IM FLA 2004
also see: full-sized pictures
Soul Coughing's "Silent Kit" is drumming through my brain: "Move upside, and let the man go through…Let the man go through". I have half a mile left in the race, and I'm so fired up. Not because I'm having a good day. Well that certainly helps, although it's secondary right now. This is the first big race that my son Ryan has been to and I told him to be ready near the finish line to run. "You gotta run real fast daddy, because ok!" He said to me before the race. "Are you going to run across the finish line with me bud?" I said to him. "Yah, I'm real fast," he said. He's still too young to comprehend the race, but for me, this was the highlight of the race. "Move up side and let the man go through". He and I love this song. How could you not? I'm coming down the finisher's chute now and I spot Ryan in his sprinter's starting position ready to roll. He grabs my hand and we cruise the last 200 meters together. I swear I had to pick up the pace to stay with him. When we crossed the line, a volunteer went to place the finishers medal around my neck. "What are you doing? That's his medal." Ryan seemed really proud, although, again he is still to young, but for some reason, it was really cool.
I felt like my taper was leaving me I good shape to race will Sunday. I had two concerns: The heat and humidity, and the fact that I hadn't raced since Hawaii 2002. I don't count Florida last year. This was our first trip to Disney. When we arrived, I soon realized that the race was on the back burner. I never imagined I'd like Disney World. I knew I'd enjoy watching Ryan enjoy Disney World, but I never thought I'd actually enjoy it. We spent all day Saturday, the day before the race, at the Magic Kingdom, and we had a blast. One thing I kept thinking about that day was the heat. It was hot and humid, and I couldn't help but re-encounter thoughts of St. Croix, and my trouble in the May heat there coming off our winter. I came up with the strategy to race conservatively throughout. I didn't want to blow up. I needed a good finish. Not a high placing, but a finish where I raced steadily and felt strong throughout.
I slept well Saturday night, and awoke at 4:30 am. I immediately ate 2 powerbars and a banana. I sipped a small glass of emergen-C, and then figured I should shave my legs. I hate shaving my legs. I don't know how most of you stay on top of this. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but its takes me at least a half-hour, and I finish with the bumps around my knees missing chunks of skin. What really makes me laugh is that I have had athletes who have missed certain short sessions in their weekly training, due to "time constraints" yet their legs are always perfectly shaved. Anyway, I jumped on my ride and pedaled the 2 miles to the race site nice and easy. My legs felt good and I knew I was on form.
The pro men went off 40 minutes before my wave. They got taken care of in this race. A very early start time and a transition area set-up right near where they exit the water. The age groupers had a ¼ mile run to their transition area. The 35 to 39 age group was the largest, and I was in the first wave of three for their age group alone. I lined up front and center for the no-wet suit swim, and I took the first 150 meters our fairly hard. I was in the top 5 of my wave, so I tucked in and baked off a bit. I felt smooth in the water, and the swim felt easy. I felt a few times as though I should go around and pick up the pace a bit, but I remained patient, sticking to my plan of racing conservatively in anticipation of the heat. Besides the many swimmers from the earlier waves and the tall grass and lake muck we had to maneuver through in the last ¼ mile, the swim was pretty uneventful.
I tore out of the water and ran quickly to the transition, grabbed my gear and jumped on my bike, anxious to push the pedals. "Two minute transition – sweet!" I remember thinking. Then I realized I left my race number belt in the transition area. "Shit!" I dismounted and ran back to grab it, costing me another 2 minutes. I remounted and set off at a steady, but fast effort. I was cruising, pushing my 55/11 for the first 15 miles of the course and absolutely blowing by many of the athletes from the waves that started ahead of me. I went back to my old cycling philosophy in training this winter and spring and I can tell that I was in good form. I have been using this philosophy with many of the athletes I coach this season. I believe it's the way to ride much faster in a time trial or triathlon. I kept a very steady cadence, and focused on feeling smooth and powerful. Early on in the bike, I smiled to myself. I was reacquainting myself with this feeling of strength in a race on the bike that I hadn't experienced since 2002. I felt really good. I knew right then that I was still competitive and that I'd finish well. Mid-way through the bike are some hills. These hills were a nice relief, and the wind was picking up a bit also. The heat was beginning to rise, and I upped my endurolyte intake to 4 per hour. I ate half of a malt-nut powerbar at the 15-mile mark, and the other ½ at the 40-mile mark. I was still passing packs of riders very decisively. These packs were re-god-damn-diculous! I came by 5 guys riding a pace line at the 40 mile mark. I went by them quickly and just shook my head in disgust. One of them was in my age group, the rest from the younger age groups. I could feel them jump on my wheel. At the 45-mile mark, they were still there. I turned and yelled "you gotta be f*&^in' kidding me!" At the 50-mile mark aid station, I sat up for a second to grab some water and the line behind me had to brake and swerve to avoid hitting me. Then, they waited fro me to resume my position at the front and set the pace again! I yelled a bunch of shit at them that didn't seem to matter, including "how do you ass holes live with yourselves?" I cannot believe how blatant they were and how they seemed to have no remorse in cheating. I know I've discussed this in other journals, so I hate to be redundant, but I just really don't get it. I did feel great about my ride though. The bike course was interesting. I thought it would be flat as a pancake, Eaglemansque course, but it was far from that. It had some technical corners early on, some rolling hills to mix it up, and two sections of road that were crushed stone that went on for many miles. I dismounted my Cannondale, which served me very well this day.
I grabbed 6 packets of hammer gel in the transition area and began the hot, humid run. A mile in, I ditched all the gel packets at an aid station. I love the stuff, but couldn't stomach the thought of downing orange flavored gel in the 90-degree heat. It was coke, water, and endurolytes for the ½ marathon nutrition! Three of the drafting bastards took off in that first mile quickly. I was running next to another guy, and, although I'm not usually talkative during a race, I struck up a conversation. "Let those guys go, they'll be back. It's way hot, and they are going to pay, trust me. Did you see them drafting during the ride? People will do anything to qualify I guess. Just stay steady, get in some fluids, and we'll reel em' back in." I said. "Mi no habla Englais" was his reply.
I felt as though I was running a bit too conservative, but remained patient. At the three- mile mark, I went by one of them. At the four- mile mark, I passed another, plus my Mexican buddy fell off pace. He started hurling all over himself, poor gringo. Five miles in, I caught the guy in my age group who was drafting. Chris Peeters, from Colorado, cam flying by me at about the three-mile mark. He was motoring, and looked strong. Chris is an awesome competitor. He and I have raced well against each other in the past, but it was clear that he was going to kick my ass this day. He was getting ready for IM Austria is a few weeks and wanted to test his fitness. He took the top amateur spot and won my age group. I kept it steady, but didn't feel great, through the hot twisty, challenging run. It followed a golf cart path for much of it, up some short steep hills and with lots of twists and turns. Then, at the 12-mile mark, you run on the beach in the sand for a while. I liked this. It made the course interesting. Besides Chris and one other guy who was nabbed for 12 minutes worth of penalties, no one else passed me on the run. Not one person passed me on the bike either. I wasn't happy with my run however. I finished the race feeling like I didn't leave enough out on the course, but maybe that was good on this hot and humid day.
I qualified for Hawaii. I like racing these half Ironmans. You can do a longer race, yet still have a life. I have qualified for Hawaii at seven different half IM's. I try and choose a different one to go to each year, to experience a different venue, and different area. It's been a fun way to travel and see some areas of the country I may otherwise never go see. I mean you wouldn't plan a family vacation to Lubbock, Texas. I took the Hawaii slot, although I still don't know if I'll race there yet. Everyone keeps telling me "yeah right – of course you'll race", but I honestly don't know yet. I have experienced Hawaii before and it is an awesome experience. I don't need to just go and race there for the experience. I know I can do that race. So my motivation would be to train to where I am capable of doing something special, in my eyes. If I don't feel good about the time and commitment I'll need to put into training, then it will be a useless quest. I figured I'd wait until August and see where my motivation was at before deciding, but I've been thinking about it every day, so I'll more than likely make a decision sooner than later.
It felt really good to get the season started with a good race, and I'm fired up to race some more. I think coming off my Connecticut camp helped me at this race. It was such a great group and a fun time, I'm still carrying energy from there with me. I have my Cleveland camp next week, where I'll get a recharge. Maybe, if I choose to race Hawaii, I should set up a camp a week or two out!
The best thing I took away from this race experience was running across the finish line with Ryan. I can't place a finger on exactly why. He'll remember it slightly, but I'll really remember it. All that I know is that it put a huge smile on my face.
Thanks for reading and for everyone's support. I received a lot of nice calls and e-mails upon my arrival home from Florida, and it's nice to know that people were thinking of me and wishing me a good one.
Cheers,
EH
