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frommingriver · 4 years ago

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Ironman Tulsa 2021 Report

Hope this Ironman mask is only for witnessing history!

This is the first complete point-to-point Ironman race that I know of. The swim start, T1, T2, and the finish line are all at different locations.

Logistics

I was a little bit worried about the Transitions, but it turns out to be very well organized. I think it is even better than IMCHOO 2017 and IMCOZ 2019.

On Saturday I chose to drop off the bike at T1 and check in the bike gear bag. T1 is almost the same as any other Ironman Race, but the difference is that we just leave the bike gear bag with the bike. No changing tent. If you need to change, you will have to use those port-a-johns at the end of each row. No worry about finding your T1 bag when you finished swimming.

T2 is almost the same as T1 with bike racks. After checking in, you would leave the run gear bag at the assigned slot. On race day when I finished riding, the bike gear bag was also transported to T1 and sit next to the run gear bag.

Some fellow triathletes in the FB IMTulsa group mentioned the poor road condition on the bike course. So we did a course preview drive after checking in. It's mainly rolling hills, but quite a few long hills that you won't be able to roll up. And the road conditions were terrible in some parts of the first half, such as the big downhill before 10 miles. Gravel and dirt are often seen on the road. We all agreed that it's not safe to push for speed. To make it worse, race day turned into a rainy day, unlike the weather forecast cloudy day. Definitely not the safest bike course for a race.

I stayed at a hotel very close to the finish line. And it was only about 10-min walk from T2/Ironman Village. This turned out to be a big advantage considering the traffic on race day morning, as all participants needed to take the shuttle from T2 to T1 between 4am and 5am. A friend was stuck in traffic for quite a while and came into T1 late. On the other hand, there were fireworks shows after the baseball games next to the hotel on Friday/Saturday evenings. Because of the fireworks, I barely got any sleep Saturday night.

Race Day

On race day we are supposed to take the shuttle bus from T2 to T1, and only from 4am to 5am. So I got up at 2:50am to make the rice balls which is the new fueling plan on the bike. Considering that the race will start around 7 o'clock, I didn't eat breakfast at the hotel, but I brought two extra rice balls to T1. What should I do with all the 3 hours before the race?

Swim

Because of the pandemic, I only swam three times with club OWS since March 2020. So, there is absolutely no expectation for swimming. The bottom line is just survival, and not been cut-off.

The water temperature on the race day was 20℃/68℉, wetsuit legal yet not too cold. The water was clean compared to the muddy flood in the river. It was a rainy day, so no dazzling sunlight into the goggles. The main strategy was to draft, which was executed quite well. After a few minutes of high cadence warming up, I was able to find my rhythm and draft behind a green hatter. Unfortunately, this buddy was not very good at the sighting. After swimming two buoys, we were farther away from the course and a kayaker warned us. After getting back to the course, I drafted behind a pink hatter. She was apparently a very good swimmer. We pass several buoys closely, and I had to be very concentrated to keep up. I guess that was also an advantage of drafting because I had no time to think about how much farther it was. At around the last buoy, I eventually got dropped, but the ramp to T1 was already in sight. Many thanks to the lady with black KT tapes on her left foot. The swim time was 1:27:19, definitely better than what I expected.

By the way, my historical chafing problem around the neck did not happen at all during this race, as I covered the neck with KT tape. I also cut short the wetsuit legs about 5in, which probably reduced 1 minute for taking off the wetsuit. I probably should do the same for the sleeves.

Bike

The first half of the bike course was in general in poor conditions. Pothole, rough surface, gravel, dirt, plus the rain. Quite a lot of safety risk. And the second half of the course would be against a headwind. So, I decided to be conservative and not to push hard for speed. That was definitely a good decision. At about 60-mile, two riders zoom-passed me, and a few seconds later crashed at quite high speed. I was able to steer around and avoided an accident. Hope they did not suffer too bad from the crash.

The new fueling plan of three rice balls worked very effectively. The whole 6 hours ride I did not have any stomach discomfort, and yet it felt great eating a rice ball when I am hungry. Next time, packaging needs to be improved to carry and to eat. The total energy intake includes: 3 rice balls, 6~? Maurten gels, and a half bottle of Maurten fuel (about 350Cal, should have taken the rest in the running water bottle). It was a cool rainy day, so I consumed about 2 liters of drinking water. Did not drink Gatorade at all.

The average heart rate throughout the whole ride was 132, and that was equivalent to those long trainer rides on weekends in the past few months. The legs felt very good when reaching T2.

Run

The run course is in general flat, as the major part is along the Arkansas River park trail. The original plan was to run at my base pace around 8min/mile, and the first half of the run was in general as planned. As to the fueling plan, a Maurten gel at every other aid station and a sip of water (Not enough water, which probably led to a later problem). The total time when reaching 13 miles was about 1h46m.

So far so good, right? Well, as always, something will not follow the plan. I am starting to have serious GI discomfort. The sweet Maurten gels did not show the magical effect, instead, they made the stomach very uncomfortable. I felt dizzy, lightheaded, and could not maintain the base pace. I washed down a couple of electrolyte capsules with water. I had tried Red Bull, Pepsi, bananas at aid stations. Nothing worked. Actually, I could only swallow a few mouthfuls of Pepsi. Had to stop and rest. The original goal of 3:40 gradually out of reach. The last two miles I knew I had to push myself if I still wanted to finish under 12h. Finally crossed the finish line at 11h54m.

IMChoo 2017 11h12m, IMCoz 2019 11h22m, IMTulsa 2021 11h56. Not a good trend.

The funny part of this race: somehow I had to use port-a-johns 4 times during the race, adding the time standing in line, wasted at least 15min doing that business…

My biggest complaint about the race: No pizza after the finish line… So disappointed.😢😢😢😢😢

Overall, IMTulsa is a great venue and a very well-organized race. If the bike course condition can be improved, I would definitely do it again!

#IronmanTulsa

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frommingriver · 7 years ago

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LIANGTAO, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!

It was one of the most joyful moments in my life, crossing the finish line with Mike Reiley’s announcement. Yes, I am a legal Ironman!

Preparation & Training

The whole journey started from volunteering IMCHOO2016 and signing up the race 364 days before. Real training plan started in Nov 2016, when I joined the TriDot 2-month winter plan. Unfortunately that plan didn’t work out very well. I felt that recovery wasn’t enough, RHR rose above 50, got sick, and injury on the calf. So I had to take a break for a few weeks. After that I switched to the Ironman U’s 24-week training plan, mixed it with the Trainer Road’s Ironman bike plan.

I’ve been on a plateau in terms of swimming pace for a couple of years now, and figured that time investment on improving swimming technique would not be the most productive. So I mainly focused on the endurance and bilateral breathing balance, and used the Pink/Red Mist Set for most swimming sessions.

The Wahoo Kickr Snap was the new addition to my pain cave specifically for the Ironman Race. So the bike training were mainly on the trainer, with the exception of weekend long rides after Apr. Tried to stick to the TrainerRoad plan as close as possible.

Running was the biggest issue this year. In addition to the injury in January, I got another calf problem after the Muncie70.3 (still don’t know why and how). Luckily it recovered 3 weeks before the race. But the longest run I ever did before the race was only 11miles.

During the 7-month major training, I added 1 Sprint, 1 Oly, 1 70.3 as training races. Made all kinds of transition mistakes in those races, but the lessons-learned definitely helped the T1/T2 for the Ironman.

Race guideline

Considering the lack of running practice, I decided that finishing the race safely without injury is the highest priority. This race is my 1st Ironman race, so relax and enjoy it, no need to chase any pace target. My estimation of the race result was: Swim 4:05, Bike 6:15, Run 4:25, T1/T2 15min, total around 12 hours. I just wanted to finish before Nadia’s volunteer shift ends at 7:30pm. But definitely not pushing to meet this as a target.

Race Day

I thought it was early enough to get up at 4:30am, but I was wrong. It turned out I was almost to the end of line at swim start. Thanks to Larry and Lynn for holding the place for me, otherwise I would really be at the end. Wonder if those guys upfront slept there the night before. (;P) The water temperature was 77.9F, so the race was wetsuit optional. Many people upfront chosen to wear wetsuit had to wait on the side before all of us non-wetsuit swimmer jumped into the river. I had to run a little bit as getting closer to the dock.

The major reason I picked this race as my 1st Ironman was the downstream swim. What a nice and easy swim. I struggled a little bit on sighting initially due to the fog, and was too far to the right at the second buoy. The Kayakers were waving to me to move to the left. Even with that I finished the swim with 1:00:55. This will definitely be a PR for long long time.

I’ve printed out a page of changing process for each of the transition bags. Followed that step-by-step instruction. I swear I didn’t take a nap in T1, Only 11 minutes and 26 seconds.

Bike course was a scenic two-loop 116-mile route. Seriously, I think it is similar to the Cades Cove loop in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. I didn’t want to push very hard, so I was able to enjoy the view a little bit. The course was mostly rolling hills. No really bad climb, I only used the small ring once for a few seconds, and my cadence was in general above 70. On the bike I ate 5 CLIF energy chews, 1 energy bar, 1 piece of banana (could not take the chew anymore). Grabbed 4 bottles of water, dropped 1 (80% rate, not bad huh). I didn’t see the extra 4-mile downhill as the race director mentioned in the athlete briefing meeting though, got to confirm with him next time. Getting off the bike after a 5:48 ride. So far I was ahead of my estimation with quite some margin.

T2 was definitely easier, as I decided to run in the bike bib/jersey. Only 5 minutes 16 seconds, pretty fast, right??

Run Run Run, why the heck Chattanooga has so many hills??!!! Following the race guideline, I just told myself to run, no matter how slow, but never walk. At every aide station, I poured a cup of cold water on my head, a few sip of Gatorade, dump some ice into the jersey and compression sleeve. The ice worked very well to keep all local muscle pain under control!! 4:05 I finished the marathon!

Nothing beats getting the 1st Ironman medal from my daughter, right? Yes! Liangtao Zhu, you are an Ironman!!

Acknowledgement

I owe a lot to Nadia and Kimberlie for being my supporting crew, my cheerleaders and volunteers in the race!! I would not be able to pull the more than 10 hours training per week without your support! I need to thank my fellow triathlete Lauren Pieper for so many valuable and detail suggestions! Many thanks to my fellow triathletes Daniel, Amy, Jennifer, Rich, Larry, Linda, Chris and others from Peoria Tri Club for the group ride and open water swimming sessions!

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frommingriver · 8 years ago

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Ironman Steelhead 70.3 半程铁人赛流水账

2016年8月14日

Benton Harbor, Michigan

（1.9千米游泳/90.1千米自行车/半程马拉松）

Steelhead半程铁人赛是今年的最主要赛事。前面半年都在为此准备和训练。游泳是在密西根湖里进行，之前朋友们说起这一赛道都说风浪比较大。过去五届中有两次游泳因为天气原因取消了游泳。所以赛前一直比较担心天气。所幸比赛日天气非常好，风平浪静，虽然有点热，总体来说运气很不错了！

赛前到自行车店给赛车做了体检。反复检查过旅行包中的装备。周六开车3个半小时外的密西根湖滨小城。到达的时候才意识到还有1小时时差。啦啦队在附近的披萨店等候午餐的时候，我去铁人村看了看。铁人系列的赛事果然不同于咱乡下的小比赛哈，运动员领取号码牌的队列都有几百米长。排了差不多45分钟才拿到我的号码以及计时芯片。之后入住到几个月前订好的宾馆，啦啦队在房间休息看奥运，我开车去遛了一圈自行车赛道。密西根湖的日落很漂亮！

晚上睡得很不好，早早就醒了，4点半听到过道里有人推在自行车经过，我也起床开始准备。意外地发现宾馆的免费早餐竟然已经开了，于是吃了些麦片、鸡蛋和点心。等啦啦队准备好去到停车场，汽车已经开始排长队��。我让队长把我先放到路边，背着包骑车先去搞定换项区。

换项区很大，但分摊到每个人的空间却很小。跟咱村的小比赛比较，同样尺寸的自行车架挤了两三倍数量的赛车，中间的过道也很窄。我照着赛前准备好的流程清单，很快就完成了换项区设置。换项区大，又有很多沙，就不赶时间了，先穿鞋后上车。然后就提着胶衣和装泳帽泳镜的ziploc袋子去排队上厕所。又开了一次眼，厕所门口又排老长的队。

组织方说水温76.5℉( 24.7℃)，所以穿胶衣游就放弃获奖的资格，并且所有穿胶衣的将在最后一拨出发。我本来就是最后一拨，现在晚几分钟，完全没影响。毫不犹豫穿胶衣。下水试了试水温，还是挺凉的。

在水边遇到赵均，一位跑群里的没见过面的老朋友。事实上要感谢他当初说动我选了这个比赛。今年的主赛事我有两个选择：Racine 70.3 和Steelhead 70.3。Racine 70.3 由于天气原因取消了游泳，最后变成30英里自行车+半马。要是训练大半年再遇到这个，还不能退报名费，一定是欲哭无泪啊。赵均也决定穿胶衣，毕竟胶衣使安全系数大大提高。大概不到半小时职业组就游完了，我们边聊边看前面出发的上岸。我们出发时已经8点10分，很多人都骑车出去好远。

终于轮到我们下水了。一大群人穿胶衣，看来英雄所见略同者很多啊。一早的兴奋已消磨干净，所以开始游泳都没啥感觉。游泳的路线是个��角形，1.2英里，每0.1英里一个浮标。我尽量靠边，但一抬头还是看到一堆堆的游泳帽，而且各种颜色都有，加上大湖水浪起伏，不太好从中辨认远处的浮标。多看了几次才找到。虽然人多，可以跟随，我也不敢完全信任别人的方向感。事实上一路遇到几次有人从前面斜穿，我可以确定他们的方向不对，只好停下让路。总之游游停停，尽量避免踢人或被踢，最后出水停表，显示游了38分35秒，2250码 (只多游几十米)，不错，跟我在泳池长距离的平均速度差不多。

出水过计时门，看见了队长还在直直地望着水里。看来我的确比预计的速度快一点。走到她面前去吆喝了一声才看见我，旁边的人大笑。换项区人很多，过道又窄，只能走过去。照着清单完成骑车准备，去追赶先出发的大部队。第一个换项近7分钟，当时可没觉得用了这么长时间。

这个自行车赛道难度比较小，90公里总爬升只有300米左右，适合飙车。骑出去也是这种感觉。必须要表扬一下组织方和附近的居民。所有的路口都有警车管制，赛前担心的过马路安全问题完全不存在，靠近湖边的最长一段路有很宽的路肩，汽车经过的时候都减速，很多还开窗给我们加油。正好有几个速度接近的，没有跟骑，但轮番领头。一路超车无数，很喜欢这种感觉，不断吆喝“on your left”, 这是后出发的好处。也许正是这种感觉使得体力分配不当，为后来的跑步埋下了伏笔。前两小时平均时速36公里。赛车上的新流线型水瓶很好用，实现用电工胶布绑在横梁上的能量胶也每半小时消耗一个，但两小时后脖子和肩开始酸疼，赛前几乎没骑这辆赛车训练。不得不��常离开休息把来拉拉脖子。速度有掉了下来。所幸剩下路程已经不长。骑车用了2小时36分，比预计的快。快到换项区时遇到前面一辆fat tire车，车胎比一般摩托车胎还大，这得多好的体力才能骑啊。

两次换项在同一个地方，进到换项区又只能慢慢走。腿上肌肉有点紧，换完鞋就先喝了一瓶防抽筋的hotshot。辣辣的，口感很差，不过据说就是靠这个辣味来防止抽筋的。第一次试用，也不知道效果如何。第二换项又是5分钟。

跑步出发后四头肌仍然紧，只能慢点跑。一英里后大概hotshot起作用了，于是加快配速。可惜只维持了几分钟，后腰两边的肌肉开始异常酸疼，而且越来越厉害。时间也接近正午，天热起来，路上很多人都在走。我最终没能顶住休息的诱惑，开始上坡走，平路和下坡跑。喝光了腰带上水壶里的水，又吃了两个能量胶，腰酸并未改善。这样走走跑跑熬到绕完第一圈(6英里)，我决定在水站停下吃个香蕉，又喝了两小杯佳得乐。也许休息起作用了，再开始跑就明显没之前那么酸痛。剩下的路基本坚持跑下来，除了10英里处那个大陡坡。最后两英里其实很煎熬，很想停下休息。这是整个过程中最想往地上躺的一段。腿和腰基本是机械麻木地移动，5个多小时第一次想上厕所。不断对自己说顶住，数步，终于坚持跑到了终点。正式打出半个铁人。这个赛事名字是钢头，就算上半身打成铁了。半程马拉松耗时2小时4分，比预计差不多慢20分钟。总用时5小时32分，比赛前订的达标成绩慢了两分钟。有点遗憾，不过总体还算不错。

经验教训：

1．赛前跑步训练不够，自从四月底的马拉松打酱油之后，最长只跑过10英里，之前坚持的腰腹核心肌群训练也因为种种原因停了几个月，这大概是跑步时腰酸的最根本原因。制订训练计划并认真执行是必须的。

2．赛前训练需要多用赛车。

3．换项的流程清单很好。这次没有像前几次比赛那样忘这忘那。

继续努力，明年完成打铁大业！

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frommingriver · 8 years ago

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Ironman Steelhead 70.3 Report

(1.2 mile swim/56 mile bike/13.1 mile run) Aug 14, 2016

Last Sunday, after finishing the Steelhead 70.3, I officially became a 70.3-mile ironman. This was my A-race of this year. Considering the fact that 2 out of the past 5 year Steelhead 70.3 ended up with cancelling swim, I was really concerned about the weather of the race day. I’ve been watching the weather forecast for a whole week. Luckily, it was a great day for racing!

Pre-race:

Thursday evening took the bike to LBS for a quick check, to make sure the bike is at a good race state. Friday evening, went through the packing list twice… Saturday morning waked up early. Move the luggage into the car, installing the bike rack, tie the bike securely. Leaving exactly at 9am as plan. Traffic was not too bad, we arrived at Benton harbor around 1pm. Then I realized that it’s 2PM eastern time. So while Kim and Nadia were waiting for the lunch at Silver Beach Pizza (highly recommended), I drove over to pick up the registration packet. Then I was SHOCKED by the long line… It literally winded from the check-in tent to the transition area gate. Somehow more than 75% of participants showed up after 1pm Sat, though the check-in opened two days ago. I went back to the restaurant and had lunch. The pizza is highly recommended! About 1 hour later we came back the check-in. The end of line was still at the same place!!! Then it was 45min waiting, and then picked up bib#, timing chip, etc. The goodie bag was soaking wet due to the thunderstorm of previous night. Water temp was 76F. Wetsuit may not eligible for awards. Not a concern to me at all.

I booked hotel on the same day I registered for the race, which turned out to be a smart move. All local hotels were sold out. My friends from Detroit area had to stay at Kalamazoo and South Bend, at least 40min drive away.

After checking-in into the hotel that I booked on the same day of registration, Nadia and Kim stayed in hotel watching Olympics. I drove to do a quick check of the bike course. A little bit worried about some of the crossroad safety. Beautiful sunset on the lakeshore.

Back to the hotel, I went through the package again and setup bike: tape the gels on the bike frame, installing the areodrink bottle, etc. The Profile areodrink system was the first use. The Speedfill tank and drinking hose had to be installed before the race. Otherwise the bike could not be installed on the bike rack.

Race Day:

I am not sure if I was too excited or nervous or both, it was pretty hard to fall asleep. And I don’t know if I really slept at all. Anyway, I got up around 4:30 (after hearing a bike passing by). Put on the tri-suits, applied the body glide. Then move things to the car. Surprisingly, the hotel’s complimentary breakfast was ready. (Days Inn Benton Harbor, recommended) Great! Had one bowl of oat meal, some eggs, and a banana. My cheer-leaders were also up at this point for breakfast. We left the hotel around 5:45am, a little bit late. Took some time to get into the parking lot. Then I left the cheerleaders and rode the bike to setup transition with the duffle bag on my back. It was still dark, but no wind. A few clouds in the sky. Water was pretty calm too. Very beautiful day for race.

I followed a few bike riders to the transition area, which was quite crowded already. All the bike racks are almost full. My neighbors nicely saved a little space for me. Taking out the towels and shoes, helmets etc. I made a print-out checklist in a transparent plastic folder at home. Now just need to go through it one more time. Could not find the heart rate monitor (which turned out to be at the bottom of the bag), but that was not definitely necessary. 5 minutes before the transition area close I went out with the wetsuit and Ziploc bag (swimming cap and goggles) to stand in the long line for the restrooms. I was in the last wave, which would start after 8am. More than enough time. But it’s not fun waiting 15 minutes to use the toilet. Too many people, long waiting lines everywhere, that’s my impression about Ironman race so far.

My cheerleaders had settled down near the water on the beach, and Kim had already started her sand castle project.

I put on the wetsuit. Water temp was 76.5F in the morning. So all people wearing wetsuit were moved to an extra wave which was behind my original last wave. No real loss to me. Tried the water. Not too warm at all. And I saw Jun, a friend from Ann Arbor. I need to thank him for talking me into this race. Originally I was debating between Ironman Racine 70.3 and Steelhead 70.3. The Racine 70.3 was messed up by thunderstorm, and eventually became a 30-mile bike + half marathon. Jun also decided to swim with wetsuit. So we started in the same wave. We were chatting near the swim-out, and then realized the first pro was approaching. 1.2 mile was not too long after all. Many racers had finished swimming before we got into water. Soon we moved the starting area waiting for our wave. Started the 920xt triathlon mode, and it almost immediately caught the GPS signal. It was another 30minutes before our wave actually started.

Race:

Swim: 1.2Mile

The swim course was triangular, with 1 buoy every 0.1 mile. I’ve gone through the process many times in my mind, so this time I did not forget to press the start button or press the wrong button. Saying good luck to Jun, I walked into the water and headed to the first buoy. I usually breathe on the left side, so I tried to stay on the right side of the group. Too many people in this wave. Even though I tried to stay outside the pack, still ran into other swimmers from time to time. And with so many swimmers nearby, it was not easy to spot the buoy in the water. A few times I had to stop to let swimmer cross my path. I had chance to draft with other swimmers, but I didn’t know if I could trust their sighting. The GPS trace showed that I zigzagged quite a bit. But overall time on my watch was 38’35” for about 2250yards. Not bad at all. My average long distance pace in pool was around 1’47”/100yd. The wetsuit definitely helped.

T1: Coming out the water, I pressed the transition button on 920, took it off and held in mouth, then unzip the wetsuit, taking off swim cap and google. After walking by the timing gate, I saw Nadia still staring into the lake. So I shouted to her… Other spectators LOL. Quite many people in transition, so I could only walk to my bike. Peeling off wetsuit, spraying sunscreen, helmet, sunglasses, and shoes. Once again, the print-out process really helped. Nobody could run in the transition area. The lanes were too narrow. 6’48” for T1. Longer than what I thought

Bike:

The bike course was relatively easy. For 56miles total elevation gain was less than 1100ft. The front derailleur was not working as well as it was in the Railsplitter. Luckily I only needed it once. I didn’t put the 920xt on the handle bar, for saving some time in T2. So it was not as convenient to read my pace. At 5miles the watch said I only used 13minutes, and 10miles only 12 minutes for 5miles. I didn’t really push very hard, so I was a little bit surprised about the speed. In my last brick train, the average speed was around 18.5mph (with the road bike, more climb course). At this point I didn't feel heavy breath or sore leg at all. Actually I felt very good. So I kept the pace, didn't really pay too much attention to the numbers. I didn't eat the energy bars, but took an energy gel pack every 30min. And with areodrink system I kept myself well hydrated. In total I cosumed about around 60oz of water on bike. At 45miles, the average speed was still 22.8mph, but my neck and shoulders are getting very sore. I had to get out of the aerobar more often to stretch the neck. Pace dropped down gradually. But I managed to keep it above 20. Passing many bikers. That’s the most fun part of race. My favorite slogan: “On your left”. Eventually the bike race finished within 2hr 36min. Better than what I expected.

T2: With a faster than expected bike, I was excited that I had opportunity to achieve the “Good” finish. So in T2, I took the first anti-cramp hotshot drink before heading out on the run. Again, nobody can run fast in the narrow lanes. T2 cost me 5’8”.

Run:

At the beginning of run, the quad on my legs had signs of cramping. So I controlled the pace and waited the hotshot to take care of that. After about 1 mile, the quad felt better, so I tried to pick up the pace gradually. Unfortunately, both sides of the lower back muscle became sore and stiff, and made it very hard to keep the pace. It’s getting worse and worse, eventually I had to walk on the uphill. But once reached the top of the hill, I kept running. For the next 4 miles I struggled with the pain, and took a couple of gel pack, and drank all the water from the bottles in my running belt, but the situation didn’t improve much. At the end of mile 6, I decided to stop at the water station and see if taking some solid food could help. Maybe for the two small cups of Gatorade (turned out to be a new endurance formula), and a banana, and the rest, the lower back felt better. After that I was able to keep running except the big uphill near Mile 11. The downhill after mile 11 helped a little, and I ran slightly faster. No more water stop for the last 3 miles, as I felt urge to pee. I guess that meant I had enough water, and did not stop at the toilets. Honestly the last two miles I wanted so bad to stop. If it were not close to the end, I might have walked again. Anyway, I kept the pace by leaning forward, and mechanically moving my legs. That was where I felt the challenge of my first ironman race. Luckily I didn’t have to hold on for too long. 50 yards before the finish line I saw my personal cheerleaders… The torture was finally over…2hr4min for the run.

The official total time was about 5hr 32min. missed my goal for 2min. The swim and bike were both B+, but the run was F. Total C-.

Lesson Learned:

I did not follow any training plan strictly, though I referred to Joe Friel’s books. The core fusion class stopped in May due to schedule change in summer, and I did not add proper core exercise into my routine. After the Railsplitter triathlon I did not ride the TT bike on road, not even once. These are probably the major reasons for the sore neck/shoulder in the bike and sore stiff lower back in the run!

To be improved:

1. Training plan is definitely necessary

2. Consistent core muscle exercise and strength exercise

3. More training with racing gear.

4. Need better organization of the gears

The race-day print-out is a good way to prevent confusion in transition! Carry on!

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frommingriver · 9 years ago

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人生第一个半程马拉松报告

2015赛季今天以完成首半马来收尾了。今天基本上按计划完成任务。一早7:00出发，我挤到全马3:15的兔子后面出发，一开跑就被人踩鞋后跟然后把鞋甩掉了。捡鞋的时候还差点被撞倒。教训一:出发靠边，别挤中间。穿好鞋后，跑旁边，按咱家队长的指示，先找到呼吸和步频的和谐点，大概7:40/迈，然后慢慢加到7:15。一路超过全马的兔子们，4迈的时候基本上和大部队拉开距离。步频只控制在165左右，跨得比较开。状态还不错。手冷，一如即往，比赛时总会忘记点什么，这回是手套。到第7迈后，前两天右小腿的酸痛加剧，有抽筋迹象。只得降速，而且也开始上整个赛程中唯一的大坡。想起来该进补了，但下一个水站要上完大坡，熬着。降到8:05, 步幅也小了。过水站，吃胶。可能降速了，呼吸轻松很多，把步频提高，小步加速，腿也舒服了点，跟着前面那哥们(第一张照片里最靠边那个。7.5迈的时候被他超过），下大坡，在12迈的时候开始加速，在13迈前超过前面的老哥，大步冲线。1:36:32，计划1:35:00~1:40:00。完成任务! 结果出来，年龄组第三，总排名36。赛季算是画上圆满句号。教训二:四次喝水，都只喝了一口，下次还是该背点水。最后要多谢队长和小队员的大力支持!

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frommingriver · 9 years ago

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1st Half-Marathon Report

Training: Started triathlon training in June. But mainly focused on swimming and biking, running exercises are only once or twice a week, mainly tempo, a couple of HIIT. Before Sep 20th, only short distance, usually less than 5miles. After Sep 20th, ran a few long distance, 8~10miles, two weeks before the race, dry ran 13miles, around 1hr40min, didn't feel too much pressure, no muscle/joint problem. Set the race target around 1h35min~1h40min. After the dry run, I didn't get chance to run any distance for that whole week (due to Nadia's Chicago Marathon). Tuesday, ran a HIIT, Friday, ran a 2.5mile shake-up. Saturday the right calf has a little sore/pain. Didn't fully recover before the race. Saturday: Got up early (6:30) and went out shoot fall color. Then went to check a used Specialized Transition Comp tri bike, and ended up buying it after about 30min chatting with the local ironman. Yes, I am addicted to this sport already. Took a long nap in the afternoon. stayed awake in the night for a while. not enough sleep. Race day: Woke up before 5, but stayed in the bed till Nadia got up. Banana/Peanut Powder/soy milk shake + bread as breakfast around 5:45. Then drove to the race start. It was still dark, and cold (33F). I went inside the Civic Center to relieve myself. Many runners stayed inside in their running T-shirts and shorts. I was in my almost winter gear. 10 min before the race, took a gel, and give Nadia the jacket and fleece pants, then off to the start. As usual, I forgot something before the race. This time it's the pair of gloves in my jacket pocket. But it was too late to get them. I managed to find the Marathon 3:15 pacer, and planned to start with them. Actually it was only a few feet from the front line. Race started at 7am, then the first incident happened: somebody stepped on my right heel and the shoe got off (flying to a few feet away as I was running). I tried to grab it, and a few runners behind nearly ran into me. Very degenerous! I managed to pick up the shoe, and got out of the pack to the right side of street and put it back on. Not too bad. Then started running on the right side of the pack. Found my comfortable breath and sync it with my cadence. The watch shows about 7:40 pace. Then I gradually picked up pace to catch back the 3:15 pacers. By the time reaches 3 miles, the pacers were all behind me. I saw a few runners that appears to be at the same pace, so I joined that pack. The pace was around 7:15~7:20. At 4 miles saw Nadia. She took a few shots of me. Kept going. Picked the first water cup at around 4.5 miles. It was hard to drink while keeping my pace. So only took a drink and dumped the rest. So far so good, but the right calf is getting tighter. 7 miles I saw Nadia again when she was looking at the phone. Road ID apparently has at least 5 min lag. At 7.5 miles came the only big hill in the whole course, gain 100 feet with in 0.3~0.4 miles. The Calf problem got worse and felt like it was about to spasm. I had to slow down (even before the hill). Tried to change form and put more effort on left leg. Then I realized that it's time for the second gel. I was not good at swallow the gel without water, so I had to wait till the water station. Luckily it didn't take too long. So this time I slowed down to have two mouthful of water with the Gel. Maybe because of the slowing down, or the effect of the Gel, I felt like the breath was MUCH easier. So I changed the running form. Higher cadence (200 vs 160 before) but smaller steps. The calf muscle seemed to be happy with that, so maintained that for the rest of race. It was so good running downhill at around 12mile. Just kept up with the blue shirt guy in front of me. He passed me at about 7.5 mile (when the calf pain got worse), and dropped me probably 75yards. I gradually caught up with him. Once turned on the Jefferson, I picked up pace more, as I knew it's close. Passed the guy before 13 miles. Open up the steps, running into the stadium, I finished my 1st half-marathon strong. 1:36:32. In my plan. Turned out I am the 3rd in the age group, 8th in Men’s Masters, and 36th overall. Not too bad. Lessons learned:

1. start on the side of pack. Important safety rule.

2. Learn to drink water while running or take my own water bottle.

3. checklist for the race, write down and CHECK it!!!!

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