2011 Ironman 70.3 Honu: One week later...

I started this blog a few years ago to document this journey.  Every once in a while I go back and read old posts and think about the highs and lows presented in race reports.  But my most favorite posts are the one week laters.  Once the hoopla and emotion of race day wears off what does it all mean.  I am so proud of what this body can do.  I am most important proud of what this mind/brain is capable of.  Sure 169/226 in my age group isnt a great ranking.  So I am not going to wow anyone with the time.  I am not close to a Kona slot, some 3 hours slower than those guys.  Can I shave 3 hours off this time?  Lets be real, not in the next foreseeable future.  I am sure going to bust my ass to get there.  What I did do show up to a 70.3 with a rented bike and put up a 53 min PR in this distance.  What is funny is the only thing that was faster was my bike.  The swim and run splits were nearly identical to silverman.  Undertrained on the swim and swimming off course didn't help.  Very hot and burning feet was the only limiting factor on the run.  Fitter, faster, and still only one discipline was faster.  The bike course at Honu is not considered easy, the World Championship is on that highway for petes sake.  Just goes to show what the Silverman bike is like, ridiculous.  I will keep training the course at the lake and see what my bike fitness will be like.  It is a gift to be able to train these hills.  Some of my questions are becoming clear.  I realize this is process and a long one at that.  I am amazed at how I recovered.  The recovery gets easier each race this distance.   I had about a 2/10 soreness.  My skin was the only thing that was significant.

For the first time, in my heart I know this journey is progressing.   The way I wanted it to go and the way it has gone has been different.   Initially its confusing but eventually it works out.  My goals are working themselves out.  IRONMAN is beginning to look like a doable challenge.  My body is responding.  Leaner, fitter, stronger, more efficient, and the nutrition piece is coming into focus.  The half at PUMKINMAN is now the goal.  Secondary to that is Las Vegas Marathon.  Use the running program for Vegas to dovetail train for pumkinman.  For pumkinman I want to do some specific things.  For the swim I want to get into the low 40 min.  I realized that when I open water swim, I havent done any speed work.  DUH, no speed work out there =no better time.  I also hate the pool.  So I need to find a way to get faster in the water.  I think the TRIATHLETE magazine swim program for a 70.3 looks good.  I am going to try that.  For the bike I realized several things while at Honu.   Number one, I was one of a very low percentage of road bikes.  Tri bikes abound.  I am guessing 5,000 ave per bike.  That means 90 million dollars in transition.  I passed a bunch of them too.  How much faster will I be in aero position?  The tri bike is now in effect.  My back has been a lot better and I feel better physically making that change.  For the run, keep running.  My run is coming up.  I want to do a new VDOT.  I want to run a few 5/10Ks and I want to keep progressing that way.  Also, I want to do a few sprints for some speed work.  Funny how my run is the best its ever been but did not show up at the race.  I am not happy about that.  I want the Pumkinman run to be competitive  with my other 1/2 marathon racing times.  If I can do those things another PR is on the way.  

I had 3 runs this week.  3-5 miles per.  My legs are not back to form yet but they are close. Quote:


“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”
 George Bernard Shaw

On the Clock: Hawaii 70.3 Honu

My on again off again Ironman goal is taking shape. This year I am up for 2 more half irons, a marathon, and anything else that looks fun will be stepping stones to IM. This particular half is going to be special. My good friend and his son moved back home. He really wanted us to go out and visit. He and his family really wanted me to race there. This race will be a fun visit/vacation with my wife. I hope to find some fun adventures and get a little training in. It is also special because this race uses some of the bike course of the Ironman world championship.

I signed up for this race kind of in a split second. I did not look deep into the details. When I finally did, I was surprised. I was surprised by the swim difficulty, the temperature on the run, the beauty of the run, the expense of getting my bike there, surprised by the age group finishing times (I basically signed up for last place in my age group-more on that in a minute), and surprised that I made a quick decision on signing up for an Ironman event. 1500 athletes out on the swim at the same time with a challenging ocean swim. I am very excited and yet kinda scared.

Scared because I will be quite slow compared to my age group. I am not beating myself or anything. I am gonna have an awesome race. Here is the issue: I have raced 2 half iron distance, both over 8 hours. Yes it is a very difficult course and much harder then this race BUT last year no one at Honu finished over 7 hours. That means a PR of OVER an hour is in order. That means OVER 1 hour and 8 plus minutes. There is no clydesdale division only fast dudes. It will be an amazing experience. I am looking forward to it. Here is my week:

Monday-Rest

Tuesday-Easy run. 3 miles. Started out going to be 4 miles. The old calf came back. It was bad. I did some rehab the rest of the day.

Wednesday-Swim. 750 m. Just get in, do some work.

Thursday-Pushed a run to sleep and then nothing in the afternoon because sully got fixed.

Friday-Training run. I feel like these runs I should be doing some speed work. However, I still and trying not to piss off this calf. So I ran 5 miles. No pain for 2-3 miles but only "tight" or "crampy" feeling. Not bad enough to warrant making a phone call to come get me but enough that made me not want to push it. I got my 5 in and I got some treatment right away. No lasting symptoms so hopefully I am ok.

Saturday-Long bike. 40 miles. Well 40 miles turned into 44. Arithmetic error. It was an awesome ride. My house out to Calleville bay and then to Lake Las Vegas. 44 miles in 2:47:53, avg 17 mph. I did 44 miles 13 min faster then I did 40 miles this time last year. I felt good.

Sunday (today)-Long run. 8 miles. I ran the old Rage course. 4 miles up and 4 miles down. I ran a 4 miles up in 44:04 and down 37:38. I felt very strong. and 2 out of the 4 miles down were under 9 min. I haven't gone that fast in a while. Best part: No calf pain. I felt very strong. Quote:

"Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself."

-William Faulkner

I am just trying to be better today than I was yesterday.