It wasn't supposed to happen this way! I'm on the verge of overtraining - preparing for the Ironman distance Rev3 race at Cedar Point in 4 weeks... and I drank too much, too late last night with some friends for "optimal race conditions". Plus - the prior two times I did Vermilion, I had bad experiences. I had the lowest expectations for today - except a good opportunity for me to practice "suffering" for next month's "A" race. Today was supposed to be a C- race.
Summary:
Instead, I had an incredible race - dishing out massive amounts of pain on the bike, with the expectation of having a crappy, survival-mode run (good IM distance mental training). Because of a well-executed nutrition plan (on a super hot/humid day), and a strong will to push through the pain, I held on to post a very good run split. I felt on the verge of "blowing up" during the entire run (right out of transition) but kept pushing through the pain and heat - with the goal to pass the person in front of me over and over. I took about 4 minutes off my time from last year - and went from 2nd in AG and 23rd OA last year, to 1st AG and 12th OA this year! SnakeBite Racing team had a terriffic day today! Eric and I won our AGs, others were on the podium today as well. I believe we had the strongest team of the day! We've had a great season - and are getting a lot of attention for that!
Details:
The swim was typical for this season. Mid pack. 25:30-ish and a reason to work really hard this off-season as I'm usually 50th in the swim and top 15 on the bike/run. It's holding me back from true overall contention.
On the bike, I started off on the easy side for the first 15 minutes to get my HR down from the swim/T1 rush. Then three good descents/climbs - I stayed seated, but pushed them hard toward the top, passing quite a few people. On the flat section, I ramed up the intensity and really started reeling in those in front of me. There were two other guys I caught up to and the three of us kept passing back and forth. Couldn't shake them. Thought I did with about 7 miles to go, then they caught me on the big Vermilion Rd downhill. We were together again through Mill Hollow (last climb of the day) where I hammered the hill and put a permanent gap on them. Whew. Then I saw Kevin Krol (in my AG and on rival team SSSMT)... chased him for about 3 miles before I could finally pass him. I did, and he stayed on my butt going into T2.
Fast T2, and it was out for the worlds hottest run (OK maybe not, but there is no shade, no breeze and 90F+humidity = pain!). I didn't know how Krol's run was, so I pushed the first mile hard (sub 6:40pace) to get a gap on him. From there, it was hunt down those in front of me, and keep the pace around 7:00/mi. In other races, this would be slow for me, but on this course, in this heat, after that hard bike - this was the right pace.
At the turn-around, i felt like crap, but there were some people I wanted to catch, and some behind me I was worried might close in on me... so, I held on for dear life, and just ran fast enough to keep the pressure on, without blowing up.
Nutrition:
Gel and 3 ECAPS 30 minutes before race start, gel in T1, gel about 5 miles from T2... 20oz EFS on bike + 10oz Gatorade Endurance. On run, I used the new Cera Sport and Fuel Belt (I never use my Fuel belt in races)... and this helped me today for sure. I took on countless cups of Heed and water along the way too.
No cramping and only a little fade during the run (my HR steadily increased from 180 to 201bpm). This was a well executed race, and for that I'm quite happy!
