The Spirit of Racine 1/2 Ironman

Lets get right to it. In terms of Triathlon, there are a few basic classes (or lengths if you will). There are:

• sprint triathlons (generally about 400-600meter swim, a 14-16mile bike ride, and a 3-5 mile run).
• Olympic distance (aka International Distance) This consists of about a 1 mile swim (1.5 km), a 24.8 mile bike (40 km) and a 6.2 mile run (10km).
• 1/2 Ironman distance (aka 70.3) Is a 1.2 mile open water swim, a 56 mile bike ride, and a 13.1 mile run
  
• and the grandaddy of them all, the full Ironman distance (aka 140.6) Which is a 2.4 mile open water swim, 112 mile bike ride, and a 26.2 mile run.

The Spirit of Racine race I participated is a 1/2 ironman. Its a pretty big jump from the International distance which was my previous longest race.

So how did I do? Well I'm here to blog about it! So I made it. I exceeded my goal. I hoped to finish between 5 1/2 hour to 6 hours, and I ended up finishing in 5 hours 21 minutes and 20 secs.

I was not racing to win, of course you all know that from my past posts. But for those of you that like stats, rankings, and numbers, here is the nitty gritty.

There were 2000 registered participants in the Spirit of Racine Race this year, only 1256 finished the race. 5:21:20 was my overall time. Which placed me 86/173 in the 35-39 age group and 469/1256 overall.
My splits were as follows:

• 00:40:42 in the swim, which was good enough for 629 ranking overall (top 50% percentile)
• 00:02:00 for T1 (transition #1 from swim to bike)
• 02:40:05 on the bike, 21.0 avg MPH, with a 469 ranking overall (top 37% percentile)
• 00:01:06 for T2 (transition #2 from bike to run), no rankings, but one of the fastest overall
• 01:57:27 on the run, 08:58 p/mile, with a 502 overall ranking (top 40% percentile)

I felt very good in the swim, the waves in the water were minimal, the 63 degree water temp was not an issue. It was just a slow and steady for me. I exited the water feeling pretty good. Perhaps I could have gone harder, but hey, it was my first 1/2 ironman, I didn't want to use all my energy in the swim.

On the bike I felt very strong. Although in the first 10 miles my legs felt unusual. I can't say I can describe the feeling, nor have I ever felt it before. I was worried that i might be cramping up, or something so I slowed down for a bit and the sensation cleared up and never came back. Perhaps I have to much lactic acid building up, I dunno. There were some decent hills and climbs. My speedometer often read 24-26 MPH. Apparently the climbs brought the average down to 21. At mile 42 I did stop for 30-40 secs at a porta-john. I did not want to start the run feeling that I had to go to the bathroom, and I'm not crazy enough like the Ironman triathletes to just "go" while riding. Yuck!

The run, my typically strongest event, was a real challenge. In training for the Chicago marathon, I've done a number of 12+ mile runs, and I even participated in a 1/2 marathon race earlier in the year. I had held out some hopes that maybe I could hold an 8 minutes per/mile pace, but again, as my 1st 1/2 ironman I didn't know what to expect. Needless to say, I couldn't hold an 8min p/mile pace, I ended up at 8:58. I'm pleased. Especially considering that I was feeling very fatigued. In fact, for the first time ever, in any sort of race, I started walking. I walked during each of the 13 water stations (there was a water station at every mile of the 13.1 miles). And when the water stations were not aligned with the mile marking, I would walk then also. So I would run, walk, run, walk, intermittently between mile marker to aid station to mile marker. Even with that walking I held the 8:58 pace. Looking at my watch, I would guess that I was walking anywhere between 1 to 1:30 minutes each mile. So i was really running pretty quickly in between that walking, a sub 8 min pace. Not sure what a triathlon coach or sports physician would say. Not sure if it would have been better to just run slower and not walk at all, or if the walking, and running faster is better. But it worked for me.

I am very thrilled with the outcome. My stretch goal was 5 hours 3o minutes, so 5:20 was a nice surprise. One thing was clear after the race though, I'm not trained well enough to attempt an Ironman. I could survive the swim and bike on an Ironman, but I think the run would kick my butt, or perhaps its just typical to walk that much. No way could I have held out 8:58 pace for another 13.1 miles. Is a Full Ironman in my future? Not at this juncture. For now.. I'm happy to have conquered my first 70.3 (a 1/2 Ironman)

And to close, a reading from the day (taking from the Veggie Tales story I read my son at bedtime)

Reading for the Day...

Philippians 2:3-4
Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves,
each looking out not for his own interests, but (also) everyone for those of others.

Peace...
(I'll post race pictures in the coming days)