Patriot Half Ironman
Faster… Much Faster…
Patriot Half Ironman Race Report
Race Information
Day: Saturday, 6/18/23
Weather: Started out cloudy and humid, low 60s, started raining HARD right after I completed the bike, stayed raining the remainder of race.
Day Prior to Race
Packing the morning of travel. Probably should have done a bit more planning ahead of time. I was rushing and was very lucky I didn’t forget anything.
For lunch I got a Panera Bacon Turkey Bravo sandwich with no sauce. Honestly incredible. Will repeat again.
Travel to Fall River, MA for Airbnb. Traffic. Given that my car’s AC no longer works (for the 3rd time), driving 2+ hours in traffic, full sun, 85Deg F… Tough.
Airbnb was dirty, cleaned, Steve unable to see racecourse. We got early check in to our AirBnb, except it appeared that the cleaners never showed up, and the Airbnb was nice but actually quite dirty all at the same time. Steve was able to contact the host and tell them about our situation. We were able to find clean towels (by we I mean steve, because I was a moron and didn’t see the shower closet full of towels.). Due to my lack of observation, steve stayed back at the Airbnb to wait for the cleaners to drop off the keys to the basement so we could do the laundry (which we ultimately didn’t need to do because there were in fact clean towels). Huge bummer that Steve didn’t get to go to packet pick up. Although, steve was able to get a head start on dinner and things worked out well logistically on race evening. Nonetheless, I’m so sorry Steve! I swear I never saw that closet (face palm).
For dinner we had Andrew (fellow NEMS member) come over. We had the classic chicken, pasta, and minimal sauce. Although Steve Cheffed up some pretty incredible side salad, I took a pass because I didn’t want to experiment with the veggies before race day.
Lights out around 9PM
Day of Race
3:50 AM wake up
Arrival around 5:30AM. Got a pretty solid parking spot on the opposite side of the area from the transition space.
Setup transition, swim warm up, bopping around saying good luck to NEMS team.
The Transition Setup: Small hand towel for ground, running shoes, running hat, race belt with Gels already in it, helmet, sunglasses, salt cannister, body glide, ear plugs, goggles, swim cap, wet suit, poncho, extra water bottle with 1.5 scoops of salt, socks pre-rolled and inside bike shoes.
Race Morning Nutrition
3 Hours Prior: 2.5-3 Cups of apple sauce, 1 scoop of protein power with coconut milk, 1 banana, 24+ ounces of BPN G1M with 2 scoops pink Himalayan sea salt.
Swim
The swim went well. The swim start was pretty neat in that there were no speed waves, it was just age group waves. I started in the men under 39 AG wave, and we were sent off time trial style, with 3 people going every 10 seconds. There was a cool countdown clock that made the start of the race exciting. The swim start was great. I did some great dolphin diving, and my water entrance was… in my humble opinion, very good. LOL. Lookin’ like a pro- At least from the few seconds of video my sister captured. Although, the dolphin diving did feel like it did something to my left shoulder blade, and I was a bit scared I pulled something immediately to start the day.
I wasn’t totally sure what my swim pace was since I haven’t been doing much open water swimming this year. My first OWS was actually Thursday afternoon, less than 48 hours before race start- and let’s just say that wasn’t very reassuring. My focus on the swim was to try and swim as straight a line as I could. It felt as though I kept swimming off course, but the GPS trace of my swim was pretty straight, so I think it was primarily the buoys orientation with respect to the horizon that threw me off. There was a slight diagonal to the course on the way out and back in… But this is all pretty subjective.
I had no issues with breathing since I’ve switched over to single sided breathing. I breathed primarily to my left side, and this was so I could keep an eye on the buoys. I did switch my breathing side a few times to the right side so I could get an eye on the other competitors around me, and the switch not only TOTALLY THREW OFF MY EQUILIBRIUM, but it also became incredibly apparent how sore my neck had gotten from only breathing to one side for a majority of the swim.
Throughout the whole swim I felt like I was not going to make it. I felt like I was pushing too hard and that I’d lose steam coming around the return buoys. This appears to have been all mental, as my pace was very consistent throughout the whole swim. My paces per 500 were:
0-500yd: 1:33 min/100yds
500-1000yd: 1:43 min/100yds
1000-1500yd: 1:43 min/100yds
1500-2000yd: 1:42 min/100yds
2000-2080yd: 1:39 min/100yds
I’m actually a little surprised how consistent I was able to stay for the middle 1500 yards.
My biggest fear for the swim was that I would cramp in the last 500/750yds like I have in my previous races. To combat this I increased my sodium intake the morning before the race considerably. This appears to have work! I managed to get out of the water with no cramps. Although, it did feel like my calves and hamstrings wanted to cramp in the last 500 yds. There was definitely some tightness and tension in the legs as I approached the swim exit that made my wary as I exited and headed towards the bike. I went pee in the last 750yds of the swim. This was a pro move, because I didn’t have to pee for a long time on the bike.
T1
Quick and easy. Stay focused on being relaxed and efficient. Had a tiny bit of difficulty putting my socks on but this didn’t add much time. Wetsuit came off nice and quick!
Bike
Getting on the bike, my right quad, hamstring, and calf all seized up. This was not great LOL. I was able to spin it off by reducing the power a bit, and then SMASHED some salt from my salt cannister.
Colin and I’s power plan for the bike was:
Flats: 215-230
Headwind: 230-240
Tailwind: 200-210
Max Hill PW: 285
Nonetheless, I kinda just went out and biked as hard as I could. LOL. My power curve suggests I spent quite a bit more time well above the 295W maximum. I knew going into the bike that my bike fitness was the best its ever been, and that I really wanted to break 2:30 for the bike leg. I knew this would only be possible if I averaged closed to 22 mph. In my race prep analysis I knew that sort of splits I’d need to do for each portion of the bike leg, so I knew I had to keep my foot on the gas. So I biked accordingly, and more-or-less threw out the traditional, “conserve yourself, and race your own race” mindset, and adopted the, “let’s just see what happens” headspace. I took opportunities to pass others when I could have just held back, and I made a couple pulls to try and bury people who kept playing leapfrog with me. It was fun to place myself in a ‘race’ mindset, because often in these endurance races I tend to be more conservative and let other people do their own thing. I think this competitive edge helped keep my bike numbers up. However, it was definitely a gamble because my legs got very tired towards the end of the bike and I was really uncertain about how my run legs would be.
Nutritionally on the bike I consumed gels (honey stinger) every 30 minutes, I had a couple licks from my salt cannister here and there as I felt I needed, and drank 1 bottle every 40-45 minutes. I picked up one extra bottle from an aid station to supplement the last couple minutes of the ride where I would have no more of my own nutrition. I only brought 3 bottles.
Bike Nutrition Summary
3 personal bottles: 1 scoop G1M, 2 scoops Himalayan pink salt.
1 gel every 30 minutes.
1 extra water bottle (drank about half of it)
1-2 licks of salt every 20 miles or so (as needed)
I didn’t have any problems keeping my focus on the bike due to the constant focus on trying to find the best places to go fast on the bike, and to recover my legs on any available down hills. I took a few extra opportunities to stop pedaling at around 26mph on some hills towards the end of the bike so that I could get a bit more rest. In the last 3ish miles of the bike I actively tried to reduce my power on the bike so that I could prepare for the run a bit. I loosened my bike shoes while on the bike so I could save a tiny bit of time during transition.
I got very lucky on the bike because the weather held off until the last minute or two of riding. Quite literally, I got off the bike, and then the rain started.
Bathroom breaks on the bike… Well I didn’t stop for any breaks. I made it about 1:50 into the bike before I had to pee; went pee no problems. I then decided to pee 2 more times before getting off the bike to ensure I could start the run with as little body weight as possible. I was courteous with my bathroom breaks and there was no one within eye sight or splash zone of my mid ride decisions… #Classy
T2
T2 was very smooth. I managed to get my bike on the rack easily (despite my aero bars being so high that it couldn’t fit regularly). My run shoes were a little tight, so I struggled a little to get those on.
Run
The run was… Well, a sufferfest. My left foot when numb at about mile 2, and my right foot went 70% numb around the same time. My right upper abdominal was cramped the entire run, and my knees were sore from the impact. Good news on the body discomfort front was at least my old knee pain wasn’t present! The left foot numbness was a huge issue for me on the run; it made running very hard, and the discomfort level was probably a 8/10. My middle toe on my left foot also began to get incredible uncomfortable. (in writing this, it is now Sunday, and I can confirm my little middle toe is black/blue, so that lil’ guy got pretty banged up!).
My mindset on the run was to make it to the next Mile. I kept telling myself each mile, “looking for mile 2!”, “Looking for 3!”, “Looking for 4!”, and so. Quite literally I was saying this out loud so I could cheer myself on and keep focusing on the present moment, and not the daunting 13 miles ahead of me. This worked well! I really focused hard in the first 2 miles to keep myself under control and to keep my pace as slow as I could. I knew that I would blow up if I went out too hard, so I kept telling myself it was OK to slow down. At this point in the race, the rain was really starting to come down, and things were getting SOAKED. Throughout the remainder of the run the roads were flooded, I was running through 2inches of water in many parts, and often times through fast moving ‘rivers’ on the side of the road. To be honest though, this run was legendary because of the weather conditions. I’ve never run in conditions like this, and it was frankly epic. I was super grateful to no longer be biking because I can’t imagine how difficult that would have been.
With the weather, and my pain combined, the run was incredibly challenging, but I think I would have taken that combination over hot and sunny ANY day. The rain kept my HR nice and low (all things considered) and prevented any additional challenges that could have cropped up like dehydration.
Towards the 70% mark on the run, about mile 7-8 I came up on this Elite male runner, wearing green, who I believe to be called Raman. Raman was struggling, and you could hear his grunts, shouts, etc., as he tried to push himself onward. He wasn’t alone, I was also grunting loudly, making weird noises (nothing new here), and audibly taking to myself throughout the duration of the run to keep pushing. He and I went back and forth, and ran together for probably the last 4-5 miles. It was really nice to have someone there to dive deep into the pain cave, and he absolutely helped me push harder than I otherwise would have. He dragged me along, and I dragged him along. I ended up crossing the finish line a minute and change before he did. I greeted him with a hug at the finish . Way to push through the end Raman, thank you for your on-course sportsmanship.
My last mile of the run was black-out mode (as I like to call it). Everything, all you got, all at once, until you cross that finish line. I ran the last mile at a 6:31 min/mi, because there’s always enough left for a sprint finish ;).
Nutrition on the run:
1 gel ever 20 minutes
1-2 cups of water at every aid station (1 cup at every aid station after the first aid station because of my cramping, couldn’t handle any additional volume)
1-3 salt licks every 1-1.5 miles.