Vermont RR

We left Saturday afternoon for Rutland .The drive up was scenic and relaxing.We were staying at our friends moms B&B. I had heard this place was amazing.

When we got there I was glad we decided on taking up Ed with this offer to stay with them.The details in the house were so unique.Trompe L'oilel paintings adored every standing wall. Handpainted furniture done in a true Vermont ski lodge/Victorian theme. There was even a tennis court with a huge barn next to it that had an incredible Granda Ma Moses type mural on the side.

After dinner that evening my gut started to hurt like I had the start of appendicitis or something. I had to excuse myself from dinner to go to our cottage to lie down. After a few hours I felt a bit better,but had bad thoughts in my head about tomorrow's race.

Race Morning:

The morning started out promising as the forecast called for rain and T'showers but it was pretty clear. Chilly !

This was going to be a real small race, not quite 200 people.

I was in the 2nd swim wave, and I decided to take the swim super easy as my stomach did not feel that great and a lower HR might be wise. Exited at a little over 40 mins. Slowest swim ever as I normally swim 36-37 but felt like I hadn't even swam so, so far so good.

T2-

Blazed out in 1:40 as this transition area was a breeze for mounting on the bike w/ my shoes on the pedals clipped in already,huge time savings there.

At about mile 2 of the bike the monsoon rain started. It was insane how much it was coming down. I had my arm warmers on, but it wasn't helping one iota.

At about mile 6 I was shivering and thinking about bagging this race,but I've never quit anything and this wasn't going to be a first. Later I found out that Trukweaz aka Kurt Perham bailed after 10 miles. He couldn't stop shaking on the bike, and this guy did Placid in 10:20 something.

It rained all the way into T2. Hardly ate on the bike as I was borderline into Hypothermia. Big mistake #1.

Bike time 2:55+

I guess considering all the slowing down to keep from rear ending slower nervous bikers and fighting hydroplaning tires....the time was acceptable. I could have hit my first sub 2:45 bike if it were a dry day.

T2-

My shoes and socks were drenched ! Squeezed out my socks, put on my Asics and left in 1:25

The run was a bastard case. Toughest 13 I've ever done regardless of the rain. The first 2 miles were on asphalt,then the next 9 were on trails. At certain points it was a single 2 foot wide path that went almost vertical.Lots of slow sideways climbing. Then on the way back ,the switchbacks that dropped so steeply were quad busters. Total XTerra style,but those guys only run 5-6 miles of trails like this . Not 13 ~

I held a 9 min/mi pace til about mile 5. At this point I decided to chill and let my legs come to me. By mile 7 I felt OK so I pushed it to 8:30's but did not take into consideration how many extra calories my body was burning to stay warm- so I encountered a massive bonk at mile 9 and pretty much walked it back.

I took in a ton of Gu and Coke,but it was too late. I got pretty delerious at one point.


Total time was 6:25.

Doing a 1/2 IM 34 days out of an IM is a really bad idea. Even if you're an Elite (which I'm not). There's residual fatigue that no fitness level or nutrition plan can overcome.

The only consolation I have is that I know the guy who came in 30 seconds ahead of me. He usually does a 5:35-40 1/2IM and he passed on Lake Placid this year.....so I guess I did OK.

The other side of my brain thinks I could have pulled a 5:50 had I had fresher legs and better nutrition intake. I have never raced in cold weather, rainy weather yes, but not both cold and rainy. So lesson learned was HUGE !

Nutrition,nutrition and oh yeah plan your races smart.

I'm done for the rest of the season. I'm kind of burnt out and need time away from endurance events to focus more on my upcoming book and film project. Don't worry I'll still be running swimming, and biking but with less volume and more to stay in shape.

So this might be my last post for some time,but you can come visit me at my other blog for the B side of me. The link is available in my Profile page.

Cheers !