B2B half race report

We had a fun crew stay with us in a beach house rental over the weekend.  Only two of us were racing and the rest of the gang were there to be 'spectathletes'.  They did a great job!

My Mom stayed home with Junior Awesome so Bri and I were able to run around a bit more than we can with mr.man.

To the point: race day.  I arrived feeling good but not terribly well rested.  The last few weeks Junior has been waking up in the 5-6 range and I stay up late.  Usually can catch a nap but the week of was just hectic, and no naps.  Priorities definitely change!

The morning of: woke up around 545 and sucked down a bunch of coffee and my usual eggs, chips, toast breakfast.  I like my breakfast!  

It was a friggin' cold morning!

The swim: Stayed bundled up as long as possible then got in to warm up a bit just before our wave.  Started in wave 2 with a mild current assist, nothing like it's been in years past.  Felt good and came out around 26:30. 

 Me run. Cold feet. Ouchie.

OSB spectathletes

T1: slow as molasses.  I put on skullcap, gloves, winter jacket, tights, and wool socks, not in that order.

Bike: felt ok but not great, just couldn't seem to crank it as well as I have in some workouts recently.  Didn't feel completly anemic though.  The first 37 - yes 37 - miles were all into a headwind or head-crosswind.  GahH!  Made up some time on the return to downtown.  2:37 time.

T2: faster than T1 but still slow.

Run: felt good!  Kept feeling good!  Pushed hard on 2nd half!  Actually passed people!  Ran a 22:00 final 5k!  Wowie!  1:35.13.

 Comin' in for a smoochie with my hunny

Overall time was 4:47.53 and apparently good for 5th place masters.  The current results are incorrect showing that I ran a 3:24 half marathon. 

Our crew also won the award for loudest/most obnoxious fan base. :)

 They only look harmless.

I would post more pictures and/or but am burned out on this blog post already.  me me me me me blah blah blah.  the end.

almost there

Just a few days until the Beach 2 Battleship half-Iron! I'm bib number 1643, or something like that.  I have enjoyed getting into good shape for it but the last couple weeks have been tough.  This past weekend :

My high school team hosted a cross-country championship on Friday afternoon.  Pretty much took most of the day.  The teams did great with our girls taking 2nd and boys taking 3rd.  I was able to get a good long-ish run in on the AM side of the day.

On Saturday morning Bri ran a local 5k at the same park.  Junior Awesome and I cheered her on.  Then we held our last Powerstroke swim clinic for the year.  Pretty much took the rest of the day.  I think we went out to dinner after but it is a blur.

"Momma! Momma!  Mommmm-aaaaa!"

Bri was sure to beat him to the line.

On Sunday we chased Junior, shopped, played with Junior, then met some of our buddies at the Flying Saucer for a quick social.

In between all these I wrote several training plans and managed to read a chapter or two of a book I'm working on.

No exercise for me took place over the weekend but that is OK.  I was really tired on Sunday and am still feeling pretty worn out today (Monday).  It's time to rest up a bit and have a good race on Saturday. 

You should be able to view my training year to date on Training Peaks.  (It might only display the last week) Lest you think I can't geek out, as far as training hours go:
Sep 2 : 11.75 hr
Sep 9: 16 hr
Sep 16: 13.8 hr
Sep 23: 15.33 hr
Sep 30: 16.5 hr (bike to the beach weekend)
Oct 7: 11 hr
Oct 14: 11 hr
Oct 21 race week: 4-5hr not including the race

 I don't expect to PR by any means this weekend but feel good about my fitness for my age, life situation, etc!

I was 13th overall in 2011 with a 4:37:52.  The conditions were cold, wet and really windy that year.

Goal ranges are:
swim 20-22 minute depending on the strength of the tide
T1 5 minutes - it is going to be cold and I bundle up
bike 2:28 +/- 5 minutes.  Forecast is for a NNW 10mph wind which is a headwind for ~35 miles
T2 2-3 minutes, not sure how long / far it is
Run 1:40 +/- 3 minutes.  My endurance is better than it was in June for the Raleigh 70.3, but there has not been a bunch of speedwork.

Total time: 4:35 +- a few minutes.

epic style training weekend

I don't get to do this very often - last weekend I got a pass from Bri to head to the beach with the guys for a big weekend of training and fun.  On Saturday, 4 of us rode our bikes from Apex to Wilmington and 2 other buddies met us down there.  Then most of us did either the Swim the Loop 3.5 mile or Mott's Channel 1.3 mile swimming races.

 The riders.

 Should have worn my aero helmet.

The ride went well, it was somewhat uneventful with a mild headwind for the bulk of the 2nd half.  We covered 121 miles in just over 6 hours of ride time (and another hour + of hanging at gas stations to refuel).  2 of the guys are getting ready for Ironman Florida on Nov 2 and myself and another us are getting ready for Beach 2 Battleship half on October 26.

This is more or less the route we took.

If we were really hardcore we would have run 2-3 miles off the bike but instead we loaded up and went to the Front Street Brewery for a coldie.

I also had a brief light saber battle with this gentleman in downtown.

 The force is strong with this one.

After the festivities, we headed to "The Shack," our buddies beach house to clean up and get to the pre-race swim meeting to discuss course logistics of the Sunday morning swims.

Swim around Harbour Island aka Swim the Loop

We hung out at Dockside for a few more refreshments after the meeting then headed went to the Lighthouse Beer and Wine patio for a couple more.

 Great selection.

Before we knew it, Sunday morning was here and it was time to get wet!  The race went off in a time trial format with most of the faster swimmers going early.  I left about mid pack so had people to follow for most of the swim.  Finished in an almost dead-tie with fellow OSB-Cary master swimmer Greg Sanchez for 4th/5th overall in 1:24.46.  

It has been a long time since I've swum anything more than 2 miles in a race and I enjoyed the course.  There was a mild outgoing tide for us which meant we swam against the current for the bulk of the swim.  The slower swimmers had it worse as the outflow picked up as time progressed.  Without Limits and Kristen Smith did a great job with this race and I bet it will become a very popular open water swim in years to come.

You can check out overall results here.

Then I photobombed my buddies as they finished.

                                                           Man growing from shoulder!

Gwaaagghaa!

We hung out for awards then packed up and came home, where I chased Junior Awesome in circles for 2 hours before we both collapsed from exhaustion.

Fini.