The Grand Rapids 1/2 Ironman falls into the latter category. It wasn't a horrible race, but all the details between the start and making it to the finish line are what made it awful.
Race Summary:
Swim: 29:39
Bike: 2:22
Run: 1:29
Total: 4:24 (1st AG, 7th OA)
Garmin Link
As usual, before the race I set three goals....
Swim: 29:39
Bike: 2:22
Run: 1:29
Total: 4:24 (1st AG, 7th OA)
Garmin Link
As usual, before the race I set three goals....
1. Prize Money
2. Beat Matt Smith
3. Run sub 1:30
Winning money is a goal anytime it's up for grabs...this time Top 3 overall paid out. I've been chasing Matt Smith for years, I thought for sure I could get him this time…and a sub 1:30 run in my book is just a sign of an evenly paced race.
So jumping straight to the conclusion; I won the AG but only placed 7th overall. I beat Matt and ran 1:29. So how I do meet 2 of 3 goals, go 4:25 and claim a race doesn't go well? I'm still not exactly sure but I think it mostly revolves around fatigue and how I pieced my race together. It was the exact kind of race that I had in Lake Placid in 2011. I felt every mile and none of them were easy. The final time looked okay but definitely not my best performance.
It could have been overtraining or a bad taper....probably both. Three weeks ago, I think I absolutely nailed my training and taper for the Triple T. I'm thinking I wasn't able to recovery, train a little and taper again in such a short period of time to really knock it out of the park.
Details
The swim felt really long. I got away clean and had a pair of feet to follow for the first 1/2 of the swim. My arms and stroke felt good but for whatever reason 29 min has never passed so slowly. Sighting on the return was difficult, just like last year. Straight into the low rising sun with what seemed to me like few too few buoys to sight off of. Whaaannn. I came out of the water Top 5. Swim Time: 29:39. Eh, unless the swim actually measured long, I’m a better swimmer than that.
Winning money is a goal anytime it's up for grabs...this time Top 3 overall paid out. I've been chasing Matt Smith for years, I thought for sure I could get him this time…and a sub 1:30 run in my book is just a sign of an evenly paced race.
So jumping straight to the conclusion; I won the AG but only placed 7th overall. I beat Matt and ran 1:29. So how I do meet 2 of 3 goals, go 4:25 and claim a race doesn't go well? I'm still not exactly sure but I think it mostly revolves around fatigue and how I pieced my race together. It was the exact kind of race that I had in Lake Placid in 2011. I felt every mile and none of them were easy. The final time looked okay but definitely not my best performance.
It could have been overtraining or a bad taper....probably both. Three weeks ago, I think I absolutely nailed my training and taper for the Triple T. I'm thinking I wasn't able to recovery, train a little and taper again in such a short period of time to really knock it out of the park.
Details
The swim felt really long. I got away clean and had a pair of feet to follow for the first 1/2 of the swim. My arms and stroke felt good but for whatever reason 29 min has never passed so slowly. Sighting on the return was difficult, just like last year. Straight into the low rising sun with what seemed to me like few too few buoys to sight off of. Whaaannn. I came out of the water Top 5. Swim Time: 29:39. Eh, unless the swim actually measured long, I’m a better swimmer than that.
Onto the bike I set off on a decent pace. I set a 5mile power target at 225W. I passed 2 relay guys within the first few miles and then didn't see a soul until the turn around. The leaders had quite a gap on me and then shortly after the turn I saw a chase pack of about 4, a minute back. My legs weren't feeling great and my 5mile splits were all over the place. Usually, on an easy bike course like GR, I could have been able to hit my target + 2 watts for the whole race. Again for some reason, I was afraid the wheels were going to fall off so when I was feeling good, I pushed it a little (+5 or 10W) and when I wasn't the power would fall (-10-20W). Maybe that’s classic fatigue but it's that exact variability that you want to avoid to ensure a good run...I just didn't have the focus to nail my 225 target that day. I held off the chasers but just barely, I wonder if there would have been a strategic advantage to letting them catch and set pace for the last 20 miles. I was 4th off the bike. Bike Time: 2:22 Power: 228 (high VI) but stoked to hold a 24.2mph avg on so few watts. (158lbs)
Within the first 1/2 mile on the run, two guys came galloping by. My first mile was in 6:24 and these guys passed me like I was standing still. They went on to run 1:19s and take 2nd and 3rd overall. I held onto my, now, 6th position for the next 11.5 miles. Each of those miles felt heavy and slow but my watch kept telling me I was still holding a decent pace, so I tried to ignore how bad it felt. After the turnaround at mile 9 I spotted Matt quite a ways back. It clearly wasn’t his day and it instantly took all of the significance out of beating him. My pace slowed, it felt like 9s but I was still holding sub7s. Finally at mile 12, fellow Spartan Anthony Klingler came by. I stuck on his hip for a ¼ mile and then jumped on his heels for a bit and then, with a ½ mile to, I proceeded to fall off the back. I was tired, the fight was gone. Run Time: 1:29.
Conclusion
I still think I can put together a fast ½ IM. This was really the only time I’ve raced one. I can go under 4:20 and run a 1:25. I know I have it in me, all I have to do now is rest up, build my training consistency back up and then decide which 1/2 to have another go at it.
That’s all for now.
“Eat, drink and be merry”
Conclusion
I still think I can put together a fast ½ IM. This was really the only time I’ve raced one. I can go under 4:20 and run a 1:25. I know I have it in me, all I have to do now is rest up, build my training consistency back up and then decide which 1/2 to have another go at it.
That’s all for now.
“Eat, drink and be merry”
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