Time: 5:37:41
Swim 32:41 (1.39 miles)
T1 3:30
Bike 2:51:08 (would have been 4:30 faster but for a mechanical problem)
T2 3:49.9
Run: 2:06:34 (10sec PR for a ½ IM run)
16/33 AG
3rd fastest 1/2 IM and only 30 seconds slower than 2nd fastest. #1 and #2 were set in 2005 & 2006. It feels pretty good to be able to race a younger version of me and get close to catching up.
?The conditions could not have been better for me. Sunny and warm
, clear skies, light breeze, very low humidity. This is a very well run event, in a nice venue. Swim in a nice clean lake, 2 loop bike on quiet roads, sightly rolling and scenic. 1 loop, rolling run course. About the only complaint I had was the aid station spacing on the bike. They had one at 18 miles and the 2nd at 26 miles. So you went a very long time if you lost a bottle.
Everything really fired off well at this race. Going in I just wanted to execute a good plan. Have a solid swim
, solid bike, solid run, all at a real race-pace. I planned on pouring down a lot of liquid nutrition on the bike and fill up for the run.
I think I scored across the board. Except for a couple of hiccups I did pretty good. I broke rule #1, and tried out a new rear-mount bottle holder and didn’t check all the screws! The seat mount was nice and tight, but the screws that hold the bottle mounts to the seat mount came loose and I spent almost 5 minutes fixing the problem around mile 26. But once I got back on the bike I was able to head out and keep the pace high.
I was a bit worried that I overcooked the bike, but once on the run I settled in to a nice hard pace. I futzed with the Garmin to display HR, but then never looked at it. Just looked at current lap pace and lap distance. My plan was to walk all the aid stations enough to get in a bit to drink, toss some water over my head, then keep going. I stopped at mile 3 to pee. I figured I’d pick up the pace a bit at mile 8, then embrace the suck at mile 11. And that’s what happened. I took a caffeine gel at mile 8 (rocket fuel!) then another at mile 11. THAT one took way to long to open since I picked up a Hammer espresso from an aid station. I had to stop to open it so I could eat it and wash down with water. Then I just pushed on through to the end.
I had a bit of a mental melt down at the last big hill before the finish. I ended up power walking the hill, and I should have just pushed myself to run hard over the top.
I wanted to really kick at the finish as there was one last guy ahead of me, but I could not summon up any more oomph… I left it all on the course.
Onward towar?d Mont Tremblant…