“These are the times I will truly remember fellas…”

New Orleans 70.3 Race Report – April 18, 2010

“These are the times I will truly remember fellas…”

Every race has a story. Here is mine from the New Orleans Half Ironman 70.3 race.

(For non-tri folks, a half ironman consists of a 1.2mile swim, a 56mile bike, and a 13.1mile run.)

There is great anticipation that comes with stepping into the unknown. The 70.3 distance is quite new to me. I did one back in 2006 with no guidance or coaching; just to see what is was like. I tried to ‘race it’ but had no idea what I was doing. No training program, no nutrition strategies, nothing. Coming into NOLA I was curious about my abilities and excited to take on the distance again. But this time I was better prepared. I had more fitness, more confidence, and mental toughness – I was ready to test myself.

A few days before the race, I met with Ahmed, my coach, to go over the race strategy. We talked about each step of the race and how it would unfold. We discussed how I should react in specific situations on the bike. We talked about the psychology of how a competitor thinks during the race. I left the meeting with a solid, sound strategy in hand. I reflected on all of my training in the previous 6 months; I had worked very hard and had confidence in my abilities. And more importantly, I could look myself in the mirror and know I’d given it my all up until this point. The only thing left to do was execute on race day.

Nikki and I drove down on Friday and made the last scheduled pre-race briefing just in the nick of time. I always like to do packet pickup at the earliest possible opportunity. This way, the day before the race I can focus solely on getting in my workouts, resting, and focusing for the race.

Saturday we woke up, ate breakfast and headed out for a swim. I found a little spot down from the official swim start to jump into Lake Pontchartrain. The water temperature was low 70’s. Perfect. Got a short swim in and then hopped on the bike for a test ride. Felt sharp and ready. Mental focus was crystal clear. Spirits were high.

Went to Olive Garden for a late lunch and then back to transition to hang our bikes up for the day. Now it was time to head back to the hotel and rest. Nikki took a long nap and I worked on tri schedules. We got all of our gear ready for race morning and turned out the lights early. With tomorrow would come endless possibilities and great opportunity.

I was up at 3:30am. Starting eating my breakfast at 4am. Wanted a very relaxed pace to the morning. No surprises, just business as usual. We loaded up the car and got to transition by 5:15am. We had 90 minutes to set up transition and put everything in place. While that 90 minutes felt more like 9, I was happy with my preparations and excited to get the day going.

The first professional wave went off at 7am. I had an hour to kill on the beach before my wave went off at 8am. It was relaxing and peaceful watching all of the people before me. It was a beautiful morning and the atmosphere was electric. I was just soaking all of it in. I didn’t get the butterflies until about 7:40am when I went to warm-up in the water and then to line up with my group. It is hard to put into words what it’s like right before the gun goes off. I was ready. “Let’s do this!”

The swim was great. I went at a moderate pace and let some guy sight for me the entire way. He must have looked up 100+ times while I was just relaxing and focusing on him, nothing else. I zoned everything else out and thought about 1 thing: staying on that guy’s hip.

I was out of the water before I knew it and into T1. My wetsuit came off with no problem. I purposely went a little slower in transition to get the heart rate down. I wasn’t in a hurry. The way I saw it I was already out of the water a few minutes ahead of schedule so my plan was going great.

The bike was fun, and hard. I took my chances where I needed to and backed off when it was appropriate. It was all part of the strategy, and I trusted fully in it. I saw some guys tanking towards the end. I was getting stronger. I had hit my nutrition and had executed my pacing almost perfectly. I rode into transition (T2) feeling GREAT about my position.

Racked my bike and took off the helmet. Slipped on the run shoes and had a power gel in hand. Looked across the rack to two of my fellow age groupers, and as I started running I said, “Let’s go catch all those jokers!”

Needless to say I felt fresh. Way too good for having just worked out at a high intensity for 3 hours straight. I think I surprised myself with how good my fitness was in the swim and bike. As I was running mile 1 of the half marathon, I was evaluating my condition. “I nailed everything,” I thought. Cool. Now let’s run.

Problem: All that time I spent feeling great about my fitness and feeling surprised to be in such great shape……all of that thinking was energy lost towards focusing on the task at hand! Because I was thinking of how fresh I felt and how great the swim and the bike were, I wasn’t thinking about what I was currently doing = running!

Result: Mile 1 was too fast, a 6:45 mile. I got caught up in the moment and messed up my pacing. Oops! So I should’ve backed off and raced within my abilities, right? That would be smart, right?!!

Instead, I thought, “6:45? Wow, that felt like a 10minute mile. My fitness is GREAT, I’m gonna smoke this thing!” So I stuck with the pace. Later I would pay the price.

All was good up until Mile 8. I had dropped off more than 2minutes per mile and was feeling overheated. By mile 10 I had completely blown up. Ah, the disappointment in that moment! I can still feel it a bit. But no regrets.

I walked and jogged it into the finish line. Along the way, I appreciated the people that cheered and encouraged me to pick it up to a jog when I was walking. I had a lot of time to think about my decisions in the race and why things had ended up the way they did.

• I was happy to feel that I was 100% responsible for why things went the way they did.
• I was happy to make it to the finish line. I respect the distance a little more now and I will return to perfect it.
• I was happy to see my wife cross the finish line.

And speaking of my wife, the race report wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Nikki. We both trained for this goal together and it was so sweet to see her finish with her hands in the air. I love you and I am so proud of you Nik. Thanks for the encouragement along the way and for all of the support. I couldn’t do any of this without you.

The story wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t mention Jon, Jeff, and Mike. Three of my clients were there doing their first half Ironman. What a joy it was to celebrate in their victories! I am so proud of each of them. It wouldn’t have been the same experience had they not been there and had we not exchanged race stories over dinner that evening. These are the times I will truly remember fellas, not my race times.

As I write this and think back on my 6-year journey through endurance sports, I perceive that I experience great freedom through physical exploration. Training for and competing in triathlons keeps me ‘in the game.’ Each year that passes I find a deeper appreciation for the sport and the perspectives I have gained from it. Not to mention I am in the best shape of my life and have never felt better.

‘The game’ is different for everyone. For me, it’s about balance and passion. I want to be a great endurance athlete but more than that I want to be a great husband and friend. I want to continue to live a healthy lifestyle and train for triathlon. I want to keep pursuing the things in life I am truly passionate about. That’s my ‘game.’

What’s yours?