I've analyzed this race so many times now that my brain hurts more than a slurpee freeze. So I'll try to boil it down to the highlights. My swim was decent and about what I had planned to do (33:09, 1:44/100m pace). It was on the bike that things started going wrong. It was pretty windy and about 45 minutes in my right hamstring started tiring and hurting something fierce. I forced myself to finish out the ride at an ok pace though and am pretty proud of that even if my time wasn't great (2:44:37, 20.4mph). Looking back, I probably overdid the bike and that was partially the reason I fell apart on the run.
Doing ok after the swim - In Pain on the bike
The bright side was that it was specific to the bike and on the run it went away. But then at about mile 4 of the run I started bonking in the heat and humidity of that day and then at mile 6 my stomach completely cramped up (from having too much salt I think, but no cramps!)and that finished me physically and mentally. My energy never came back and I had to start walking the aid stations and shuffling/jogging in between. The result was the slowest time I've posted since 2007 (2:02:46, 9:22min/mile). Despite this I'm proud of having stuck it out and finishing when all I wanted to do was just sit down and call it a day (Final time: 5:24:23). You get a really good sense of appreciation for the pros that still got the same kinds of times as if the wind wasn't there and there was no heat or humidity.
Yup, that's exactly how I felt :) - Very glad to be done, 5:24 total time
There's three good things that came out of the trip and race though and like this great post from Linsey Corbin goes on to say, it's best to focus on the positives sometimes. One was that I had some great friends there to enjoy the trip with, race with (my wife Chris and friend Mike Irwin) and cheer me on even when it was obvious that I was not doing so great. Mray, Jray, Maddy, Blake and Alisia were there cheering me on the whole race (including even from way out on Mile 20 on the bike! and again near mile 40 from a truck). There's nothing like doing a race and having your friends there to cheer you on. Thanks all!
The reason Galveston was still fun! Thanks all!
The second positive thing was that I learned what too much salt intake can do to you (stomach cramps) and how much too much salt is in a race. Electrolytes and salt have been an issue for me the last 2 years and this is the first time I took too much as opposed to not enough. It's hard to find that stuff out when training, so that'll be useful to know. Of course, I still have to find what the right amount is, but I'm that much closer now.
The third is that I got a trip to the beach with my wife and friends! I only wish I could have enjoyed it longer.
Boulder 70.3 is the next race on the agenda in August. I plan to enjoy the rest of April and have already planned a bunch of things (skeet shooting, motocrossing, remote control car'ing and video gaming). I'll jump back into things in May with a vengeance that only a bad race can instill in you. No matter how it goes in Boulder though I plan to enjoy it and hold on to the positives. Thanks once again to all my friends for having made a terrible race still tolerable :)
