've never had to rely on the buoyancy of a wetsuit to swim well and have never really understood the Water Temp Cutoff (78 degrees).  It didn't seem like a big deal because I had never overheated during a swim before.  Now I get it.  The swim was a non-wetsuit swim and because of the 2 week heat wave the mid-West had seen, the Prairie Creek Reservoir had reached a very balmy 88 degrees.  

The swim start was clean, I started in the front row and had no contact until we started catching up to all the waves in-front of us.  I took the swim out hard like I always do and by the first turn buoy all I wanted to do was rip off my swim cap and jump in a ice bath.  I slugged along and finally crawled my way up the beach.  Lucky for us, the RD had an aid station right as we entered T1 full of ice and water!  A nice touch and it helped provide relief for about 5 seconds.  Swim Time: 24:57 (1:34/100m)  (4th AG)

Bike:

I probably passed 20 people on the run up to T1 alone and it definitely was a sign of things to come.   I quickly got rolling and put my head down for the 30 (ish) mile ride.  I had power and heart rate targets for each segment of the race and thanks to the steamy start my HR was already through the roof!  So relying on power and perceived effort, I just just keep pushing on and would determine the damage of the elevated HR on the run.  

Slingshot - a term used to describe a bicycle riding style.  Accomplished by riding in the draft of the biker in-front of you for a short time (well within the drafting rules) and then quickly accelerating past them.

Surprisingly this isn't the type of sling shot that got me to a Top 5 bike split!

Sling shotting is the term describes my riding strategy on the bike and how I would deal  with the late wave start and the crowds on the bike course.  WTC rules require that you pass quickly on the left and when not passing, ride as far right as safely possible.  So actually I was just following the rules but what lotsof uber-bikers do after over taking the rider in-front of them, having had the experience of getting my wheels blown off by them for years now, is that many fail to move back over to the right before passing the next rider. 

In this race I literally had hundreds of riders in front of me to slingshot past!  This technique, along with nerves of steel and some aggressive turn/turnarounds, all allowed me to ride to a career best bike place amongst a very competitive amateur field.  So what I was originally was dreading (crowding) in the end highly benefited my bike effort.  1:07:29 (25.8mph) (3rd AG)

 

My Top Shelf....I'm getting there!

Run:

29 miles seemed to come to an end rather quickly and all I had left was a 10K.  It was balls hot out and again the RD made a great decision to have fully stocked aid stations every 1/2 mile.  

Without fail, I'd run a 1/2 mile, walk the aid station taking in as much water and ice as I could.  HR was still through the roof so I just kept running 1/2 mile intervals and before I knew it I was at the turn around and was headed home. Run, walk, ice, water, repeat.  

 

  
I blasted through the finish line thinking I did well but due to the nature of a huge race like this, I wouldn't really know until the results were published.       

41:36 (6:43/mi) (5th AG)

I ended up finishing 3rd in my age group, I was the 8th amateur and 33rd overall.  Other than my Kona qualifier, that's the best I've ever done in a huge race!

When we got back to the car at 1pm it said 104 degrees, no doubt higher with the humidity and a sun that was cranking full tilt!  Of course it's possible to race in these conditions and while originally disappointed at the reduced distance, no way in hell would I chose to race in heat like that ever again!  (jinks - bring on a late summer inferno in Madison!)

9 weeks and counting until IMOO 2012!  An incredible amount of work still needs to be put in but I'm going strong again so I'm really looking forward to it!


Until next time.
Train Safe