Lonestar Half Ironman Results

Orville and Wilbur Wright are most commonly credited with inventing and building the worlds first successful airplane. If my memory serves me correct these brothers took much of their insight from nature around them. Inspired by the flight of birds these brothers did what many others had failed to do before them. They built a flying machine. There was no doubt times they doubted themselves during the course of their project. However persistance and a dream to someday build a flying machine came true that faithful day in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

One might wonder where is this post going, why allude to the Wright brothers. The point of this is to set the tone for this passage.  These two individuals took on a seemingly insurmountable task of mastering flight, and achieved what no others had done successfully before them. Stop and think for a second about the feeling that both Orville and Wilbur felt when that plane moved forward through the air. A feeling of elation, achievement, and empowerment, must have enveloped the brothers like a swarm of bees to a comb of honey. The initial thought is that anything is possible.

Anything is possible, is exactly the phase that could carry thru to my feelings today as I write this. I wish to share my experience in my fourth half Ironman race in Glaveston, Texas this past weekend. I went into the weekend not really caring about the outcome. All that I wanted to gain from the race was good experience and regardless of the outcome I knew this would happen. I also wanted to use the race as a gauge to see where I am at physically and mentally. I was very pleased with my performance physically, but what pleased me more was my performance mentally. I had done something I have never done before during the race. Despite horrible pain and being on the verge of cramping with every step I took, I pushed my limits. 

The swim was a 1.2 mile open water swim in a saltwater bay. This was an easy swim and it didn't phase me much. I completed the swim in 33:51 which works out to be a 1:45 / 100m. I didn't get in a groove until about 10 minutes into the swim. My only concern after the swim was the fact that I cut my toe on an oyster during warmup and knew I would have this to contend with the rest of the day. I had a slow transition of 2:31 but was ready to ride. I got on the bike and immediatly took my first gel. I hadn't ate since 5am and by this point it was 9am. I then started my watch timer for 15 minutes to make sure I would eat something 4 times per hour. I ended up consuming on the bike the following items:

1. 3 - gel packs
2. 1 - powerbar
3. 1 - cliff bar
4. 2 - packages of shot blocks
5. 150 oz of water and gatorade combined
6. 10 - endurolyte pills

My nutrition and electrolyte plan were solid. I think I am starting to get the hang of Half Ironman (HIM) distance racing. My only complaint about the bike is that I still don't believe I am used to riding a Tri specific bike. My quads were real sore towards the end of the bike and even more on the run. I am going to work with the store I bought the bike and my coach about its fit and why this is happening. This is the second time for that to happen. Anyways my bike split was 2:29:20 for 56 miles this works out to be an average of 22.5mph. This was followed by a quick 1:24 transition and off to the run. I was wearing my Zoot shoes without socks and finsihed my first of 4 laps on the run and looked down and my shoe was covered in blood. I figured I better stop at my coaches tent and put on the socks I had them holding for me. The sitting and putting on my socks caused me to start to cramp. This sucked. I stopped and rubbed out my quads and it helped. I had to keep pushing because I knew deep inside I had the time to break 5 hours but I didn't have anytime to spare. With the first 2 laps done it became a numbers game. My quads were on fire and with that my hamstrings were close to follow. I kept pushing. I started playing mental games and singing the refrain from a song by Lynard Skynard called "All I Can Do Is Write About It" as shown below. I also started singing "Traveling Riverside Blues" by Robert Johnson but performed by Led Zeppelin also shown below. When I say singing I mean like almost screaming loud. Its weird on a race course because you are very close to alot of other people but no one is talking. So I am sure people may have been annyoed but I just wanted to distract myslef from the pain I was experiencing.

So I made it to the final of the 4 laps and looked at my watch and realized I needed to run the last 3.1 miles in about 24 minutes or less to break 5 hours. This I knew I could do, but it was going to hurt. So I ran the first 2 miles and realized I had less than 8 minutes to run the last mile. This is when I just pushed it into another gear and starting running fast. I was able to run the last mile in 7:37. I amazed even myself with this time. I went to another place in my brain and shut off all pain I was feeling and focused solely on the finish line. As you will see from one of the below pictures I had to push past another competitor who was walking in order to make my times. I crossed the finish line and my watch indicated I had finished in 4:59:57. 3 seconds to spare. My surge at the end caught the attention of another runner and spurred him to pick up the pace and finish strong as well. He was very appreciative when in the last stretches I encouraged him to run with me and finish strong. We chatted after the race breifly and this was his first HIM and he had just broke 5 hours. This is an amazing feat for any triathlete of any age. He was 45 years old too. I high tailed it to the medical tent so they could mend my bloody toe and horrible blisters. I also convinced them to give me an IV while I sat there. I love IV's I wish I could have an IV after all of my weekend training runs and rides. They are amazing. They do in 45 minutes what drinking water for 8hrs does. Amazing simply amazing.

With all of that being said I was super excited with my performance and achieved something I used to think was going to be impossible. The most important learning experience from this race is that even when it hurts so bad, and you think you are going to cramp and cripple over, your mind can achieve what your body cannot. My mind took me to the finish line not my legs. 

The final results are as follows:

Swim 1.2 miles : 33:51 -- 1:45 / 100m

Transition #1 : 2:31

Bike 56 miles: 2:29:20 -- 22.5mph AVG

Transition #2: 1:24

Run 13.1 miles: 1:52:45 -- 8:36 / mile

Total Time: 4:59:54

I got 11th place in the 25 - 29 year old age group out of 43 people. I placed 78th out of 609 people.

Is there room for improvement? Absolutly. I think I can get my bike average close to 25mph and my run time down to around 1:40 or about 7:45 - 8:00 minutes per mile.

All in all the race was a success.

Here are some pictures.