Erin's Lake Stevens Race Report

Better late than never, here's Erin's race report from her first half Ironman at Lake Stevens 8/15/2010:

Pre-Race: I’m running late!! I arrived at the venue at 6:05am, about half an hour after I wanted to be there and 15 minutes before transitioned closed. Thankfully I was able to organize myself in enough time to get myself set up and ready to race. I was only able to squeeze in a 5 minute jog as a warm up, but I think my nerves/excitement at this being my first half iron man had me warm enough so in the end it didn’t matter.

Charles' Lake Stevens 70.3 Race Report

I want to say that I think it is some sort of cruel joke that every half-iron (four different races) I've done this year had temps rising into the 90s. Surely Lake Stevens would have been cooler.. right?.... um, no way.

Swim:
Getting started I wanted to make the lead pack on the swim, unfortunately I was boxed in by some slower swimmers who were eager to be up front at the start. I gapped the group by swimming on the inside of the buoy line and surged hard to catch the leaders. I was a little hesitant to push too hard this early in the race, so I didn't quite catch them, but was still close enough to see bubbles in the water. By the turn buoy they were still only about 10 meters up and I could see there were about 4 or 5 of them. Unfortunately, it was nearly impossible to sight anything in the sun and I just couldn't close the gap as they slowly swam away from me. I was feeling very solid and rhythmic out there (I've become very comfortable in my TYR Hurricane!), but because I was alone practically the whole time I was a bit slower than I expected out of the water at 28:30 and in 5th place.

Lots of Action at Lake Stevens 70.3

This weekend saw three elite team members in action at Lake Stevens 70.3

Erin Heard made her debut at the half ironman distance with a smoking fast 5:11:12 to take 2nd in her AG and 29th overall female.

Charles Rivers put together another strong HIM performance going 4:38:20, good enough for 3rd in his AG

Matt Sheeks was back racing only 3 weeks after Lake Placid. Coming off the back of a hard training camp in Mammoth Lakes he was able to put together a solid 4:20:09 with a solid 1:17:18 run.

Ironman Lake Placid

Matt Sheeks takes 8th overall at Ironman Lake Placid in a time of 9:17:57 with the fastest run split of the day 2:52:57!

A Weekend of Racing at Chelanman and Seafair

Ethan Lyons and Erin Heard raced the Seafair Sprint tri last weekend. Ethan was 6th overall in a time of 1:00:34 while Erin was 8th at 1:09:48.

Charles Rivers took 5th overall at the Chelanman Half Ironman as well in a time of 4:48:44. His race report and a few pictures are below.

Chelan is an awesome scenic venue for a half iron and super challenging. With 4000 feet of climbing on the bike and a completely exposed run seeing temps into the 90s I knew it was going to be a tough day. Still I tried to stay relaxed about it and just use the race as a good training day for some of the bigger races to come.

Usually the water is very calm in the morning, but for some reason on this day the wind was gusting strong enough that it was pushing the buoys off line in a crescent shape. This meant that if I were to follow the buoy line I would be adding quite a bit of distance to the turnaround. So I planned to sight all the way to the turn and hopefully be able to follow some feet on the return into the blinding sunlight.

It was a mass start and at the horn and I sprinted hard out for about 50 meters to see that I was all alone. It looked as though quite a few people were going to follow the buoy line to my right. I settled into a strong smooth pace, but felt a little irked that I had no feet to swim on. The one swimmer that I could see in front of me was way to my right following the line. I needed to make a decision at this point as to whether to stick with the plan (meaning I would swim solo) or whether to slowly edge my way over to the leader's feet. After some deliberation I decided for the later. So by the turn buoy I had made my way over and was about 2 body lengths behind the leader. I decided to put in a surge to catch his feet and quickly did so. I was very content to stay on his feet and ride him into the shore with minimal sighting. I really felt relaxed and smooth and though I could have swam harder I felt no need to do so. When we hit the shore we came out simultaneously and I just happened to edged him out to the mat to be "FIRST out of the water!" 29:45. A slow time, but just goes to show how choppy it was out there.

After a sloppy transition I tried to relax into the bike and was passed by a couple of strong riders almost immediately. I never really had a chance to hang with them as I was staying right on my prescribed wattage (245) and they were just riding away. It didn't help that my rear wheel was slightly rubbing the whole time and I dropped my salt pills (dealing with unexpected issues is part of the game though.) A third rider passed me, but I noticed he wasn't really holding a steady pace. So from mile 10 until T2 we rode back and forth like this. It was nice to have him there to keep my head in the race. I averaged almost exactly 245 and rode the hills very well, coming into T2 just behind in 4th place. Bike split was 2:38, but I do believe it was 58 miles instead of the usual 56 as my powertap told me that I averaged just over 22mph.

Up to this point I was having a really great race. I was right on pace with my expectations, but I knew that the run was going to be the real test. It's hard to emphasize how tough this run is. Literally there is no shade, just a blazing sun and the aid stations don't come frequently enough. If you look at the results you can see that only 10 athletes went sub 1:40, which is very rare to see. I settled in to 7 min pace per usual and planned to hit 6:35-6:45 after 3 miles. With a couple of miles to settle in I felt comfortable, but sort of knew it wasn't going to be my day. I know what it feels like to have good legs and I just wasn't feeling it. The sun was relentless and I was lucky if I grabbed one small cup of water at the aid stations. By the half way mark my pace had dwindled and I started the death march back. My pace fell to that of an easy run, except my heart rate was close to 170. It was frustrating to watch the guys in front of me run away, but at this point I was just trying not to walk. Finished the run with a 1:37 and overall a time of 4:48:44. This landed me 5th place overall and I won my age group by almost 30 minutes! Considering that only 6 athletes went under 5hrs on the day I don't feel too bad about falling apart on the run. I thought I could run about 10 mins faster, but everything else went very well on the day and I'm happy with that. I can't expect to nail every race and hopefully this just means Lake Stevens will be the best yet!

Desert Half Ironman

Check out Gerry's race report from the Desert Half Ironman in Osoyoos Canada:

To preface this race a little bit, I had a really hard time getting excited to race this event. Nothing against the race itself, actually it turned out to be a very fun event. I think it had a lot to do with it not originally being on my schedule for the year, but with Honu 70.3 dropping their IM Canada slots it kinda needed to be done to fulfill the greater season goals. Also going into a race labeled as “Canada’s toughest half” on a day expected to hit the mid 90s doesn’t exactly sound FUN. Regardless I knew that I was fit and ready, and if I stuck to the game plan I’d have a good day and a solid performance.
Race morning I felt pretty relaxed, got everything setup in transition nice and early and threw on my wetsuit for the slightly longer than normal 2K swim. Did a quick warmup and got out on the beach ready for the start. You could barely hear the announcer where we were all lined up, but suddenly I heard someone yell out “five,” to which I thought, ok 5 minutes to the start... Then I heard “four, three, two…” and suddenly we were off!
Through dumb luck I’d ended up in the PERFECT starting position, as the eventual swim winner was standing on my left and he gave me a great draft away from the bulk of the field. After the first 300 yards or so realizing that staying on his feet was suicide, I pulled up and waited for the next guy. We traded places a couple times on the first lap of the swim until he gapped me ever so slightly coming back to shore. It was kinda a trip making the quick run on the beach by the crowd as the 3rd place swimmer at the half way mark, but still the pace was quick so I decided to let him go and swim solo and comfortably. Came out of the water with 2 other guys who’d caught me right near the finish with the announcer saying we were sub 28 minutes (27:27) which is a full minute HIM swim PR so thank you TYR ;-)
The bike course is what makes this race tough as it is a 56 mile out and back over the hilly part of the IM Canada course. Right out of the gate you’re on Richter pass, a roughly 7 mile “stair stepping” climb. Really hard to keep the pacing down where it needed to be early, but keeping a watchful eye on my powertap now I knew would pay off later.
Lost a few positions early on the bike, but after summiting Richter Pass it was pretty much a solo and uneventful ride. Tried to stay focused on getting my nutrition down and staying well hydrated, after all the run was going to be a hot one. Hit some headwinds on the way out, and I was a little concerned when I hit the turn showing 1:26 on my computer. But the way back was SCREAMING fast and finished at 2:36:55.
T2 was not my finest showing ever. I racked my bike and was looking for my shoes but couldn’t find them. There were shoes everywhere and none of them looked like mine. Turned out I’d missed my rack so I had to make a quick shuffle to get the right gear and I was off.
Start of the run felt really good. Settled comfortably into my goal pace of 7-7:10/mi and I was getting some gels and a good amount of fluid down. The first turn around was just under 3 miles in, so right about when you feel your best on course. Got a chance to see where I was on course (10th) and check out the other guys running. There were two guys in front of me that looked mediocre and didn’t have much of a gap so I got some motivation there. Also saw a couple guys behind me that were running really strong so I kinda knew right then where things were going to go.
Just before the end of the first lap I’d reeled in the 2 guys I’d expected to catch, and been passed by 1 guy who was looking really solid. As I turned around to start lap 2 I again looked at the guys behind me and knew I had plenty of gap, the guys in front weren’t coming back to me, and the temperature was rising so things switched over to a bit of a defensive running mode. It was a good thing I took on that strategy a bit early as between mile 8 and 9 is when things got unpleasant. The heat was really starting to hit me and I was having trouble at the aid stations getting enough water/coke/ice to keep it in check. Miles 9 and 10 were the worst where I had a side stitch, I was hungry, my mouth was dry and my body was hot. Just had to remember that the quickest way to everything I needed was to run there. About mile 10.5 there was an aid station where I stopped long enough to get down extra water, get the sponges/ice I needed, and throw back a coke to power me home.
Finished the run off in 1:35:52, a little slower than I’d hoped but given the nature of the course and the conditions I really can’t complain. Total time of 4:43:14 for 9th overall and 2nd AG was definitely the solid showing I knew I could have, and it guaranteed me the IM Canada slot I was after.

-Gerry

oh and one more thing; FREE post race massage is basically the best thing ever!

Two New Race Reports

Last weekend saw a lot of action for the VO2 Multisport Elite Team with Charles and I(Gerry) setting PR's at the half iron distance.

First up is Charles at the Kansas 70.3:

Kansas 70.3 proved to be another hot venue for a race. In the days leading up to the race temperatures hit the mid-high 90s with heat indexes above 100. Luckily it "cooled" off to mid 80s on race day. The hot weather also pushed the water temp. to 81 the night before the race, meaning it would likely not be a wetsuit legal race. However, when I arrived on race morning we were told the water had been measured at 77.5 (.5 degrees below the limit) at 4 am. I wasn't sure if that was really all that great though since my wave didn't go off until 7:30 when it was likely the temp would be well above the limit and very uncomfortable. I would say that this unfortunately effected my swim performance quite a bit. Since I was used to swimming in 57 degree water and this lake was close to 80 I began to have issues about 400m in. My plan was to go out very hard to keep up with the swim leaders, but unfortunately I lost them as I had to navigate around the slower swimmers falling back. As I neared the mid point of the swim I felt like my body was suffocating in the suit and from this point I really felt like I had bombed the swim. My breathing was not controlled, I felt very labored holding any steady pace, plus the feet that I was drafting off of kept zig zagging and not swimming a straight line. So eventually I had to abandon him and sight solo to the finish while navigating around the other waves. Considering that I have never been under 30 minutes for a HIM swim I was shocked to see 28:47 when I got out, a p.r.! This is just a testament to all the hard work I have done in the pool, the great structure from Ben and the mental toughness to swim through trouble.
After some dizziness in the transition I set out on the rolling bike course to rehydrate, take some fuel in and set an even pace. There were many hills on the course, but none of them were particularly steep. So I planed to keep my watts under 300 no matter what and aim to avg 245. Of course there were many people out of the saddle cranking it up the hills hard passing me, but I would continually pass these people on the downhill and flats. The overall time split on my bike was hindered a bit due to an oil spill around mile 40 where everyone (except the pros) had to dismount and walk a short distance, remount and get back up to speed. Otherwise the bike was uneventful. Some of the hills were even gentle enough to hold 18-20 mph going up them. It was not a particularly demanding course, but one that consistently has you changing gears. Overall I would say this was the smartest HIM bike leg I have ever ridden. I conserved quite a bit on the hills and had enough energy to progressively get faster over each 40 minutes block of the race so that by the time we were re-entering the park I had but a major gap on all the guys I had been yo-yo-ing with up and down the hills. Still, if I was disappointed a little bit with any portion of this race it would be the bike split. I thought I could have been quite a bit faster than 2:28 and my avg. watts were only 232. I can only attribute this to a lot of spinning out on the downhills and perhaps a little too much conservation. But like I said I am still happy that I rode smarter rather than harder and had fresh legs for the run.
By the time the run came it was 80 degrees and climbing. My plan was to go out at 7:15 pace for the first 3 miles and then see how I felt from there. After hopping off the bike 7:15 pace felt incredibly easy, my heart rate dropped too ~150 (recovery pace) and I was completely relaxed. Again quite a few people passed me here, but I wanted to race smart and build into the run so that hopefully I would catch them towards the end. After the 3rd mile and a short steep uphill I let the legs open up a bit and started hitting 6:40 pace. It was a two loop run course with very little shade, but good aid at every mile. As I approached the 2nd loop I was passed by an age grouper and I decided he would be the perfect pace setter. He really set a solid pace and it was nice to not have to think about pace and just follow him. As the run continued I felt stronger and stronger, I decided that the last two miles I might actually be able to drop a couple of 6:15s. So I sat on my pacer and simply waited. Looking at my watch and considering the way that I felt, I thought that 1:25 would be a real possibility. Unfortunately, as I neared the last 2 miles my side began to cramp up a bit along with my shoulder and calf. Right about mile 11 I had a full on stitch and the heat was really beating down. So I stopped at one of the aid stations completely and consumed as much liquid as I could get my hands on. From that point on I was able to push it out, but it was a weakened pace. I know my legs still had a good kick in them, but the heat really effected me aerobically. I was only able to take shallow short breaths for the last mile due to the wicked side stitch and just missed going sub 1:27 on a really fast run course.
Still, it was a great all around effort and result. I would say that this was by far the smartest HIM I've have ever completed and a p.r. of 2 minutes and change. As long as I keep making progress, continue to train hard and race smart things should be really coming together in the next few months. Big thanks to Ben for the great coaching and advice for optimal pace setting along with all the Vo2 crowd for the great support on soggy training days in Seattle. Next big race will be Lake Stevens 70.3 in August!


Next up is my race report from Honu 70.3:

Woke up nice and early at 4 am and was surprisingly relaxed enough to get down some toast, some cereal, and a second round of toast before heading out to the swim start. Mixed a bottle of Gu Brew to sip on for the morning, as well as a 500 cal bottle of the 2X sodium flavor for the bike.

Hanging out at Hapuna Beach pre-race

Before the swim start did the double check of the bike. Got my bottles on, tires pumped up, laid out my gear and found a cool/quiet place to relax for a while before squeezing on my Sayonara and doing my warmup. Warmup was pretty short. Hopped in for somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes with a short hard tempo interval at the end before lining up for the start.
With the 1600 person mass start and only about .25 mile to the first turn buoy, I knew it’d pay to go out a bit hard and ensure I got into the group I wanted to be in. I expected a lot of contact and a brutal first corner, but was pleasantly surprised to have a very uneventful swim to the first turn, and only be 3 wide at the buoy. I had hoped at this point to settle in a bit and catch a draft, but we turned into the wind for a good portion of the swim and the chop was obnoxious. There wasn't a pack of people to knock it down, and you really couldn’t go easy at all without taking in a ton of water. About the .75 mi mark of the swim though we were back near shore and the water was much calmer so I relaxed and eased in the last stretch. Got out of the water and ran up the beach hitting the mat with a 29:00 split which was right on where I wanted/expected to be.
Run up to T1 was long and had a steep uphill, but once I got to my bike I made quick work of the transition and headed out.
The first .5 mi out of Hapuna Beach Park was uphill and into the wind. After getting my feet in my shoes my eyes were glued to my power meter making sure I wasn’t doing anything TOO stupid right out of the gate. Got out on the Queen K and started getting into my tempo. Picked off quite a few people in the 4 miles to the first turn around, and was pleased to see that I was near the front of the race. After about 15 minutes I was able to feel out the tempo pretty well and was settled into a fairly consistent group of guys. Had a sip of my Gu Brew every 15 minutes or so, and took in basically as much water as I comfortably could to stay hydrated.
At 45 minutes into the ride I dropped my chain and was forced to stop to get it back on. Not too much of a delay, but a bit frustrating to watch 4-5 guys stream past and to have to try and build momentum again on a draggin uphill.
Winds were fairly calm, a slight headwind on the way out to Kawaihae, and again near Hawi. On the final climb to the turn I intently watched my power meter as the group I had been mixed in with slowly pulled away from me. I wasn’t worried as I knew exactly what I needed to do, and based on the way I had been yo-yoing with the group I knew once we made the turn and hit the downhill with a tailwind I’d make all that time back and more. Hit the turn and grabbed a bit of course nutrition to supplement my bottle of Gu Brew and started the return trip to Mauna Lani. Sure enough I overhauled the entire group I’d watched ride away up the climb within the first 2-3 miles after the turn. Most of the rest of the ride was solo and uneventful. Bit of a headwind from Kawaihae to Mana Lani which I think slowed the times a little bit, but still I’m pretty happy with my 2:30:17 bike split, especially after looking at the data and seeing that I averaged 248 watts with an Xpower of 255. A little over my target of 250, but I was very comfortable and confident in the pace I'd set.
T2 went fairly smooth, in and out in 1:22 although heading out on the run I was extremely annoyed that there were NO sun screeners. Seriously, who puts on a race in Hawaii and doesn’t have sunscreen headed out onto the run? Needless to say this redhead ended up with a sunburn. It wasn’t TOO bad, but my race numbers will definitely be visible on my arms until it fades…
Heading out on the run I felt really good, but looking at my Garmin showed me that my HR was WAY too high, up in the mid 160’s. Probably didn't help that I saw a group of family and friends right out of the gate and of course had to look good for the camera. I battled the first mile to get HR down to my goal of 155 bpm. I was struggling with my HR monitor strap and discomfort immediately, but forced myself to keep it on until I got my HR stable where it needed to be about 1.5 miles in, then I dropped the strap to my waist and went on feel. Not ideal for sure, but it was either that or side stitches and I figured option one was probably the best chance of success.
Run course in Honu just isn’t fair. I mean the twists and turns of the cart paths combined with the ups and downs, not to mention the super soft grass fairway running that makes up a good portion of the course. It was impossible to find a rhythm for the first 2.5 miles, but luckily the run hit the road for a 3 mile stretch at that point where I was able to settle in. I had hoped that somewhere in this stretch I'd find a comfort zone and be able to build pace, but really I ended up just playing defence the entire time. My track record in heat isn't very good, so I decided early that the right way to race was to not overextend at all in the first half of the run, and make sure I wasn't going to come apart.
As I cruised through the aid stations I basically did anything I could to keep cool. Ice in the shorts, sponges/water over the head, as much water as I could drink and usually a sip of soda as well for good measure. It’s hard to say if I went a bit overboard with the hydration, as my stomach was sloshing around for the majority of the run. At the same time though I needed as much fluid as I could manage to stay hydrated and of course you have to get in calories as well. Not having much experience racing in that type of heat/humidity I just did the best I could and by the end of the run I felt like I'd learned the things that worked for me and a few things that worked against me so next time I'll be smarter.
Felt pretty good up through about 8 miles. there were some brutally steep (however short) climbs around mile 8 that really got the heartrate going and it was tough to manage with the heat. My legs however were in great shape and felt strong, I was just being cooked under that sun.
Once I hit the final turn around just after mile 10 I knew I was good to go. I was on the home stretch and I would see some familiar faces coming back that would give me that mental boost you need to close strong. Sure enough I saw Teresa Nelson looking strong, Chris Whyte was also out there running well. Kelly Fillnow (a fellow TYR athlete I met pre-race) was crushing it on the run.
After turning back onto the golf course it was amazingly lonely. No spectators and the closest person in front of me was barely in view. Behind me was Bree Wee running me down and no one else that I could see. Bree caught me at about mile 12 and we ran a couple minutes together exchanging the usual “nice job”. at about .5 miles to go she turned and said to me, “c’mon, lets finish this” and then took off. I had nothing left so I just yelled, “you’re too fast for me.”
Crossed the line with a run time of 1:37:09 for a total time of 4:40:24 for a bit over a 7 minute PR. I felt absolutely trashed for about 10 minutes, but once I got some fluids and food into my stomach things started to come around quickly. Definitely the toughest half ironman I’ve ever done, and aside from the sunscreen thing it was one of the best run events around too. The course is beautiful with a great vibe from all the spectators and the resort staff. Hopefully I’ll get to come out and race it again.