At long last, the 2013 triathlon season has come to an end. It was an emotional roller coaster, filled with disappointment, joy beyond belief, and a renewed love for the sport. The adventures were exciting, unpredictable, and rewarding. Sitting down reflecting upon them makes me hungry for more in 2014.
The final race was Ironman Florida in Panama City Beach. The three week gap between Kona and Florida meant no serious training that could wreck me, but no slacking either. As a result, when race day came around, I had very little fatigue, but my overall fitness was relatively low. Discipline would be the key to success. Unable to push the power that I hit in Lake Placid and Kona, I knew I would have to keep my stroke as long and smooth as possible, stay as aerodynamic as possible on the bike course, and hang on to the best pace possible on the run course. The goal was to go as fast as possible on relatively mediocre fitness, but more importantly, to win the male 18-24 division and get a spot back in Kona for 2014.
Swim
The swim began with a "self-seeded mass start." In other words, it was a mass start. Call it what you want, but seeding by predicted finish time didn't seem to alleviate the early congestion. The 5-6 foot swells in the first 200 yards probably didn't help either. Other than the chaos of the start, the swim was mostly unevetful. First loop was finished in just over 28 minutes, then back into the swells for the second loop. Without the mahem of the mass start on the second lap, I had no reason to push the pace, and finished the course in just over 59 minutes. Into transition, I felt that my swim wasn't necessarily fast, but fast enough. I didn't know where I stood within my age group out of the water, but knew that if there were any others in front of me, they couldn't be too far up the road, and there was still a 112 mile bike course to catch up if necessary.
Bike
This bike course is one of the flattest in the world, and the winds were very favorable on race day. As soon as I mounted my bike, I could tell it was going to be a good day. The temperatures were cool and my leg turnover was quick. All I had to do was lock into my aerobars and settle into a groove, and my bike practically rode itself. I eventually caught up to a small group of guys down the road who must have had some killer swim splits. By about 20 miles in I was riding in a group of about 5 riders, keeping our legal distance. Rather than trying to push the pace and break away from them, I decided to settle into this group and take in some necessary calories. The pace was more than fast enough, and the energy savings of riding 10 meters behind the next rider is substantial enough. About 50 miles into the course, we saw the first male professionals going through an out and back stretch, and shortly after that, the first amatuers as well. A quick count, and I was shocked to see that not only was I sitting in the first place in the age group, but also within about the top 20 or so of all amatuers. After the turnaround I kept my eyes peeled for the second guy in my age group, but never saw him before the roads split and we continued north, meaning I had at least 15 minutes on the next one. Beautiful! Shortly after the 70 mile mark, things began to spread out as we fought a cross/head wind, and I was only riding with 2 other guys. By mile 80, it was just me and one other. Around mile 90 we made the turn to return south, and the wind was square at our backs. Unfortunately, the guy I was riding with got tagged for a drafting penalty and I was forced to ride the remaining miles alone. I pushed the pace to bridge the gap up to the next group of professional women and male amateurs, and then broke away from them in the last 5 miles. I came into second transition with a 4:41 bike split all alone, very pleased with where I was sitting.
Run
After taking my time in transition to get lots of vaseline and sunscreen, it was onto the marathon. Conditions were mild, with temperatures hovering in the low 80s and the wind off the beach giving a cool breeze. The run course was also very flat, which meant moderating the effort would be a little bit easier. Knowing my lead was pretty decent, I decided to open up the marathon just a touch faster than what I thought I could hold the entire race. Like the bike course, it was an out and back format, with two loops, so there would be 3 opportunities to see the gap to second over the course. My plan was to do the first 8-10 miles quick as possible to extend my lead, and not allow anybody behind me to have any hope of beating me when they see the gap, then just keep moving forward to the finish line. I ticked off the opening miles in 7:00-7:10 per mile, not lightning fast but certainly quicker than goal pace, and after the first turnaround, the gap to second was 38 minutes. Beautiful! A little quick mental math, and with just 16 miles left, that meant second would have to take almost 2:30 out of my lead per mile, so I could safely slow down to 8:30 per mile knowing nobody would likely be dropping solid 6 minute miles. My running stride moved at about a 7:40-8:00 pace, with 20-30 second walking breaks at about every other aid station. I knew the only way I could lose at this point was if severe dehydration or the infamous "bonk" were to hit me like a rock, so I just took my time to get in the necessary fluids and calories to carry me across the line. At the final turnaround I had one last chance to see the gap to second, and it was now only 36 minutes, still more than enough to guarantee a win if I kept some sort of running stride. With only 4 miles to go, I was ready to kick things in. Unfortunately, it was time to pay up for my slightly reckless opening miles. The pace began to slip to 8:30-9:00 per mile, fast enough to keep my lead but certainly not much of a finishing kick. After dragging myself back into town, the crowds made things feel effortless for the last mile. Adrenaline surged through my blood, and in the finish chute with two tenths of a mile to go, I took a quick look behind me, saw nobody, and put a proud index finger to the sky. "Number 1!" I thought to myself as an otherworldly sensation took over my body. A sloppy, but sufficient, 3:34 marathon brought me to the line in 9:24:35, 87th overall, and most importantly, 1st place in the male 18-24 division.
The next day I went down to claim my second Kona slot. You would think it would be less cool than the first time without the novelty, but on the contrary, it felt nearly as great, if not better! I won in dominant fashion, keeping a 36 minute gap to second all the way to the line, and took advantage of my fresh and rested legs to compensate for lower fitness and less training. I think its safe to say, however, that the key to this race was calling upon my Ironman experience to know what my body would be capable of late in the marathon. My friend James and I joked earlier this year that running sucks, and we just need to swim and bike so fast that we can walk the run course. Ironically, this is sort of how my race in Florida panned out.
It is now about 2 weeks into the offseason. Since Ironman Florida I have enjoyed the Electric Daisy Carnival in Orlando, played some ice hockey, and tasted a few beers and wines. There also may have been a handful of cheeseburgers and donuts thrown in there. This season was brutal- since January I have covered 273 miles swimming, 7633 miles by bike, and 1538 miles of running, hands down the greatest cumulative training load of my life. Over the next couple of weeks, I will let my body get out of shape and restore the balance to the universe before hitting the regimented training real hard. This season has taught me, in more ways than one, that balance is everything. For every action there is an equal/opposite reaction. Homeostasis. The point of hurting in training is to pay it forward and hurt a little less in a race. Likewise, in order to get incredibly fit for a period of time, one must also become unfit at another period of time. I had a great season, and met some pretty substantial goals, but I have no delusions about how being truly top tier. If I had finished 9:24 in the male 25-29 division at Florida, it would have only been good enough for 4th, and just miss a Kona qualification. I'll have to step up my game in 2014 to compete in that age group, so the plan is to recover fully from 2013 and get after it. This was definitely the best season so far, but I can promise you, there's more where that came from.
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