Race Summary:
I raced hard, enjoyed the weekend and spent quality time with friends - plus I had a chance to race alongside quite a few of my coaching clients (I’m proud of all of you!). Special thanks to Race Director Greg Hawkins and the rest of the Setupevents staff for creating an excellent race weekend experience!
Results: Fourth overall in the 1/2 Ironman on Saturday and 8th overall in the sprint on Sunday.
Caption: Me before the start of the swim. Photo by Dan Hicok.
What went right?
I was happy with my run for both races. I’m fairly positive I negative split the 1/2 marathon during the Kinetic Half and ran the fastest split of the day. Given a few more miles, I would have run the three guys in front of me down. I held the same HR and similar pace that I held for Disney 1/2 Marathon and Marathon - right below LTHR. For the sprint, I ran miles 2 and 3 in under a 6 min / mile per mile (5:47 for mile 2 and probably close to 5:30 for the last mile). I had the 4th fastest run of the day in spite of racing a Half Iron race the day before.
Caption: Me on the bike. Photo by Dan Hicok.
What went wrong?
My wetsuit zipper opened up on me during the 1/2 IM swim forcing me to swim about 600 meters in 53 F (12 C) water with my wetsuit wide open in the backlike a sail. I was slightly hypothermic exiting the water - very, very slow transition - and I thought I might swerve off the road a few times and could barely keep my eyes open. I believe this cost me at least 2 minutes (1 minute in water and 1 minute in transition). I still do not understand why it happened - I have subsequently done 2 long open water swims in this wetsuit with no issues whatsoever. Strange!
My “bike legs” were flat on both days. I was caught and dropped several times during the race as I could not seem to generate enough power nor to get / keep my heart rate very high.
I made some errors - I left my gel flask in the TA during the bike and didn’t even bother to bring along endurolytes for bike or run not thinking it would get as warm as it did - it became very hot after a cold morning. I essentially took in only 200 calories of sports drink on the bike plus a swig of a friend’s gel. I estimate that I need roughly 300-350 calories per hour so I was running a 400+ calorie intake deficit at the start of the run.
Caption: Me on the Run. Photo by Dan Hicok.
My objective assessment:
This race was “check in” for my “A” race of the year - the Quelle Challenge in Roth, Germany. When I was speaking with my friend Brady DeHoust about our respective half iron races afterwards, he asked a powerful question: “Do you want to be in peak shape in April?” I thought about his question for a second then answered, “No, I don’t.”
My assessment is that my swim and run are where they need to be but my ability to generate substantial and sustained power on the bike needs improvement.
As an immediate action, I had Melissa Dalio of EnduraCoaching check my bike fit the Monday after the race (I have a brand new bike - QR Lucero - that I’ve only ridden for a few weeks which I self-adjusted). We moved my seat back (moving my knees back a little - having my knees too far forward might have been what was causing me left knee pain) and slide my aero bars back as well. Subsequent rides have felt like I am in a more powerful position than at Kinetic.
Bottom line: My goal for Roth is to go sub 8:30. In my honest self-assessment, I still think this is reasonable and attainable although a huge “stretch” goal as I am effectively saying that I will race a full Ironman distance faster than twice the time of the Half Iron I just raced. Hey, what the heck. If I want it bad enough; if I’m willing to work hard enough; and if I dig deep enough on race day, it will happen. I believe and that is good enough for me.
With eight weeks to go to Roth, time to focus and get more serious. 
Cheers,
David
—-
David B. Glover
Experiential Writer, Elite Athlete, Coach and Race Director
Author of Full Time and Sub-Nine
Personal Web: www.davidglover.net
Business Web: www.enduranceworks.net
©2007 David B. Glover
