I was pretty upset when I wrote my Halfmax Myrtle Beach Race Report. I trained hard for that race and I spent a lot of money on race fees and travel costs. I expected great things out of that day. And I was sorely disappointed.
On a whim, I just packed up and drove to Wrightsville beach this weekend. As I gathered up beach supplies for my family, I grabbed the Halfmax beach towel that they handed out at the finish line and unwrapped it.
“Wow”, I thought, “this is a really nice and plush beach towel.”
That got me thinking about the positive things about that race.
- The bike course was fantastic. I really did enjoy it. I did not mind the windy conditions. I was expecting them. Every flat race I’ve ever done has been windy – there is no such thing as a “flat and fast” bike course in my book! Prior to the race, I was concerned that two loops and three race distances would make for a crowded bike course. But, it was not crowded. I was also concerned about the point where the long course athletes merge onto the road with the sprinters. That was no problem at all.
The race Schwagg was great. And, I do love that beach towel.- The level of competition was extremely high. That really pushed me on the bike course to stay focused and keep moving at a solid pace. Every time I eased up, some folks who were the same speed as me, passed, forcing me to ease up more to drop back. To avoid that, I had to really work it. I learned alot on that course.
- The swim course looked fantastic. I wish I could have swam it. I don’t blame the race organizers for their decision. They handled that well.
- My time, had I run the full course properly, would have been 5 hours, including T1, Bike, T2 and Run. Adding on the swim of 35-40 minutes, I would have had a great race. :-)
I still feel badly about the run, but I just need to let that go. And, I finally did get my race results removed so that I would not take someone else’s spot at Worlds. I received a very nice email from S.Y. at Halfmax Events in reply to my not so nice note asking to be removed:
Carol, thanks so much for letting us know about your run. We take full responsibility for the last minute change to the run course. Apparently some construction on the original run course was not complete as promised and we had to make a significant change. In order for the mileage to be correct this course was the result we could provide in the time allotted.
With that said, we pride ourselves on producing top quality events and this event overall (including the run course) did not live up to our own expectations. I promise you that we worked super hard for a year to get ready for this event, however, we underestimated some of the logistics. We do plan to come back next year and redeem ourselves. I would like to send you a coupon for [X]% off your entry fee next year if you would give us another chance. I don’t have your full address in my database. If you would send me that I’ll get a coupon off to you right away.
Thanks Carol, we appreciate your comments …
Hmmmm…Do you think I should give them another chance?
Tags: halfmax
Well, the Ultramax Halfmax National Championship race was a big disappointment on many levels. Note: Be sure to read my article “More thoughts about Halfmax” when you are done here.
They had to cancel the swim after heavy rains the week prior increased e-coli levels in the waterway. That sucked. Everybody was disappointed about that. I don’t blame the race directors for that, but it still sucked!
The wind on the bike was relentless. That made for a challenging ride. I didn’t mind so much because that is my strength, but alot of folks were expecting “flat and fast” as advertised. I knew better that flat usually means windy, haha! I also heard folks complain about all the multiple u-turns on the bike course. I actually enjoyed the bike course very much. But the wind sucked the energy out of me for sure, and I had toasty legs when I was done.
The biggest disappointment of the day was that I screwed up on the run. They had made a last minute change in the run course, adding a stupid little double dog leg section that you had to do twice per lap. That section was very confusing – and I don’t think very well when I am in the pain cave – so I got mixed up and skipped part of the run course. My Garmin data shows I just ran 11 miles, so I had to disqualify myself. That is what really sucked.
But I still had fun and learned lots.
I had lots of fun with Ginger. It was also fun meeting friends Kathy and Teresa from a local tri club, and hanging with some BT buddies.
I learned that I need to figure out how to think while I am in the pain cave. And that I can pull off a half way decent run pace on toasty legs. It was no surprise that I cannot pull off a great run on toasty legs.
Here are the details of my day…
T1:
The race organizers put on a time trial start in lieu of a swim. All athletes we instructed to get in line in random order down by the waterway. Then they did a time trial start, releasing one person off every 3 seconds to run to our bikes as if we were running off of the swim. From a smoothness and controlling bottlenecks of bikers point of view, that worked great. From a competition point of view it sucked not racing side by side with my age group peers. I don’t race as hard if I don’t know where I stand, and don’t have to hold off fast runner girls. Also, the wind changed throught the day, so athletes starting first in line had different conditions than those who started last. I don’t know who had the advantage there, but surely it was not equal conditions. I started an hour after some folks, and it definitely got hotter for the run. So, it really was not a fair race.
Bike
The wind on the bike course was brutal. 12.7 miles per hour sustained winds. Half of it a tailwind. I was flying at 24+mph for half the distance. That was fun, and allowed some rest, but I did not ever slack off. The other half was a head wind. And I struggled at 16 mph. Since I was going slower for that half, it took a lot longer, so I actually was fighting the wind more than half the time. And when there was a headwind, there was also alot of false flat ups. That made for a very challenging bike! I pushed hard on the bike and came off with about an average speed of 20mph. That was too hard, and I had toasty legs coming off the bike. I knew I was going too hard, but I was having fun and wanted to see how good of a run I could pull off with toasty legs.
Run
I headed out on the run and did the first two miles at a pace of 9. Not too bad. Then there was a slight uphill grade, and my pace slowed to 10 something. That sucked, as I wanted to run a pace of 9 and get a 2 hour run split. I stopped looking at my watch at that point, and just ran hard and stayed focused. I was doing well. At about mile 4, I was running with a tall girl named Jo Beth with a ’37′ on her leg. We were about evenly paced. We both stopped for water at an aid station, then I thought I had lost her. I glanced over my shoulder and she was there, and said “Oh good, there’s my running buddy”. She smiled and said I was helping her stay on pace. We were helping each other. We’d pick someone ahead and say “Let’s pick off purple bra girl”. Then we caught “braid chick”. It was fun having a running buddy, and I would not allow myself to slack off if only not to disappoint Jo Beth. At mile 5, we passed a sign saying mile 12 – that sign was for those on their 2nd lap. She said “Oh Good, just one more mile”. Dang, she was on her 2nd lap while I was still on my first. We ran hard one more mile together, then wished each other luck. I missed her alot and had trouble picking off runners after that.
The 2nd lap of the run was harder. It started to get hot. My feet hurt. I was suffering in the pain cave. At about mile 8 I got a big bubbly blister on my left toe. I stopped at an aid station for water and e-caps. I didn’t really need those things, but wanted an excuse to stop running. I took my time there. Then Tony Horton’s P90X words came to mind: “I know it hurts, but so what?”. So, I sucked it up and started going again. I limp-ran for one mile in pain. I found myself wishing I had a safety pin so I could take my shoe off and stab the blister. I know, ewww, gross. Then the blister must have popped on it’s own, because it felt better after that and I was able to get into a good running groove.
I was in the pain cave, running as hard as I could. At the double dog leg part of the race course, volunteers were asking lap1 or lap2. By that they meant if you were on the first or second lap of the dog leg on that leg of the course. We were supposed to do that dog leg a total of 4 times. But on lap 2 of the run, I was not thinking clearly in my pain cave, and thought “okay, I’m on lap 2, so I go this way”. Which was wrong, because I was only on lap 1 of lap 2. See, I’m confused now just trying to explain it. It was a really dumb run course, and I was dumb and made a mistake.
When I stopped my Garmin, it said 1:46 for the run split. I didn’t believe that time, but figured I must have screwed up hitting my Garmin. It wasn’t until I went home and looked at the Garmin data, that I realized I missed part of the run. So I have emailed the race organizers to disqualify myself. That was the suckiest of all. Garmin shows my run pace at 9:47 min/mile which would have given me a run split of 2:08. Not the pace I was hoping for, but not too shabby considering toasty legs and sore feet.
Garmin Data
Bike leg: http://connect.garm...om/activity/51595894
Run leg: http://connect.garm...om/activity/51595901
Impressions
The race directors did a good job managing the swim issue. That’s the only good thing I have to say about the race organization. Overall, I felt the race was not very well organized and not worth the money I spent in race fees and travel and taking time off work. I will not do another Ultramax Tri race. Some of that is sour grapes, I know. But the race just wasn’t that well organized. There was not much crowd enthusiasm. The aid stations on the run were lacking food. They were supposed to have orange slices, but did not. The race schwagg was nothing to write home about. And the post race food was lacking. This race was hyped up as a “National Championship event”. I expected this race to be spectacular, and it was a disappointment.
Pictures
I absolutely love the Rodney Yee “Yoga Conditioning for Athletes” DVD workout video. My friend Ginger told me about that DVD last year. It is the perfect workout to stretch and release all the parts of your body that are tight from sports. I also love the yoga teaching aspect of his videos. I feel both physically and mentally refreshed after spending an hour with Rodney Yee.
I’ve been studying all my old training logs leading up to last year’s Duke Half and B2B races. I figured whatever I did then, aside from training, must have worked because I had great races those two days. One thing I did, was lots and lots of yoga. And lots of getting my mind ready to race.
So, I was googling Rodney Yee yoga, and came across a great video on the Gaiam website about quieting the mind in every situation, including sports and combat, and how freeing your mind brings better performance. Good stuff, watch it:
http://life.gaiam.com/gaiam/p/Mind-Body-and-the-Breath.html
Here’s another video, that talks about Quieting the Mind by finding the eye of the hurricane. I’m going to think about this while doing my yoga workout later this evening, especially during tree pose. If I can do tree pose with ease, then I know I am ready to race.
Tags: race preparation, rodney yee, yoga
Another week of solid training in the books. Here are some highlights from last week’s training:
Tues:
I stayed with the A group on the IOS ride all the way to the berry patch. Then I turned around and rode back, and B did not catch me until the turn into the hilly neighborhood (that is where the easier cool down starts). I did that last Thursday too. Staying with A was a great confidence booster. I followed those rides up with a 4 mile tempo run.
Thurs:
I had looked up my workouts prior to last year’s Duke half, and I had done a certain treadmill tempo workout. I decided to do that again this day, and see how my running fitness compared. I was looking forward all day to getting home and doing that.
I got home from work, and first made dinner for my family. I didn’t eat anything myself, because I can’t run on a full stomach. I went up to my treadmill and got everything set up. I started the warm up, and the belt was slipping and I was lurching all over the place. FML, my treadmill is broken. I actually started to cry – that’s how disappointed I was not to be able to do that workout.
By then it was dark outside, so I headed outside with flashlight in hand. It was very hard to focus on running while holding a flashlight and trying not to trip. No way to really get a into a good solid groove. The run sucked, and was not the confidence boost I was looking for.
Saturday:
I repeated last week’s Bike/Swim/Bike workout, riding 22 miles down to Jordan lake Ebeneezer Swim area. On the ride to the lake, some idiot car passed me, and then immediately made a right turn in front of me. I stopped and tweeted “dear blue prius who passed me then immediately turned ritght onto whitherspoon…f*** you asshole.”
I swam five laps just like last week. It was a bit choppy, there was a current, and it felt very hard. Especially when heading back on each loop. It took me 1:10, only 1 minute slower than last week. I was surprised by that because it was harder and choppier. I felt drained, and thought “I am screwed if Halfmax is not wetsuit legal.”
The 36 mile ride back home was awful. I had no fire in my legs and felt like crap. And it felt like the wind was against me the whole way, no matter which direction I turned. I kept thinking I felt bad because that choppy swim took so much out of me.
I was also thirsty and hot, so I stopped at a convenient store to buy some Gatorade. Ahhhh, it was very refreshing! While sitting on the bench drinking my Gatorade, I heard a really obnoxious ringtone. I looked around and nobody was nearby. Then I realized it was coming from my jersey pocket. I fished my cell phone out and it stopped ringing, but the screen said “Emergency” on it. WTF? Then it started ringing again, with that awful tone. I answered it.
The voice on the other end said “We received several 911 calls from this mobile phone. The police are en route. Are you at such and such gas station on Manns Chapel Road?”. OMG, apparently, I had butt dialed 911. I told the operator that I was fine, and that my phone had been in my pocket, and so I must have accidentally dialed. Just as I was saying that, the police officer arrived. I apologized emphatically for bothering him…He was very nice, and said that they get a lot of butt dials, and most cell phones have a single key programmed for emergency. I had no idea! It is quite comforting to know that the GPS locator emergency system works!
Later that evening, I saw on the WRAL website that the temperature had been 98 degrees today, a record high. No wonder I felt like crap on that bike ride. And no wonder that Gatorade tasted soooo good.
Given the high temperatures we have been having, I am not hopeful for a wetsuit legal Halfmax race.
One Week to go
Here is my training plan for the week…
- Monday 27-Sep off
- Tuesday 28-Sep run 30 min, easy steady. Lunch or pm.
- Wednesday 29-Sep swim 30 min ride 1 hour: 30 (ez/20 Z2-Z3/10 ez)
- Thursday 30-Sep ride 40 min, ending with 3 minutes pretty hard. Immediately have a 300-400 calorie recovery drink. Do this before travel.
- Friday 1-Oct run 15 min, 2-3 short comfortably fast strides
- Saturday 2-Oct HALFMAX race
A look back
I was looking back at my training logs from before last year’s Duke half, and remembered that I did alot of long workouts up to 8 days prior. I was training for an Ironman race, and it turned out to give me a great half iron performance. With that in mind, I wanted to put in a solid weekend of training, sticking to the plan, but adding a swim and a little more bike miles.
OMG, turns out I was a weekend warrior last weekend, logging 122 miles!
Bike/Swim/Bike
On Saturday, I decided to ride my bike 22 miles to the lake, swim for 1:10, then ride 38 miles home. I didn’t intend for the way home to be so long, but I was avoiding the trafficy parts of town during the late afternoon.
Killer 3x Brick
On Sunday, I did Marty’s 3X brick, which I have dubbed the killer brick. 3X(15 miles bike, 3 miles run), each one harder than the last. That was the hard part! My goal paces were 18, 19, 20 mph for the bike sets, and 10, 9:30 and 9:00 m/m for the run.
I drove out to the White Oak end of the ATT tobacco trail for that, so the training could be on flatland. My planned bike route was 16 miles around Jordan Lake. I knew most of the roads, but had to add in a segment in unknown territory to get it up to 16 miles.
Lap 1
On my first lap, I made a wrong turn and ended up riding 22 miles! And that unknown territory was friggin hilly. I was trying to go steady, but not kill myself. I took a picture, and tweeted “Lap 1 done: 17.9mph bike, and 9:45 run. woot. ”
Lap 2
On the 2nd lap, I tried to go very very hard and get a 19mph bike pace. Did not happen. It felt like a headwind, especially on Martha’s Chapel which is a false flat up for 5 miles. That is the road where I tend to get dropped on those hard group rides at IOS. I remember thinking “Martha’s Chapel with a headwind, FML”.
I pushed hard in the run, too, but not balls to the wall. I had great mental focus and was able to hold onto a good pace. When I was done with lap #2, I had run out of my fuel mixture. So I grabbed whatever I had in my car, which was slimfast. haha!
I tweeted “ran out of perpeturm. hope slimfast works. rep 2 hurt. 18.3mph/9:20mm”
Lap 3
Off I went on lap #3. I went balls to the wall on the bike, trying to get it over 19mph. I actually got worse than lap number 2, but my quads were screaming at me. I was worried that last run was going to be a slog fest with my toasty legs. But I was determined to put in a good solid effort and beat my last run pace, and I did. I took a Gu Roctane before starting to run, and was able to hold up a solid pace. I
ran hard, but not balls to the wall. I was trying to think “run as fast as I can hold for 13 miles, half iron pace”. My legs ached, but I made them go fast anyway. I remember thinking of Tony Horton’s words from the P90X dvd during this run. Afterwards, I tweeted:
last 1 was visit to hurt cave. kept thinking ‘i no it hurts but so wut?’ #P90x”
That will be my mantra for the Halfmax.
Here is my training for the upcoming week. I am going to repeat Saturdays bike/swim/bike, but I am not going to do that killer 3X workout. My legs are too toasty now and need to rest up.
Two Weeks to go
Taper starts here can repeat prior week if feeling strong. Otherwise…
- Monday 20-Sep off
- Tuesday 21-Sep swim at lunch IOS ride, Trun
- Wednesday 22-Sep off
- Thursday 23-Sep swim at lunch 45 min pm run. 20/20/5(Z1,Z3,Z1)
- Friday 24-Sep off
- Saturday 25-Sep run 1.25 hours build to comfortable fast
- Sunday 26-Sep ride 2 hours with 30 min high zone 2 to z3
Tags: brick, halfmax, training, weekend warrior
