Figured I'd pop my head back in here and give you guys an update. I've been training pretty hard over the past couple of months or so, trying to get ready for Macon, and haven't really had a chance to post. Lots of riding/running over the past month, maxing out at long rides of 58 miles and long runs of 15-16, attempting to get acclimated to the heat.
Anyways, on the RR, which is what you're probably interested in anyways. Macon (the Rock N Rollman 70.3) has a reputation of being a tough course, made tougher by the heat. As a matter of fact, i was speaking with a friend of mine that KQ'd last year and who went 3rd OA at Macon last year, and he said that it was by far the toughest 70.3 course in the south. Great - just what I'd pick for a first HIM
. My overall goal was to finish under 6 hrs, as that would leave me a 40 minute swim/3 hr bike/2 hr half, with a few minutes in T1/T2, with 10-12 minutes to spare.
Got down to Macon on Friday night with my wife and a friend (I live in Atlanta, about an hour north) for the mandatory bike checkin and packet pickup. Got everything squared away, met up with a couple other folks I knew down there, grabbed some dinner, readied nutrition, and headed to bed.
Saturday morning - got the the race site about 5:45ish for a 7:00 start. I got body marked, threw on some sun screen and headed to the start. Swim was a wave start, with elites going first at 7:00 am and my wave (M 39 & under) at 7:03. Start wasn't too rough, with abuot 50 guys in my wave, so the washing machine effect not bad. Unfortunately, however, my normal goggles had broken in a training swim about a week earlier, and I had grabbed my two backup pairs to bring down to the race. The pair I selected to wear had broken somehow, and I didn't notice it until I was 50 m into the water, and my right eye started filling up with water. After about 500 m, I seriously considered turning around and going back, taking a DNF. I had to stop and empty it approximately every 30 seconds for the remainder of the race, which really crushed my dreams of going sub-40 in the swim. I did struggle a little to stay comfy on the swim but not just completely relaxed. I wanted to put out a good effort but keep things under control from a energy expenditure stand point. That pace was a little tough to find. I think I picked it up towards the end and probably could have swam that pace the entire swim. Swim time 46:57 (watch time 44:59), which included a long run up a pretty big hill to T1.
T1 - I had purchased a spare tube, which I don't normally carry, for the race, just in case. I didn't want to be stuck 30 miles from civilization with a flat. It was sitting in my right rear bottle holder. I had a bottle of concentrated Infinit (approximately 345 calories) on my downtube, and had a 3-gel plan with Infinit supplement for the bike. Started with 20 oz of water in the aerobottle. My plan was to take a minute in T1, settle myself down after the swim, and get ready for a long 3 hrs on the bike. All that worked fine, grabbed a drink of Gatorade, and headed out. T1 time 2:17. Slower than my normal sprint/oly transitions, but that was the plan.
Bike - Started off ominously, similar to the swim. After 100 yards, I realized my back tire was caught on something. I originally thought i had a flat, so I stopped and looked down. Of course, the spare tube had fallen off and wrapped itself around my rear derailleur and wheel. So, it took a minute to untangle, fold the tube back up, and stuck down the back of my shorts. Off again for another 100 yards, until I hit a bump and my aerobottle popped out. Stopped to retrieve - disaster averted at the cost of another couple of minutes jerry-rigging it back into place. After that, the bike was pretty uneventful. Slow and steady pace for the first 30 miles or so, felt pretty good. Last 10 miles were rough - the course profile looked like there was a pretty big hill at mile 46-48, and then a big downhill pretty much all the way to the bike finish. I don't know who drew the course profile, but I'm pretty sure that there was no downhill. I kept looking for it, but I think it didn't exist. Nutrition overall went well - took a gel at about mile 5, mile 25, mile 40, with Infinit to supplement. Drank water to thirst, got a new waterbottle at handups at mile 15/30/45. Bike time 3:09:49.
T2 - Actually I was worried about how my legs would feel coming off the bike, as I'd not gotten any 56 mile bikes/run bricks done before the race. But, shockingly enough, I felt pretty good. Similar to T1, I took a minute to grab some gatorade, reapply sunscreen, etc. So, it's a slower T2 than I'd have at a sprint/oly (I'm usually in the 45 second range), I felt pretty good about it. T2 time 2:58
Run - Ginormous blowup. I am not a super-fast runner, but I think I hold my own, and I generally consider running to be the best of the 3 sports for me. My half marathon times generally fall in the 1:52-1:55 range. After leaving T2, I waved to the wifey, and headed out. It was hot. And by hot, I mean super hot. BT race reports from the prior year say that if you're in the shade, you're off the course, and they were right. 97 degrees. No shade. High humidity. It took about a mile before I had my first cramp. After that, it was a sufferfest for the rest of the race. Run/walk combo as much as possible, hitting the aid stations located approximately every mile (which were staffed by super volunteers, by the way) as much as possible for ice/rags/water/gels/endurolytes. I had never taken endurolytes before, but after the first cramps I realized I was enormously salt-deficient, and had to do something to address. 2 Endurolytes at aid station 1/2/4 helped a bit, but there was no getting over the cramps. Run time was a huge disappointment - 2:29:05, for a total time of 6:31:04. Very disappointing considering my overall goal.
Overall - good race, great volunteers. I'm disappointed with my overall time, as I thought my general fitness level was much more indicative of about 6 hrs. However, I've already resolved myself to go back next year, with a better understanding of the race and an amended nutrition plan, to hammer out a sub-6. But, I finished, and in one piece (which was what my wife cared about).
Next for me - a couple sprints/olympic distance races in June/July, with the Peachtree Road Race 7/4, and the Augusta 70.3 in September being my next "A" race.
GL on Saturday!
) the Auburn swimmer girls instead of warming up, 'cause warming up for a 5k swim is a bit silly. 
You are going to kill it! I also can't wait to read the race reports. I'm getting antsy to start training, and cannot wait to get at it. I'm PT'ing on my own from here forward, and if all goes well, I'll be back soon. 
My potential 10K is next Friday, not tonight, so I have a few days to figure things out. This is a very small and very fast field; about half the male runners will be local cross-country guys, so my time is going to "bad" regardless of whether I peform well relative to myself or not. This argues for giving it a shot.
Grue is getting pretty close. ----On my end I do have a race this Sat. Out of Oak Mountain (BnB can appreciate). Luckily only one lap of that hilly beast. Little chance of hardware as this race draws people in from all over.Considering trying to do a double on Sunday - the Alabama State TT Championships are on. We'll see how I feel after tomorrow's event.
