Leadman Epic 250 - Race Report

Going into this week I didn't have too many expectations.  I hadn't really raced this distance ever...I had completed a couple races of this distance in 2011, but never felt like I had any extra gear to go to, in either.  I had chosen this race for two big reasons: I had always wanted to travel to Oregon, and I wanted challenge myself on the bike.  The bike is my weakness and I had been spending a lot of time in the saddle this year.  I also didn't know what to expect from the elevation.  I had never trained or raced at elevation, and the swim and bike were almost entirely above 4500 ft.  I really just wanted to go out and be strong the entire way and see how I stacked up against some West Coast competition, with my final race of the season - Beach to Battleship Ironman five weeks away. 

The weather reports all week were getting worse and worse for race day.  It was going to be cold and rainy.  Then, the day before it looked like there could be snow, with temps in the low 30's at the start.  Luckily we woke up and it was slightly warmer than expected - high 30's/low 40's.  They had warming tents at the start as well, so it was pretty easy to change into my wetsuit and stay warm prior to the start.

5K Swim: 58:51

The swim start was in-water, and required us to swim about 1 min to a buoy away from shore.  This little "warm-up" was perfect; my face stung when the water hit and I had to lift my head out a couple times, but we could stand by the buoy and it gave me some time to get acclimated to the chill.  There was no warning prior to the start, just an air horn from shore.  I was caught bouncing up and down, but I wasn't concerned about hammering the swim.  I wanted to take things a little easier and come out of the water fresher than I had in my Half IM races.  So I didn't panic.  Waited to hit the bottom again and pushed off into a relaxed stroke.  I had lined up all the way to the right and noticed a couple people jump out to my left.  After a few strokes I sighted and saw the lead kayak, (Yes, this race had a lead kayak.  All races should have a lead kayak.) realized I was right on the feet of the lead swimmer, and swimming right past him. It was foggy and it was super to be able to sight off the kayak the entire way.  It was very peaceful.  I settled in and decided to enjoy this as much as possible.  The lake was super clear and that cold bluish green color, that glows, that you only see in mountain lakes.  When you came through the first loop you had to exit the water, run up one side of the boat ramp and down the other side.  Someone yelled that I was 27 minutes, and I was pretty happy with that.  You never know about swim distance and time, until it's over, but that assured me that I would be out under an hour.  The second loop was a little less serene, as I swam through some of the 125 participants, and I lost the kayak a couple times as they had to jump out around those swimmers.  I felt great the whole swim and exited comfortable.  I was cold, and my hands were swollen a bit, but altogether in good shape.

T1: 7:33

I didn't hear a time as I exited and they didn't have a clock set up, so I didn't know exactly where I was.   All of our bike gear was in a transition bag that we had to pick up on the way to our bike.  I had stuffed the bag full of warm clothes, as I get cold very easily.   I ducked into the heated changing tent.  This transition took me forever - I had the dexterity of an infant and had made the decision to put my tri top on after the swim, to keep it as dry as possible.  In hindsight this was a poor decision that cost me some time as it fits very snug and got caught around my head no less than five times before I successfully pulled it on.  Then I had my knee warmers, gloves and jacket to put on, before I ran to my bike.  As I grabbed my bike I heard the announcer yell 1:04, so I figured I must have made it out of transition in 65 minutes - between 8-10 min in transition.  Yikes!

136 mile Bike - 7:12:52

This course had everything.  I was a little nervous heading into the bike, with the long descents and the conditions, but the course was laid out perfectly to ease me into those.  The first 30 miles was a long out and back along the Cascade Lakes Byway.  There were some gentle downgrades that allowed me to cruise around 30mph for extended periods.  We passed through a controlled burn - never seen one.  Interesting - cops and officials just sitting on the side of the road watching the forest floor smolder.  It smelled good.  Around mile 12 I was passed; I was wondering where that put me and how many people had passed me in transition.  I was paying attention to my heart rate and was happy with the effort, so I let him go.  I realized at the turn a few miles later that I had the lead until that point.

The majority of the bike course was going to be 1.5 loops of Mt. Bachelor.  We hit this loop at mile 38, and I made a point of checking my watch.  For the next 20 miles we rolled up, then we hit the climb up Bachelor (4.7 miles at an average grade of 3.7%...most of that in the first two miles).  The roads were dry through this section and I was beginning to think I might have to ditch my jacket.  I was making sure to drink plenty of water and sports drinks, as I was sweating a lot in my rain jacket.  Through these sections I was passed by a couple 250 athletes, but decided to stay within myself as it was still early on in the ride.  We crested Bachelor - 6400 ft. - at 65 miles into the bike.  It started to drizzle.  Five minutes later, as we made the turn to Sun River, the skies had opened.  The entire descent, for the next 20 minutes there was constant rain, with intermittent downpours and hail.  I tend to get skittish on the descents.  We don't really have any sustained descents in Connecticut, where I live, and so I popped out a couple times.  But what I began to realize was that I had more control of the bike in the aero bars.  I couldn't brake, but I wasn't tossed by the gusts as much because of the smaller position and the weight on the front wheel.

This descent was followed by almost ten miles of flats where you could see forever.  I had been passed along the descent from Bachelor twice, by the same guy.  I knew the section would be fast, and so I skipped an aid station, that he apparently stopped for.  Through the flats I keyed off this guy.  He had a sizeable lead, but you could see forever along this stretch.  When we made the final turn of the loop, onto Forest Road 40, I was in need of some calories and water.  I grabbed the bottle and pedaled back up to speed, before I took a drink.  Nothing.  The seal was still on - great.  I jammed the bottle between my aerobars, thinking I could unscrew the cap and rip off the seal.  I got that far, but it was one of the unfriendly seals, that you need nails to pry off.  I needed the hydration and electrolytes, with a climb ahead, so I stopped my bike.  My hands were in gloves so I bit at the seal to try and break it.  As I did this the cap fell out of my hand and down a 3 foot gully.  Really?  I ignore that, punch through the seal and take a big gulp.   Then bike in left hand I scramble down the embankment, pick up the cap, scramble up, screw it back on and hop back on my bike.  Two minutes later someone blows by me.  The whole stretch on 40, after that, was definitely the low point of the race for me emotionally.  I wasn't paying as much attention to my HR - I'm sure it dropped.  The day started feeling long, and I started all I was thinking about was the monster climb that I had to do again.  My legs were also starting to tweak - threatening to cramp.

Just before we turned off 40, at mile 90, we hit the special needs tent.  I can fit 1000+ calories into a bottle and not have to worry about a whole lot.  I also have the added bonus that I have a strong stomach and I don't typically have any GI issues.  I had gone through the bottle I started with and swapped it out for a new one.  I also don't like to worry about my sodium intake.  In my Half IM races I take a 20ml shot of soy sauce in each transition.  For a 10 hour race I added a third shot, which I took now.  I also grabbed some solid calories while I was there, which was awesome after surviving on liquids all day!  Within a couple miles my legs felt good again. 

Another 250 athlete rolled up on me as I entered special needs and we exited together.  I was still not in a great place mentally, so I let him go.  Shortly after we hit the Cascade Lakes Byway another guy passed me, with authority.  He caught the other dude pretty quickly and I could see that they were riding together for a bit.  The next few miles drifted by.  There was a flat section that led into a decent climb and when I hit this area I started to regain some composure.  I was slightly slower than the first time I had been around this section, but I looked up and could still see the two guys off in the distance.  This encouraged me and I started to pay attention to my HR again.  It was a bit low, and I forced myself to push.  I could see fairly quickly that I was pulling the two riders back to me, which motivated me more.  At the top of this smaller climb the road leveled off for about three miles leading up to the huge climb.  We passed another aid station and I yelled for water.  I was fairly parched.  I caged it and glanced down to make sure it was secure in the cage.  What?  A screw top?  Really?  Thanks.  I pushed to catch up to the guy in front.  On the last straightaway I passed him and he countered to get back in front of me right at the bottom of the climb.  For the next five miles I just keyed off him and stayed 100-150m behind him. 

Comparison of duplicated sections:

Lead-up to Bachelor #1 - 1:10:00

Bachelor Climb #1 - 27:00

Lead-up to Bachelor #2 - 1:18:00

Bachelor Climb #2 - 27:00

I was happy with the power and strength I had at the back end of this ride.  I was very pleased with the consistency of the ride.  And I was very pleased with my last descent.  I didn't come out of the aero bars once over the final descent (with the exception of a brief climb mid-way).  This was a big step for me and one that I am sure will pay dividends the next time I find myself on a Western course with long descents. 

14 mile Run: 1:43:59

I hit the run at the same point as one other guy who I passed almost immediately out of transition.  My left hip flexor felt awful.  Wasn't necessarily hurting my running, but was distracting and very tight.  I figured it would just loosen up and eventually it did.  Around the 1 mile mark I saw three guys up the road a little way, and caught them within the next half mile.  One was running slow and it looked like the other two had been running together, but one had just been broken.  I passed the first two easily and as I caught the last guy, I stepped past him, then decided to run with him.  I was pushing hard at this point and was not super comfortable, so I thought I'd ease up slightly and get a running partner.  Well, we hit hills right away, and this guy, Jason, was strong on the hills.  He would pick up a couple steps and I would catch up on flats and downhills.  We ended up running the next five + miles together, until the end of loop 1.  There was an extended flat and I held pace.  I thought he'd be strong in the hills again, so when I realized that he wasn't with me anymore, I pushed slightly through the rollers over the first couple miles of the loop.  I was feeling pretty good at this point, and transitioned from sports drinks and water to Coke and water. I needed the simple sugars and it worked well through the hills.  With a little more than 2 miles to go I started feeling dizzy and disoriented and very cold.  I imagine when I am able to upload my run data I will also see a fairly significant drop in HR.  I reached the last aid station at this point and, for the only time in the run, walked so that I could take down both water and coke.  I started running immediately again and was still moving fairly well.  Then with about 1 mile to go I was passed.  Like the road runner going by a slug...this guy was flying, and there was nothing I could do about it.  And I ran even laps:

Lap 1 - 51:00ish

Lap 2 - 51:30ish

There was an extension at the start and finish.

Total Time - 10:05:42

This was my best day racing.  Ever.  I have always wanted to race this long and felt I was able to finally live up to that.  I was able to put forth a consistent effort on the bike and come off and run strong for 14 miles.  I know that I have my work cut out for me on the bike.  I have built up the volume that allows me to stay strong late into races, but I need more tempo rides and more consistently hard efforts on the bike, in addition to that volume, to reach a level where I can begin to hold the leads I gain coming out of the water.  My run exceeded my expectation, with a top-4 split, and I was super pleased with the ease I was able to swim away from the field.  I'm looking forward to testing myself on an Iron distance course and seeing how my run holds up over 26.2 miles at Beach to Battleship, on October 26th!