Where to begin? Maybe we should start with a little background for those reading who haven’t been following my journey.

I haven’t raced in a couple years. Mostly due to finances, wanting to get them in better shape and trying to cut down on some of my expenses. I also took pretty much all of 2004 off from training. That was a tough year with work, finances, and just general stresses of life that lead me to pack things up and move out of the rat race. Since then I’ve been trying to ride and run regularly and work on Trifuel. This year I stepped up my focus and dedication to training to prepare myself to go the full distance. Ironman Canada this August will be my first Ironman. With an Ironman being such a huge step, it is my primary focus for the year. Yesterday’s race was the only other race on my schedule leading up to Canada.

Pacific Crest is a half Iron distance and actually falls in the middle of my 20 week training plan. Therefore my loose objectives going into the race were the following:

1. Get a gage for my overall fitness and assess my training and progress toward the ultimate goal of the Ironman.
2. Try to maintain an Ironman pace throughout the race and finish comfortably.
3. Push the bike just a little bit to see what I can do.
4. Take notes on my performance and make any necessary adjustment to the last 10 weeks of the plan.

So, now to the race…

The days leading up to the race were fairly stress free. I wasn’t really nervous about it, trying to keep my objectives in mind. I wasn’t going into it to really push things but more of a learning experience. That being said, the bike leg did have me a little nervous as it’s pretty tough, 3400+ ft of climbing. And I am so ridiculously poor at climbing, still (frustrating).

Race Day
We drove out to the race site early that morning. Stopped at the run transition area to setup our run gear (the bike is a point A to point B so the transitions are in different locations). Then off to the lake and the bike transition area. Setup there was fairly easy, the race isn’t too crowded so space on the racks was good. Again I was pretty relaxed, a little tight in the legs but felt it would be a good day.

Swim
I had signed up for the race late and for some reason they put me in the elite wave. I was able to switch back to my age group during packet pickup. I didn’t want to start with those swimmers as they are obviously stronger than I, as well the second wave starts only 60 seconds afterwards so I wanted to avoid getting swum over by those coming from behind. In retrospect I probably should have just stayed up there. My swim wave was pretty full maybe 160 of us so it got a little crowded at the start and stayed fairly compact through the first half. But in preparing for an Ironman where it’ll be much more crowded, this was probably the better preparation choice.

4… 3… 2… 1… And we’re off
I positioned myself toward the back and off to the side to avoid the mad rush for position. I t wasn’t too bad, I had a clear start and no kicks to the face or athletes trying to climb over me. I tried to maintain my focus and just start out straight up with long even strokes and not get sucked into the adrenaline rush of the race start.

I felt pretty good through most of the swim. The swim has always been my weakest part. I’m weak in all areas, but the swim usually drains me more than it should. At the halfway point I was still feeling pretty good. My left shoulder was getting a little fatigued and I was spotting more than I should have needed, due to a lopsided stroke I was weaving a little. I haven’t been swimming in my wetsuit much so that little extra restriction in the shoulder area caused my fatigue. I need to look into a new wetsuit that has a good fit and great shoulder flexibility.

The last 800 yards or so I was able swim on someone’s feet so that made the journey in a little easier. My swim time, 35:19 (150 out of 588). Really happy with this time. I’ll have to research my times from Vineman, but I think this is my fastest. More importantly I wasn’t totally dead a fatigued afterwards. A bit winded coming out of the water, but was able to recover fairly quickly. The lake also sits at 4,200 feet so breathing is a little laboured when swimming.

T1
A little slow, 4:49. I definitely took my time here and made sure I recovered and was set to start the bike. We also had to pack everything up into a bag for the race volunteers to bring back to the finish area.

The Ride
Ride Map. Took a little while to get warmed up, but once I got going and the blood moving through the legs, I felt pretty good. For the first 20 miles I averaged a little of 20MPH. Then came to my nemisis, the real climbs. Through the next 15 miles my average pace dropped considerably. While I held my own through those first 20 passing several riders along the way, I gave everything back through those middle 15 miles. By miles 35 I was down into the 17+ overall MPH. A little frustrating, but I knew this section was going to be difficult for me. I had planned to push it a little harder through this section to maintain some pace/momentum and not have just a horrible bike. I found that I just couldn’t pick up my effort. I also didn’t want to kill my chances for a decent run so there was a balance I was trying to make.

I got back into my rythym and started overtaking riders again as the incline leveled off a bit around a mile from the summit. Then I was able to push the pace up again during the descent and last few miles into the transition. My overall time was 3:04:35, and the course is closer to 58 miles than 56. So overall pace was right around the 19MPH mark. I’m happy with that but maintaining that for double the distance is going to be difficult. I really need to spend more time on the bike and more time climbing. My ride fell at 265/588, not great but I know where I lost all my time and what I need to work on to improve that.

* General assessment of my ride based on some cyclometer checks during the races. Click for larger view.

T2
6:05. Real slow, but again took my time and stopped at the little green shed.

The Run
And where things just absolutely fall apart.

Run Map. I didn’t realize how warm it was until I stepped off the bike. I also at that time realized how much effort I put into the bike. My legs were definitely fatigued. However, this wasn’t the crux of my problems. Within just a few steps of the run I was already cramping, but not my legs, my gut (or guts). I was plagued by cramping in the gut, side stitches, and eventually stitches around my back. I couldn’t get myself to run, I’d get going but would be forced to a walk as the more pounding and up and down strides would cause my cramping and stitches. At this point I was very frustrated, ready to quit. I felt horrible and more so frustrated because I couldn’t muster up the energy or will to keep running.

This is where Trifuelers came in. I was so close to calling it a day, but just kept thinking of crackheads bad day and BBB’s experiences and everyone else who gutted it out to finish the race. So with that in mind I just kept going, I knew the course was a large circle and if I could get far enough out I’d be forced to finish just to get back to the transition area. So I kept going, mostly walking, hoping that the stitches would subside and I’d be able to run.

I took in as much liquids as I could at each aid station thinking maybe all this was due to poor hydration. Unfortunately it didn’t help much and it was a long walk/run frustrating day. I basically would run half a mile and then walk a good section, than try to run another half mile. It didn’t go well, my insides were just shot and I need to do some research and figure out what likely happened. Run time, 3:00:03, slightly faster than my bike, ouch!

To top it off, my legs did start cramping at around mile 10, making it even more difficult and frustrating to finish.

Total time 6:50:51. That was difficult to type and it now is really sinking in how poor this day ended up.

As well I got absolutely fried out there. Sunburns on the shoulders and back.

Things I Learned and Need to Work On
Post race notes…

Fluids
3 1/2 bottles during the ride and at least 4 to 5 oz. at every aid station during the run. Plus cytomax and bottle of water post race. I weighed myself when I got home and was 7 lbs lighter than my lightest weigh in this week. That seems like a concern, to lose 7-8 pounds during the race? Even now I’m still 3 pounds lighter than average.

Positives:
1. My swim is coming along. If I continue and stay consistent with my swim training I should be fine for Canada. Definitely a confidence booster.

2. The majority of my bike was good. Feel good about my cadence and holding a comfortable HR and pace through non-climbing sections (However, Canada has some serious climbs).

Negatives/Issues:
1. Figure out proper nutrition and hydration. Something went very wrong.
2a. Need to drastically work on my climbing, getting crushed and spending oo much energy when I hit the steeper stuff.
2b. Need to lose more weight, I’m still not at an ideal weight and losing those extra excess pounds will make climbing more manageable. I need to re-focus my diet again at stick to it through the remainder of my training plan.
3. Run more off the bike. That may have given me a little edge during those difficult first few miles.
4. Work on my mental game. I was good and positive through most of the race, even through the difficult climbs. But when things fell apart on the run my mental game went to hell. I was very frustrated, negative, and came close to calling it quits. I even questioned why I put myself through this and if I was qualified to run a Triathlon website. I thought about Peter Reid retiring and how cool that would be, even though I don’t have anything to retire from, I’ve yet to complete and Ironman . Basically just all sorts of non-sense and pity talk through the first 7 miles. At that point my attitude improved a bit as I just starting looking at this as a learning tool and tough training day. Trying to put together this list in my mind as too what work needs to be done.

Overall, I’ll chalk this one up to just not being properly prepared, both on the fitness and on the nutritional knowledge. I have two months left in my Ironman prep and a lot of work still to be done. Taking today off but have to get right back at it tomorrow.

All smiles

Afterward: Matt placed third, had a slower than anticipated ride and difficult first couple miles on the run. I think the heat snuck up on quite a few of us out there.