Ok here are some of the learnings from my 3rd GWN 1/2 IM:
Swim
I was told last year by my swim coach to hold my own in the water and not get bullied around. If I felt like I was holding pace and swimming a straight line then continue on my line. Of course I also want to go into any race with the mentality of "adapt" so the two thought processes collided in the swim this year as a male competitor felt I was not swimming straight and proceeded to pull me from my left shoulder down into the water twice. Ok, hold the line AND adapt I thought and I sprinted ahead of him. At which point he grabbed me by the leg and pulled me backwards and down under the water. I swallowed quite a bit of the lake and then sat up and turned around to shout at him. He kept repeating "swim straight"... "swim straight". My words were not choice.
So I continued on but at this point noticed I was breathing every stroke. I told myself to let go and I did... (also promised myself when I finished I could tell anyone who would listen!). My swim was ok. First lap I was on track for 35... second lap (where I ran into my drowning friend) I slowed down.
Bike
Hey what can I say other than I now know I have to work on both climbing and descending hills aggressively. I couldn't bring myself to attack the hill this year. I have no idea what that was about but I got passed by about 20 girls most of them probably in my AG right at Genesee. I hammered hard on the flats on the way home to find them. Caught a couple - but lost a lot of time to that blasted hill.
Run
This is where my nutrition may have been a factor. My legs felt AMAZING no leg pain at all but my guts started to act up about midway. I could tell when I started that I had a belly full of liquids. It may have been that the protein in perpetuem was not being absorbed when I was going all out on the bike. Something Greg warned me about.
Ok and there's this one little thing that is bugging me. On the run John picked me up in the last 5-6 km's and he said I wasn't racing as hard as I could. Last year he told me this too but I had no more to give and couldn't talk. This year he points out we were talking and when I crossed the line I was chatty. He said I should have pushed it so hard I was barfin' like the guy who crossed a few seconds before me.
I think he's right. I think I could have gone harder on the run. So what keeps me from it?
Anyway, I loved racing without knowing my time. Can I let go of that again at Ironman?
Race Report: Muskoka River X 2024 (Algonquin Park Edition)
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We came.
We suffered.
We conquered.
The Start
*The Race*
90km of paddling across Algonquin Provincial Park.
7am start... clock doesn't stop until yo...
3 months ago
7 comments:
Ah, yeah. Perpetuem is great stuff for training, but I also don't use it for racing 1/2 IM. I actually really like the Enervit cheer packs for the bike. Element has them. (last year, I over did the bananas on the bike, and had GI issues on my run, too) For the run, I love coke and water, and nothing else. Oh, how I miss racing this year!!! :(
Anyway, I adore John, but I disagree with him. The adrenalin of seeing those you love close to the finish line can cause that chattiness. It doesn't mean you didn't push hard enough. Though he is well meaning, Jordan, only YOU can ascertain how hard you pushed.
As for the barfy dude...maybe he pushed his body too far when it was telling him to stop? What I'm saying is you don't have to vomit at the end of a race to have a successful one.
As for Ironman, I KNOW you can race like that again!
:)
Great comments, Naomi. I loved the Perpetuem for training but my eyes are very opened to what my body needs when it's racing. It's that little bit of extra effort I am putting forward, together with nerves and my stomach just did not want to process it! I actually backed off the Perpetuem at the halfway mark and started taking Gatorade because I sensed this but I believe it was too late.
I think if my stomach had cooperated I would have had a bit more in me to push. But overall I am happy with my effort. It's best not to second guess myself anyway!
And barfy dude yeah... plus it doesn't make a pretty picture now does it? ;-)
Never say "I could have gone faster". If you could have gone faster... you would have!
The more we train and race, the more we learn how to race closer to our true fitness.
Race too easy.. leave time on the course, race too hard... long walk home.
That is why ironguides training has a lot of race pace efforts... to build awareness of pacing.
If things felt a little too "comfort zone" this time, then you know what you need to do next time. :-)
Nope...you don't need to second guess this race, your nutrition, whether you could have gone faster at all. You did it! Period. No explanation needed, and the need for explanations is where our sport is very mislead.
Here is a quote from Marc Becker: "all your athlete needs to do is BE CURIOUS. When you are curious, you shed expectations! You leave yourself open to the infinite possibilities of what CAN happen -- and you don't jam yourself into the little tight box of what SHOULD happen."
Jewels of wisdom, and I couldn't agree with Marc more!
:)
Wow, that guy on the swim sounds like such a jackhole! Why didn't he just move over and find his own space of clear water to swim in? Oh well, you can't control the other people around you, so good for you for moving past it.
That hill on the bike is a good one, eh? Good for your for pushing the flats. I found the wind tough on the flat bits!!
Great race!! I'm not a huge fan of barfing at the end..!
Don't dis the guy on the swim.
"Hey, I think I'll lend a helping hand to the lovely lady swimming next to me by grabbing whatever body part I can grope, and shoving her head under water so she learns to swim in a straight line"
And they say chivalry is dead.
I love the idea of racing and not knowing your time. Seems so much more zen.
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