Finding Nemo...Mountain Man Race Report

I am going to try and make this race report entertaining versus my usual nuts and bolts report....let's see if I have the writing prowess to pull it off!  I most likely will fail, and this will also be a pretty long post, so I apologize in advance for wasting some of your time reading this (but if you are reading this, you must be bored anyways ;-)  I'll put my nutrition stuff at the bottom FYI...And the title to this race report...I'm sure you get it after reading this...

So first off---Flagstaff...why has it taken me almost 10 years to spend some time up there?  It is amazing country...reminds me of Tahoe/Shasta...we really enjoyed our time up there, and found ourselves not wanting to leave!  We took the 17 on the way up, but took the backroads through Pine/Strawberry/Payson on the way home (pictures on the left were taken on the road home at 70 mph...)...Arizona is such a beautiful state, yet most people think it is just desert...oddly, I think the Coconino Forest is one of the the largest in the US.  We stayed in Continental Country Club, which is the perfect vacation spot up there, and was convenient and beautiful!

We got into town midday on friday...the sky was full of those huge fluffy thunderstorm clouds, it was 80 degrees, and it is green everywhere!  From brown to green in 2.5 hours! Mt Humphery stares you in the face just tempting you to climb it.  We settled into our perfect home away from home, waiting hours on end for Jennys family to arrive (stuck in traffic due to roadside fires...felt so horrible for them).  Our clan for the weekend ended up being me, Jenny, Sophia, Jenny's parents, two nieces, and a nephew (Hallie, Elaina, Alex).  We tooled around on Saturday, made our way to Mormon Lake Lodge (don't recommend it!!!), back through race registration, and back to the cabin.  Got the race gear ready...had a great time at the Swet Mansion for the ONE pre-race pasta feed, and turned in for the night...I was feeling okay, but was still a bit worried about the elevation---(my 20 minute run on saturday saw my HR max out running 8 minute mile pace, but it did settle in after 3 minutes).

Sunday morning 3:30am:  woke up feeling ready to race!  Chris once again set me up well for race day..something I never take for granted.  With all the IM training, I have been in a fog, trudging the miles out at some less than fast pace as the days accumulate, but today I was feeling ready!   I was a bit deficient on sleep the past two nights--Sophia managed to kick me out of the bed both nights...I was on the couch.  I was way ahead of schedule, goodbye kisses handed out, left the house early, got to transition early, grabbed position "A" literally 3 yards from the bike mount line...good day so far.    Headed off to the swim start...still no issues!  2 porta potty trips as well, FYI...all was "moving along."

I'll throw in some things about this race here:  first time out on the new bike, trying a new nutrition plan (super bottle...), otherwise, I wasn't messing with much.  With my mind totally focused on IM racing (well, that is all I study these days), it is hard for me to break out of that mode.    Race strategy, prep, nutrition...basically name it, and I have my "IM" answer for it (because I am such a veteran with 1 IM under the belt ;-).  But the same is not true for 70.3...it might as well be a tennis match that I'm preparing for versus an IM in my mind.

So before I dig myself into a hole here (like I don't do that in most of my posts), just now (if you don't already...) that I expect A LOT from myself---it's not arrogance, it's what I know I can do versus what I actually do!  I'm calling myself out (half the reason I do this blog...) to stay on edge, avoid plateau, and see ultimately what I am capable of.  A lot of what ends up in here becomes the "thoughts" I digest during training or especially during races.  I am human, and execution is all that matters---if we were robots, we'd all be Chrissie!  So here goes the report...

Swim:  30:01  First out of the water...awesome!!!  Fastest time since 2008 at Mtn Man 70.3 (you know I looked it up ;-)

Goal from Chris:  swim hard, uncomfortably hard
My grade:  B+ (didn't follow the uncomfortable part!!!)

So I got to the swim start, did a couple "pick ups" to test the elevation factor, and I felt like I was at sea level--GREAT!  The goal was to push the swim hard.  Feeling fast, I took the "front and center" spot---I thought: "there must be a lot of "unsure" swimmers in the race as no one is crowding me, front and center!"  Countdown...no looking back!  I swam comfortable, good form, and waited for fingers to hit my feet...nothing.  I was a bit worried about the course as this was my first time here, and literally was asking questions on the ramp pre-race.  I hit the first buoy, made the turn, and just settled in to a nice comfortable, sustainable pace and worked on just keeping a nice fluid stroke, good position, and comfortable breathing.  I was just waiting for the altitude to hit and stop me dead in the water...nope!  So.... imagine swimming, not having anyone next to you or near you, not really knowing the course, and not really able to see the buoys in the low laying fog...that was me...but it was well worth the "problem," have total control over my race, and will be set up to make decisions as things happened (sounds good on paper, right?).  This is exactly how Chris races, and I was pulling it off!  BUT, I was not prepared for this...  After a few slight panic moments of being off course until I sighted the Orange Turn Buoy (no lead boat/kayak/paddleboard), I decided that I was accept the pace and effort...it was a moderate effort and ended up being the easiest part of the day by a long shot...why can't the bike and run be the same?  And to think I used to dread the swim too!  Even now I am wondering why it felt so easy ;-)  All in all, I didn't follow Chris' plan---hard to not be happy, but I should have "gone for it" a bit more looking back....(never happy, I am ;-).

Dropping a side note on swimming in general, between SBR workouts, I think I'm able to follow my swim workouts to a "T," you simply jump in the pool and do your workout, there's really not a lot of factors to mess with, and it really shows me today that if I simply "follow and trust the plan" the rest will follow suit.  Kudos to Chris again...he's taken this ordinary couch potato to the head of the swim---no more thinking "it is what it is..."  It's it soo obvious that if I just "stick to the plan" (Leishia!) with the bike and run, I will get to that place I can only dream of---suffer as I may, Chris has been spot on---I follow the Church of Chris!!

Bike:  2:27:45  4th Fastest Bike (timing issue says some guy did a 1:34 ;-)

Goal for the bike from Chris: Z3 watts, never compromise

My grade:  B (push, and destroy!!)

I don't know quite how to say this, but being in this position is DAUNTING!  I loved it, but the pressure!!  And again, I was unprepared with this racing style, and was pulling from Chris' Race Report from Oceanside.  I was jumping on the new ride as the 2nd place guy was reaching his bike.  Not only was this my first race on the Storck, but also my first race using Power as my "speedometer" (SRM file above).   This bike course is spectacular;  beautiful,challenging, NOT boring, never flat.  The roads were in decent condition other than a stretch where it seemed like there was a large crack in the road ever 20 yards or so for 5 miles (after the turn onto the Mormon Lake Loop...no road closures either for this one).  I tried my best to not look back, and only glanced when there was a sharp turn---again, totally unfamiliar position to be in; fun, but terrifying.  I was just thinking---I don't want to leave T1 in first and hit T2 10 minutes down!!   Drawing from Chris again, my goal became to get nutrition/hydration going to prepare for some big work to come when I "get caught."  Sounds EZ on paper again, but I was panting like a dog on a hot AZ summer day (Tucker!), and my power was the top of Z3, but HR was 140+ (Z4), which made eating difficult if not impossible---but I felt great, and I didn't want to drop wattage quite yet as the high HR post swim is....obvious!  Cruising, I hit the turnoff around Mormon Lake....no body in sight, made the right turn back onto Lake Mary Rd for the 5 mile out and back, still nobody.  Why and I terrified and unsure of myself when I am in 1st??!!  As I reached the turnaround where I new I would finally get a look, here comes Kenny (aka my "training partner" who makes me feel like a kid on a tricycle on our rides....).  He blows by me like I knew he would--stealth in all black, from bike to helmet---he posted a 2:09 doing a relay...ouch....amazing talent!  Watch out for him in Hawaii BTW...he will set a record for passing the most people on the bike, probably posting something in the 4:30 range (I said it first!).  Okay, so back to this race: I hit the turnaround and get a good look at who and where everyone is---an awesome feature to this race when you are about 25 miles in that you get a good look, other than this 5 mile stretch, you are on your own.   I'm holding about a 60 second lead still, notice some tandem riding (what else is new...geez THAT is getting old---where the heck are the USAT Officials????)   By this point, my confidence in the bike was building as no one had caught me, but i STILL had some demons to deal with.  I was still holding my watts, but food was not going down like I expected it and it was becoming my number one concern---I don't know too much about altitude and heart rate, but I was riding in zone 3 and HR was in zone 4 (although I go only by the W!) STILL.  My gut issues were starting here, and they stayed with me....the rest of the race.  With me, I had a "super bottle" of 700 calories, a package of Honey Stinger Chews, and a Pro Bar.  No way the solid food Pro Bar option was going to work (duh, that's for IM...my body would go on full revolt at this higher intensity!).  Tiny mistake was thinking that would work, bigger mistake would have been to actually eat it!  I again had to go against the plan a bit to get the nutrition in...I dialed back the wattage to get my heart rate to follow because I was really starting to worry about "feeding the run."  It seemed to work.  My plan to be well nourished when someone caught me, like I said above---well, could have been executed a bit better as well (next time:  take the "when" out of that last sentence--- push dammit!  No one is gonna catch you!  ;-)  I came back down Lake Mary Rd, hung the left to start the second loop, and Ryan McGuigan (Trisports Stud, Kona 2010 9:48) catches me---kind of felt relief at this point, but HTFU!!!  I was telling myself I WANTED someone to catch me...WHY??  The nutrition deal was overriding everything, so it was a mood point, BUT where's the aggression???  I was a sheep in wolves clothing.  Back to the racing...again!  So Ryan passes me, but doesn't lay down a solid effort..and I hang with him for the entire Mormon Lake Rd portion.  I was happy to have some company...I was telling myself.  Things changed when we hit the fire station climb...I let him go as he got out of the saddle, and I stayed seated--thinking again that conservation was the best option (HTFU again...).  So I "let" him go, but he was moving well all the same. BTW, they placed to only aid station on the bike at the bottom of a sweeping left hand downhill turn---I just LOVE hitting the brakes at 40 mph to slow to 20 to get a bottle of water from a guy who was looking away---I am lucky to have made it through there alive!  I was feeling okay about my nutrition at this point, but still needed to get close to 1000 calories in on the bike, and I was feeling less than fully fueled.  I knew the ride back down Lake Mary Rd was fast and tended to be downhill, so I forced down the calories, getting in about 800 total by transition...good, but not great.  I new I would need more, and fast.  Aside from the mind meltdowns, I kept it somewhat together to finish off the bike.  All in all, and looking back, I was somewhat happy with the bike considering what I was feeling (see pre-race report), need to make some bike adjustments (new crank and new aero bars coming...), but I am basing my happiness on my time versus others times---I left some efforts out there for sure, and i should be comparing how I performed versus what I know I can do---again, never happy!  Still though, (broken record..) getting calories in was the number one goal, and I was barely (meaning: not really) successful with that while on the bike.

Run:  1:41:47 10th fastest run...not that it matters...

My grade:  D, but most of that goes to mental strength and nutrition

Garmin Data Link Here

Off the bike I was feeling good, if not great, like I hadn't even been on the bike...I was sure that I didn't kill the bike (after reading the above, of course!!).  So I am thinking...I GOT THIS!  And boy, was I wrong...  At least the bike demon thoughts were gone, I was running sub 6:30 pace, HR  acceptable, and it felt very sustainable for 13.1 miles.  I had Ryan getting larger and larger on the road in front of me and we took the right hand turn to go up the race directors idea of a cruel joke:  322 ft of climbing in 1.1 miles (from 6843' to 7185')....seriously?!!  I didn't know the race course at all, so not knowing where the climb ended was impossible to gauge...so I kept the gap to Ryan constant to base my effort off of his.  We finally hit the top, and I was still feeling good, but the cramps were coming...  On the downhill I ended up catching Ryan, but elected not to push on---again, why not??  Push through the pain---baaaah (sheep!).  Backtracking a bit, I carried a gel flask out of T2, only to throw it away at the base of the hill---biggest mistake of the day.  I was also carrying a fuel belt flask, for no apparent reason (another mistake!)  Why carry 8 oz of liquid???   So, if you can't tell, this is where the nutrition problems appear, and they haunted me the rest of the way.  Water was not gonna cut it, and I soon realized that HEED products not only were the only on-course aid, but I also found that they DO NOT work in my stomach.   Mr. Steve Fuller was going to be very unhappy that his "buffet tables" at this race were reduced to water and HEED products----I was unhappy!!!  I threw the flask of First Endurance Gel early on in the run because I thought I could rely on the race supplied aid as I have done without fail to this point (40+ triathlons) on the run...and they had gatorade at the only aid station on the bike, so I thought I was good.   So Ryan and I run about a mile together--great guy, we chatted a bit, but my stomach/gut had what felt like pop rocks exploding inside.  It was manageable, but when I drank the HEED product, I was doubled over in pain 100 yards after doing so...ditto with the gel product.  No coke, nothing but this HEED stuff---I am screwed.  I had to back off from running with Ryan, and slowly watched him open up a lead...10 yards at mile 6, 20 yards at mile 7, 100 yards at the turn...I even thought of hitting up the Lake Mary Store at the turnaround for a coke..it was that bad.  I was still holding 2nd place, but that changed at mile 8.7...Dan Springborn went by as I tried to get down a HEED gel unsuccessfully (so pissed just writing this!!).  I had already thrown my "game over" card...ugh!!  I managed to get back to running, but it was a casual run (mid 7 pace)---HR 139  was good, HR 141 was death...so 139 it was going to be.   Along goes Brian Folts, then goes James Harrington...it was cool, but really not so cool to see us all lined up along Lake Mary Rd...at least it was a very formidable bunch in front of me--I was proud to share the course with them and many of my great ONE friends, but this was just not the day for me.  I pulled into the finish 5th, and must have looked like a disaster.    The better, stronger athletes beat me today, and I have some work to do.  I will get that elusive "W" one of these days...hopefully all good things come to those who suffer!

Post race, I am sitting here Monday afternoon...legs feel good but a little tight, otherwise I feel great.  Looking back, it would have been really hard to be "up" for this race---I always look at the race as a celebration of the training that goes in to preparing for it, and with everything focused on Kona, this was meant to be a test...I am taking  A LOT of info from this race to get me ready for October 8th, and Chris has already put in this weeks log....3 hr ride/45 minute hard run on friday, 5 hour ride with intervals in Z3 for saturday, then a 2 hour run on sunday.  I told myself in my "pre race report" that I would go to the well in this race if it meant podium or better...I am such a liar on that one...ok, enough self pity...bring on the BIG TUNA!


Nutrition:

Race Nutrition grade:  D, if not an F!--I am my own worst enemy!

Pre Race Dinner:
Lots of greens, whole wheat pasta, red sauce (thanks Swet and Mama Swet!!), then some rice, lots of water...

Breakfast:  3 servings of Three Sisters Oatmeal (Plain Grain) 450 cals, 90 g carbs
                  1 scoop of Ultragen
                  1 cup of Almond Milk
                  1 Pop Tart (I know!  hard to believe!  I'm trying to eat unhealthy foods, what can I say!)
                  My normal supplements:  Multi V, Optygen HP, Vitamin B12, CoQ10 (big doses leading to a race day!), Vitamin C
               
Pre Race:  24oz Bottle of EFS (2 scoops)
                 2 bites of a Clif Bar (I was topped off!)

20 minutes before the gun:   8 oz of water with a bit of EFS (for taste), 1 scoop of Pre Race

Bike:  "Superbottle"...5oz of EFS Liquid Shot (one shot bottle) (400 cals) + 1 serving of Vitargo (280 cals)
          1 packet of Honey Stinger Chomps (160 cals)
          40 oz of water

Run:  Well, you read the disaster above, but what I SHOULD have done is hold onto my EFS Liquid Shot (400 cals) and that would have done the trick..arg!!  AND, First Endurance products NEVER fail me---I have learned my lesson....NEVER leave your wingman (well, wing gu in this case!)

After:  about 4 oranges, 2 scoops of Ultragen, one coke, veggie burger with all the fix ins, pro bar, 3 vita cocos, ...soo much more, but I can't list it all here!