Charlotte 10 Miler Race Report

I wanted to do a tuneup race before Boston.  I had looked at a couple of half marathons, most notably the one up at the speedway.  But this one fit into my schedule more.  Plus it had a 4 miler that my wife and some of her friends were doing.  The race was mostly on the McMullen Creek Parkway which I have rodes bikes with the kids several times.

We were going to have a busy morning on Saturday so I picked up our number on Thursday at Trysports over in Blakeney.  I hadn't ever been in there before.  I thought it was supposed to be a triathlon store, but you really just got the impressions it was a workout/fitness equipment place.  Oh and they have bikes off to one side.  No swag just the bib number and a t-shirt.

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I like the new bibs with chip in them. Nice t-shirt that is not a "tech" T that seems to be all the rage nowadays.

The race looked to be pretty fun.  The only downside is the unpredictable weather here in February.  Forecast all week was on and off for rain, but consistently said a low of about 41 degrees.  So we were all aglow when we got up Saturday morning and it was 37 degrees and pouring rain!  Oh the irony as then next day would turn out to 65 and sunny.

Rainy, Dreary, Cold

The course was nice going through the Greenway.  There were several spots that were one big mud puddle. There was standing water on a lot of the boardwalks.

I told myself I was going to run a 6:30 pace and just use this race as a tempo training run.  I wanted to practice a couple things for Boston.  I turned off the autolap on my Garmin and took splits manually.  I will need to do this in Boston as usually in the bigger races they are measured with perfect tangents and you can't run them with all the people.  So invariably you hit the mile markers like every 1.01 miles.  My Garmin got so far off at the Charlotte Marathon that it became useless.  I also wanted to carry my camera, but with the rain, I opted out of that.

The first hill didn't seem bad since it was at the beginning of the race.  But that last hill at 8.5 miles really stunk.  I started out at a 6:30, just picking my way through the crowd.  There wasn't a ton of people (333 finishers) but they had us in one lane of the road with oncoming cars in the other lane.  I felt fine and the second mile felt pretty good.  So then I saw the pack of lead women and decided I had to get ahead of them.  I was still feeling pretty good and changed my goal pace to 6:15's,

Around the 5 mile mark I was averaging 6:17's per my Garmin.  As you can see my splits weren't exact as they usually are.  I still felt pretty good.  I ran with a group of 3-4 guys until I felt them start to slow a bit and then pushed ahead.  I was cruising through mile 8 and saw a kid who was a good 1/4 mile ahead.  I wasn't sure if I could catch him, but when I hit that hill at 8.5 miles I really didn't think about it.  Its a 120 foot climb in 1/2 mile.  Its one of those hills that you go up, think you're done, make a left, go up some more, think you're done, make a right and you got more hill to go.

The good news was it was flat or sloping downward the last mile.  When I got to that part, I saw the kid in front of me not going too fast.  The hill took something out of him.  So I cranked it and caught him with 1/2 mile to go.  I told him to come with me and he did.  I dropped him with about 100 yards to go.  I ran the last mile at a 5:38 pace.  So the last 5 Miles (which my Garmin actually had 4.90 miles) I averaged 6:03's.  

 

I ended up officially a 1:01:00 which put me 7th overall (154 men).  My Garmin had 1:00:54 and 9.87 miles for a 6:10 average pace.  I was 2nd out of 28 in the age group.  I technically "won" the age group as the first place guy was the overall male masters winner that they had a separate award for.  So that was pretty fun.

The race was put on by Start2Finish Event Management.  They did a very good job starting the races on time (which is sometimes a challenge in soggy conditions).  The courses were very well marked and they had people directing traffic at any intersection, though not a lot as the race was mostly run on the greenway.   Aid stations were fine, but with the weather I didn't use any.  The thing I liked the best was that they had a results tent setup.  It had scrolling results screens, but had the 4M and 10M mixed together which was annoying.  It was similar to a Setup Events tent for tri's.  But they had a couple of computer screens setup with a touchscreen that you punch your bib number in and it shows your results and even gives you a printout if you want.  That was sweet! Full Results Here.

I found my wife hanging out with some of her old high school buddies.  They were pretty cold.  They started the 4 miler 15 minutes before the 10 miler, so they had been hanging out for a half hour

The Crew after the Race

Wifey and Me

After a full change of clothes at the car, we headed over to Brigs Restaurant right there in the shopping center for some post race food, coffee, and celebration.

Sausage and Cheese Omelet was awesome!  Don't judge me.

Now we have our sights officially set for the Boston Marathon.  7 weeks to go.  This race was just training.  I biked 23 miles Saturday afternoon, and then ran 18 miles Sunday morning and biked 50 miles Sunday afternoon.  I have 4 more weeks of 50+ miles and then start bringing it back a little.  This is where the fun begins!

Run Miles and Winter Biking

Ok, so it's been a while since I've put anything down on my blog.  I didn't post for a month, and then I served time in the blogosphere penalty box.  But now I'm back!  Truth be told there wasn't much going on.

Running
I've been putting a lot more miles in than I have in the last couple of offseasons.  Marathon training is a great motivator, and Boston Marathon training is probably the best.  Up until this time in 2012, I had only 67 miles, whereas this year I have 267 miles in.  I finally seem to have a hold of the issues with my hips and feet.  I'm also doing runs slower for the most part (7:12 avg at this point last year vs. 7:26 this year).  I'm targeting 7:15 to 7:30 pace on my long runs instead to trying to run them all under 7 min miles.

Winter Biking
I bike outside all year round.  Its one of the advantages to living in South Carolina.  I haven't really found the disadvantages yet (I love the heat), but when I do, I'll be sure and let you know.  With my run focused training right now, I've mostly ran weekend mornings and biked in the afternoon.  My rides have not been bad at all.  This past weekend I did my first "cold" ride.  It was about 34 degrees and I took off about 15 minutes before sunrise.  Last year I had some miserable rides.  Party due to temps (27 degrees anyone?) but also due to lack of preparedness.

This year I'm more prepared.  I got a pair of PRO Ventura Overshoes, that I have worn an few times.  Basically whenever the temp is under 40.  I also got a pair of long cycling tights that I wore the first time this past weekend.  So here is the bulk of my cold weather gear:

So clockwise, upper left we have hand warmers, winter gloves, neoprene head band, the overshoes, and my Shimano tri shoes. I wear my regular shoes with Pearl Izumi toe covers.  I then cut the toe off of a pair of wool socks and stuck those on the end of the shoe over the toe covers.

This is just to provide an extra layer of insulation underneath the overshoes.  I purchased the XXXL size overshoes even though I only wear a size 43 shoe.  I had heard they run small and I knew I wanted to be able to put some extra layers in there.  With the wool sock toes, they Triple X's fit perfectly.

So as you can see, I'm pretty well covered up with the the tights and boot covers on.

I also have some foot warmers, but seeing how it was "only" 34 degrees, I did not bring them along.  I threw the hand warmers in my cycle jersey, but did not end up needing them either.  So up top, I have my head band under my helment and then put my sunglasses over the head band.

I wore a long sleeve shirt with arm warmers underneath a long sleeve jersey.  It all kept my quite toasty.  But we shall see how it feels after another 10 degrees cooler.  Will this winter ever end?

Training Year in Review

Another year is behind us.  All those miles and yards that I have accumulated over the past 12 months will now be wiped back to zero.  Kinda sad to see them go, but excited about adding more to it.

Swim
Yards: 337,170
Hours: 131:59
146 Swims
High Week: 14,000 yards (February 20th)
High Month: 50,100 yards (February)

Bike
Miles: 5,139.4
Hours: 244:36
133 Rides
High Week: 266.2 miles (July 23rd)
High Month: 808.2 miles (July)
Averaged 21.65 mph for the entire year

Run
Miles: 1,031.3
Hours: 121:30
153 Runs
High Week: 40 miles (July 23rd, September 9th, and October 8th)
High Month: 146 miles (July)
Averaged 7:04 min/mile for the entire year.

Lift Weights
69 times, 23 hours

Time:
Hours: 521:06
High Week: 22:20 (July 23rd)
High Month: 70:18 (July)

Overall a 6% increase in time from 2011.  Which roughly breaks down as a 4% decrease in swim yardage.  A 59% increase in bike mileage.  Then an 18% decrease in run mileage.  The big news is that I increased my bike mileage by almost 2,000 miles!  Hitting the 5K mileage mark on the bike felt great!  I'd like to do it again, while increasing my run mileage this year as well.

2012 Race Year in Review

2012 turned out to be a pretty awesome year for race results for me.

Try Charleston Half







This was my first ever half iron race.  The swim went OK for me.  Its not much longer than an oly race and it was wetsuit legal.  I was a lot faster on the bike than I thought possible.  I'm sure a lot of that has to do with the course: flat, few turns, no wind to speak of until mile 50.  Overall felt pretty good on the run, but I just didn't want to blow up in my first race this long.  5th in my age group (2nd AG bike, 5th AG run) with a 4:34.  I really liked this race and want to do it again. Its a good race to bring the family as we camped at the KOA at the start.

Tri at Baxter Sprint
This race is always a fun one for me.  It was my first ever tri back in 2010.  I keep thinking I can somehow get into the top 3 overall, but hasn't happened yet.  Sliding down into the pool to start the race is pretty cool, well unique if nothing else.  5th overall finish this year (3rd OA on bike and 3rd OA on the run).  I hadn't really been training for a fast 5K, so overall it went OK.  I guess I can't complain, since I did win my AG.


Wawasee Flotilla Road Race








This is an 8M road race up in Syracuse, IN.  I've run this old school race quite a few times.  I averaged 6:16's on this mostly flat course.  Pretty humid for the area, but it was fun, and I won my age group (7th overall).  Actually turned out to be a really good tempo run workout as well.

Stumpy Creek International
This is the second year in a row that I have done this race.  It just happens to work well on the schedule being the first weekend in August.  I had a terrible swim (no wetsuit) and found myself 11:31 behind the fastest time in my age group and 7:19 arrears of the eventual 2nd place in the AG.  I hammered the bike (first race on my FLO's) and had the fastest AG time by 4:20 (3rd OA fastest bike).  Then I had the fastest run by 2:10 to eke out the AG win by 0:42! Was great to come back and win the AG, but it really told me something about my swim.

Ironman Augusta 70.3

This was it.  My "A" race for the year (don't you just love stupid tri lingo?).  I was super nervous for this race.  The field was huge.  The competition was better than any I had been up against.  And all my training pointed to this race.  This race ended up being so much fun and so well organized.  My swim time was OK but my swim rank was incredible for me (top 1/3 in my age group).  Gotta love a current aided wetsuit swim for crappy swimmers!  Followed that up with a monster bike averaging 24.5 (2nd in AG) and didn't die on the run: 6:31 avg (2nd in AG).   It felt great to "earn" my Las Vegas 70.3 World Championships slot.  I didn't rely on roll down at all.  4 slots in my AG and I finished 3rd (out of 412) with a 4:13:57.  The rolling hills course and flat run played into my favor as well.

Rev3 Florida

We planned a mini vacation around this race, as it was all fun for me.  We hit Legoland on the way down and Universal Studios on the way back up.  The weather was nice except for the super strong winds caused by Hurricane Sandy.  They ended up cancelling the swim.  The bike course was great: flat, good roads and scenic.  Too bad it was so windy.  I averaged about 27 mph in the first half and then 22 mph in the second half.  I didn't do so well on the run, but still won my age group.  It was definitely a fun way to end the season.

So I won my age group in 4 of the 6 races, plus finishing in the top 1% at IM Augusta. Really couldn't be happier about my results for the year.  I raced a little less this year, which helps keep the training more consistent.  I like doing the 2 races near the end of the year to try and take advantage of the fitness level I was at.  

Goals: 2012 Review and 2013 New

So ya gotta have goals, right?  Most people say triathlete's goals are too lofty.  But why make a goal if it's easy to reach?  I mean if it's too easy there isn't much motivation to train to try and achieve that goal. I always found in college that goals definitely helped motivate you throughout the season.  So lets see how we stacked up.

2012 Goals Revisited
1. Swim sub 35:00 for 1.2 miles (HIM).
Made It! Of course I kinda cheated (a lot) by making this goal at Ironman Augusta with the the downriver wetsuit swim.

2. Swim 352,000 yards for the year (200 miles).
Well I didn't quite make this one.  That's how much I swam in 2011, but this year, I kinda tailed off and tried to work on speed (like I said, tried) and not worry about volume so much.  Its not like I slacked off entirely, I'll be over 320,000 yards at year end.

3. Bike sub 2:26 for 56M (23.0 avg)
Biked faster than this in all 3 half races I did.  It seemed fast at the time I wrote down the goal, but with the training, aero helmet, and race wheels, I got up to a 24.5 avg.

4. Bike 4,000 miles.
Smashed this one as I will have over 5,000 miles at year's end.

5. Run sub 1:25 for 13.1M (6:29 pace)
Almost got it as I ran 1:25:19 at Augusta for a 6:30.5 average

6. Run 1,500 miles for the year
Did not come close, as I really scaled back the mileage due to the bursitis in my hip from the Charlotte Maration.

7. Top 6 AG at IM Augusta and qualify for Las Vegas 70.3 Worlds
Nailed this with a 3rd in my AG and a Vegas Slot

8. Top 3 AG at Rev3 Florida
Also nailed this, with a 6th OA and won the age group.  Cancelled swim helped with that.

So all in all pretty good.  Just about got all my time goals, and got my race finish goals.  Didn't make the training goals, but that doesn't really matter if I'm making my time and race goals, right?


2013 Goals Training
1. Swim 300K for the year
Scale back a little bit to focus on form and speed (hey that's what the coach said!)

2. Bike 4,500 miles for the year
A little less, as I think I won't bike as much due to the Marathon Training

3. Run 1,500 miles for the year
A little more because of the Marathon training.

2013 Goals Time
1. Swim sub 30:00 for 1.2 miles
I would really like to nail this at Vegas or Rev3

2. Bike
I would really like to bike a sub 2:15 half, but I don't think the Vegas or Anderson courses are conducive to that. I'll come up with race specific goals as the time nears.

3. Run
I would like to run a 1:23:xx half, but again, not sure the courses I'm going to run will allow that.

2013 Goals Racing

1. Boston Marathon
Focus here is to have fun, enjoy the experience and not destroy my hip and ruin my training for Vegas.  So I'm shooting for 8 minute miles and a 3:30 finish

2. Ironman Las Vegas 70.3 World Championships
I'd really like to go Top 10 in my age group.  Not sure how it will go, as it is a much tougher course than I have ever done.  There were about 200 finishers in my AG at last years race, so top 10% would be good as well.

3. Rev3 SC (USAT Long Course National Championships)
Looking at a Top 5, and preferably Top 3 age group finish.  I'll be interested to see what the competition will be like.  In the past, this race wasn't as competitive as an IM 70.3 race, but with the USAT LC Nats, I'm not sure how it will pan out.  When Myrtle Beach used to host Long Course Nats, it was pretty competitive.

So now everything is written down.  I feel pretty good about the coming year.  I think my hip has finally gotten straightened out.  I'm excited about having a little bit more run base heading into the season for some hard training for Vegas.  I also hope to get my bike more aero, and of course work on the engine.  I believe it was Greg Lemond who said "It doesn't get easier, you just get faster".

Of a Hiatus and Swim Lessons

I had a goal to take the entire month of November off.  No workouts.  No physical activity of any kind except lifting beers, mass quantities of beers.  I had a couple of little nagging sore spots (I wouldn't use the term injuries) on my legs and feet that I wanted to completely heal up.  Mostly I just wanted to make sure I got enough of a mental and physical break before starting off the training for 2013.  With Boston in April and Las Vegas in September, it will be a pretty intense year.  I wanted to make sure I got back in the mindset of wanting to train.

I thought that it would take the full month, but 3 weeks in, I got pretty ancy.  I broke down over Thanksgiving weekend and went for a ride.  It was 65 and sunny, how could I resist?  Then I jumped in the pool on Monday and went for a run on Tuesday.  So I had 26 days off from Biking, 30 days off from Running, and 32 days off from Swimming.  The few extra days off from swimming were due to the swim being cancelled at Rev3 Florida.

So what really got me to break my November goal was a swim lesson.  I finally got a swim lesson setup and it was for that last week in November.  I didn't want to jump into the pool at the lesson having not swam for a month, so I swam on Monday and Wednesday.  Then I thought well if I'm gonna swim on Monday, I might as well bike on Saturday and Sunday.  Then I thought well if I'm biking on the weekend, swimming on Mon/Wed, why not go for a run on Tuesday and Thursday? Right?  So its really not my fault!

I have vaguely alluded to my troubles trying to find a good swim coach in some of my past posts.  I had a couple of lessons from the local YMCA guy (he was a no show on the first try).  It was helpful in the beginning, but when I got to the point that it looked like I wasn't going to drown, he really couldn't help me out anymore.  I had email contact with 2 coaches in Charlotte.  After a few emails about price, schedule, and me wanting to go ahead, I never heard from them again.  (I will withhold names to protect the guilty.)  So I really had my sights set on getting some real coaching from someone with a swimming background, but also coaches triathletes (or people who are bad at swimming).

On one visit to IOS I chatted up James and Melissa about how much I stunk at swimming.  This was right after my Augusta race which went incredible for me.  Obviously the current aided wetsuit swim helped a lot in that.  But if we take a deeper look at the numbers at say, Stumpy Creek, we see that I was 37th of 55 on the swim (67th percentile) in my age group.  Now compare that to my bike and run.  I had the fastest run in my age group by over 2 minutes and the fastest bike by over 4 minutes.  That's pretty pathetic swimming.

They suggested jumping in with the Masters Group that swims on Tuesdays and Thursdays (I think) at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center (MCAC).  I didn't really feel comfortable with that.  I really thought I needed some one-on-one coaching.  I mean someone to watch me swim in the pool and say, "Wow.  You truly are one of the worst swimmers I have seen in my entire life".  Or something to that effect.  As I went to checkout at IOS they had some business cards there and I picked up several and checked them out later.

I happened to pick up the card of Melinda Yelton.  Trijinx is the name of her coaching company.  She was very quick to respond to all my emails, and I believe she has reasonable pricing.  Her swimming credentials are actually quite impressive, I think.  So we setup a lesson at the MCAC of all places.  I had never been before, but its right on the way to work, which actually is better than Charlotte Christian or the Rock Hill Aquatic Center.  Plus I didn't have to pay a daily fee since I was getting a lesson.

The lesson went pretty well, I thought.  She said my body position actually wasn't bad, but I was a really bad "windmiller" she called it.  We went through several drills, which I will not go into any detail here as I will invoke client/coach privilege (as in pay for your own lesson if you want to know!)  The follow up email she sent with the evaluation and drills was quite thorough.  She included video links on my stroke and demonstrations of all the drills.

So now its up to me to hammer the drills for a while.  It will probably be at least mid January when I go back for another session.  I want to make sure I have all the drills down.  But it looks very promising, I will say.  In just a one hour she got my stroke count down from 27 all the way to 17 and it took the exact same amount of time!  That's efficiency.  And that is a good place to start.  The speed will come.  I have time since my "A" race isn't for another 9 months.

Rev3 Vs. WTC

It's the great debate, is it not?  Who do you like better?  Who puts on a better race?  A few people have asked me about the merits of each, so I decided to put some thoughts down on the topic.  Granted, I have only done two Rev3 races (only 1 half) and only a single WTC or Ironman Brand race.  I will also do one of each in 2013.  But I did do a half from each company in the span of 4 weeks.  So lets break it down by the tale of the tape, shall we?

Organization
Both races were extremely well organized.  Rev3 had to do a little more "on the fly" stuff with the winds preventing bike check on Saturday and cancelling the swim on Sunday.  Ironman was setup to easily handle the 3,000 that were registered at check in at the Marriott.  Rev3 only had to handle 500, but it was smooth as well.
Winner: Slight WTC

Cost
Pretty similar.  Augusta was $275 and Florida was $250.  Rev3 did do an early bird for $215.  No early pricing was availible for Augusta even though most races top out at $250 and some race early bird is $199.  But if you have a race that sells out even when you have 3,335 spots, why would you offer a reduced price?
Winner: Tie

Big Time Feel
I have to give the nod to WTC here.  With the sheer event size, people taking all kinds of pictures at transition, and all the stuff being sold at the expo, you knew it was a big race.  I saw many people biking in their "Ironman 70.3 Augusta" bike kits, which is hilarious, but makes you understand how important it was for people.  Rev3 has a great big event/laid back atmosphere however that I do like.  WTC also has the qualification for their "World Championship" race in Las Vegas.
Winner: WTC

Swag
Rev3: Long Sleeve Finisher shirt, Finisher Medal, AG Award Medal, cheap sling bag, BlueSeventy Goggles, Headsweats Visor, and free 2013 entry for winning your AG.  WTC: Tech T-shirt (no sponsor logos), Finisher Medal, AG award plaque, nice sling bag, timing chip strap.  The easy winner here is Rev3

Size
Rev3: 500, WTC: 3,000.  Depends on what you like, but 500 is a great number.  Not so small that you get on the bike course and you are by yourself, but not too big that you spend the first 30 miles trying to get some room to breathe.
Winner: Slight Rev3

Transition
Gotta like the Rev3 bike racks.  Plenty of room and you feel like a pro. WTC stuffed us in transition like sardines.  If the guy next to me had shown up, I would have been in trouble.
Winner: Rev3

Race Management
No issues with either.  Courses both marked well and with volunteers at turns.  Plenty of volunteers and aid stations on the run.
Winner: Tie

Race Results/Timing
WTC definitely gets the results posted asap.  They have some of the rankings within you AG screwed up, but nice results.  Rev3 took several days to get all the split timing straight on their website
Winner: WTC

Pictures
Ironman had a ton of pics to look at from Finisherpix.  Like 3 or 4 times as many as I'm used to seeing. Rev3 had some decent ones, but they give you a free finisher pic, and its like 20 mp!
Winner: Slight Rev3

Family Friendly
Easily Rev3 here.  WTC is more strict on the rules and such. Rev3 lets your family run down the chute with you.  Rev3 also has stuff for the kids to do on Saturday and Sunday.
Winner: Rev3

Summary
So I scored it a slight edge to Rev3.  It really depends on what you want.  You want a big race, with a big time feel and the potential to qualify for a championship?  You want Ironman.  You want a big time race that is a little more laid back and something the family will enjoy and want to do again?  You want Rev3.

I may revisit this next year after I do Ironman 70.3 Las Vegas in September and then Rev3 South Carolina in October.