One O One Bradenton Race Report

In case you were wondering, it is possible to finish a One O One with an average of 7:43 of training time per week. Not recommended, however, but it is possible. 10 hours of training in the weeks prior to my taper were probably 5 hrs too short. I really should have gotten in a long run of 14 - 18 miles and another long bike. Oh yea, some longer swims of at least race distance would have been nice. I was 244 lbs on race morning - ug - at the beginning of the season I had wanted to be at 230lbs by now. Oh well...

What a cool race! It began with an in-water start on the way for a 3-lap 1.86 mile swim. The water was 82.5 degrees - so wetsuits were not allowed, and even though it is considered the Manatee River, the water was very salty...I was seriously ready for some fluids during that third lap. I tried to stay on someones feet for as long as I could - I was successful for the first two laps, and then folks stared to tucker out and I was alone for the last lap (yes, I actually passed some folks on the swim!). I think I kept my pace even for all three laps - and it was very hard to take it easy and I had to keep reminding myself that there was still a long day ahead. I came out of the water at 1:15:05 (92nd out of 119 starters), and except for some pain in my left shoulder, I felt pretty good (of course, looking back, a 2:29 /100 yd pace leaves a lot of room for improvement...).

I packed a complete change of clothing for the bike - bibs, cycling socks, and raceAthlete jersey, plus a Ziploc bag with my flat tire kit. I had taped gels and Endurolyte packs to my bike for easy access - they stretched from the head tube all the way to seat. Lesson learned - I paid more attention to my calorie intake on this race than on any other - the tape served as a way to tell how much I had taken in, and the gels sitting there showed with my knees hitting them from time to time let me know I still had some to go. I think I taped down 16 and had 5 left when I transitioned. The gels and the Infinite mix they had with the protein was my only fuel.

It was early enough at the start of the bike that there was little wind. It would be a long bike ride - the wind and the heat sure did pick up. You can see from the Garmin chart a half lap of "with the wind" and a half lap "into the wind". Interestingly, for most of the race, I made my best gains on other competitors while traveling into the wind. Since I was doing EVERYTHING I could to keep my HR in the low 150's, my speed really trailed off at the end with that wind, and more so than on any other ride, training or else wise, the bottom of my feet were on FIRE! I tried loosening my shoes, tightening them - I've got to find a solution for the future, because that was just plain miserable.

We did 6 laps out on a very flat HWY 64 - no, it's not that picturesque, but the road was in great shape and we got to use two whole lanes of it. Right away I had the distinct pleasure of being passed by pro after pro - it was awesome. Since we were doing out-and-back laps, we could all see everyone else along the course (I passed by the one bike injury, Ashley Carusone, who broke her jaw when a driver ignored police at one of the many intersections - the police really did an awesome job and were great the whole time). Granted, it was a little disheartening to see some riders head off (about 50 folks) to do the run while I still had a lap to go. Di had parked herself just past the aid station with her camera, cheering and cowbell - and even our extended Tri-Family Luke, Perez and Boo showed up for a few laps.

Right at mile 58 I heard a loud bang - yep, my first race flat! Front tire blow-out, luckily on a strait-away, and no one around so I could keep it strait and come to a safe stop. I got to the side of the road and immediately thought I'd pull a Norman-Kona trick and not be able to get my tubie off! I had left about an inch unglued across the from the valve, but it was still hard to pull off. Then, imagine my horror as I realized that I had a Hed Jet 90, but packed a new tubie with a regular length valve! Fortunately, again, the valve extender easily twisted off the old valve and on to the new one. I put it on the rim, used one CO2 to air it up, packed up all my trash and got out of there in 11 minutes. I have to admit, seeing all those folks pass me that late in the game kinda took some of the wind from my sails. I finished in 4:30:25 and had the 85th best bike split out of 104 with bike times. That got me a 17.9mph average speed - take out the 11 minutes for the flat and that goes up to an 18.67mph avg (and 75th best bike split) - but that's racing.

Back into the changing tent I went to re-emerge as a runner. I wish. Most of the first of 3 laps were spent fighting off the nausea I had from over hydrating right away. I guess I was just scared and wanted to get in as much as I could - which I did - which I shouldn't have. I mixed in some running and walking and met up with a pro - Richard Armstrong - who was dogging it in on the last lap and was nice enough to run at my meager 12 min pace for a while. He hit a port-a-potty, and I kept going, knowing that he'd eventually catch back up. He did, before I got back to the beginning of the lap, and went on by to finish up as strong as he could - really nice guy, and I wish him some strong races in the future.

Starting the second lap, I saw a dude in yellow and black - as I passed by him (he was ahead of me in the loop) he asked if I was a Clyde 3 - I said yes, and he turned and took off running again - so I thought to myself, "ok, it's on...". Since I was feeling better I made it my mission to a) run the whole lap, and b) run this Clydesdale down. I could see him turning back and walking every now and then (there were long stretches where you could see pretty far ahead), and eventually, I caught him. It was at a price, however - with one more 6 mile lap to go, I had run myself down to the ground. I also needed a potty break.

After that, I started the old, "run up to that parked car at least..." then walk trick. 4 miles of that, and I was ready to get it done and over. I had been psyching myself up for it for a while, so I was ready for the pain when I started running with no intention of stopping until the finish. I could hear footsteps behind me, which also helped motivate me to pick it up towards the end. I did manage to run that last bit with no walk breaks, and run up the ramp to the finish amongst the sounds of Di's cheering and cowbells and the announcer telling me I was a finisher. It was great to be done!

By the time I recovered enough to get out of the chair I found, and eat some chips (that was about all I could stomach), pick up all my gear and change clothes - it was time for the awards banquet. I didn't know how I would be able to stomach any food, but I was very hungry at the same time. It all stayed down. The Bigun doesn't waste banquet opportunities. I scored a great plaque and some Specialized Chicane sunglasses - very cool. We sat down with local Age Grouper Chet Miller from Plant City whom I'd met before he headed out to IMAZ on the Strawberry Century ride. As we were in the food line, a bunch of people sat at our table - we had hoped they hadn't taken our seats. Turns out we got to eat with Nina Kraft and a bunch of her Pro Triathlete Buddies. Lots of German flying around the table - and everyone at the table got either a plaque or a check. We left as the beginning of the day's only rain began to come down. The race was awesome, the volunteers and police did a fantastic job, the winnings and free stuff was great as well. If you get a chance, do this race.

Edit: Oh yea, my run wasn't much to speak of - 4:10:14 for a 13:40 pace and my finishing time was 10:09:37 - that flat would have been nice to get back so that I could come in under 10 hrs. Next time...