I stand up and look at my HRM, it is reading in the high 160s (heart rate monitor, beats per minute). I found out later that did the whole swim at an average HR of 80%. Not a problem if I was racing 1/2 IM but a slight issue on long course.

Grab my bag at T1 and head into the change tent. I sit down and my hamstrings tighten right up. After they tighten, they start to hurt, a lot. Searing pain grips the back of my legs and my excitement from the outstanding swim drains from my body. This is not good.

No point in hanging around, I head out to my bike. Surprisingly, there are a lot of bikes still in the racks. I decide that even if I feel like crap it is a good scene. I grab my road rocket and head out of transition.

Swim to Bike Transition (first transition = T1): 0:03

My legs are not functioning and the pain is very frustrating. I sense that time is slipping past but there is no point in worrying about it if my body won’t function. After 250 meters, I pull over, dismount and start to stretch. This is doing absolutely nothing for me so I get back on my bike and back in the game. I forgot my own #1 rule – stay in the game and always make progress towards the finish line.

Once I am back on track, it still hurts but at least I am heading in the right direction. I think to myself that even if I have a six hour bike, I can run three and a half and end up sub-10:45. Not a great time but not a total disaster either. This makes me feel better and I slowly spin up the road as a hundred people blow by me.

I wrote the above a few months back. I should have stencilled it to my bike frame. Sure enough, after ten or fifteen minutes of spinning, my heart rate is down and my legs come around. Boy do they ever! Power is back in my legs and I am reeling in the folks as we head out of town. It is a great sensation to be pulling people back on the bike leg. This has never happened before and is a real boost.

#201 rides up alongside me and accuses me of stealing his wetsuit! The guy is from the US and was at the carbo dinner when they announced that #202 (me!) won a free IM wetsuit. That makes me smile and I wish him a good race as he heads off. We would see each other off and on for the rest of the day.

I employ the Dave Scott tactic of "finishing my hills". I always have a little smile in my head when I tell myself this during a climb. I have a vision of Dave Scott’s mom scolding a young Dave to "finish his hills". Anyhow, this is a good way to improve an average bike speed. Accelerate over the tops and get the speed up quickly for the back side of the climb. I never did this before reading it in Dave’s book and it really helps.

Next Page
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8
Back to Race Reports