Back to the nerdy stuff. Leading up to the tri I ate normal food. I really got into grilled cheese sandwiches which I made at the cabin. I typically use sourdough bread instead of Rye but whatever...they were still good I thought.
Anyways leading up to the tri I started getting...bigger. I didn't feel heavy or sluggish but I noticed that I kind of just inflated a tad. I think this was my body reloading on glycogen stores in my muscles (so you hope) instead of just getting fat.
So the night before the race I requested my final dinner of: chopped up chicken thighs w/ skin on + garlic + ginger + fish sauce + sugar with rice and salad. I would have made it myself but I spent the afternoon running around picking things up and dropping off my bike etc.
I also prepped french toast so I could just fire it up in the morning to make a quick breakfast. Oh yes, I also drank a mixture of electrolyte stuff just to make sure I retained water well.
I don't know why but the first night of sleeping wasn't great. I felt a little inflamed and stuff, my heart was pumping kind of hard and stuff too. One would think I was nervous, but I really wasn't and with people waking up with allergies and Vincent with a cough I suspected I was just inflamed with something. Although I don't get full on allergies, I can feel a little inflammation, puffy things, red face blah blah.
Anyways, it passed quickly in the morning and Pablo, Sam, Manu and I sped (literally) to the campground where the race starts. Manu came out to support, he would volunteer at the run turnaround.
...Where am I going with all this...I was pretty disoriented the whole time, too much filling my mind, things I tried to remember, running scenarios through my head and then all of a sudden I'm hacking in the water...it was a blur.
A cold, shivering blur. It was nice getting out of the water and seeing Mom and company cheer me on. I did want to quit at this point because the first lap was terrible to say the least. Trying to swim with a group is a bad idea if you're not used to it. I should have just stuck to my training and spotted every once in a while. Lesson learned and second lap went smoothly, except the shivering in the water.
Getting out of the water and onto the pavement was admittedly painful on my freezing feet. Kristy had a good time mocking me, as I would have also. Needless to say I forgot everything I was supposed to do. Afraid of the cold and just worrying about toppling over, I never unzipped my suit or took the top off. So once I got to my transition station I kind of just stood there and slowly undid my top. The guy in charge of the transition area noticed that I was shivering and in overall bad shape and came by with some heat packs. It was amazing. After struggling to de-clothe and get my stuff on I set out on the bike.
The first half hour of riding was...lets say treacherous. I was weaving pretty fairly wildly because of the cold and shivering action that was happening.
Feeling pretty fresh and cold I just kept smashing to get my body temp up. No food or water was needed for the first 45 minutes or so. After about that time I figured I should get fluid in my system before I start cramping up. Since it was cold, I figured I would need fluids to facilitate all the chemical things that went on in my body but not to replace sweat.
Anyways here's the breakdown or rough breakdown of my consumption on the bike:
- 6-7 bottles (25 oz) mixtures of water and sugar/electrolytes.
- First 2 were Clif Electrolyte, the rest was half water half HEED mix
- 3 packets of shot blocks, so around 8 servings
- ~3.5 oz of yogurt taken separately 2 oz then 1.5 oz at hour 2.5 and 5 on the bike
- 1.5 oz Hammer Gel from my squeeze tube
That was it. I got off the bike feeling great, at just enough, maybe slightly over but good overall.
Once I started running I was afraid of crashing so I scaled my running back to around to a 8.5' pace. I held this for a while and then came the hills...After experiencing the first few hills I think I got a little psyched out and scaled the running back. At this point I just wanted to finish steady...it was hard to gauge everything because I had never run a marathon and the hills seemed a bit daunting. Plus although I was trying to truck it down hills...every time I looked at my watch I was going a lot slower than it seemed. My grandiose goals of being a first time tri master were out the window. I just wanted to get under 12:45 I think.
Towards the first lap I saw brother Huy and stopped at a aid station for some nibbles. Over the course of the run I had about...3-4 hammer gels all taken a half at a time usually about 3 miles apart. For drinks I had half water half HEED. I probably drank around 3 (25 oz) bottles...the first one was Clif Electrolyte.
I'm blowing through everything I realize, oh yes one of the highlights of the event was getting a high five from Matt Damon and his lady friend. Yes, he was as studly as advertised.
My plan when I did the run (a may have shifted) was to stay slightly over fed so I wouldn't hit a wall but not too much that I would have stomach issues. I should have stopped eating at mile 20 and just trucked it but everything seemed so far out! Anyways at about 4 miles to go I said, this is it and didn't stop anymore at the stations. Some lady said, "You can totally get him." I was pretty confused but I kept a steady pace and eventually saw my last victim. Once he was in my sight I just trucked it and passed him with a "we're almost there!" He gave me a friendly "go get 'em" and that was the last of him.
Throughout the run people were commenting on how fresh I seemed -- I felt fresh, haha. At that point it was either bust my ass and shave off a few minutes or take it home smooth and be functional the next day with my family in town. The latter seemed much more appealing and easy. Anyways, I realized that I didn't really care about pushing myself or "seeing what I could do." Having those smiling, cheering faces at the finish line meant more to me than anything. It was so sweet that they stood in the torrential downpour as I got a sticker clad plastic feeling medal draped around my neck.
Overall, it was a fun experience. I don't think I'll ever consider myself a "triathlete." Not to say I wouldn't do it again, maybe in a long while when I'm bored. Either way I've amassed a ton of knowledge about sugars, nutrition, recovery, body mechanics and the like to last me a while. I'll use this knowledge to do other things that no one wants to do. Not sure what's next but I think I'll be prepared to train for it.
Thanks for following.
