My Ocean Shores Half Iron Distance 2013 race report

Before I start, I want to say Great Job to Tri-Freaks.  They were able to bring the Ocean Shores community together and provide a great event for people from across the Country.  It was a great weekend and definitely something that will be in my memory for a long time.  The Ocean Shores community is awesome.  They appreciate this race because it brings so much money into the city and they appreciate the racers because of what it means to be part of it.

Each year the race gets better and better and it is because of all of the support that goes with it.  The racers appreciate the community because there is great volunteer support and the businesses/hotels/beach make it an area that provides an excellent vacation for the family.

The course had more than adequate aid stations and porta-potties, and the support was amazing.

We had an amazing time on the beach and in town the entire time we were there.  Well done, Tri-Freaks and Ocean Shores!

                                          (A sign that my daughter made for me)

                                         (A sign my son made for me)

                                            

"How'd it go?"

-It went great.  I worked really hard and much of my training was guess-work.  I feel that I did a great job because there was no point in the race that caught me off-guard.  Any time something would happen, I had already dealt with it in my training and knew how to handle it.  Places that I knew I was strong, I was strong.  Places where I knew I was weak, I was weak.  The race went essentially to how I predicted it would go. I was prepared just enough to finish well while not over training or putting too much burden on my family in the process.

-I knew that I am a Front-of-pack swimmer, back-of-pack cyclist, and I pick up time on the run to finish middle-of-pack.  That is exactly what happened.

"Did you do as well as you wanted?"

-Not necessarily, but I did as well as the course would allow me.  I would have liked a bit faster of a time, however there is nothing that I really could have changed to make it happen that way.  This was also my first race at this distance, and I can tell there are things I need to learn to be truly successful.  But ultimately, there is nothing that hindsight could have ultimately changed.  It was a great day and I have the sun burn and tan lines to prove it.

"How did you place?" 

(For more details, see further below.)

• Total Time= 5:54:48.  I finished in 36th out of 75.
• Swim= 35:42.  7th out of 75.  
• Bike= 3:10:26.  42nd out of 75.
• Run= 2:03:10.  37th out of 75.

The Results are located here:

http://www.accustatsportstiming.com/results3.asp?ei=167

"Give up the Details!"

The Course

I love this course because it is VERY spectator friendly.  You can drive to ANY part of the course and park and cheer people on.  It is also a very flat course with great roads.

The neighboring businesses (The Ramada especially) did a phenomenal job of supporting the athletes.  Ocean Shores is such a great community and there were several times that I would pass people that were sitting in their yards cheering on all of the athletes.

This race is one of those races that is completely under-rated.  It has had it's issues at the very beginning, but at this point it was a legitimately great course.  I was very happy to have it as my first Half Iron race.

The Day Before

We arrived in Ocean Shores a few days before the race.  This was to acclimatize to the weather and have a little family time.  Race days are generally hard on the kids.  We have to wake them up early and drag them around town and encourage the athletes.  Since my wife was doing a Half Marathon the day after the Half Iron race, we knew that we had to give the kids a lot of good attention in the days prior.

Ocean Shores is an interesting place because it is usually 10-15 degrees cooler than anywhere else, but when the sun is out it feels just as warm...and the sun is intense.  

The Day before the race was registration.  My wife and I are pretty good friends with the company and offer our assistance when we can.  We are very familiar with the race route so we feel like we should be able to help the people out when the Race Directors are busy with other things.  

My wife helped out with handing out the packets.  I drove the course, ate my pre-race dinner, and provided people with informal course information when they needed help.  The website went down so many people couldn't get maps.  There are a lot of nervous people the night before the race so it is very important to give them the information they need while making them feel comfortable about what they are doing.  We are all family in a way and need to treat each other that way.

I helped a bit with the Course Overview presentation by adding "inside" information about how to handle the wind, the roads, etc.

We wrapped up at 8:30 and headed to where we were staying.  I ate my last meal about 9:30PM and then tried to get some sleep.  That didn't work.  I felt like an 8-year old on Christmas eve.  Just barely able to drift off to sleep for short spurts.

Race Morning

I woke up at 5:30.  I got dressed, ate some oatmeal, and filled up my 3 bike bottles for the ride.  I rode my bike from where we were staying to the Transition area.  I usually like this ride because it is silent, the sun is about to rise, and it gives me time to think things over.  It is about 3 miles so it takes just short of 15 minutes at a very relaxed ride pace.

I got to the transition area.  There is nothing quite like seeing a transition area prior to the athletes getting there and as the sun begins rising.

I pulled in to the race zone and got my numbers for my bike and began setting up my spot just next to the "Bike Out" area.

I then went down to the lake to check out the swim course:

Yes.  It is near impossible to see the turnaround buoy for the Half Iron Swim.  That is expected.  It is very daunting to actually look at prior to the race, but it is something we train for.

I did the things that I needed to do and put on my wetsuit.  I wasn't nervous...but I definately wasn't "feeling it" before the race.  I kept asking myself, "why are you doing this.  Just pack up and head back."  I knew that was foolish talking...but it was still very real in my head.

The Swim: 1.2 miles

The Swim is on Duck Lake.  Many people don't realize the amount of lakes and canals that Ocean Shores has.  Even though it is on a Peninsula surrounded by Salt Water, the city made the are beautiful by creating canals and lakes.

Here is an image outlining all of the fresh water lakes and canals in Ocean Shores:

Ok.  The Swim.  TriFreaks does "Self Seeded Wave Starts".  Depending on the amount of people, they will do a number of swim waves (2-3).  The Fast, competitive people can take the first wave, the slower people can do the second wave.  It cuts down on congestion and allows the swimmers to go at their own pace.

Since this was my first Half Iron, I didn't know how comfortably I would swim.  For the first time, I chose the 2nd wave and figured I would just stay at the front of the second wave.

The first wave of people got into the water.  They asked for a few more people and I decided to go with the first wave.  I was lined up in the back.  I got my goggles seated and let the water in the wetsuit.  I still didn't feel like I should be starting yet.  They started the countdown from 10.  I sucked it up when they got to "1", the siren went off and the whole pack of people began moving forward.  I guess at this point I am in it whether I like it or not.

The first 400m:  I wasn't able to get my face in the water because there were so many bodies around me that I had to be mindful of.  I carefully navigated further towards the front of the packs. As it started to thin out, I found a couple of people who were swimming right beside each other at the same speed as me.  I chose to stay behind them and see if I could "settle in".  I was able to get my face in the water and start working on my stroke.  They began to speed up as well, so things worked out.  I found a good draft from these guys while I got all of the cobwebs out of my system.  Even this far in the race, I was not able to guage exactly how my body was going to respond to all of the stress and had apprehension to push hard on the first event.

After about 1/2 mile, I began to get comfortable.  I started focusing on rolling my body, using my lats instead of my shoulders and letting my head hang limp in the water.  I was not able to breath to the side I felt comfortable breathing on because of the rising sun, but I just told myself to suck it up and swim.

This must have worked.  Not only did I pass those two people, but there always seemed to be somebody "in front of me" that I was focused on working around.

After rounding the buoys and coming back, I moved out of the pack.  In my head, I called it "house hunting".  When I would breathe, I would be looking at the houses thinking "It sure would be nice to live there.  When I looked for the buoys, I was a long ways away from the buoy line...I was busy checking out how cool the houses on the lake were.

There was a little contact on the way back.  When that happens, I always fear that I am the one swimming off course.  One person kept swimming into my side.  I felt like I was somehow cutting him off and swimming in front of him.  Eventually, I turned around and saw him going way off course.  He wasn't just house-hunting...he was inspecting the underside of their docks.

I was able to see the landing dock and I just started cranking away.  I was excited to get out of the water.  I was dizzy when I got out but made my way to the transition area.  

I guess I seeded myself in a bad spot because even though I started at the very back of the wave (35-40) I ended up being the 7th person out of the water.

It is encouraging to run into a transition area and see that it is still full of bikes.

I pulled off my wetsuit, wiped myself down with a towel, put some sunblock on my shoulders and forearms, grabbed nutrition, took my bike and headed out of transition.  I got to see my wife and kids briefly before leaving and said hi to them.  Aaaannd...off I go.

What did I do well?

-Allowed myself to sit behind people until I felt comfortable with my stroke.

What would I change?

-Being less timid

The Bike: 56 miles

There were two people getting on their bike at the mounting line.  I was able to hop on and start going.  They quickly passed me.  I kept the pace easy as I didn't know what to expect.  Many people passed me, but I knew this would happen.  I am a "Back of Pack" rider.  I am working to change that, but unfortunately that will take more time than just a year to change. I suffer from the swimmer's curse. Psychologically, it is better to be a bad swimmer and an excellent biker.  You get insecure during the swim but when you are passing a lot of people on the bike, it gets you into a more competitive spirit.  Many good swimmers are cursed as they are the first out of the water, but get passed up by others while they are on their bike.  It is demoralizing to have people keep passing you.  That is the curse that I will race with.

There was a wicked wind today.  It was constant and it pushed against you for a good 9 miles miles in each of the 14 mile sections.  I saw people standing up (on a flat course) and some people were just struggling.  At one point I felt as though I was leaning against the wind and it was holding me up.  I knew that it was going to severely hamper my speed...But I knew that it was hampering everybody else's speed as well.

As I expected, I was passed several times in the first half of the ride.  At the 14 mile mark, I counted that I was in 25th place.  I wasn't "disheartened" by this.  It just is what it is and I need to figure out how to resolve it.

I am very satisfied with my bike fit.  I knew that it was more aggressive than how I was riding before, but I had never seen the difference.  Here is a before and after picture of how much a bike fitting can help a person.

Before Bike Fitting

After Bike Fitting

Same Bike.  Same Rider.  Fitting made me much more compact and "flat".

At any rate.  The wind picked up even more on the second lap of the course.  Mother nature was really pushing against us, but we are trained to push back.  The bike got real difficult after 42 miles.  I really didn't know what the last 14 miles would look like after the swim.  My knees began aching really bad and I wasn't able to control my cadence as much as I would have liked to.  The wind dictated my gears for me.  There were points where I was unable to get over 15mph.  I had to keep reminding my bike how I have always taken good care of it, and I really needed it right now to take care of me.  

I was so thankful to be riding towards transition.  I was able to hear music and people and I was able to stretch out my legs finally.  I was not looking forward to the run.  I usually do, but this time my knees were in so much pain and my head was full of so much doubt that I really didn't know how I was going to complete the 13 miles.  I just reminded myself "Go see the beach.  Go see the beach".

I rolled into transition and my transition area looked like a war-zone.  somebody had their wetsuit over my stuff and things were just scattered everywhere.  I didn't care too much, but it was kind of funny.  I racked my bike, put on my shoes, got my stuff and started waddling out of the Transition area.

What did I do well?

-I stuck with it.  Even though it was hard, I stayed consistent with my output power and was as patient as I could be through the wind.

What would I change?

-Less liquid nutrition.  I lad liquid nutrition.  I drank 40oz of fluid which caused me to stop 3 times on the ride.  I think my nutrition plan was good for this race, but I may need to find another way to collect the calories in the future.

The Run

I usually run with a Garmin.  I toyed with the idea of racing without it.  I thought I might see what it would be like to go by percieved effort.  Ironically, my Garmin notified me of a low battery 45 miles into the ride.  I am glad that I was able to feel comfortable without it.  

A few people passed me right off the line on the run.  I was going to take it easy until I started to feel my legs under me.  13 miles is a long distance if you burn yourself out in the first 1/4 mile.

About 1 mile into the run, I realized that I was running comfortably and at a decent pace.  I usually run at a pace of 8:15/mile at this distance.  When I push myself, I run at 7:30/mile for 5 miles.  When I am fatigued, I can find myself at 9:30/mile.  I literally had no idea what my pace was.  I just knew that I was not going to push it for the first half.

Mile2 to Mile4 is on the beach.  It is down on the wet, packed sand.  It was beautiful, relaxing, and amazing.  I love this course for this moment right here.

I started feeling rash on my lats.  The last time this happened, it was because I spilled a sugary drink and it was rubbing my skin, but that wasn't the case this time.  Why is my skin so irritated?  I could only think of one reason, and after the race that reason was verified.  When I put on sunblock I did a great job of making sure my shoulders were covered, but I neglected my lats.  They (and all of the other parts that I missed) were completely baked red.  Sigh.  I have the worst tan lines ever now.

As I was leaving the beach, I got to see my family.  It was great timing as the race was really thin at this point and it was very seldom that I actually saw any other racers.  It was starting to get lonely.

I ended up running alongside somebody from mile 4 to the turnaround.  After a while, She told me that she usually ran about 9 minute miles, and I knew that I could do 8:15.  I knew that I could probably comfortably push myself harder, so I decided that at the turnaround (6.65 miles), I would put the hammer down and get uncomfortable for a while.  I was probably a bit too conservative on the run.  If I was really fatigued, I could have been running at 9:30/10:00 miles and not even known it.  Time to start hurting again...except for one issue.

So this entire time, we had been running with the wind.  It wasn't until I turned the cone that I realized this and I hit the wall of wind.  It initially caught me by surprise as I had to adjust and start leaning into it.

This works somewhat to my favor.  I run faster up slight hills.  It forces me to engage all of my muscles and lean forward off of my hips.  It makes me feel it in all of my muscles...even down to my toes. Even though it was hard, I felt that it was time to push it on the last 6.5  miles and finish with nothing in the tank.

Although my ears hurt from the wind, I was able to start hunting people.  I was able to pass a few people a mile apart from each other, but distances began growing in between runners so it got more difficult.  I saw somebody as I got to mile 9, but they were so far ahead I knew that I would not catch them by the end of the race.

At Mile 12, I walked for a moment.  12 miles is the longest that I have ever ran.  I was training for a Half Marathon the year before and got the flu and was not able to start.  I stopped at 12 miles to just look around and take a victory breath.  I began running again.  Soon after I began running, I started losing control of my emotions and my thoughts.  I was going truly bipolar in 4 second bursts.  I was laughing, I was sad, I was triumphant, I was scared.  I had never experienced that before, but I truly was not able to control my emotions!  I wasn't able to do any complex thinking (doing mileage/speed math) to keep myself occupied and so I resorted to having to talk out loud to keep myself busy.  I am sure I looked crazy to the man out in his yard.  I am just glad that he didn't see me have a conversation with the baby deer standing beside the road.

With .25 miles left, I just really hoped that I would not be in a weeping stage by the time I crossed the finish line.  I wanted to cross it strong and feel good.  At the moment I didn't really know how to achieve either of those.  They were happening completely without my control.

...And the finish line.  When they announced that I crossed, it was like going back to a family party for the first time after moving out.  It was like all of your friends at a barbeque, and you walk into the yard, and they are all happy you showed up.  It was a relief.

I was grateful to cross the line.  I was given a medal and a transition towel.  I didn't have any strength in my legs so I just had to let gravity take over.  I sat down and waited.  I didn't really know what I was waiting for, but I waited....I guess I was waiting until I could make any decision making start occurring again.

What did I do well?

-At the halfway, when I decided to suck it up and go, I went.  I wish I knew what my pace was sooner so that I could make that decision sooner.

-I stayed consistent.  I only walked once, and that was to celebrate 

What would I change?

-I don't want to feel like I am tied to my garmin, but I feel like I needed something to help me establish a running pace.  I was probably running on my slow end for half of the race when I probably could have been pushing myself much sooner.  I was probably running down-wind at a 9:45 pace when I could have been doing a 8:00 pace with the wind on my back.  I just never thought of it.

After The Race:

As you can imagine, there is no way to get comfortable.  I was unable to sleep.  I was unable to eat or drink.  I was unable to stand or sit.  I was just in a place where I had to be able to keep changing what I was doing without being judged by what I was doing.  It was very relaxing and I am grateful for that.

The Next Day:

The next morning, my wife had her half-marathon.  I woke up the kids and we got them snacks and headed out the door.  It was very cold and windy.

We got there and I was asked if I could drive the course and make sure the aid stations had plenty of stock.  I had no problem with that since I was planning on driving the course anyways to cheer on my wife.  I also knew where all the aid stations were from the run the day before.

So I spent the morning driving to different points of Ocean Shores, Cheering, helping, and just being involved as much as I could.  It was great to see my wife cross the finish line.  After that, we just had another relaxing day.  We went out on the boat, sat in a hot tub, and had a long drive home.