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kevins
08-18-2009, 08:48 PM
Nutrition - Woke up at 2:30am, drank 2 cups of organic coffee, big bowl of oatmeal, 1 yogurt, 1 banana and 1 jello and lots of water.

Pre Race - arrived at 5am to T1, basically a simple setup, putting Garmin on bike, attaching shoes to clips, dropping bottles on bike and picture time with Coach Ben! :)

Swim - I tried a new strategy this time for my swim training - train less! Well I found out that didn't work out too well. :confused: I didn't swim all of July and put a hard few weeks in before race day. After doing Ironman CDA in June, I basically swam 5 times total. Enough said:

Swim Results - 36:13 / 1:54 pace
Rank - 297th, 46/165 AG - Top 27%

Bike - I was soooo pumped for the bike. I've trained on this course sooo much this year. For much of my Ironman CDA training, I rode this course. I rode it the last 2 weeks leading up to the race, so I knew I was ready for it. Well overall, I feel pretty good about my performance but this is where I have to tell you my race turned for the worse. Finished loop 1 in 1:16 so was right on pace for 2:35 where I wanted to finish. Felt amazing on loop 1, made up some serious spots and kept a pretty high cadence. After this first loop, I looked down and I had only drank about 2 inches of 1 of my 3 bottles on my bike. So about mile 50 comes and I'm barely finished with 1 bottle. BTW I had 1 bottle of water, I bottle of Gatorade and 1 bottle of Carbo Pro. Started into the final 6 miles of bike and I was feeling it now. So I slowed down a bit, tried to take in as much liquid as I could but I KNEW it was too late. I (AGAIN) for the second time this year, didn't drink/eat enough on the bike which of course would hurt me on the run.

Bike Results - 2:43:18 / 20.58 MPH Avg
Rank -130th, 21/165 AG - Top 12%

Run - Quick T2 and off for the run. Felt the energy of the crowd as I took off and around the "hot corner". Immediately after I turned that hard right away from the crowd, the cramps started in. I urgently stopped not even 3 mins into the run, to see my quad's moving up and down vigoriously. It hurt like hell, so I rubbed and massaged the heck out of them. This was of course because I didn't have enough liquid, electrolytes and salt on the bike. I ended up having to stop about 15 times throughout the 1/2 marathon. About every few mins, I had to stop and massage my quads that were cramping like this every time. First loop was tough for me, because my legs hurt like hell. But after taking in Gatorade at every aid station, water, salt tablets, and a women gave me 3 Ibu's, I felt much better on the next loop. Mile 7-13 was much better for me, performed a negative split and actually was able to run a little bit like normal. I have to say, I passed a ton of people in the last 3 miles, as I picked up the pace. I actually heard someone in the crowd yell at me on the hot corner and said: "Kevin, about time you decided to start running". Again, felt the amazing support in this area as I turned the final corner and up to the finish line.

Run Results - 1:44:45 - 7:59 Pace
Rank 144th, 25/165 AG - Top 15%

Final Results - 5:08:22 - Rank 144th - 25th AG

Thoughts - I went into this day with one goal in mind, Clearwater. I had just done a 5:07 at Honu 70.3 in May so I was ready to finally get under 5 hours, but I knew I was doomed after the lack of nutrition on the bike. Swim is the swim for me. No matter how many yards I train, over 100,000 yards for Ironman CDA, I still can't seem to swim any faster. So I swam the slowest I've ever swam 1.2 miles by over 2 mins. Bike, I love the bike now! The bike used to be my sore spot for me, but with added training this year, I've put together some strong bikes in 2009 - 2:36 Honu 70.3, 2:43 Lk Stevens, and 5:36 Ironman CDA. I just love getting my ass kicked in the water and then jumping on my bike and say "on your left" all day! :). The run, I just don't know what to say. I'm a RUNNER, that has always been my best. I just can't seem to put together a good run. Although I'll say i did actually PR the Run with 1:44, but I'm very capable of running under 1:30 if I could just run the entire time! :(

Awards Ceremony - Racing in the 35-39 AG is very tough. Not to say the other AG's are easy or anything, but damn I tell you these ages are tough to beat. They rolled down to #23 for a Clearwater slot. There I stood at #25, two short of a Clearwater slot. Was bummed in realizing my season was over. Sat back down and was a bit bummed. I knew there was a super slight chance I could actually get a slot if I waited to the very end after they run through all the AG's. So I sat down and waited. After corrolating the numbers, they had 6 slots available, so they called down everyone that missed a slot earlier. They arranged us by AG then by overall time. Then they split us into 2 groups, 39 and under and 40 and above. There I stood with 3 other guys and me. He says, I've got 3 slots for each group, top 3 in each group, YOUR IN! There I stood in the top 3/4 guys. I had the 3rd fastest time out of the 4 of us. I earned my Clearwater spot!! :):):)

I've been extremely honored over the past 2 days and excited beyond belief to compete in Clearwater in November. I've already booked my flight and secured my hotel! :D I realize my season has been extended by 3 months, so I'm currently taking a well deserved 1 week break before hitting it again. My season started on Jan 1st with Ironman CDA training and hasn't stopped yet. So I'm excited to maintain, train and get ready for Clearwater. I promise, this time....I will go under 5 hours! :)

Thanks for reading my post. Kev:p

jrplatt
08-19-2009, 08:47 AM
Kevin,

Nice job on getting the Clearwater spot!

Don't forget to get you garmin off your bike, as the volunteers at Clearwater might not be as friendly as CdA!!

Jeff

rmakela
08-19-2009, 09:00 AM
It was great seeing you out there Kevin - nice race. Wish I could have followed you on the bike . . .

Looking forward to seeing you in Clearwater! Where'd you book your accomodations?

Ray

benbiggles
08-19-2009, 09:13 AM
Solid work Kevin although you really don't have any excuses for not keeping on top of your nutrition, this is not difficult. Set a count time timer on your watch of something....don't make this mistake in Clearwater.

Oh, and if you want to have a good race in Clearwater, you have to have a good swim, once those packs form and start rolling on the bike you want to be in as quick a group as you can be and let's face it typically the faster swimmers are also the faster bikers/runners. Swim well, get in a good pack, execute on nutrition and I see no reason you should not break 4:45. It is most definitely a PR course :)

Hit me up if you want to get out for a ride.

Cindybigglestone
08-19-2009, 09:18 AM
Good read...I love your enthusiasm and dedication to the sport.

I agree its tough to put in all that swim training in for a similar times but I have to say the more I swim the less worn out I am when I get out of the water. And that means even more energy to put into the bike and run.

Enjoy your well deserved time off and have a great time at Clearwater.

kevins
08-19-2009, 10:03 AM
Thanks everyone! Ben, I know there is no excuses anymore. Shawn told me the same thing after the race. I'm going to set one of my 2 watches I wear, remind me.

Ray - http://www.sheratonsandkey.com (http://www.sheratonsandkey.com/)

Lee
08-19-2009, 10:16 AM
Good read...I love your enthusiasm and dedication to the sport.

I agree its tough to put in all that swim training in for a similar times but I have to say the more I swim the less worn out I am when I get out of the water. And that means even more energy to put into the bike and run.

Enjoy your well deserved time off and have a great time at Clearwater.

I totally agree. My swim at Troika wasn't fast but but my bike and run splits were both PRs. I swam the Tour de Mercer stage event week 3 and week 2 before Troika and it helped reduce the fatigue from the swim and led to strong bike and run splits.

We learn so much from each and every race. Keep up the good work Kevin!!

capnkirk
08-19-2009, 05:14 PM
Wow! Great job to you both Kevin and Ray! This is a pivotal point for both of you in your racing endeavours. Kevin, I new you had your Clearwater spot in the bag when we talked to you at BLT on Saturday. You're energy and enthusiasm for the sport were inspiring.

Best luck to both of you. Enjoy this journey!
:)

kevins
08-19-2009, 07:41 PM
Wow! Great job to you both Kevin and Ray! This is a pivotal point for both of you in your racing endeavours. Kevin, I new you had your Clearwater spot in the bag when we talked to you at BLT on Saturday. You're energy and enthusiasm for the sport were inspiring.

Best luck to both of you. Enjoy this journey!
:)

Wow, thank you so much Kirk, I really appreciate your kind words. I'm very excited and it will be fun to race with a bunch of studs, everywhere!! Thanks again, I'd love to do some training with you guys. K

BryanU
08-19-2009, 08:40 PM
Nice job Kevin. Congrats on your spot!

Every race is successful if you can at least take away some lessons and use them to improve for the next race. Even better when you get a ticket to the worlds!

kevins
08-20-2009, 09:43 PM
Thank you all very much for your support and sharing your thoughts and recommendations. I truly love this sport, love working with Ben and Cindy and having such an awesome team makes it like a family to me. Thank you.