RR: Rev3 Knoxville Half

pcsronbo · May 24, 2011

Sorry this is probably less than clear, but i'm happy I got it done AT ALL. I am dying at work and so tired right now I can barely focus. So.. it is what it is. I adapted the athlete report I sent CC the next day.
 
Tpenn owes us a RR too!
 
Short:
Swim – 40:07 out of water, 41:59 w/ run to T1 – PW. However, 88/355 – top 25% so it wasn’t me
T1 – 3:03 – slow
Bike – 3:20:45 – almost 4000ft of climb – 170/355 – top 48%
T2 – 2:38 + 1:00 portapotty = 3:38
Run – 2:26:38 – PR by 12 minutes! – 900ft climb 190/355 - top 54% has got to be one of my best placements ever
 
Long:
Before Race – I arrived Friday after a nerve racking flight in which I brought my bike with me. Everything went fine, except it was a really small airplane so I got no sleep and I ended up with a kink in my neck. Normally I’d work, not on this kind of plane. No food either.
 
I delayed food (mistake) and then they wouldn’t let me check in early. So I sat in my car and did a conference call – because there was no time to get food before. So it’s 3:30 or so before I head out for food. I’ve missed second breakfast, lunch, and it’s past due for second lunch!! I’m STARVING! In typical fashion, I make some bad good choices. A Pizza (yes), and a couple of beers later I’m feeling pretty good. Head back to the room to crash a bit as I had a headache – which is very weird for me.
 
Later I met up with Tpenn and we picked up packets, I got some ART which cleared up the kink in my neck. Also bought some compression tights as I forgot to pack mine. They came with a promise of ice + beer at the finish, so I was SOLD! Saw CoachCarole as well and said howdy.
 
Got back, headed out for a 40min ez run. That felt REALLY good and during the run I met up with someone and we ran together a while, who I found out was also one of CoachCarole’s athletes! Small world! Got back, cleaned up and headed to bed early. Slept 9.5 hours. That’s about 2.5 more than normal for me!
 
Sat was pretty easy going. Dropped bike off for tuneup, met with up Tpenn again and we drove the course. Well, tried. The instructions were sending us up 1 way streets and there were some seriously unclear instructions. So we did many loops of Knoxville before getting on track. Glad we did drive the course – it set my expectations well. Hills, Turns, Blind corners. The entire freakin time. And pot-holes and man hole covers. Crazy.
 
One thing I noticed about this race. Hardbody central. I felt like a cow, riding the “Green Machine” (google it you yung ‘uns). I didn’t care too much, really, but I was a bit surprised. I did not see a single newbie. Usually there are some… and if you can’t SEE them… You ARE them… Huh. Well, I’m here so… let’s do it.
 
Tpenn and I went out for a nice Italian dinner out of town (no lines, SCORE) and then back to the hotel for sleep. I wasn’t nervous in the least. Tomorrow was a training day and it was all about execution. For the first time I was not at all concerned about time. I was just going to let the day unfold. I feel pretty pleased about this, because normally I’m slightly neurotic about times and expectations. I had none. I was at peace. Bring it.
 
Sunday AM came all too early, but not bad. I found coffee so I was golden. Twice. 
 
Made the .4 mile walk to transition and got ready. Time to kill. Looked around for Tpenn, nada. Found Scott (CC’s other athlete) said howdy and mozied over to the huge PortaLine. I didn’t have to go, but figured by the time I DID I’d be up there. Yup. No worried, everything moving’ like it should… wandered to start. In water start. Hopped in and let’s get this part started. I positioned about 2 back, center line. Wanted to move up a bit but with all the freakin hardbodies, I have to admit I was wondering if I was seeded too far up. We will fine out…
 
Swim – I hauled ass through the mosh pit from the get go. I focused on form and I think I did ok with it. I dealt with getting kicked in the face- hard enough to cut my nose and bruise it and knock off my goggles, I just fixed them and carried on. Sighting was pretty good, not perfect, but reasonable. Lots of body contact. No concerns. So overall, I rate it as a success. Shoulders and back certainly noticed I was wearing a wetsuit, I need more wetsuit time to get them used to it. I kept getting boxed in between two folks. I saw many cap colors, so I know I infiltrated the prior wave, but I also noticed some passing me. Overall, I dropped what seemed like 2/3 of my wave before the turn around. NOW… it was supposed to be 1/3 upstream, 2/3 down. My ass it was. I was getting splashed in the face and hitting constant chop. It was 1/3 down, 2/3 up. Whatever. It wasn’t nuts. However, I was thinking “cool, I nailed a 30min swim!” only to see my watch hit 40. FOOK! Whatever, RACE DUMMY RACE!
 
T1 – was a bit slow but not bad considering the distance. 5min (out of water to bike out) – it took me a ton of time to get to transition, the rough surface and my pretty feet weren’t happy about that. Pretty uneventful.
 
Bike – except mile 1 (I need to slow the hell down, HR was 159) I hit my HR target of 150 the entire time, +/- 2 – usually under not over. I could maybe have upped the exertion a bit and still done good I suspect. But today was all about EXECUTION. Can you EAT, DRINK, and PACE according to plan. The answer? Why yes I can…. 3:20 – considering the course, ok. Felt damn slow. I drank 4.5bottles of Ironman Perform/Gatorade Endurance and I ate 2 gels/hr and I added some other misc stuff I used before – so I managed about 450 cals/hour. I did well. I could have gone and done it all over again. No worries. Overall, this course was a real PIA. Constant up and down. Except the pot-holes and train tracks, those were flat. But you had to be constantly watching. Tons of blind corners. But the course was well marked, well staffed, and well supplied (for me, there was a water shortage… those darn tornado victims were bogarting the water! Can you imagine? I didn’t care, I was drinking Gatorade off the course. But Red? What flavor is Red? Whatever it is, ick. Too sweet. Whatever, it sat ok. The bike was a complete success. At mile 54 I dropped my friggin chain. UNREAL. About 200yds from a cop directing. He held traffic while I fixed it, got back on, and got going. That was nice of him! Makes up for the other dork of a cop who was INSIDE his car doing who-knows-what at one of the intersections. So not paying attention… NOT a Rev3 Employee mind you.
 
T2 – better, even with getting socks on. No issues here. 2:38 official, but I hit the porta potties – so let’s say 3:38. I had to pee and thought more, but no. Never trust a fart…
 
Run – Target was 3 miles @ 155-165 – So took off and the legs came to me pretty fast, no issues there except my left toes seemed bunched up. Very odd. I just dealt with it and eventually they flattened. Actually, every ache and pain I had I decided to run through for a while and I’m glad I did, because they all went away eventually. If they got worse, I’d have stopped but they didn’t. Only at 8 did I do my usual squat to get my right kneecap back in optimal alignment, as it was getting tight and funky, and that was it. I exceeded my hydration plan (5oz/mile was plan I was slightly higher) all Ironman Perform/Gatorade Endurance until 11 where I had some water. I hit my nutrition (1 gel every EVEN mile marker) – I didn’t do anything else and I really didn’t want anything else. Did not pee again after T2. But I did within an hour of the end. So felt good about hydration (granted, it was cool, so that tells me if hot I need MORE). Tough course, 900ft of climb is similar to LasVegas just this was all mixed up. There was this monster hill around mile 5? I was running like a freakin banshee until that point. That just chewed me up but then I had a nice 2 mile downhill, so I held it. 2min off my 10k PR with a huge walker of a hill? Yeah I’ll take it. I didn’t negative split the course though, impossible!
 
Splits
Mile 1 – 10:19 – 156 HR Avg
Mile 2 – 10:29 – 158 HR Avg
Mile 3 – 10:14 – 163 HR Avg
Mile 4 – 10:37 – 164 HR Avg
Mile 5 – 11:58 – 162 HR Avg * big hill walked big part of it
Mile 6 – 10:33 – 162 HR Avg
Mile 7 – 10:59 – 165 HR Avg * starting to tire, we were going downhill here
Mile 8– 12:10 – 164 HR Avg *long medium uphill
Mile 9 – 11:36 – 163 HR Avg
Mile 10 – 11:29 – 162 HR Avg * 10.5 is where the wheels starting coming off
Mile 11 – 12:05 – 153 HR Avg
Mile 12 – 12:30 – 159 HR Avg * wheels are officially off – I’m dying here
Mile 13.1 – 11:59 – 162 HR Avg * me massively pushing through here
 
My GPS got off track somewhere, as it put the course at 12.9.
 
2:26:38 run time (taking 1 minute off officially time and putting it into t2 for portapotty stop)
 
The thing I did differently than March was that after 3 miles, where I was breathing ragged and running hard, I did not pull back at all. I made the conscious decision to just hold it and see where it took me. To trust my fitness, to push the edge, and so what if I walked the last few miles. If I did, I did. But I was going to run this out as fast and hard as I thought I could without being absurd. I wanted to push through the mental “there is no f-ing way I can run a sub11 HIM run” because I was feeling like “maybe I CAN do this” so I wanted to test it.
 
Each mile I checked in with my body and said “can you keep this shit up?” and if the answer was “yes” or “maybe” then I held it. Only at mile 11 did I back off, because I was freakin dying at that point. The RPE went from a 7 (out of 10) to a 9 (out of 10) to a 10 by the last mile. I could barely see straight for the last .5miles, that section sucked.
 
Around mile 5 the ragged breathing turned into solid breathing, although the exertion levels stayed the same. I presume cardiac drift occurred about then. Whatever, I just kept going. I needed that walk break on the hill, it really helped. Unlike prior races, I didn’t walk EVERY aid station (I carry my nutrition and 40oz of hydration). I did walk 5, 8?, 10, 12 so I could get some more fluids and I grabbed one of their gels. Either 3 or 4. I needed those last ones just to recover a bit before I pushed on.
 
I’m absolutely thrilled. This is just 4min off my 13.1 best time (training) and 12 minutes off of the March run time. March was 8 minute faster than Cedar Point (and March was WAY harder run). And this was a much harder course than either (especially Cedar Point which was mostly flat). And Cedar Point was a 24 min run PR. I fully realize how freakin unreal it is to drop 44 minutes in 1 year. Beyond expectations is what that is. Very thrilled. The almost 2.5yrs of rebuilding my run is finally bearing serious fruit.
 
I actually passed people on the run. As in "more than one person" and they were NOT bleeding, NOT lying down, and NOT dead. That's impressive for me. Got passed by only 20 (or 20 more than I passed), that too is a big acheivement.
 
Overall, a good confidence builder for my fitness leading up to Cda.
 
Lessons
<ol><li>Need more wetsuit time (easy)</li>
<li>Need more Saddle time (easy)</li>
<li>Need to pace better on run for full IM – I’m still a tad nervous about 26.2 and how I’m going to “maximize my abilities” for that part.</li>
<li>Maybe – deal with left achilles/soleus thing w/ Adam/Brandon?</li>
</ol> 
I bounced back well too. I nothing Monday, ez bike Tues, ez swim Wed, then hard run Thurs and I popped out 4x sub10 miles in a 6mile run. So recovery was nothing like it used to be. That rocks.
 
Anyway, I’m tired enough I can barely keep my eyes open… so that’s it for this.

cak73 · May 24, 2011

Heading to bed really soon, but I just had to say...WOOT!
 
<img alt="banana.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/banana.gif"> <img alt="notworthy.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/notworthy.gif"> <img alt="banana.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/banana.gif">
 
 
Really. Holy sheit, dude. NICE work out there!

SpartyGirl · May 24, 2011

Not only are you a swimmer AND a cyclist...Ron - you were a RUNNER on that course. That's a solid stand alone half for this slow kid and you just did that in a HIM. Absolutely stellar.

mrscoby78 · May 24, 2011

So awesome. You are going to destroy CdA!!!!

AdCo · May 24, 2011

Well done, you are RIGHT on for CdA,,, As for the tired thing.. Last big push is almost over, then you'll be on taper.. Enjoy the rest and you'll be twitching by Race day!

Stitcher · May 24, 2011

Awesome job, Ron!
 
My swim teammate was there and I haven't heard from him how his race went yet.
 
He's young, fit, and places in his AG.
 
Good for him.
 
Great for you!!!!

Tri-Tammy · May 24, 2011

Great job Ron! You are sure getting speedy! I can't wait to see what you do at CdA!!!!

Boyerdavea · May 24, 2011

Great job Ron! Impressive! Great report! and losing 44 minutes in a year is awesome!

donskiman · May 24, 2011

Very good race on what sounded like a pretty tough course. Super job on the run. This all bodes well for a solid race at CdA.

niemsco · May 24, 2011

Ronbo! Nicely done. Great job on that run man. CdA is a nice run, except one silly hill on the turn around. Other than that you'll be able to just sit back and cruise

I know about wetsuit time, I had a similar feeling in a race recently where I swam well I thought but looked at the clock and said WTF. Get your ass in that 50 degree lake man before cda!

Are you doing Perform and Gels on your Ironman? I really think that's a good combination by the way, sometimes people overthink the nutrition (me). But I've been training with just Perform and Powerbar gels all year. I have a friend who just won IMTX W25-29, and all she does is Perform and gels. Keep it simple and she kills it. Anyways, keep it up dude, I'll see you at CdA (but I won't be racing, tell you later... )

Yo Sake · May 25, 2011

Very SOLID race, Ron! You must be super thrilled about how things aer coming together, especially your running. I have been so impressed with your committment and patience to rebuild your run. That takes some serious research, patience, and trust in the works you are doing. (I wish I had that in me to fix my swallowing-air issue.) Keep up the good work. How many more weeks? 6? It is unreal, uh? It was like yesterday I read you posting 'I am going to wait another year to sign up for IM'.

Thor · May 25, 2011

Such a great place for you to be, brimming with confidence in your ability to motor on. Nice race, Ron. Keep eye on the prize. And stay confident in ability to manage a race. You are a pilot, your body the engine. You are now so fit that all you have to do is aim the ship and sit at the controls.

em73 · May 26, 2011

you slayed it. awesome job. can't WAIT to see you rock CdA.

tpenn40 · May 27, 2011

Well I was there and I saw it, so I'll say again - CONGRATULATIONS! It was great to meet you in real life. Maybe we can do another (easier) race some time.
 
As for being ready, as others have said, it will be about sticking to your race plan (not that I know about how to do an IM, but still...) and you've shown on two recent races that you can stick to your plan, do a tough bike course, then get off and run a PR half marathon. That's a big deal. (I know of at least one person who didn't

)
 
Also, on the swim, others who did the race last year said the turnaround was much further this year, so it's a pretty safe bet the course was long.
 
Good job man!

jenotter · May 28, 2011

Dang....awesome race!!! You nailed it! Sounds like all went according to plan, nice job on the run...sorry about the bruise/cut from the swim. CdA better watch out!!!! Woot!!

1Topodope · May 29, 2011

Way to go, Ron. Your kicked butt on what sounds like a tough course! <img alt="headbang.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/headbang.gif" style="width:26px;height:28px;">

pcsronbo · May 30, 2011

Thanks for the kind words all. I am really pleased with my execution. The time, was a bonus.
 
I feel I'm really maturing as an athlete that I can just let go of time expectations and focus on delivering on the "plan" for race day. The time will be what the time will be. It's taken me many years to get to that point of not being upset with a PW on the swim, close to a PW on the bike. That would have ruined my day even a couple years ago. And why should it? Everyone had the same swim (hell, I was in top 25% overall) and bike (mid pack) - so the time is irrelevant. You just can't compare course - but yet most of us do. I know I used to. I hope that when I no longer have an IM as a goal I can keep this perspective, because it really does make it more fun.
 
Having (2) 70.3s under my belt in route to CDA was a big confidence builder, because I managed to execute both very well. And execution will be the name of the game. I've never ridden 112 miles and probably won't until 6/26/11. I've never run even 16 miles... let along 26.2... until 6/26/11. And of course, never put it all together. But CC has been doing a good job of simulating what I need to be ready. Whatever my time is, it will be. If I execute well, I will finish strong and healthy, and who knows... maybe a decent time too!

juliemboyle · Jun 1, 2011

WOW!!!!!!!! What a fantastic PR on your run especially with how wiped you are from the training. You are READY! <img alt="biggrin.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/biggrin.gif" style="width:16px;height:16px;">

mmoonptdeux · Jun 1, 2011

Ron - sorry I haven't responded until now (surgery and a long-distance relationship tend to take up lots of time), but what an awesome kickbutt job you did! The progress you're making from your own little bout under the knife has been really fun to see and I look forward to seeing how you tackle CDA!

RR: Rev3 Knoxville Half

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