Splits were:
39:53 pr of about 1:30 over Austin. Felt very composed in the water. Got kicked a few times. Kept drifting right. I sure do prefer wetsuit swims. Came out of the water 220 in ag.
T15:43. Massive long run. T1 was 800m long. I put on socks but the real time lost here was the 1/2mi run from swim out.
Bike 3:05 2min pr. 236 in ag. Avg hr of 145. Lots of hills. I will be interested to see the elevation data from garmin. I should have put on a large cassette. I really had to work to get up the climbs at the end. I think it hurt me later. But I kept my avg hr in the 140's which is what I was targeting. Except for the last 5 mi where it crept up. I felt good on the flat sections but couldn't get enough speed on the downhill to make up for the time lost going up hill. Next time I race something like this I will adjust my gearing.
T2 1:58. Pretty simple.
Which put me out on the run at about 3:54. I remember hearing them already interviewing the winner as I was coming out of t2.
Run 2:14, 231 in ag. I felt crappy about this run but I guess I moved up a few slots. The hills on the run were torture after the bike. My hr was 144 in t2 so I was calm enough getting out on the run. My avg hr on the run was 163.i had to work really hard for that 2:14.
I started feeling cramp twinges early and went to a run 14/walk 1 routine very early. And I just tried to stay focused on 1 15min block at a time.
That seemed to work pretty well and I feel good about my ability to maintain focus on each block.
I didn't check my total event time until the 9.6k turnaround on the run. At that point I was at 4:49 but I was totally unable to do the math to figure out if breaking 6hrs was possible or not.
As far as I can tell I was 1:07 through the first 7mi and 1:07 through the last 6.1. So I fell off. Miles 11-13 were 11, 12, and 12:30. By then, I was back in the steep hills, cramping and struggling.
I think that while on the run, I really need to just cut the race into chunks and stay in my chunk. Not worry about pace. Or total time. Just get to a heart rate that I can maintain for the chunk and go till it is time to walk. My mind was calmer during the portion of the run when I stayed in my chunk. Once I checked my total time and started projecting my finish, I got stressed.i had hoped that it would motivate me to push harder if I knew that I was close to my goal time. But at that point in the race, I am pushing as hard as i can. I am right on the edge of cramping and blowing up. My hr is in the 160's with 170 as lthr. I can't go harder. All I can do is go steadier. Fewer breaks. And I think that setting a chunk size, be it 14/1 or 9/1 or even 5/:30 and then staying with it will help me walk less and stress less.
After some rest, I am looking forward to shorter races in the summer. More Crossfit too. Gotta put my strength back together.
This little village is the perfect spot for a race btw. Just need to flatten the course a bit.
It is a week later and I have a feeler thoughts about this race.
On the bike, I need to go to power. My target hr was 140 and I biked 145. That would indicate too much work. But my hr was spiked from the swim and run to t1 and it took an hr to settle down. I was on target in the flats but in the last 1/3 it spiked on the climbs. Power and bigger rear cogs would have helped.
For cramps, it turns out that I am taking about 1/2 the sodium that en suggests. I will fix that going forward. Might help with the cramps.
Also, I am going to try pickle juice sport the next time they hit. Research shows it stops cramps cold once they hit.
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