Challenge Atlantic City...
gonna go (slow) pro?!?
July 6, 2014
I went into this race looking to PR and see how my fitness is coming along, but more so to try and qualify for a USAT elite card (allows you to race in the pro category). If I would race pro, in most races I would come in near the back of the pack... so I'd be a (slow)pro heheh. But, pro has many benefits like free or discounted race entry, late entry into already filled IM events, homestays, etc. Plus, the P on your calf seems pretty sweet. So in order to qualify for that I needed to come in top 3 overall amateur.
Before the race:
I got a frame replacement (due to warranty issues) just on Wednesday before the race. Luckily, everything was set back to my exact geometry and the bike worked great. I was also planning to wear the Ignite Endurance two piece I had also just picked up on Wednesday. Lots of new things to be slightly concerned about. The day before, I went for a short ride, then dropped off my bike for check in. I let some pressure out of my tires so I wouldn't be worried about them sitting in the hot sun all afternoon. We'll come back to this. Morning of, very late notice it would be no wetsuit. I hadn't thought the water temp was quite that close. So I had a friend run back to the hotel and grab my Kiwami Amphibian... a one piece swim skin tri suit I usually wear. So, no new Ignite Endurance kit for this race. I'm glad it was no wetsuit though, since I was concerned about overheating like I did at Raleigh 70.3 a few weeks prior.
The Swim:
Wave starts, I was in 34 & under 17 min back from the pros. The current was tough; definitely made for a slow swim. I saw a guy (my wave and with me around half way) cut one of the buoys cause it was just such a pain to get around it. Strange Y shaped course also, made it slightly hard to know what the shortest path was, plus had to factor in the current. 1:06 something for non-wetsuit, current, and confusing course is fine by me since it didn't seem to be far off the others in my wave of 34 & under. Pro's went earlier when there was less current (though only 17 min, maybe not significant at all). I felt pretty strong in the water though. Interesting that it seemed like my core was the only thing that really got tired… which is somewhat good in my mind that I'm using my core that much. Now I guess it's just time to work on strengthening that core rotation.
The bike:
Transition was quick and fine, swam in right behind a few in my wave, got out a little ahead... suddenly realized I forgot to pump my tires that morning. We were told not to bring pumps, they would have them. But I forgot to look for a pump and do that. Hmmmmm... felt slightly squishy but didn't seem I was too close to hitting rim or anything so I rolled on. Figured if I did get a pinch flat, I'd use my one CO2 cartridge then to pump them up. With a bit of later consideration I'm thinking they were at 60-70 psi. Whoops.
I started out a little high on power, and for the first few hours I was telling myself to ease up some, but then kept thinking 'eh, I'll just ease up later.' Looking back now I had fairly consistent power, just a little high early and a little low at the end. Mostly for the first 2-3 hours I felt fine, and was just trying to decide how far this race actually is, and how much I need to go easy and how much I can think of it as racing. Also I spent a lot of time thinking about nutrition. I planned to eat 20 gels, 1 every 15 min, along with an appropriate feeling amount of water. I carried 12 gels with me, and planned to pick up 8 throughout the aid stations. However they didn't have anything but water, gatorade, and sometimes bananas at the infrequent aid stations. It was tough just to get the water I needed. I splashed down a few squirts of gatorade at 2 or 3 aid stations to try to regain some of the calorie deficit, but probably only got 100 calories or so with that. There was also a section or two where I didn't even have the water I wanted. By the last 90 min of the bike, I was really unsure of the day. Wasn't feeling too bad, but definitely not good. There were also wicked Kona-like headwinds on this portion that were quite unpleasant. I allowed myself to drop power since I knew I had been going a little hard all day. Also made sure I didn't trash myself completely trying to battle the headwinds in that last 30 miles like I did at my first shot at Kona. Slightly lower power plus headwinds made my average speed tick quite a bit down. All in all, I wasn't doing so great and wasn't sure how I would pull a run together at anything more than a jog. One of the guys I knew would be tough competition, Brad Williams, passed me very late in the ride. I was shocked and excited, because I had assumed he was 10 or so min ahead. I kept him within 100 yards or so, and caught him right as we were taking feet out of shoes to go into T2. Bike split 4:55:40.
The Run:
Transition went smooth. I took it calm and collected, put socks on for the first time ever for an ironman, and made sure not to rush the volunteer who was putting sunscreen on for me. I started out quick as always, then tried to settle down. I was out of transition ahead of Brad but he caught me maybe 2 miles into the run. I felt great to be off the bike, and didn't feel too tired. About 3 miles in I was starting to feel a bit tired again, and changed my focus to getting back on track with nutrition. I managed to get a bottle of water and carried that with me, refilling along the way, through mile 23 or so. Along with getting back on track with a gel every 20 minutes, the bottle definitely saved my race by allowing me to get more water in than what I would be able to drink just from the inconsistently spaced aid station water cups. I ran with Brad for a bit, maybe miles 2-4 or 5. He was going just a little faster than I necessarily wanted to go but it was nice to have the company. I believe we were in 3rd & 4th at that point, and although he was one of the biggest things between me and top 3, running with him was much more companionship than competition.
Not sure where this was... maybe mi 8 or so. Multi-laps on the boardwalk all look the same!
Just keep running, just keep running,
running, running.
Perhaps it would be different if that was at mile 22. He had one comment when we were scoping out those in front of us… said something simple like "it's a long race ahead of us still," in a motivational way saying that it's likely those ahead of us may break. At that point, in my mind I was thinking 'yep, that's very true, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to be the one breaking.' I eased up though and let him run ahead, because I knew the 7:10's or whatever we were doing wasn't something that would be good for me to hold for too long this early in the run. It seemed he ran ahead pretty quickly.
Around mile 8 or so I was feeling better about the day, and kept the running consistent. Brad later ran up from behind me; after I gave him a very confused look, he said he had to stop for the bathroom. We ran around each other for a few more miles. He'd run faster but take the aid stations slower. Later he fell off pace and I maintained (he did have Bronchitis, a bit of a race inhibitor I imagine so it was impressive he raced as well as he did). I caught the next guy with maybe 8 miles to go.
He was stopped, bent over, and spitting up some. Sure enough, a lot of people broke that day, but thankfully it wasn't me. I felt confident in my place, and ran somewhat conservatively all the way in. Stopped once to pee around maybe mile 21. Also had a small vomit/gag/spit up around mile 24. I did continue to push as the finish got closer, but it was very nice to be just pushing myself, and not be trying to run someone down. Run split 3:15:37.
Results:
12th place overall
2nd place overall amateur
Total time: 9:22:09
Challenge Atlantic City overall amateur podium... minus 1st place male,
plus Tom Knoll, 6th place finisher at the Inaugural Hawaiian Iron Man back in 1978.
Thanks for being a pioneer to all this craziness Tom.
Side notes:
Apparently Rinny was riding right behind me for practically the whole ride. I heard her name mentioned while I was in the changing tent, then her relay runner partner came by me early in the run. Brad, who was right behind me on the bike for most of the day said he was riding with her all day. I guess I should have slowed down and rode with those two :p Oooh... also, I ran right around the 2nd place pro for about 6 miles. That was exciting to keep up. I don't think he was pushing particularly hard at that point since his place was fairly set.
Kudos and thanks:
To my dad for his awesome performance at his second 140.6 event. He came in 13:00:31, over 3 hours faster than his previous Ironman two years ago. To Dr. Philip Skiba @ PhysFarm Training Systems for working with me the past ~8 months. To PowerTap, Kiwami USA, GU Energy Labs, and Rudy Project North America for helping me with some of my training and racing needs. To my new team Ignite Endurance and Tri360 for welcoming me aboard. To Joey at Parvilla Cycle and Multisport for getting my new Specialized Shiv all set up in a short time crunch. Lastly thanks to all the training buddies I've met all over the place... having people to do the sport with is what makes it fun and keeps me motivated 🙂
Lessons learned (again and again):
Eat a lot, stay hydrated. When you fall off of your game, the game isn't over. During 3 of my 5 fulls, I've had long portions of the run where mentally I'm feeling like I've failed and having a terrible day and I start giving up mentally on my time or placing goals. But, that's just long course racing. All you have to do is keep the nutrition good and keep on chugging along. The thing is everyone else feels the same, and you just have to be the one who sticks it out. Even if that does mean dropping the pace a bit, just keep on going.
Recommend Challenge... ?
Well... this race had it's issues. Primarily with the aid stations. Not having the fueling I needed added a lot of added struggles to my day. The swim currents were pretty annoying, not sure if that's something that could be better handled or not really. Another issue topic was the back and fourth run on the board walk. Pedestrians were crossing the course and sometimes getting in the way. This wasn't too big of a problem for me though; I was more frustrated for others later on when spectating the race and repeatedly seeing pedestrians get in the way of the racers. BUT, these are just a few complaints, and overall Challenge did a pretty good job in my mind. On top of that, I have high expectations that they will learn a lot from this year and put on a great race next year. So yes, if you're interested in a full 140.6 tri around this time of year on the east coast, I think this is a very good option to consider.