Vineman 70.3 - Race Report Catchup

Vineman 70.3 – The 2008 Version

Pre-race

We stayed in Santa Rosa again, but NOT in the Travelodge after last years’ fiasco (long story). This time we went for the Quality Inn, which worked out just fine. I didn’t sleep that well in the hotel, but never really do before a race. My wife and (now 2) kids and my parents were all in the hotel and we were planning to all get up together to get to the swim start early to see off one of my friends (his 1^st half-iron and he did awesome… just not fair to be that naturally talented). As predicted, he was out of the water quite fast, at least by my standards. Once he was out on the bike, I started getting ready. I waited in line at the port-a-potty, made last arrangements at my T1 spot, and put on my wet-suit. This time I didn’t really forget anything; I did have to run back up and put my bike sunglasses on my bike, but nothing serious. Once my wave came around I was in the water and ready to go; quite looking forward to it because Vineman is a great course and a fun race!

Swim

Last year, I did the swim in around 38 minutes and change. This year I was hoping to basically do about the same, since I haven’t really been focusing on my swim much this year. My wave was quite large as it always is being in one of the more competitive age groups, but I found a nice spot in the middle. Usually I just let everybody else go and start behind, but I thought I might try to stay with a pack a bit more this year just to see. And off we went. Not too bad at the start, the water was a comfortable 70 degrees and I just started cruising. A little bumping, but after about the first 5 or 10 minutes it started thinning out and I had some open water. The swim is in the Russian river, which is about 4-7 feet deep throughout the course. It’s an out and back and sighting is fairly easy on the route. Not a huge amount of current, but it’s definitely faster coming back from the turnaround. Last year it took me about 21 minutes to get to the turnaround, where I stood up for a second, checked my watch, and got started again. I thought I would do the same this year. This time, I was somewhat pleasantly surprised to see about a 45 second improvement. I was hoping I could turn that into a slightly faster swim than last year. On the way back, I concentrated on extending out my strokes and trying to go with the current. A few times I got caught up in small packs, but not too bad. I even swam around some people, which is strange for me. Approaching the swim finish, I started to get ready for my T1. A pretty good swim overall and a little over a minute faster than last year. Out of the water and up the small hill to my bike.

Time: 37:05

T1

Last year I was getting ready for Ironman Wisconsin and wanted to practice changing into my bike shorts and jersey. This year, I went with my tri shorts and tri jersey and was going for a faster transition. In an earlier wave, I had seen a guy stop in the aisle where the carpet is and strip his wet-suit off there. Great idea! Save time by not having to balance or sit on the rocky transition area. I tried it and it worked well. Took my wetsuit to my bike, put it in my transition bag, put my race belt on, put my socks and shoes on, put my helmet on, and I was off. I probably could’ve gone a tad faster, but not bad. I was out on my bike for the scenic course through the vineyards.

Time: 3:05

Bike

My plan on the bike this year was to push hard and stay in my target middle-endurance heart rate zone about 10 bpm higher than last year. I don’t have a power meter (yet), but I figure this was significantly more power than last year since I had concentrated a fair amount on biking throughout the off-season and in peak training. The first part on River road wasn’t bad although it was a tad cold, maybe in the 50s. My feet were a bit cold and I probably could’ve gone with arm warmers, but I knew that I would be fine as time passed. Made the turn to go under River road and onto Westside Dr. This part of the ride is rolling and somewhat technical with curvy, rough road. I just tried to get settled and over the rollers without too much slowing. I also started eating about 15 minutes into the bike. My plan was to do a half-Clif bar at 0:45 and about 2:00 with gels every 45 minutes and a salt table with each gel. I had tried this out in training and it seemed to be OK. Kept going on Westside and after a while started looking for the next turn onto Dry Creek. I was felling pretty good and started wondering how fast I might actually be going. Last year I averaged 19 and was hoping to do at least 20 this year, but I didn’t pay much attention to my average speed on my bike computer, because the one thing I forgot to do in transition was reset it… oops. Oh well. I think it’s probably better that I don’t know my average speed anyway. Made the turn onto Dry Creek, which was somewhat of a relief because the road is smoother. There is not a ton of climbing on this course, but is by no means flat. The first notable climb is the turn onto Canyon as you head up over the ridge and down towards Geyserville. I hit this turn and made it to the top of Canyon around 1:20 I think, which was good because this was just about halfway. Now the turn onto 128 and through Geyserville. Took the descent pretty fast, but there’s a turn at the bottom so had to slow down for the turn. Took a Gatorade at the aid station in Geyserville and was on my way. My goal was to be to the top of Chalk Hill by 2:15, which would give me a shot at getting back in 2:45. Kept pushing on 128, which had a bit of a headwind, but not horrible. Last year, this section had a tail wind and felt great, but I think I was still going faster into the headwind this year. I knew I was going to crush my bike time from last year, but the biggest question was how I would hold up on the run after pushing it more on the bike. Along 128, there was a guy in his 40s and a gal in her 20s that both seemed to be of the same ability. We basically took turns passing each other for a while. We weren’t drafting (at least not intentionally), it was just that one of us would make a pass and then the other two would push to keep up and not get dropped. Then the one that passed got a bit tired and would get passed. We repeated this cycle all the way to Chalk Hill road. I made the turn and didn’t see the gal anymore, but the guy was still a little ahead. I kept on my merry way and headed toward the climb. It’s not a huge climb, but it is enough to make you hurt. Once I got to the climb, I pushed it a bit and passed probably around 20 people on the climb. Since I started in such a late wave and am an improved biker, I spent the whole bike ride passing people (except for the 40-year-old super bikers), which was a nice change. My legs were definitely feeling it at this point on the climb as I pushed hard, passing people. Anyway, up and over the top and it was around 2:12! Ahead of schedule… I started toying with the idea of trying to crack 2:40. The last 10 miles are basically down hill, so I had a shot. I made my way down the descent and kept going down Chalk Hill road. Still felt pretty good and tried to start thinking about my run transition. I had stuck to my nutrition plan, but was feeling a bit thirsty so I tried to drink a fair amount in the last few miles, knowing it would continue to heat up. I made it back to Windsor and the last few turns and finally onto Windsor road headed back towards the high school and still felt good and was still passing people. With the wind at my back, I was still pushing. I pulled into T2 and stopped my watch… just a tad over 2:40! 17 minutes faster than last year and about a 21.0 mph average!! I knew I would be a better biker this year, but I was definitely happy with that.

Time: 2:40:26

T2

The dismount is a ways away from the bike racks, so I clipped out and headed down towards T2, passing 2 or 3 people along the way. The legs felt decent, so the only remaining question was how long would they last as I continued to push. Got to my spot, took off my helmet, sunglasses (decided not to bring them as it was still a bit overcast), changed shoes, put on my hat, and was off. I got rid of my trash, grabbed a drink and made sure I had my 2 gels and my salt tablets. Off to the half-marathon.

Time: 2:22

Run

The run course is an out and back from Windsor high-school to the La Crema Winery. It is not flat. There are several hills; not huge, but enough to take it out of you. I made the first turn and into the neighborhood feeling pretty good. I got to the mile 1 marker and checked my watch… 6:45… whoa, Nellie! Slow down!! I backed it off a bit and although my goal was 7:30s, decided to go for it and try 7:15s or so. After the first 3 miles I averaged about a 7 minute mile and was still feeling good. About this time, I passed my friend and realized that I was going to have to continue to keep pushing to come anywhere close to his time ;-) About another half mile and then the bike ride finally started to catch up with me. I felt fine aerobically and could keep the pace, but I started getting a twinge in my right quad. Uh-oh. Last year at Wildflower, I had to walk/stretch several times because of cramps. I thought I had taken care of that by using my salt tablets more, but here we go again… At the next aid station I took 2 salt tablets with some Gatorade and water. I had about 4 left at that point and figured I should use them! I felt OK, but I had to slow my pace especially on the hills, otherwise, I would get a cramp. Around mile 5, I finally decided that it was better to stop and stretch for a few seconds. It was one of those things where you stretch your quad and your hammy cramps. Then you stretch your hamstring and relax your quad, but then it cramps. A viscous cycle! Anyway, I pushed on, hoping the salt pills would help. I made it over the next couple of hills, but definitely had to slow down. My pace dropped to about 7:45s or 8 minute miles, still not bad, but not ideal. It was also starting to get hot. The clouds/fog had cleared and the sun was out. I made it to the winery, but continued to have some cramping issues, usually brought on by a hill. I was doing OK still, but frustrated that I felt good but had to slow down some. I probably could’ve pushed more if not for the cramps. By mile 8 I was down to 1 salt pill. I was approaching the next aid station and was having a debate with myself. Should I hold onto this last salt pill or take it now and hope the last 30 minutes goes OK?? I popped the top of my little canister of pills and grabbed a cup of coke at the station. I had the canister in one hand and the coke in the other and started to take a sip of the coke, but in my moment of indecision, I looked down and my last pill was gone!!! Doh!! Dumb mistake. Oh well, guess we’ll have to see how it goes. I plugged along trying to avoid cramps. At mile 9, I started realizing I actually had a shot at a sub-5 hour HIM, just had to real in those last miles in about 30 minutes. I started running with this 23 year old who would also slow down some on the hills. I noticed that I was feeling OK with no cramps. I guess my prior salt intake was helping. I got to the 10 mile mark and realized I had to do the last 5K in about 21 minutes to break 5 hours. I could do it and probably fairly easily when I was fresh, but did I have it in me now? My goal coming in was to beat my time from last year. I had shattered that time. I thought I might be capable of a 5:10, but in the back of my mind, thought I had an outside chance at 5 hours. I was close. I got just past the mile 11 point and had about 14 minutes for the last 2 miles. Then I crashed… just 2 miles short. I started feeling a lot worse, but was so close!! I tried to keep up the pace, but couldn’t quite muster it. I got back to the neighborhood and got to the last mile marker and realized I wasn’t quite going to make 5 hours. I got to the high school and made the turn into the finishing chute and there was my friend with his other college buddy. He told me what his time was as I ran by full of adrenalin (love the finish of these things!). I crossed the line and had just barely made my run goal of 1:40, which was about 3 and a half minutes faster than my run last year. Overall, I was about 24 minutes faster than last year!!!

Time: 1:39:24

Overall Time: 5:02:24

Post race

Overall, the race was great. I regrouped with my family at the finish and felt very happy; spent, but very happy. The last time I felt like this was at CIM ’05 when I qualified for Boston… so much emotion goes through you at the finish when you connect back with your family after such an experience. To beat your PR for the distance by 24 minutes is a great result. But I guess the curse of this hobby is that you’re always thinking about what’s next. I was one slight modification to my nutrition plan off of breaking 5 hours. Of course, the longer term goals are a bit loftier, but to get down to 5 hours at the HIM distance would be an excellent start. Now, instead of being a runner trying to bike and swim, I fell like I can ride my bike a bit and may actually be a “tri” – athlete now. I still have a lot of room for improvement, but I’ve made great strides this year. My goal was to get faster before tackling my next IM, and I’ve done that, at least at the Olympic and HIM distances. Now, I need to keep working on my biking and start to think about how the heck I’m going to turn myself into a swimmer.