Timberman Half IM - 2008

Timberman Half IM
Lake Winnipesaukee, NH
August 16, 2008

Total: 5:24:11
Swim: 0:36:54
T1: 0:02:56
Bike: 2:51:12 (flatted, I swear)
T2: 0:01:55
Run: 1:51:16 (8:30 mpm)

Looking back on this race & season it seems I underestimated the glory of training for a full IM and then only racing a half. Mooseman '07 will be hard to top...

Pre-Race: Sweet jesus this was an early start. There's not enough parking near the race site for everyone and I didn't want to be without a car. I'd like to say it's because Ginger was spectating (and pregnant). But I think it's mostly because I'm That Way. So I was up at 3:15 in order to roll to the parking lot at 4am which is when they opened the gates. We got a space but had company. Evidently many triathletes are That Way. The lot filled up by about 5am. I dozed in the car and started my prep routine at about 5:30am. My gun time was 7:20am.

Swim: I swam better than in 2006. This is a hard swim but I'm not sure why. There's a little chop on the last 25% or so but it doesn't seem as though it should be slowing me down by 3+ minutes compared to Mooseman. I need to do a little number crunching and see if swim times are slower at Timberman for everyone else too.

Bike: The weather was great for cycling. Initially I was aiming for something in the 2:20s but that didn't seem possible when I hit the turnaround at about 1:16. I was rolling well - but not great. I certainly didn't have that easy cycling pop where you barely notice the effort. At about 1:25 I started noticing a little extra bounce in my pedaling and got that feeling...something's wrong with my bike. Sure enough - flat front tire. Sometimes you "hope" you have a flat tire because that means you weren't riding like crap and it was the bike's fault. But I really didn't want a flat now. The irony is that I put on new tires for this race because the yellow Michelins that were on there had carried me through 4 half IMs, a full IM, and numerous road races. They are INSANELY difficult to get off & onto the rim and I felt as though they were due for a flat. Before the race I feared that I would need to spend 30 mins by the road fighting those tires. So I put on some brand new comfy Contes which, of course, flatted. Anyhow, I changed the tire in about 9 mins. I had to be extra careful on this change because having to change it a second time would have been somewhere between tricky and impossible - I didn't have the correct valve extender with me. One note - I should have sat down & taken in food while doing this. Instead I stood up the whole time.

After the change I got back on the road but wasn't really sure what to do. There was no point in hammering - there's no way to make up 9 mins. The real bummer was that this dropped me back into the mix with a lot of slow folks AND with speedy racers in the under-30 groups. So it was hard to not ride with the speedsters and a pain in the ass getting past the slowbies. I kept trying to tell myself to focus on the run goal.

Another misc note: I think my seat might be low by about a 1/2 inch after the rebuild. I need to look at my position. Subsequent hamstring problems might have stemmed from this.

Run: The Timberman run course is much harder than I remembered. There are a couple of easy miles but for the most part every mile has a decent uphill portion. The first two miles were a little spotty for me but that's not new - I had light leg cramps and stopped to stretch on the (mostly) uphill 2nd mile. I still ran an easy 8 min mile there. The first loop was easy running in the 7:30 to 8:10 range. Again, it was clear I wasn't going to light it up and set a PR. So I went to a 3rd goal: enjoy the run and enjoy being fit. I saw Ginger again at about mile 7 and joked with her. Ginger the Racer told me to can it & run harder. Or maybe that was Ginger the Shopper who knew we were going to buy a crib & jog stroller after the race. I took the suggestion and tried to put in a little more effort. Ooph. During that uphill 8th mile things turned from fun to pure work. I knocked out a few more miles in the 8s, had a dark period from 9-11 when things definitely weren't fun & fit. From there I regrouped and finished with the requisite "beat that guy ahead of me and don't let the dude on my tail pass me" sprint. Even though it wasn't a PR I managed to run all aid stations except for one at about mile 10.

Post: Cleaned up my gear, cleaned up my body, took down lots of post race grub (once again, the food at a Keith Jordan race set a new high bar!) and hit the road with G.

In my IMLP report I offered this as a reason to do half IMs: "You can race hard in the morning and have a slice of pizza with lunch!". It's true.

Next up? I'm not sure. The goal that interests me most now is qualifying for Boston. Stay tuned...

Race #18 : Longsjo Stage Race 07/03/2008

Fitchburg Longsjo Classic
Thurs 7/3/08 thru Sun 7/6/08
Fitchburg, MA
TT: 80 of 126, 20:56.43 (2:09.68 off the leader)
RR: 111 of 123, 2:31:17 (21:30 off the leader but made the time cutoff!)
CR: DNS
Crit: DNS

Longsjo is a four day stage race in Fitchburg, MA and it gets some attention in these parts. The race is a focal-point for many and making this a key race for me seemed like a good idea early on the season. Fitchburg is close to home (about a one hour drive) and I could train on the course. But it seems I'm not actually able to race with a young, high-caliber Cat 4 group. I could maybe see it happening if I completely gave myself over to cycling but that's just not in the cards.

Here are a few notes on the first two days:

Day 1: 10k TT
The course was a "rolling uphill" where you could stay in the aerobars all of the way but there weren't any long flat stretches. I was lightly familiar with the route (I drove it once, backwards, the week before) and figured I could pretty much "ride what I see". So I made sure to stay on this side of my red zone and was happy with the result.

Day 2: 44 mi Road Race
Because of the 4th of July festivities in downtown Fitchburg, the circuit race and road race were flip-flopped this year. I could see this being a bummer for those contesting the win because today would basically decide the overall race winner. From my point of view it just didn't matter. :) A couple of weeks earlier I worked out on this course and thought the climbs might be a problem for me at race pace. Sure enough - it was an issue. I just couldn't keep up with the pack on the climb from Princeton to the base of Wachusett. I fell off the back before even finishing the first of four laps. Crap!

So I spent the remaining 3 laps going as hard as I could. One upside was that the weather was good for riding - cool and clear. The other upside was that there was a ton of glass on the course and about a half dozen riders flatted right at the start - many of whom were very strong. So when they eventually caught back up to me I had someone to work with on the flats to minimize the lost time. To make riding solo even more annoying my Zipp hub was squeaking whenever I was climbing. Solo, squeaking and off the back. Bah! I killed it and managed to get in under the 20% time cutoff by a few minutes but this was not a fun day.

Days 3 & 4: Circuit Race & Crit
I really couldn't come up with a reason to finish this race. I wasn't riding well nor was I having fun. So I bailed out and went up to VT for a couple of days with Ginger.

Race #17 : Boloco Grand Prix 06/29/2008

Boloco Heartbreak Hill Grand Prix
Newton, MA
DNF of 97 starters

The race consists of 8 laps on a 2.6 mile circuit in Newton, MA. This was the first year for this race and it was pretty disorganized. The start was about an hour late. The day was HOT. The bank thermometers only read in the 80s but it felt more oppressive than that to me. The course is a good one (IMHO). It has a couple of tight turns but our speed was high enough to stretch out the pack through the sketchy sections. The climb up Heartbreak Hill was also not bad...it's just that I don't have the power to stick with the young & springy Cat 4s. I was able to hang in for about 1/2 the race then fell off the back and couldn't think of a reason to push it...so I pulled off and got on with the rest of my Saturday.

Mooseman Half IM - 2008

Mooseman Half IM
Newfound Lake, NH
June 8, 2008

Total: 5:18:11
Swim: 0:35:09
T1: 0:02:40
Bike: 2:42:01 (laps of 1:18 & 1:23)
T2: 0:02:23
Run: 1:56:00 (8:52 avg)
8:30, 8:42, 8:58, 9:32, 8:54, 8:51
8:05, 9:10, 9:13, 8:50, 9:12, 9:49
7:28, 0:45

Placings:
Male: 103 of 485
35-40: 27 of 108

Right off the top - What's up with the weather in New England?! It's nuts out here. In '06 there was a monsoon. In '07 it was freezing. And this year it was an oven. Mind you, not "Momma's Baking Cookies" oven. I'm talking "Sweaty, Hairy Blacksmith Melting Steel" oven. It was easily in the 90s on the bike and hit 98 degs on the run.

I was mildly fit going into this race. In retrospect it was nothing like last year though when were prepping for IMLP. I did most of the training on my own and wasn't super focused. Plus I didn't have Ginger to chase around and show off for on a weekly basis. That, plus the weather, meant the bike & run goals that I set last year were out the window. New goal: just have a solid workout, enjoy the day, and look good.

Pre-race
Parking was a mess. Thankfully Ginger got me dropped me off and dealt with the car. I pimped my transition area, took care of business, and went for a 10 min warmup jog. If you recall, last year I had ass issues and I didn't want to go into this race cold. I supposed it would have been hard to be cold when it's 70 deg at 6am...but I still wasn't taking chances. I wanted my hamstrings & ass to be well-warmed.

Swim
The water was a perfect temp and very smooth. The air was in the 70s and water in the low 60s. I knew this was the most comfortable I was going to be all day and enjoyed it. I swam medium hard but not all out, used some toes, swam a little wide at times, but loved the cool & clean water.

T1
Again, nothing remarkable except as I sat down to put on my shoes I rolled onto my back like an infant. So uncool. If I had been wearing my aero helmet I probably would have stabbed the pointy end into the ground. My first thought was "I hope Ginger didn't see that." (She didn't) I managed to right myself, get my shit together, and get on with it.

Bike
I have a new aero helmet PLUS a new Cal paint job on the P3 PLUS a new tri top. I was all set! As I said, I had to bail on the PB goal . It wasn't going to happen today. It was just too damn hot and I didn't have the racing/training miles in my legs. So I rode a moderate hard pace and drank as much as I could. I took down 4 Gatorade bottles and 2 waters. I think this was the first time I drank well in a race. I didn't eat super well though - only 1.5 bars and a Gu. The backside slight incline was BRUTALLY hot. Last year I cranked through that zone because the grade suits me (~4 or 5%) but this year it was oppressive. There was a slight headwind and the sun was beating down. My lap times were 1:18 and 1:23. Not great but I was cramp free.

T2
All smooth except for one minor snafu. I nearly ran out of the transition area w/o my race number and had to double back for it.

Run
I think the temps max'd out in the first couple of miles of my run. Around mile 5 it dropped down a few degrees and a few scattered clouds appeared. I walked all but 2 aid stations, poured lots of water on my head & took sponges. The race director had a great setup (again). Thankfully the water was cold and a few of the locals were out there with their hoses. I only ate 2 gus but drank at least race 2 cups of Gatorade or water at each mile. The first couple of miles were my quickest despite feeling crampy and pausing to stretch. I settled in & ran OK (all things considered) from miles 4 to 11. Miles 12 and 13 were very uncomfortable but that's to be expected.

Post Race
They had frozen Otter Pops!!! What an unexpected slice of awesome. I took a dip in the lake with Ginger, we chatted with some other racers, partook of the great post-race food, got cleaned up & then hit the road towards home.

Next up: A few bike races then the Timberman Half IM in mid August. That's up in NH too so stay tuned...

Race #16: Sterling Road Race 5/10/2008

Sterling Road Race
Sterling, MA
Finished: 28 of 71, 1:05
Results

Today I raced with the Cat 4/5 35+ crew. I haven't been riding as much this year (last year at this time I'd already done 4 races). And yes, last year I swore off of Sterling because of the roads...but I was desperate for a race. My only goal was to finish with the main group.

This was shorter than the Cat 4 race - only 3 laps instead of 5. I didn't have any problems staying with the pack and the pace almost felt pedestrian. Going up the hill the first time was a little bit of a shock since I haven't been racing (or really even riding) hills this season. The first-lap-shed happened and we got down to 45 or so riders which is a good size for the Sterling roads. (The bottom-of-the-hill-inside-corner-first-lap-crash happened again too. It happens every year.)

Not much to report about this race so I'll fast forward to the end.

A little before the turn onto Rt. 12, about 2 miles from the end, a teammate asked me if I was feeling good and if I was going to make a move. I had been brain-off the whole race but he got me thinking..."Yep - I do feel ok. And what the heck?! Why not bolt off the front the first chance I get?!?" So just like that my conservative plans were ditched. I figured I would at least wait until things opened up out on Rt. 12 and reevaluate. The pace picked up a little bit but it was still manageable. Then it happened...I got cocky. I shot up to the front and hung out, eating lots of wind and working way harder than I should since we were about to finish on the uphill. I was top 10 going into the final turn but had no sprint left to spend and fell like a stone back to 28th. I was a bit disappointed with that but as Ginger pointed out I still managed to hit the goal of not being dropped.

Ginger and I rode together for another 2 hours afterwards along the Climb to the Clouds route (backwards). It was a VERY nice day for riding and we had a good one.

Race #15: Green Mountain Stage Race 8/31/07 - 9/3/07

Overall:
Vermont is an idyllic location for a race. Lots of climbing, good roads, and nice views. GMSR is a very fair race - you can't just hide in the pack. If you can't climb you're quickly spit out the back. My 4B group (33+ yrs old) was awesome. 99% were solid riders and everyone was very "gentlemanly". There was none of the hyper-testosterone BS that sometimes pops up. I technically DNF'd this race but would have been 45 of 80 had I been thinking clearly. (See Day 4 for more info.) All in all it was a good time. Here's the day-by-day...

Day 1: Evan's Big World Hill Climb
This is a mass start hill climb TT. It's described as "7.3 miles and 1730 foot elevation gain (1276 of it in the last 3 miles average of 8.5% grade) from the start of racing to the finish at the summit of Appalachian Gap." I hung with the pack until about 500m to the mid-point KOM line. Things picked up and I just held my "almost about to puke" pace which wasn't fast enough to stay attached. Finished in 61st place of 86 starters. No points.

Post race: Checked into the Sugarbush condo, cleaned up, & headed out to dinner.

Food: Failed attempt to eat at Flatbread Pizza (it's supposed to be really, really good.). We arrived at 6 and were told it was a 1 hour wait. We hung out, chatted with racers and friends, looked at an art exhibit from locals, drank beer, listened to the jazz band, got really hungry and then a little cranky. Two hours later it was still "15 or 20 minutes, please be patient" before we were going to be seated. So we bailed and went to a nothing pizza place back in town.

Day 2: Bridges Circuit Race
53 miles. 2.75 laps on a 19-mile loop. ~600 ft climbing per loop.
First loop - no problem.
Second loop - fell off the back about 500m to the KOM line. Absolutely BOMBED down the hill and was able to get back into the pack before the bottom. I was snuggled up & mounted on my top tube in a completely inappropriate (but very aero) manner.
Third loop - fell off the back closer to the 1000m to KOM line and couldn't get back on. Rider 808 and I rode downhill HARD. We were pedaled out and switching the lead but still losing ground. The peloton is an amazing, magical thing - you can't catch it. Ever.

Post race: Ginger and I went to a swimming hole to ice our legs. We swung from the rope swing (once each, Ginger went first), skipped rocks & sat in the warm sun.

Food: Ate at the Pitcher Inn - a very nice restaurant with slightly oversized portions. I had the Salmon which I figured was good because those suckers can get up stream pretty quickly and this race is all about fighting gravity. Ask Ginger about the dessert wine snafu. She loves to tell the story.**

Day 3: Mad River Road Race
Road race. An easy, flat first half. Two or three riders bolted off the front from the get-go, heading for the sprint points at mile 18. As a result we had a pretty up-tempo cruise through the valley. We caught the 4A pack (slackers!) a mile or two before the first climb of the day. Predictably, that made for a crazy, mixed up race as soon as we hit the hills. The midpoint climb up Middleberry gap is around 1300 ft of elevation gain. I figured that was the last I'd see of the peloton and just settled into my pace. But on the downhill I pushed it a bit and clustered with another 10 riders...which grew to 20. And then shortly thereafter we caught the pack! That was a nice surprise. The downhill dirt section was NUTS. Bottles were flying every which way. You just have to power-pedal through it and pray. When the final climb up to Appalachian Gap (~1700 ft) started I again just settled in and held onto the wheel in front of me for as long as I could without going too deeply into the red. It was a gorgeous climb and great weather. I managed to pick off another 10 riders or so to finish IN THE POINTS. That's right - 41st of 80 starters for a whopping 5 points on the day. I got away with a 12-25 cassette but BARELY made it up the last pitch (ballpark 20%). It was a fight to just turn over the cranks. A 12-27 might have been a little better. More training would have been a little better too.

Post race: Tour at Ben & Jerry's factory with Ginger. We each had a tour tasting of a new flavor plus 1 cone for the ride home.

Food: Ate at the Woodshed Inn (?). It's less stuffy than Pitcher Inn but still very nice. Since we had dessert about 2 hours earlier we finished the meal with a riesling and outstanding VT cheese plate.

Day 4: Burlington Criterium
Held in downtown Burlington. Six 90 deg turns and 60 ft of elevation per lap. 24 laps on a 1k course. It is screamin' fast. Riders are pulled if they are in jeopardy of being lapped - only about 1/3 to 1/2 of the field actually finishes the entire distance in all of the races. I was going all out from the start. I just wanted to hang in for 12 laps - that's the cutoff for point deductions (it's -20 pts if you don't make it 12 laps). I made it through 14 and decided it was time to shut 'er down. I had had enough of the pain. So I pulled out of the race on the back side, cut across to the wheel pit and told the ref I was done for the day. Well, it turns out that's not how you're supposed to exit a race. You have to be pulled. So I should have just soft-pedaled and let them take me out. The result - I got a DNF and no ranking for the day nor for the final overall standings. In my coulda-shoulda world I finished 40th of 70 for the day and would have been 45th in the race overall with 10 points.

Food: Ginger and I had burgers & beers at a curbside table near turn 2. It was per-fect. We cheered for the racers we knew in subsequent heats (and some we didn't). I got a jumbo Starbucks then hit the road for home at about 1:30.


** On second thought, I'll tell it. The wine list at the Pitcher Inn didn't have anything that grabbed my attention - most of the by-the-glass whites were fat chardonnays. Mr. Fancy Pants Somalie (double breasted coat, thin mustache, soul patch, tassels on his loafers, and one of those "I'm going to upsell your dumb ass" smirks) came my way and all that I could think was "Fuck no. Go away." So when he asked if I was having wine I said no thanks. He took my glass and left. But I did want wine. Damnit. There were a few Austrian wines on the list and I figured they'd have something suitably dry. So when our waiter came around again I rolled the dice and picked one. Five minutes later Mr. Pants is sauntering our way with a tiny wine glass and the bottle. Damnit. I had picked a dessert wine. He said something about the wine being great with duck pate. I said "...that's...great." and let him pour the glass. After he left I tried to pretend it was all ok but eventually just gave up, slugged back my pre-dinner dessert wine and got on with it. This whole time Ginger is having a good ol' time reading my reactions and predicting my discomfort.

Ironman Lake Placid

Ironman #3 is in the books. I kind of got my ass handed to me. Well...I guess I handed my ass to myself since it's a solo effort. It happens. I expected to be able to "race" IMLP. Instead I simply survived it. Here are some quick notes on the race.

Swim: 1:11:18
T1: 7:43
Bike: 5:52:30 (lap 1 = 2:45:40, 20.28mph; lap 2 = 3:06:50, 17.98 mph)
T2: 6:53
Run: 4:33:05
Overall: 11:51:29

Pictures:
Joanne's
Marc's
Ginger's

Swim: I swam well but it was a crowded course. I started about 10 deep (which turned out to be a good self-seeding) near the buoy line and was quickly squeezed to the inside of the course. I couldn't decide whether I preferred being in the mix and having someone to draft off of...or if I preferred being off to the side a little bit with clear water. So I bounced in & out of the pack a bit after the first mile. I got clocked pretty good a couple of times by elbows & feet and had a sweet slice on my nose to prove it. That's Ironman swimming though. I felt very good coming out of the water. The 3 mile swim I did on July 8th almost made this one seem short.

Bike: I was mentally ready to have a perfect IM ride. I rode steady on lap 1 and was well within my limits...or so I thought. In retrospect I think this was the beginning of the end. I didn't take in enough fluids on this leg and paid the price later. It's also possible that even though I was holding back it wasn't far back enough. My 2nd lap was 21 minutes slower than the first. The wind had picked up a little but that's a ridiculous power fade. I was riding constant effort but clearly the wheels were falling off the wagon.

Run: All systems above my waist were ready to run. Even at the end of the bike my legs felt ok - no cramps. This was a first for me so I was cautiously optimistic. But as soon as I trotted through transition to my run gear I knew it was going to be a rough marathon. My legs already felt completely empty. I think I managed to run a whopping two miles before I needed to walk aid stations. I started drinking coke immediately and spent the first 13.1 miles trying to figure out how I could recover from this and sneak in under 11 hours. I hit the fluids and food hard - but there was no coming back. Half-way through the run I resigned myself to simply toughing it out. I was slogging from aid station to aid station (1 mile apart) and branched out in my food selection to enjoy some of the non-race grub they provide - fruit, pretzels...cookies. In case you're wondering, chocolate chip cookies don't give you magic running energy. I had a number of friends out on the course (racing & cheering) - they're the main reason I didn't bag the whole thing right away. Ginger and Paul had awesome races - Ginger was the #1 amateur woman and both qualified for Hawaii. Ginger gets the Icebath Toughie Award for rehabbing her leg and getting into great race form. Paul gets the Race Executioner Award for setting his goals and aligning everything in the season to hit them on race day. Both were impressive efforts. It was also fun to see Marc, Charlie, Joanne, the Chens & Matty G.

Post Race: I was dehydrated and partook of a couple of saline bags in the med tend afterwards. For most of the run I was looking forward to post-race pizza but stuck to Gatorade and a few cups of broth that night. I took an ice bath the next day and after about 4 days I was moving normally. It took a few more days to get back my pulmonary muscles. The post Ironman feeding frenzy was in full effect. Monday and a good portion of Tuesday were spent eating... :)

All in all it was a good time. I enjoy the triathlon scene. I loved spending time at LP with our friends in a nice home. Being super fit is a good feeling too. But I think I'm going to join Chris Legh and stick to the half Ironman distance from here on out. You can race hard in the morning and have a slice of pizza with lunch!

Now...back to cycling!! Next up, Green Mountain Stage Race at the end of August.

Number Geekin' IM USA

I'll keep this short since my ass should be in bed. The Mrs is going to wake me up in less than 5 hours and suggest I go swimming. I number geeked on bike times at the Mooseman Tri and IMLP in 2006. 50 people with Mooseman bike times of ~2:45 or less did both races. I don't think there are any golden nuggets in here but it was still fun to monkey with race data in Excel. It's oddly satisfying...

Ratio of times: (IMLP bike time) / (MMan bike time)
avg = 2.15
std = 0.0781
min = 2.02
max = 2.33

A 2.5 hr MMan => 5:23 hr IMLP

Linear correlation: IMLP = 2.3385*MMan - 0.5011 (units = hours)
r-squared = 0.46. (Not surprising - you can see the spread in the graph.)

Plug in a 2.5 hr MMan => 5:21 hr IMLP

No problem.

Mooseman Half IM - 2007

Mooseman Half IM
Newfound Lake, NH
6/3/07

Total: 4:58:05 (PR for a 1/2IM)
Swim: 33:46
T1: 2:29
Bike: 2:40:53 (lap 1: 1:22:26, lap2: 1:17:45)
T2: 1:36
Run: 1:39:24 (PR, 7:36/mi avg)
7:15, 7:31, 7:42, 7:50, 7:25,
7:24, 7:21, 7:27, 7:59, 7:26,
7:59, 7:21, 7:18, 1:27

Overall this was a perfect race weekend with the Mrs. The racing went well, the weather was great (for racing - low 60s & overcast), and we ate well. It was good to do a tuneup before IMLP because I definitely needed to refresh my tri skills. I'm a huge fan of the EndorFun events - the race director provides IM-quality support at a good price and without the crowds.

Pre race
Pleasant day of carbo loading (did the protocol from the Aussie papers - a short, very hard effort followed by 10g CHO/kg of human) and lounging with Ginger the day before. We tuned bikes, registered, read and snoozed at a funky Red Roof Inn. On race day we arrived early and got a good parking spot. The transition area was slightly swampy but nothing like last year.

Swim
I had a decent swim. The time was only ok but I felt strong so I'll take it. I managed to follow some toes some of the time. Swimming in the lake was nice. I do recall thinking I was glad there wasn't a second lap. I guess I need to swim more.

T1
Skipped the wetsuit strippers. I can get mine off pretty quickly. Plus it seems to tear easily. I didn't wipe off my feet very well so I carried little bits of transition bark throughout the rest of the race. No blisters though.

Bike
Horrible ass cramps (upper hamstring/lower glute) set in immediately. Yep, I said it - ASS CRAMPS. I have what can only be described as a big butt so you can imagine the magnitude of the pain. I was mentally ready to rip the bike but my body betrayed me. I soft pedaled a bit but eventually stopped and tried to stretch it out when it was clear there was a serious problem. Riders streamed by and a few were nice (including G) to ask if i was ok. I said Yep! and figured they didn't actually want to hear about my big ASS CRAMPS. Stretching did nothing so I got back on, popped a handful of Enduralytes, tried sitting, tried standing, pondered quitting, and was just plain pissed. After 18 minutes of this crap my ass finally loosened up and I was able to start riding. It took me ~6 or 7 mins to reach the same point on the second lap. I'm pretty sure I could have turned in a low 2:30 or perhaps even something in the high 2:20s. But I didn't. That'll have to wait until next year.

I had been emailing with Paul Chen about his experiences (and lessons learned) from riding with a power meter. I was going to try to dosing my effort smartly, avoid big power spikes and put in a steady effort on downhills & flats. I did that to an extent but for the most part I was going about as hard as I could while remaining in my NGFA zone (Not Gasping for Air). I figured what the heck. It wasn't going to be a bike PR day anyways and it felt good to be riding. As Gordo says: JFR.

One apology: I barked at a guy for blocking (easily >15 seconds) and not passing. It was as though he & his buddy were on a weekend ride. By barking I mean I screamed on your left then lectured briefly at 22+ MPH as I went 3-wide to pass. Dude - I'm sorry. I was in a bad mood with my big ASS CRAMPS and all.

T2
Nothing major. Not speedy. Not slow.

Run
I was a little surprised/scared by the first mile time - 7:15. It was more than a minute faster/mile than I usually run. My quads and lower back hurt and cramped lightly from mile 0.5 to ~mile 4. I felt a little nauseous at mile 3 and walked that aid station. But once that subsided everything felt good.

I had bound my run goal between 7 min/mile, which would be very doable if I hadn't biked at all, and 8 min/mile, which seemed like it would be slow given my workouts to date. After 4 miles it was clear I could hold the sub-8 pace. So my two goals became to break 5 hours and to run sub 1:40. Both happened pretty easily.

I saw Ginger at a few points which is always fun. She looked smooth. I tried to figure out her race (where she was relative to the other speedy women) but it's too much math for me to do on the run. She's got it wired though.

Post
After the race I felt good. I could have run more but was glad to not need to do so. Enjoyed the the post-race food, "iced" my legs in the lake, watched Ginger collect her 2nd place booty (extra special maple syrup & a watch), drove back home, unloaded, ate a pizza with G, then crashed on the couch.

Takeaways
+ I spent a lot of time during this race wondering how the heck I was going to do at IMLP. The distance is fine but I seem to have lost my pacing skills. I need to get that straight again.
+ Zero lower-body warmup before the race was not the right thing to do. I can't get away with that anymore. Some jogging/spinning and good stretching are required.
+ Very little riding of the P3 in the weeks leading into this race was a bad call. It definitely hits those areas of my hamstrings/glutes more than the road bike.
+ The real mistake was not taking the P3 into the shop during the winter and instead waiting until the week before the race. It needed work.
+ I've been riding without a bike computer a lot and did the same during this race. I like having the data afterwards but during the race I think I prefer not seeing (and thinking about) avg speeds.
+ New bike goal: sub 2:30
+ New run goal: sub 1:35