White Lake Half 2010 Race Report

Official Results

Swim 1.2 miles: 43:34 Age Group rank 8/18

T1: 2:09

Bike 56 miles: 2:49:11 AG rank 3/18

T2: 4:13

Run 13.2 miles: 2:15:22 AG rank 4/18

Overall: 5:54:27 AG rank 4/18

Training:

My training for this race was sporadic.   I was just kind of winging a training plan, trying to make sure I got 2x workouts per sport per week.      After the Cary Duathlon, I decided to hunker down and follow the last five weeks of my usual half iron training plan, but skipped alot of workouts due to time contraints.    And – I had trouble finding pool time, so was only swimming 2x per month, and no speedwork at all there!

White Lake Half has a history of  heat and humidity on the run course. So, I had done some heat training by dressing in fleece layers for my training runs.  I think that helped me alot on race day.

Goals:

My goals were as follows:

1. Repeat my time of 5:33 at last year’s Duke half.   Wow, writing that just now after talking about my less than stellar training, I realize that is pretty ridiculous.   Somehow I thought I’d still have the mental toughness and ability to dial into a pace and stick to it.   I do have those things.  But, they don’t work without also the endurance and training to back it up.
2. Time of 5:44 which adds a ‘handicap’ for lack of swim training.  Still a pretty tall order!
3. Above all else, come in under 6 hours so I can re-affirm my spot at the Halfmax race at Myrtle Beach in October.  I qualified for that race at Duke Half.   It was not necessary to re-qualify, but my ego desired it.   lol!

Pictures:

The Short Version:

Skip this section if you like to read my long winded race reports, lol!     The short story is that I had a sucky swim because of goggle issues and lack of swim training.  I went too hard on the bike to make up for it.   I should know better!   Still, I put in a solid effort on the run, but probably not as fast as I could have gone.   I stayed mentally tough throughout the run, and at least came in under 6 hours, which is a respectable time.  You might also want to scroll down and read my “Things I learned” section.

Read on for the long version!   I have put in headers, as usual, so you can read the sections that interest you most.

Day Before:

This was the first big race I have done since starting to work full time.   I had to pack up all my gear on Thursday evening and bring it to work with me on Friday.    I was almost in tears from the stress of it all.  It was getting late, and I  was very tired from working all day, making dinner for my family, I had not gotten in my yoga workout, and I still had a million things to do.   I think I finally had it all together by around midnight and went to bed.

Friday I worked a full day, got off at a little after 5pm.  No yoga that day either.    🙁    I have to eat dinner at 5pm prior to a race.   And it has to be chicken with pasta and a light sauce.  I drove around Cary looking for a place, with no plan in mind.   It wasn’t too long before I passed a little place on 54 called Maximilian Italian Grill.  I stopped in there.  It looked very fancy and expensive  and I didn’t want a long wait, so I turned to leave.  The hostess came out and caught me.  I asked her if I could just look at a menu before being seated.   I forget what it was called, but they had a spicy chicken pasta with artichoke hearts and garlic in a light sauce that was $15.  I asked her how much time it would take to prepare that dish,  explaining that I was going out of town and wanted to get on the road.  She said 15 minutes, so I ordered it, and sat outside on the porch.    She was true to her word and brought it out quickly and the dish was to die for.    She also brought a croissant and butter, which I did not eat, tho I really wanted to!   And I only ate 2/3 of the pasta dish, because I can’t eat too much before a race.    I eat just slightly beyond the point of satiation.  Not full.   And I could not take the leftovers with me either, because it would not keep in my car.   What a shame!

Lots of traffic on I-40 heading toward the coast, no surprises there!   I got to the White Lake Motel and Campgrounds at around 8pm.   There was a little post it note on the door saying “Back in 10 minutes”.   So, I walked down toward the lake.  It was such a lovely cool evening, and the lake was beautiful.   I wish I had known about White Lake when my children were little.  It is a great spot for little kids…away from all the hustle and bustle of a busy life.

I settled into my room, checked over all my gear, cleaned my bike, and prepared my nutrition plans for race day.  I tried to do some yoga,  but without my DVD, I just couldn’t relax so it seemed pointless.    I set three alarm clocks, took 1/2 Ambien pill and went to bed.   That is my secret for sleeping before a race.  It works like a charm!

Morning of Race:

I got up, packed up my car, and headed for the race site, which was just a few minutes away.   Check in time was 5am.  I think arrived at around 5:15.   I still needed to pick up my packet, so I wanted to get there on the early side.  Also, I like parking my car close to the race site so I can get back to it easily, so it’s worth getting onsite early!

I checked in, did body marking, chip pickup all that usual stuff.   I set up all my transition area, tweeted some pictures, and talked to Scottie and Jennifer, some BT buddies.  Helped a guy zip up his wetsuit.    Then I headed down to the lake.  I saw Janelle and John, also on BT.   I was in the last wave, so took some more pictures.

Swim:

Swim 1.2 miles: 43:34 Age Group rank 8/18

I donned my wetsuit about 15 minutes prior to my wave start time.   I had brought two pair of goggles with me, both of which were kind of old and beat up.  I usually buy a new pair for races, but I didn’t have time. 🙁   I spent the next 10 minutes testing out each of those goggles for clarity.  Both of the sucked alot.  One was scratched up, and the other got very foggy.   Someone had abandoned a brand new pair of shiny blue goggles on the pier.    They were just the kind I like, so I tried them on and swam a few strokes.  Yay, perfect clarity and no fogginess.  Must be my lucky day, right!?

I made my way toward the front of the start line, and saw a woman named Sue.   We chatted for a bit, and wished each other luck.  I know she is a great swimmmer, so I got behind her and hoped to follow her bubbles.   No suck luck, when the horn blew, she took off like a shark.  Oh well, on my own.  I felt great swimming, but was really having a hard time sighting the buoys.   And there wasn’t much on the coastline to spot against either.   I wasted a ton of time stopping to tread water to find my way.  Finally, at about the half way point, I realized that those blue goggles were masking the bright orange color of the buoys, making them look brown.   See a my blue goggles post for more about that!    That slowed me down alot.  I finally got to pier at 41 minutes.   A mediocre time.    I had to pee, so I decided to just do it in the water.    As I peed, I peeled my arms out of the wetsuit.  I remembered a tip I read once to just take the whole suit off in the water. I figured, hell, my swim time is going to  suck anyway, so I’ll just do that!    That works really great, actually, and was worth the time it saved me  in T1!

Bike:

Bike 56 miles: 2:49:11 AG rank 3/18  Average pace 19.7 mph.  Avg Moving pace: 19.8 mph.

I set out on the bike with a mission to make up for lost time in the swim and with the goal of coming off the bike at the 3:30 mark.  That would leave me plenty of time for the run, with some hope of meeting my race goals.

This bike course can dish out some brutal headwinds.  So, I chose not to display speed on my Garmin.  Heart rate, and overall time, were my only pieces of data.    I find that when riding in a headwind, it’s best to just hunker down into a tight shape, and put out a consistent effort in the correct zone (or perceived effort).  If you see your speed, it will just make you push too hard, or stress you out, so better not to konw.

The bike ride felt windy the whole time, so I was hunkering down the whole time. ( Tho the weather history shows that it was not really a super windy, maybe 10mph at worst, which isn’t so bad. )   Since my swim wave was very last, and my swim time sucked, I was at the back of the back.  I set out to pass as many people as I could.  Like I did on the Duke Half bike course, I did this by trying to be as efficient and aerodynamic as possible, without pushing my heart rate up.

I passed a lot of  folks.  Nobody passed me.   It was great fun.  It felt like hard work, and my legs burned a little.  But my heart rate stayed in high Zone 2 or Zone 3, so I figured I was a-okay.   For some reason, the Rodney Yee yoga workout was on my mind, and I thought about ‘the Warrior’ pose.  Then, I started pretending that I was the ‘wind warrior’.   And I was picking off victims one by one.  As I passed them, I said ‘Namaste’ in my head.

The last 20 miles I started to fade a little bit.   Two riders who I had passed much earlier, passed me back.  One was a woman with 45 on her leg.   Crap.  I tried to pick up my pace, but it felt too hard, so I let them slip away.  Still, I tried to keep up a solid effort, because I still was shooting for getting off the bike at 3:30.  Even as I saw that goal slip away, I kept up a solid effort.   One thing I have learned, is that even if one goal slips away, it’s still worth putting in your best effort.    I got off the bike at around the 3:35 mark.

My butt hurt alot the whole second half of the ride.    My right arm started aching near the end of the ride.   I definitely need to work on the bike fit.  I am faster, for sure, but also need to be comfortable.

Here is my Garmin Connect data from the bike ride.   You can see how my speed and heart rate decline in the later part of the ride.    The winds were from the South that day, so wind was in part a factor in that.  But I think I also went too hard the first half, and just ran out of steam toward the end.   http://connect.garmin.com/activity/31892508

Run:

Run 13.2 miles: 2:15:22 AG rank 4/18.  Avg Pace: 10:32 m/mile. Avg moving pace: 9:44 m/mile.  45 seconds per mile lost at aid stations!

Hot, Hot, Heat is the best way to describe the run course at White Lake half.   The weather prediction for the day: 89 degrees!   I actually took my time in T2 because I did not want to start running.  It was hot and I was tired.  I stopped at the porta potty here, too.

My stomach had been bothering me on the bike.  That happens to me quite alot, and I just chalk it up to going too hard, or maybe swallowing lake water.  I just try to ignore it the best I can and keep going. And keep taking in nutrition according to plan.  A bit of stomach discomfort is better than bonking, and fortunately, I do not ever puke from it!

I had my Garmin set to display heart rate and cadence.  I have the footpod, which is the most amanzing tool!   I occassionally glanced at my cadence and tried to bump it up toward 90.    Mostly, I saw 82-85. Having that number to guide me was a big help, I think.  It gave me something very specific to focus on to keep going as fast as I could.   High cadence, drive with your arms, quick feet…those were the type of things I would think of to try to drive up my cadence.

My speed stayed fairly consistent despite that my pain and discomfort was growing by the mile. Mu feet hurt. My stomach felt gross. I was hot.  Big bubbly blisters were forming on my toes.  I was tired.  I was hot.  Just wanted to stop. But I kept going.

I had recently watched the London marathon on TV.  Those guys are amazing machines, how they go balls to the wall for 26.2 miles.   I figured that I can at least  go hard for 13.

I stopped at every aid station for water and to stuff ice down my bra. That worked great to cool me off, but really killed alot of time.

I watched the miles tick by one by one.  As I approached mile 6, I remember thinking “yay, I will be at the  half  way mark soon”.  Then when I saw mile 6 sign, I remembered that half of 13.1 was 6.5, not 6!   That was a blow to my phyche, but I kept pushing onward.    I imagined I was a machine like those marathon guys.

I think I was at the 4:45 mark at the run turn around.  I knew that my #1 goal had slipped away.  But hell it was hot!    I was still shooting for the #2 goal.     More miles ticked by.    I so badly wanted to stop.   Mile 7.   More Pain.  More Heat.   I’m so Tired.  Mile 8.   Please Just get me to mile 9. If can do that, I can make it.   I will be able to muster up the will to keep running if only to end my pain quicker, and jump into the cool waters of the lake waiting for me at the finish line.

At mile 10 a girl with 45 on her leg passed me.    She was running super fast.  Crap.    Then she stopped at an aid station, got water, and walked.  I passed her back.    Then she blew past me a little bit later.   Mile 11, the same thing happened.  Ditto at mile 12.  I tried hard to muster up the speed to keep her from passing me again, so I could beat her.  But, she was just was just running too fast.   She beat me by less than 1 minute.     I didn’t realize it at the time, but we were racing for 3rd place 🙁

During the time I was jockeying with the woman who took third place, I thought about just giving up and slowing down.  She was so fast, and I was suffering so much.   Then I remembered my #3 goal.  I had to at least come in under 6 hours.   So I kept pushing as hard as my tired hot body would give.    When I was finally done, I went straight to the lake and jumped in.   The water was so cool and refreshing and I stayed there for a very long time.

Then I hobbled out of the water on my very sore feet and headed for the food tent!   There,  I met a blog reader named Sally.  Hi Sally!    Later, I ran into some BT buddies:  Jennifer, Scottie, Janelle, John and John Cavanagh.  We hung out and chatted for a long time.

Here is my Garmin Connect data.   Look at the speed and heart rate graphs.   I feel really good about my consistency on this run.   I kept up a solid pace and effort level the entire time.  I wish I had been 1 min faster.  But I feel good.   And my moving pace was on par with my training runs.  I just wasted alot of time at aid stations.   http://connect.garmin.com/activity/31892512

I will write another post about nutrition.   This one is too long already, lol!

Things I Learned:

• Don’t wear Blue Goggles!
• Swim more than 2x per month.  lol.
• Figure out pee problem.  I keep having to pee too soon in a race.   Last year I could go 3-4 hours without having to pee.
• If the opportunity is right, peel the wetsuit off in the water.   Much easier!
• Don’t go too hard on the bike!   I should know that already – Grrrr!
• Practice transitions, even if you are not new to the sport.  That cost me time.
• Keep pushing hard until the end, even if you aren’t making your top goals.  It’s still worth putting your best foot forward.
• Have a better plan for hot runs.    Did I really need to stop at EVERY aid station?   That cost me 45 seconds per mile!  Wow!