This was the inaugural race for the Hulaman half IM. It was a strange course, a point to point bike ride and a two lap run. The swim was at Hagg lake. Once out of the water you rode to the Hillsboro stadium. Then you ran two loops around Shute road and Ronler Acres.
I was up early, about 4:30. Had to stop at the stadium to set up my run gear. Then off to Hagg Lake to set up my bike and get in the water. It was raining pretty hard all morning. It started to let up just as we got to the lake. Jen was dropping me and she was headed back to run the half marathon. After getting everything setup I headed to the water to start warming up. The trek from the water to the transition area was long and steep. You had to run up the boat ramp and across a asphalt parking lot with lots of little rocks.
Once everyone was in the water I realized how small this race was. Only 59 men total. That was ok, less congestion on the course I guess. The air horn went off and away we went. The swim was 1.2 miles and went by pretty fast. There was no wind, so the water was smooth, and pretty warm. Got in a groove about 300 meters in and cruised. Found some feet in front of me to draft on for a while, but the guy was all over the place. I found I was using more energy to keep track of him then it was worth, so I broke off and paced myself. I was out of the water in about 32 mins. then it took me another 3 mins to get to my bike and out on the road.
Once on the bike the rain started up again. I had flash backs to my wreck at Beaver Freezer, so every corner was taken with care. I quickly started catching the "swimmers" of the race, and by the end of the first lap around the lake I had passed 4 of them. After the first lap you start a 2nd lap, but then exit the lake and head toward Hillsboro. On the second lap this guy on a road bike passed me. He would stand and crank up the hills every time we would hit one. Scott and recommended that I sit and pace myself up these hills early and focus on keeping my HR in zone 3 (150 - 160) otherwise I would crap out by the end of the ride. I did this and on every flat and down hill I would catch the guy, but then on every hill he would pass me back. This went on until about mile 26 when we hit some long flat sections. This is when having a TT bike and a disk wheel pays off. I was able to put my head down and crank away. Avg speed on the flats was ~ 23 -24 mph with my HR in check. It felt great. Being such a small point to point race though I had no idea how many people were in front of me. At mile 33 just before the big climb I passed another guy. He must have been a fast swimmer to get this far in front. Once up over the Clapshaw hill road I couldn't see anyone in front of me so I figured I was leading. At about mile 45 I passed a guy on the side of the road fixing a flat. He also had a disk and one of those long pointy TT helmets. He looked fast. I was very lucky he had a flat as I probably wouldn't have caught him. Mile 50 came and I passed a volunteer who yelled to me that I was in the lead by about 2 mins. I had a feeling since I hadn't seen anyone in so long, but I wasn't sure until now. This was great, I had never lead anything. How cool would that be to hold on and actually win a half IM!! I came into T2 feeling great. As I racked my bike I heard the announcer say "Our 2nd place male has just come in. He's about 5 min back from first place". First I pissed that I wasn't leading! Then I was pissed that I was 5 mins back!! I quickly put on m shoes and got out of there to see if I could catch him. As I was leaving T2 I looked back and saw the road bike guy just coming into transition. I was a little worried because he looked like a little runner guy.
I was up early, about 4:30. Had to stop at the stadium to set up my run gear. Then off to Hagg Lake to set up my bike and get in the water. It was raining pretty hard all morning. It started to let up just as we got to the lake. Jen was dropping me and she was headed back to run the half marathon. After getting everything setup I headed to the water to start warming up. The trek from the water to the transition area was long and steep. You had to run up the boat ramp and across a asphalt parking lot with lots of little rocks.
Once everyone was in the water I realized how small this race was. Only 59 men total. That was ok, less congestion on the course I guess. The air horn went off and away we went. The swim was 1.2 miles and went by pretty fast. There was no wind, so the water was smooth, and pretty warm. Got in a groove about 300 meters in and cruised. Found some feet in front of me to draft on for a while, but the guy was all over the place. I found I was using more energy to keep track of him then it was worth, so I broke off and paced myself. I was out of the water in about 32 mins. then it took me another 3 mins to get to my bike and out on the road.
Once on the bike the rain started up again. I had flash backs to my wreck at Beaver Freezer, so every corner was taken with care. I quickly started catching the "swimmers" of the race, and by the end of the first lap around the lake I had passed 4 of them. After the first lap you start a 2nd lap, but then exit the lake and head toward Hillsboro. On the second lap this guy on a road bike passed me. He would stand and crank up the hills every time we would hit one. Scott and recommended that I sit and pace myself up these hills early and focus on keeping my HR in zone 3 (150 - 160) otherwise I would crap out by the end of the ride. I did this and on every flat and down hill I would catch the guy, but then on every hill he would pass me back. This went on until about mile 26 when we hit some long flat sections. This is when having a TT bike and a disk wheel pays off. I was able to put my head down and crank away. Avg speed on the flats was ~ 23 -24 mph with my HR in check. It felt great. Being such a small point to point race though I had no idea how many people were in front of me. At mile 33 just before the big climb I passed another guy. He must have been a fast swimmer to get this far in front. Once up over the Clapshaw hill road I couldn't see anyone in front of me so I figured I was leading. At about mile 45 I passed a guy on the side of the road fixing a flat. He also had a disk and one of those long pointy TT helmets. He looked fast. I was very lucky he had a flat as I probably wouldn't have caught him. Mile 50 came and I passed a volunteer who yelled to me that I was in the lead by about 2 mins. I had a feeling since I hadn't seen anyone in so long, but I wasn't sure until now. This was great, I had never lead anything. How cool would that be to hold on and actually win a half IM!! I came into T2 feeling great. As I racked my bike I heard the announcer say "Our 2nd place male has just come in. He's about 5 min back from first place". First I pissed that I wasn't leading! Then I was pissed that I was 5 mins back!! I quickly put on m shoes and got out of there to see if I could catch him. As I was leaving T2 I looked back and saw the road bike guy just coming into transition. I was a little worried because he looked like a little runner guy.
Mile 1 of the run came quickly, too quickly. I was trying to pace myself to stay over 7:10 per mile for the first 3 miles. I didn't want to go out too fast. Time check at mile 1 and I was 7:06. Not bad, HR was right at 160, so I was ok. Just then my worries were confirmed. Here comes road bike guy. I may as well have been standing there spectating. He flew by me. I was mad at first, but quickly realized that this guy was much faster then me, not much I can do about that right now. Mile 2 time check, 6:56. HR still about 160, but running harder because I had just gotten passed. I slowed a bit to try to stay in control for one more mile before picking it up. The course was good, long flat straight sections really allowed for getting into a groove. Took a shot of GU every mile at the aid station with some water. First time doing this, worked great. After mile 5 I picked it up to Zone 4 HR (160-165). Pace stayed about the same, 7:12. Stayed here until mile 8. At this point Scott said to picked it up as much as I can. I let my HR rise to 170 and held on. Miles 9 to 13 were all under 7:00 min pace. I was able to hold off the guy behind me (he ended up 4 mins back) and I put about a 1 min 20 sec into the guy that beat me off the bike. So I ended up 3rd over all and first in the 30-34 age group. I felt better once I found out that the road bike guy caught the leader and ended up winning by 2 mins. He ran a 1hr 28min half marathon, pretty darn fast compared to my 1:33. Overall it was a great race though. My nutrition was spot on. My pacing on the bike and the run was very good as well. This has me excited about IM AZ. I think I may be making progress on the nutrition front. This is the biggest thing holding me back at this point. Next big race is the Soma Half IM in AZ on Oct 28th...
1 comment:
Well written article.
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