The Murphy's Law Half Marathon Race Report

"Everything that can go wrong, will"

The Denver Marathon and Half Marathon started this morning at 7 am. I awoke at 7:38. FRAK!

So, what were my options? I wasn't going to make it to the race, it had started and they would have closed the course before I finished. not doing the race at all was an option, but not one I liked too much. While I hadn't been too enthused about this race, I had started my season with a half and finishing it with one made sense. My final option was to do my own Half and that was what I decided to go with.

I grabbed a quick breakfast, as I normally would on race day, prepped a pair of bottles of sports drink and sat down to figure out my route (and let my breakfast settle and digest a bit). About an hour later I headed out with some sport beans in my jersey pocket and a pair of drink bottles. I decided to run along the creek since it provided consistent access to water. I had the bottles of gatorade, but I didn't want to rely totally on them.

I tucked one of the bottles away, warmed up a bit then headed up the creek with one of the bottles. After a mile, I took a swig, hid it away and headed on my way. At the two mile mark, I turned around and headed down the creek. When I got close to my bottle, I did a gut check to see if I needed anything, I didn't, so i kept going. When I got back to my starting point, I picked up the other bottle and dropped it off a mile later, so I wouldn't have to go more than 2 miles without access to a drink (plus having access to the water fountains).

Going into the 'race' my plan had been to start off running by effort, see how I felt and if I felt good enough, shoot for my PR from the Flying Pig. I decided to to stick to this strategy and I felt really good starting out.

Murphy's Law struck around Mile 5 though with a case of "I need to make a pitstop... NOW" unfortunately, I had to wait another two miles and the discomfort certainly slowed me down. Then the pitstop itself slowed me down even further. I got back on the road but two miles later... Take Two! Fortunately I was back in the neighborhood of the public toilets.

I'd had a lot of wind knocked out of my sails but powered on and felt pretty good up until mile 11. I started to feel a loss of intensity and enthusiasm that I partly attributed to fatigue but more to the absence of other racers and any kind of crowd, that energy and competitiveness can do a lot to keep spirits up and relieve the boredom, I definitely missed it today.

I managed to finish my Half in 1:59:56, a disappointing time in some respects, although I wouldn't normally expect to make two long pitstops so it's not too bad in that espect.

Once I had finished, I took a few minutes to sit in Boulder Creek (not next to... IN) for my 'ice bath' then walked a block home. There was no medal, no festivities and my postrace food was some chocolate milk and a trip to Chipotle. I think I made the best of the situation, but I still wish I had made it to the race on time.

Oktoberfest Sprint Triathlon

After the Long Course, once I realized I wasn't going to be able to do the Mayflower Triathlon (more about that in my next post), Mark asked me "What next?"
What next was the Oktoberfest Sprint Triathlon in Longmont, CO. This was a new race and also my first sprint distance.
I got to Union Reservoir just before 7 and quickly got set up. There were no row assignments, it was essentially a free for all, but there seemed to be plenty of space so there were no problems. It was pretty cold so I lingered in transition as long as I could with clothes and a windbreaker on before pulling on my wetsuit and padding across the chilly pavement to the start.
The race was a little late in starting, but that's pretty much the only complaint that could be made about the organization of the whole day, and a very minor one at that.

The Swim - 750m
The water was a very comfortable temperature when we started. The sun was off to our right and was never a problem. In fact, I probably did better sighting in this race than I have in any other, including the Stroke n Strides, and I hope it's a good sign for the future.
I was wary of going too hard on the swim, I basically have three speeds in the water. Too easy, Normal and Too Hard. i tried to stick to 'Normal' for most of the race, and pushed it a bit harder in the final stretch. If I hadn't had to do a bike and run afterwards I could have pushed it further. but, of course, I did.
Time - 15:49 (official time 15:49, my actual swim time, 15:11, was from the sound of the horn to my actual exit from the water.)

T1
I had a little trouble getting my wetsuit off, but generally an uneventful transition. Only 16 men had faster T1's. This is definitely one area I don't need practice. Too bad it doesn't count for much :)
Time - 1:31

The Bike - 12.4 miles
The bike is essentially 3 loops of 4 miles each. The road was closed (my first race on a closed course) and this made for a much more comfortable race. The first loops I spent basically warming up (it was still cold), getting to know the course and trying to catch my breath. Apparently I HAD gone a little too hard on the swim. The second and third laps were much better and starting the third lap, I pushed it a good bit harder, quickly dropping another guy from my age group that I had been going back and forth with for most of the first two laps.
I felt really good leading up to the end of the bike course. Then I did something stupid.
When riding on my commuter bike, I often would do a rolling dismount. I never do this on my tri-bike because I have a Bento Box that gets in the way. Since this was just a sprint I decided not to bring the Bento Box. Coming down the road it occurred to me that I could do a rolling dismount from my bike. I got unclipped and got my leg over without problem. Once I hit the ground though I stumbled a bit, squeezed my hand... right on my brake lever, stopping it short and sending me and the bike flying.
I hit the ground rolling and popped up quickly enough that I wondered if I had hit the ground at all. Unfortunately I had and the people around gasped, asking if I was ok. I was, but was definitely embarrassed. I picked up my bike and headed into transition.

T2
I took T2 much easier as I was definitely shaken up from the header and didn't want to forget anything or do anything stupid in transition. I made sure everything was working and nothing was broken. i had some gravel burn on my hand and raspberries on the back of my shoulder and forearm, but nothing serious.
Time - 2:29

The Run - 3.1 miles
Once I got settled and knew I wasn't missing or forgetting anything, I headed out on the run. I was feeling good (aside from the injuries) but again, wasn't sure how hard I should go out. I had Mr Bleep Bleep with me (again) and settled into what felt like a maintainable pace. The course starts fairly flat as it goes around the edge of the Res, before doing a longish climb up to the first mile marker. There's then a subtle downhill to the turnaround, then back the same way.
The climb felt pretty slow and after the turnaround the more subtle uphill felt even slower.
I still managed to make decent time though and hold a solid pace any time I checked my watch.
Time - 26:41

Wrapup
My total time was 1:26:16. I definitely feel like I could have done better if I'd backed off a little on the end of the swim and not gotten stupid on my bike dismount, but not by a whole lot.
After the finish there was free pasta and beer, which was nice. I also ran into Jen Martinez, a BTCer who i hadn't seen since last year. I only saw two BTCers during the race, but I didn't know either of them, I picked them out only because they had the BTC gear on.

All told it was a very enjoyable race and probably just what I needed. After the Long Course, I got sick just as I was starting to get past being worn out from the race. Then, just as I was starting to feel better and starting to feel excited about training again I went away for my brother's bachelor party. I did very little training during the 6 days I was away for that
nd the race really kicked me into gear I think. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's workout.

Workouts and Race Schedule

Tuesday's workouts were great. Once again, I made a conscious effort to pay attention to how I felt during each workout.
During the run I had no recurrence of the side stitch that popped up during the same run last week. I spent some time talking to myself during the run in a way of trying to gauge my effort level, but since this isn't something I do frequently I don't have anything to judge it against. I can only say I wouldn't have had much trouble keeping up a conversation. I tried singing to myself (very quietly since I was in the gym) as well but that wasn't too successful. Then again, I don't think I've ever had an instance where I tried singing that could be called successful.
I lost track of time during the fourth repeat and went two minutes over the 5 minute set without blinking an eye. I felt pretty good when it was over and I think I probably would have been able to repeat the workout right away.
According to my HR monitor (which I finally found in the very bottom of my gym bag, underneath the board that keeps the bag stiff) I was peaking at about 162 during the intervals and bottoming out at 146 during the recovery periods but mostly holding at around 155bpm. I was again holding a solid 8'10" pace so I'm pretty pleased.
I did some light upper body weight work after the run since I had the day off from swimming. Enough to feel the difference in the strengths of my right and left shoulders but not labour my left too much.
The bike ride was 80 minutes with 10 sets of 3'00" @ 130w and 3'00" @ 185+w and was also pretty good. I did the bike ride in the early evening and went out with friends almost immediately afterwards, spending a pretty fair amount of time on my feet without giving it any thought.
No noticeable aches or pains the next day and I got Wednesday's workouts done without giving Tuesday a second thought.
I feel like the Oliver Twist of triathlon... Please sir, can I have some more?

I've finally, officially, registered for my races. I'm signed up for...
8/10/08 - 5430 Long Course Triathlon in Boulder - I did this race last year in 7:21:50 and I'm looking forward to taking a BIG chunk of time off that precedent, at least getting below 7 hours and shooting for closer to 6:30. I know this is possible because last time I raced foolishly. This time I will race smart, I will train smart and I will kick butt.
8/30/08 - The Mayflower Triathlon in my hometown (and "America's Hometown" as it's sometimes known) of Plymouth, MA - This is only 3 weeks after the long course, but I'm doing it as a much more casual event. It's an international distance race and I chose this race largely so that my family could see me do a race.
July/August - 6 pack of Stroke and Strides at the Boulder Reservoir - I love these events, they're a lot of fun.