I don't think I will always write about the entire week before a race, but for now, I've been keeping a bit of a diary for race week since I feel like I've never felt great going into a race, whether it's because I'm sick, sore or just tired.
Monday: Damnit--just like last year before Westchester, I focked up my foot before the race. I am definitely not athletic or coordinated. Last year, I kicked my foldy bike while walking out of my bathroom and badly bruised or broke my toe; this time I kicked my stationary trainer. I thought it was just a stubbed toe until I saw all the blood coming out from underneath my toe nail that I was tracking across the floor. My feet look great right now between this latest injury and what happened during Toughman.
Did the AGTC tri stroke clinic at night.
Tuesday: Legs feel much better than yesterday. Still tight, but not with the same level of pain. One of these days I hope I will have a "good" taper. I don't think I know what that feels like. Took the day off.
Wednesday: Did the AGTC Brick workout: 3x 5mile loops of CP, with the second loop at race pace effort. Ran one outer loop/bridle path of the reservoir with Colleen, Tony, and Derek. Legs still didn't feel great, but I was relatively quick coming off the bike, especially since Derek pushed the pace up the hills, and Tony and Colleen are just plain fast. I think at some point we were running at a 6:40/mile or so pace. Tony and Derek did one more loop, I called it quits since my leg still hurt.
Thursday: Woke up and my right leg really hurt. Ever since Toughman, the back of my right knee has been really bothering me. Big toe/ball of my foot hasn't felt great since August either, and now my hip/groin is bothering me. I was getting concerned because I had a stress fracture in 2012 (in my left leg), and it's beginning to feel the same. I'm worried that I was overstriding and pounding down some of the really big downhills during Toughman. Took the day off.
Friday: Legs still hurt, so took Friday off as well.
Saturday: Swam for 20 minutes, biked on the trainer for 20 minutes and ran for about 15 minutes outside. Leg hurt on the bike and on the run, and I was beginning to really worry about Westchester. I was beginning to think about not doing the race, and might have skipped the race except that I had promised rides to the race to others already. I finally decide to reset my expectations for the race--if it were earlier in the season with more important races left at the end of the season, I probably would have skipped it (just like how I skipped NYC in 2012, but came back to race Mighty Hamptons and Westchester), but I decided that since it was the last triathlon of the season, I would race it, see how it went, and then get checked out by a doctor next week.
I think taking that perspective took a lot of the pressure off, and I had my best night's sleep before a race ever. There were other things that also helped, but I think I won't say anymore about that here or I'll get in real trouble with Kathy.
Sunday:
Woke up at 3:30am, and had my usual breakfast of english muffin and peanut butter and jelly. Was packed from the night before, so was able to get out of the apartment pretty quickly. Went to get the car from the garage and then met Elton Hassel, Anthony Bagnetto and Benjamin Shyman in front of my building. We got to Rye Playland pretty quickly, right around 5am.
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| With Anthony Bagnetto, pre-race in transition |
I got set up in transition quickly, took care of other business, and then had lots of time to kill. Sat by the fence at the edge of transition, and chatted with Elton and Anthony. Ben came by and chatted for a bit as well. With the three of them there, and my reset expectations for the race, this was the most relaxed I've been for any race so far. At the 10 minute warning, we all got up to put on our wetsuits and make our way down to the swim start.
Usual last minute announcements from the USAT official, instructions from the RD, and the singing of the national anthem, and the race got underway, with the collegiate men and women leading the way. Whether it was because I was chatting with Anthony watching the other waves head out, or because the race director was very efficient in getting through the preliminary stuff and getting the waves out, it didn't seem like there was a lot of time for me to stand around and get nervous.
The swim course had changed a bit from last year, and therefore so did the landmarks that I had planned to sight off of. After the first turn to the left (keeping the first buoy on our left shoulder), I was looking for pyramid shaped buoys but only saw round ones. I was confused for a little while but kept swimming towards them. I'm not sure what I was thinking--whether I had forgotten which side I was supposed to pass all of the remaining buoys to the left or what, but I soon realized that I was swimming on a line to the right of the next buoy, where I should have been passing them off my right shoulder. I also didn't have anyone to the right of me anymore. I was a little pissed at myself because I swam a bad line last year as well, but I think I figured it out earlier this year since I was sighting more frequently. As I passed what I initially thought was a round buoy, I saw that it was a pyramid buoy, but had blown over so I was looking at the bottom of it. The waves got a little stronger once we swam past the jetties.
There was lots of contact going out, and I found that it was tough to get into a really good rhythm. With the contact, and the waves, I was just off. Not sighting as well as I should have been, and it felt like I ended up with a couple mouthfuls of water because breathing/sighting rhythm was off, or I was trying to take a breath just as a wave hit. I had started a couple of rows back, and it seemed like I was getting passed by a whole bunch of people. I someone got it in my mind that I was way behind the people in my wave, and I started working too hard. I was breathing hard, and I had gotten away from the early vertical forearm, and overall just working too hard.
I felt more relaxed and was swimming faster and more easily once we were on the return leg of the swim, swimming with the waves, and were more spaced out. At that point, I had stopped worrying about where everyone else was, and just focused on racing my own race. I felt like I had gotten into a really good rhythm--sighting every three strokes, longer, more patient strokes, relaxed breathing pattern. Then we started running into the earlier waves--I need to do a better job of seeing them, and taking a better path around or through them, but I was still swimming pretty well. I know that I could have pushed a little bit harder during the swim, but given my concern for how my legs felt, I was holding back a bit out of fear of the pain that was still to come. I hit the beach and run up to the boardwalk and up the hill to transition.
Swim Time: 28:27(25/158 M40-44, 106/633, 141/844 Overall), 2:24/100y for .9miles (this seems odd, 1681m at 1:44/100m on my Garmin)
2012 Swim Time: 32:08 (36/116 Age Group, 224/768 Men, 278/1009 Overall), 2:09m/100m for 1500 meters. 1:47/100 meters for 1835m on Garmin.
T1:
Not sure that there's much to say except that I did it faster than last year. I had been prepared to put on arm and knee warmers, but as I stripped off my wetsuit, it didn't feel that cold, so I skipped them.
I think I have the number of steps down to a minimum, and any improvement would come from getting out of my wetsuit faster, and perhaps learning how to do a flying mount/dismount. Given how uncoordinated I am, that would probably be a risky proposition.
T1 Time: 2:20
2012 T1 Time: 3:12
Bike:
The bike course changed as well, it looks like they took out one climb in an office park, but people were commenting that this year felt harder than last year, maybe because there was less of a net downhill on the way back given how the course changed. I don't know. Even with the change to the bike course, there was still one decent sized climb ("Claire's Climb", which was separately timed with separate prizes for fastest male and female climbers). I tried to have a smoother effort up the hills, as opposed to last year, where I remembered hammering hard up all of the hills, trying to pass everyone I could.
The back of my knee hurt with every stroke, and both of my quads were sore, and I'm sure that affected my bike split. I didn't push as hard as I could have, with an average power of 194/normalized power around 200, versus my most recent FTP of 260. I was passing people throughout, but was also got passed by a number of people. It looks like I gave up 5 places in my age group on the bike though I made up 20 places overall (most of those were probably collegiate folks riding mountain bikes or hybrids --not road bikes or tri bikes).
Bike Time: 1:13:57 @ 21.82mph (30/158 M40-44, 107/633 Men, 121/844 Overall)
2012 Total 1:16:54@ 19.33mph (35/116 Age Group, 185/768 Men, 203/1009 Overall)
T2:
Marginally faster than last year. Put on my sneakers, grabbed my race belt and visor and started jogging towards the race exit, putting the belt and visor on while on the run.
My Zoot's are pretty snug, so perhaps with different sneakers I could get out of T2 a little faster.
T2 Time: 1:31
2012 T2 Time 1:48
Run:
I remember being in a lot of pain last year, with my HR and breathing rate spiking from the very beginning of the run, and wondering if I could finish this race at all. This year I felt like my HR was more under control, and despite the pain in my groin/hip with every step, I didn't feel like I did last year in that I knew that I was going to be able to finish one way or another. Like NYC (and unlike Toughman), I developed a cramp/stitch almost right away. I thought I had enough to drink, and had taken a salt tablet during the bike leg, so I'm not sure why I didn't get a cramp during Toughman, and I did here while basically drinking and eating the same thing. In looking back, I don't really remember exactly how I managed the pain except to maybe to focus on the pain in my leg to take my mind off of my when my cramp got too bad, and vice versa.
Ended up clicking off the first couple miles at around 7:30/mile, stopped at almost every aid station to grab some gatorade. The hills didn't feel good given my leg pain, but thankfully the course was very flat, with only 1 short hill to speak of, and the rest were more gentle. Somewhere between mile 4 and 5, I caught up with some one that was moving along at a pretty good clip and I started running off his shoulder. He kept looking back over his shoulder and I could feel him picking up the pace a bit. We ended up running shoulder to shoulder for a bit, with a pace ranging between 6:30/mile and 7:20/mile. It was our version of (a much, much slower and shorter) "Iron War". As we approached the last aid station, I could hear him breathing hard and he turned to me and said, "Take it, it's yours" as he started to fade. I slowed a bit, told him that he had been setting a really fast pace and that we could keep it up to the end. He replied that he was dying, and somewhere with less than half a mile to go, I picked it up and ran to the end. There was a sharp right turn into Rye Town park, downhill over grass/dirt down into the finisher chute--I always find this part a bit tricky. It feels like I'm running slower on the grass, and kind of stumbling down towards the finish line. The thought has crossed my mind that it would be hilarious/humiliating to eat it coming down the finisher chute, and again, given how clumsy I am, it's definitely in the realm of possibility.
Run Time: 45:01 (29/158 M40-44, 102/633 Men, 112/844 Overall) (7:29/mile for first 4.1 miles, 6:50/mile for last 2.1 miles per official splits, but my Garmin has an average 7:27/mile pace for the entire run leg)
2012 Run Time 49:60 (35/116 Age Group, 203/768 Men, 227/1009 Overall) (8:04min/mil)
Total Time: 2:31:17 (29/158 M40-44, 102/633 Men, 112/844 Overall)
2012 Total Time: 2:44:05 (37/116 Age Group, 205/768 Men, 227/1109 Overall)
Post Race/Summary thoughts:
The guy that I ran with and ultimately dropped found me after the race and gave me a fist bump. I told him that he did a great job and that he was really pushing me, and he replied that at a certain point he couldn't keep up and said "fuck that guy" to himself and let me go. That was one of the highlights of the whole race for me, running shoulder to shoulder to someone for the last part, and dropping him at the end. Sort of caps off the best run that I've ever had in an Olympic distance race--the flat course obviously helps, but I'll take it, especially given all the walking I did at Quassy, Toughman and even NYC. Given how I felt all week, I was pretty happy how I finished the race.
All week, I had begun to become increasingly worried as I got closer to race day. My right leg was hurting in a whole bunch of different places and I didn't think I would be able to get through the bike or the run. Most of the time, I was in too much pain to really think about any of Coach Mike's sayings/tips/instructions, but did try to have quick, light feet during the run, which was helpful (or necessary) especially since my leg hurt. The whole week, I was thinking that one of these days, I'd just like to have a good taper where I wasn't sick, and my legs were sore. I think that sort of resigning myself to just go out and have fun, with no expectation of beating a certain time, or placing in the top x%, helped me relax and have more fun on the race.
I wouldn't be me if I didn't have something to complain about though, and while in some respects it helped me, I think going into the race with very low expectations sort of hurt me where I went in expecting not to break 2:30, and then ending up missing it by not much more than a minute. Unlike Toughman, where I had nothing left to give, and do not think I could have found the 3 minutes to break 5:30, I know that I could have found the 75 seconds or so to break 2:30, whether it was being a little faster on the swim, or pushing a little harder on the bike. If I had known I was that close to breaking 2:30, I would have gone harder, not withstanding how I felt during the week going into the race.
The bigger bummer about the entire day was that Ben Shyman got hurt during the bike leg. As I mentioned earlier before, I gave Ben a ride to the race, along with Elton and Anthony. I had made it clear that I wanted to leave by 11am, and needed to leave no later than 11:30am since Kathy had a prior commitment and needed the car. We said we'd just look for each other after the race around the finishing area, but if we didn't see each other in the finishing area or transition, we'd just meet up by the car.
So right after I finish, I run into Anthony and Elton pretty quickly (they had both finished earlier, since they were in earlier waves, and are both pretty fast--Anthony ended up 3rd in his age group). They were already drinking beer, and while we were waiting for Ben, we grab more beer, and a couple of slices of pizza. Still no sign of Ben. After looking around for him, and chatting with other folks we know, I begin to get antsy since we need to get going. We pack up our stuff in transition, look again for Ben, but still no sign of him. We head to the car, pack up, and load up our bikes, but still no sign of Ben, and no response on his cell, despite multiple calls from Anthony and Elton (I didn't have my phone since I had put it through the washing machine on Saturday--I did not have a good week leading up to the race at all). We decide to head back to the finishing area where I run into Neil Cook who tells me that he came across Ben during the bike leg and that Ben had been hit by someone who lost control of his bike and broke his collar bone. While I was speaking with Neil, Anthony finds out from the race staff that they took Ben to White Plains Hospital, and brought his bike and stuff back to transition. We head to transition, pack up all of his stuff, and call the hospital and finally get through to Ben. When he picks up and I say that it's me, he replies "Hi Ray, how are you doing?" and I'm like fuck how I'm doing, how are you doing? Anyway, long story short, we head to the hospital (after explaining to our significant others why we are all late, and cancelling/changing plans) to pick up Ben and then drive back into the city. His arm was in a sling, and all bandaged up, but you could tell he had road rash all up and down his left side. I'm sure that over drinks, Ben can tell his story better than I can. I'd just say that he was in better spirits, and handled the pain with much more composure than I would have since I'm a big baby when it comes to stuff like that--like when I wake up in the middle of the night with a cramp in my calf and turn to Kathy (who has given birth three times) and scream that I have a cramp and she has no idea what this pain feels like.
Not sure what the lessons learned are except to say, that you have to be really vigilant, that what we do as triathletes inherently has risk and sometimes no matter how careful you are, there's no avoiding someone else's screwup. I hope that it never happens to me, but if I do get hurt, I hope I handle it with as much composure and good humor as Ben did. {Update: Ben is undergoing surgery on Thursday, but is already looking forward to the next group ride when he's recovered.}
All in all, I was pretty happy with my race, though slightly bummed about not breaking 2:30. One one hand, I definitely regretted not racing Montauk with Coach Mike and everyone else from the half team. On the other, since this was the only race that I repeated from last year (not counting the Mini Mightyman pool triathlon), I was happy to have the opportunity to compare this year's results to last year's and I can't really complain about the progress I made this year. I was faster in every leg and both transitions, and finished with a much better run that lasn year. It was a beautiful day, and a pretty good way to end the season. In looking back at the season, now that I'm done for the year with triathlons, I'm pretty happy with how I did overall: bouncing back from a disappointing, hot, hilly 3 hour race at Rev3 Quassy with a 2:27 at NYC Tri, finishing my first 70.3 at Toughman in 5:33, and finishing the season at Westchester, knocking off 13 minutes off of last year's time.
As for things to work on in the offseason, like I said in my recap from Toughman, I feel like I am giving up time and places on the bike (not to say anything of the fact that I feel really lame while I'm on my fancy tribike getting passed) and I think that I need to strength train and do more strength/muscular force workouts on the bike. I hope that will help off the run as well. I also need to work on getting in to a rhythm earlier in the swim, and not worry about people getting away from me on the swim...especially since I'm generally in the first 20-25% of my age group out of the water (almost top 5%! at NYC, at the risk of sounding really immodest).
I'm looking forward to working out with everyone next season...but eating and drinking a whole bunch between now and then.
Of course, it wouldn't be a race report unless I posted a picture of me pre-mid life crisis triathlon craziness.
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