It was my first long race of the year, having done Sprint, Olympic, and International distance races, plus a Time Trial on the bike. My plan for this year is fewer races, but more heavy training and more big races. Last year I did 13 races, 3 70.3 HIM (Half Ironman) and 1 140.6 IM (Ironman). I haven't mapped out the rest of the season yet, but I expect to do a couple more 70.3's and at least one IM.
My time on Sunday was 5:13:36. 12 minutes faster than at the same race last year, but off my PR of 5:01 for that distance. But I've learned that it's really hard to compare times from different races, that the lengths (and of course conditions) are erratic, even year-to-year in the same race. So it's all about what you do on race day, and some measure of continuous improvement over previous times.
Race morning was beautiful - the air was still and the lake was like glass.
I was in wave 7, so it was light at the start, making it easy to sight the swim markers.
Last year I did the swim in 43:17 and with the training
I've put in, I expected to be a couple of minutes faster.
But when I stood up, I checked my time and it was showing
over 46 minutes, which made me think the course had been
long - I had stayed right on course, and was pulling stronger
than I ever had in a long course swim.
T1 was about 2 seconds faster than 2008, ok, considering the organizers did a poor job of setting up the rack in the Transition. But I need to work on those flying mounts and dismounts!
The Disney race is one of my favorite bike courses. When I
visualize some of my best races, the '08 ride segment always comes up. It's fast, flat and flowing. I rode a 2:36 last year and expected to knock a couple of minutes off, as I'm really dialed in on the Transition S-Works, and am now running a 55 chainring. Last year, the bike was only three months old and I'd yet to find my full speed on it. The ride was even better this year, as there was no rain, but it wasn't without issues. Around mile 10, I went over an expansion joint in a bridge, and it shocked the bike hard. About 2 miles later, I looked down to check my speed and elapsed time on my Garmin, and all that was on the bar was the strap. So I assumed it had flown off on the hit the bike took. Two immediate things came to mind... hmmm, expensive race, but I'd planned on getting a new waterproof Garmin when they come out next month. And, how will I time my nutrition... I use the Garmin to monitor my 45 minute nutrition cycles on the bike. So I calculated my next nutrition interval and kept going. I was pulling a strong speed number, in the 24s and 25s without straining myself and rolling through the miles. I missed not having the GPS to refer to, but use a Cateye computer as a backup, so I wasn't totally lost. Around mile 40, I guess around 9:30 in the morning, a draft pack went past me. They weren't flying, I was able to keep up and overtake them, but they were SO breaking the rules. 3 abreast, several of them about 2 feet off a rider's wheel, a couple on the back , not even down on the aerobars, like a Sunday cruise ride, but getting sucked along. It amazes me that this isn't policed better. Most of the SoFla races are over-policed, but any of of the WTC and long course races seem wide open and it infuriates me that riders so blatantly cheat. Despite my rather vulgar objections, they continued on, and I did see a couple of the offenders in a penalty box at the end of the ride, but the organizers should manage this better, especially in a qualifying race. I finished the bike in 2:31, at a speed of 22.12 mph, 5 minutes and 0.7 mph faster than that 2008. The improvements, when they come, are always incremental.
T2 was just up on 2008, and I started the run feeling a little dizzy, as my hat was too tight. Plus not having the Garmin meant I wasn't able to continuously monitor my run speed. However, I've learned a lot about running that distance in an HIM or IM, after last year, and my hot weather training meant I was able to manage the heat better. One section of Disney's notorious grass trail was stifling, 90+ degrees, no wind, but overall the run didn't gas me like it did in '08.
My run was 1:49, averaging 8:19 minute miles. Not my usual pace, as I put in a 1:40 last November at MiamiMan, and a 1:48 in Austin last October. But that's 10 minutes faster than my 2008 Disney time, and I was probably a faster runner then than I am now, but less competent overall. I need to spend some time on the treadmill now that the rainy season is here and work on my turnover and stride length and get my pace back up!
I'll take the 12 minutes faster on my cume time over 2008. 5:13:36 is a good start to the year on a long course. My legs felt ok after the race, I didn't blow up on the run, my bike sector was fast and despite the time, I noticed a huge improvement in my swim. A cause for a little celebration!
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