Enchanted Rock 2011

Another learning experience with several mistakes but some progress. Two weeks ago did a tune up in Seguin, Texas consisting of a 5k run, 14 mile ride, 5k run. Got the equipment, a new Felt B12 Tri-bike equipped with Zipp 404 on the front and 808 on the back, and a sweet racing helmet. Got the bag of Tri goods, GU gels, and water put together. Got a good nights sleep back to back and a couple of days of rest.

Been working on speeding up transitions by running in socks through transition with shoes clipped into pedals, then hopping on top of left pedal while swinging right leg over saddle to top of shoe on right pedal. Slipped foot into right and then left shoe and buckled up. At the end of ride slipped feet from shoes then pedaled on top of shoes before swinging right leg over the seat on coasting/breaking to end of bike route, jumping off and running to the transition area.

Nutrition was supposed to be about 300 calories per hour comprised of GU and Gatorade. Drank about 6 OZ of water moments before the race. Carried a 24 OZ bottle of Gatorade (100 cal) on run with, a 20 OZ bottle of Gatorade (slightly diluted, 50 cal) on the bike, and another 10 OZ of water for the final run. Had 100 Calories of GU chomps 1/2 before start and planned to eat another 100 before biking. Used a rubber band to secure a GU gel to my running belt with my number. Had 100 Cal of GU taped to the bike, and another waiting ahead of the final run.

My training had consisted of a few Brick run, bike, run. Easy jogs for recovery, hard biking, and challenging (Dre) circuit workouts. Turns out that my lack of running training doomed me to cramping and extreme soreness.

Night before we walked across the street from the Hampton Inn to Mexican restaurant, Mamacetas. I ordered cheese free enchiladas with tomatillio sauce (green). Finished dinner around 8 pm and found ourselves stranded by a lightning storm for about 45 minutes. Shared a cab (Prius) with a nice couple from San Antonio who wished me well during the race. Fredericksberg got about 1 1/2 inches of rain, but the race site got zero rain. Good thing because the course might have been a muddy/slippery mess if it had!

Awoke around 4:45 ahead of alarm clock. Data A was about 34 which is great for 6 hours sleep. Night before it was 24 with 7.5 hours sleep. Had a shake which is about 600 calories, and then rolled for about 15 minutes on legs and back. Attempted to pump up my Zipp tires but had trouble with rear...wouldn't hold air. Front pumped to 110 PSI.

Arrived at the park around 6:40 am to a mob scene at check in. Cars were backed up in the dark waiting for others to check-in. Left the car with Liz and got marked, returned to car and unloaded bike and gear. Moved to parking area about 1/4 mile from the check-in Pavillion and transition area. We then walked in the dark back to the transition area where I picked up my timing chip secured it to my ankle and headed to my bike. I needed to get that tire pumped up. Unfortunately, the tire value seemed to be an issue and we had trouble getting air into the tire. So I'm concerned about how it will do in the race. The clock is ticking and the MC starts to give race instructions. I need to get my butt over to the starting line.

I grab my GU pack and eat about half the bag, drink 6 oz. water, clip the bike shoes on the pedals, and spread out my gear for the run to bike transition. Helmet in position, and sunglasses in the helmet. By this time it's light enough to see the trail.

I was barely on time for the start and had no time to warm up and ended up near the rear of the field.

Horn sounded and we were off. I took it easy for the first 1/2 mile due to the narrow paths, rocks, and vegetation. Pushed hard after that and my heart rate hit 166 maximum on some of the steeper hills. The run heart rate was about 158-160 average. Knees and legs felt fine. Finished the 5 mile run first in my age group in about 43 minutes and approached the transition area where my back was in the rear. Transition time was a minute slower than winner. Anything over 45 seconds is SLOW. This meant that I would have to run across the entire transition in either my bike shoes or my socks. Turns out socks was a bad choice because the rocks were very hard on my heals and feet. Got out of transition hopped on bike with a pretty fast transition of around 1 minute, despite hobbling on the rocks. Took me a minute to get my feet in the shoes, but up to speed quickly.

During the run I consumed the entire bottle of Gatorade, ate one GU gel, and popped the rest of the GU chomps at the transition. During the ride I finished about 20 OZ of diluted Gatorade and had a GU Gel roughly 10 miles out. When I got back to the transition I ate another GU Gel pack while heading to the top of the rock.

Left the transition area ahead of my competition and the ride was great for the most part. My Garmin watch wasn't set properly and the Bezel wasn't locked. I passed up about 30 people during the first 20 miles. One person passed me. One dude almost cut me off on the cattle guard as he swerved last second to a different spot on the guard. At around the 12 mile mark we climbed and I felt the gear was too big. My cadence dropped and I struggled to push up the hill. Shortly after I felt some tinges in my right calf. At 14 miles my right hamstring got tight, I slowed and it cramped. I tried to stand up and relax but it wouldn't let me move. I used my left leg to pedal which several people passed me. It calmed down as I approached the end of the bike ride allowing me to remove my right foot and swing my leg over the seat. At this time my right calf cramped up, and I could feel my toes curl. I stopped and unclipped my left shoe, so one was on and the other off. Started to walk to transition when the left hamstring just put me on the ground. I lost about 10 minutes dealing with this.

Despite losing at least 10 minutes my competitor only beat me by 3 minutes in the bike ride.

Once the hamstrings calmed down I moved to the transition all the while in severe pain from the rocks on my feet. Somehow I thought that pain might keep me from cramping. I drank about 4 oz of water, grabbed another GU gel and took the bottle with me to the trail. I jogged very slowly with my heart rate around 135 along the trail to the rock. One time I stopped about 20 seconds as it felt like the right hamstring was going to cramp. It didn't. I took a bottle and drank about half and walked up the rock. My heart rate was about 155 going up the rock but no cramps.

My time was about the same as 2010 and I finished 2nd in my age group but well below my expectations. But I was safe and relatively unhurt, and I finished.

Aftermath: the next day the bottoms of my heels were extremely sore, hamstrings were tight. Two days later the hamstrings are tight, but the heals are OK. My back is sore from an injury in AZ...coughing while riding. I rested both Monday and Tuesday using ice and heat, plus I rolled legs and back.

Lessons:
1. Pump up tires night before.
2. Make sure helmet straps are not stuck in helmet...try it on!
3. Must train like you race! At least train in both hard runs and hard rides and Brick train....run, bike, run. My hamstrings had not seen hard running for weeks.
4. Check the transition for foot damaging rocks before deciding transition strategy.
5. Get to the race TOO early rather than JIT!
6. If you do shoe-less transitions then don't undo both shoe straps because the inner strap could get stuck in chain or Garmin sensor.
7. Garmin set-up for races: Turn auto-resume to off, set run/bike option to bike, start the workout, select the screen for heart rate/speed, lock the bezel. The bezel was especially annoying since it kept changing as it hit my sleeve or aerobars.
8. Do light stretching on the way in from the bike ride to deactivate the cramping tendency. LIGHT.