On Thursday, when I got into town, I went for an easy 60 minute run. This is rapidly becoming a tradition. I've always liked to get in some kind of light workout to flush the legs from travel, but the easy run - stopping to take in the surroundings (and read some of the informational benches, below!) is what I have done for my last three races.
I stayed at the Lost Bayou B&B, run by Maria and Dave Dunn. They were super friendly, accommodating and knowledgeable - couldn't have asked for a better place and would highly recommend their place to anyone visiting Galveston!
On Friday, Maria took me to swim with her group, at the local HS pool. Got in almost an hour and just shy of 3000m, with 24 x 50 @ 50 at 1500 pace. Was a perfect wake-up swim and a necessary swim workout. By design my swim training has been in maintenance mode. For the past two years I have done my largest block of volume and intensity, in the pool, over the winter. This has left me swimming incredibly well in the early season, but have simply hung onto that strength over the course of the Summer and Fall. This year, my schedule was built differently, and I am coming off incredibly low volume and intensity that I plan to build all year, so that I am swimming my best in the Fall.
In the afternoon I was able to pick up my bike from Tri Bike Transport and get out on the road quickly. I am on a new bike this year - a Quintana Roo Illicito. Friday was my second outdoor ride and the second time ever on the bike. The bike course in Galveston is just a long out and back, to the end of the island. For race week we were lucky to have a monster tailwind on the way out and a nasty headwind on the way back. I was able to spend 2.5 hours on Friday and another 1.75 hours on Saturday putting some miles in the bank, tweaking my position and getting used to the winds.
Swim - 27:37
All the wind made for a choppy swim. The beginning was especially choppy. I lined up to the right, which left me with the group creating rough water to my left and the waves coming from the right. I was trapped and spent most of the first ten minutes choking on water. I didn't make a point of identifying the good swimmers, and just moved with the group; I knew I was with a large group, but not sure where I was in relation to the leaders. I didn't feel particularly strong or taxed, and decided to settle in with the group I was with. When we made the first turn we had the wind at our back and a relatively gentle swim. I quickly found myself at the front of the group and those guys did not follow "lane etiquette" - kept smacking my feet as I pulled them along. This is where my lack of swim training came into play - I was strong enough that I didn't want to settle into their pace, but not race ready enough to surge and drop the group. I don't sight very well so I dragged those guys all over the course, before a couple sprinted past me near the finish (I was part of a group of about 12 that came out of the water within 15". Turns out there three smaller groups out front: 3.75', 2.5' and 1.5' ahead - I will need to be with one of those in the future. Coming out of the water that far back is unacceptable for me, even with the lower volume.
Bike - 2:25:32 (PR for 56 miles)
I was very happy with this bike. Never experienced the kind of free speed from having a tailwind for 28 miles. Still have a lot of work to do, but have maintained only moderate volume through the winter, as I've focused on my running. Usually when I race I monitor my effort by HR, as I do when I train. Unfortunately, my HR never registered and I was going blind. This caused me to alter my race plan a bit on the fly. I know that I'm prone to mashing a bit and riding at a lower cadence, so I made a point of maintaining a high cadence through the entire ride. I was steady on the way out holding between 10:02-10:30 for the four 5 mile splits on Sea Wall Blvd. After the turn, I had decided to maintain cadence and build in the effort back into the wind (5 mile splits were 15:50, 15:18, 15:07, 14:26). I felt strong on the bike and probably left a little too much out there, in hindsight.
Run - 1:27:09
This was a bit of a disappointment. The run has been my focus all winter and this result did not reflect the significant improvements I have made over the past couple months. First mistake I made was not putting my socks in transition - this was a conscious decision as it was raining. My calves and shins were really tight to start the run. I had a sensation like my ankles were going to snap and the ligaments and muscles were about to rip from my shins. My pace through the first split was fine, but I couldn't open up my stride. At mile 2 I had to jump in the port-o-potty which I was hoping would relieve some of the pain in my shins. No such luck. At mile 3.5 it was just unbearable and I wasn't able to open up my stride anyway so I stopped, walked and rubbed out the ligaments running the sides of my calves. This helped and I was able to start jogging again. I finished the first of three loops in 32:10 (7:19 pace). Slow. Very slow. My goal at this point was to just complete the course without walking. I could feel blisters starting to develop and at mile 5 my feet started to tingle and went numb. Good news was I no longer felt like my ankles were going to snap. By mile 7 I finally started to get into a rhythm and felt like I was working aerobically. I finished my second loop in 28:40 (6:31 pace). Better, but still slow. Right about this time the feeling came back in my feet and the blisters popped. There was pain, but it hurt just as much to run slow as it did to go fast, so faster it was...I'm sure I had a little bit more left, but I just wanted to feel like I was running close to potential. I covered the slightly shorter last loop in 26:19 (6:07 pace). Not exactly what I wanted, but at least faster than I've ever finished a 70.3 run.
Overall: 4:23:37 (PR for the distance)
It gives me a good idea of where I am fitness-wise. I am pleased with my starting point on the bike, and happy to PR in my first race of the year. Will be looking forward to cleaning up some of the weaknesses in the swim, and translating my run strength into a better result down in St Croix, in a month.
Thanks again to Maria and Dave Dunn at the Lost Bayou B&B for all their hospitality!
