As Clay's bosom-buddy, he invited me to post my race report on his hallowed blog.As a non-marathoner, I am quite honored. My name is Ben Paxton. I was inspired to do triathlons (one of my dreams) due to Clay's and my wife's marathoning (mostly Clay's!!!!).
This was a half-ironman triathlon. 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run.
Below are my results (in a small field, only 100 participants):
- Swim - 31:51.90
- Bike - 2:39:36.15
- Run - 1:51:59.25
When you lift your head to look for buoys or other swimmers, your hips drop, and you slow down and waste energy. Because I was in first place during the swim, I got to see a big blue kayak 20 feet in front of me that was leading the swim course which helped. Exited first which was the highlight of the day, but I went faster than I wanted too. I was too excited about winning the swim though.
Bike: I left with another guy that caught me in transition (more on him later). He took off like lightning. Two other people passed me within 10 miles, but no one else. I hammered the bike, but felt that it was a steady pace hammering. I caught li
ghtning guy at mile 30, which felt great. I felt kind of guilty going out pretty fast on the bike ("Racing long" tells me to take the first quarter of the bike easy), but I kept it up and the legs felt good, so maybe it was ok.I was in third place after the bike. I couldn't believe that I averaged 21.1 mph. Most of my training rides in the mountains of Roanoke, VA average 15-16. I didn't think I could ride that fast, but it was fun to ride without big hills!
Run: The first two miles were painful -- the first mile or two coming off a bike are always bad. Then I caught a great rhythm, and the next 5 were great. At mile 7, I tried to pick up the pace as I was feeling good, and was sure that I would finish (I do this in long training runs when I feel good). By mile 8 I was in agony, so it didn't work this time (and I probably only ran that mile 15 seconds faster or so. I don't know exactly as I had given up timing my splits at this point in the race.)
Finishing the last five miles was extremely difficult. I wanted to walk bad, but didn't let myself. Those last few miles went on forever, and I wasn't sure I'd make it (only at mile 8 and again at 10). I started off the run with a gel, and another at mile 2, and was drinking HEED (like Gatorade) at the aid stations. I got a bad side cramp at mile 3 and then another one. These 2 side cramps stayed with me until mile 8 or so. But I switched to water, and no more HEED or gels. I think that helped (It may have helped my cramping, but I think I underfueled my run).
I had a calf cramp at mile 11 that struck so fast, it almost took me to the
ground. But I slowed a bit, and it went away not to return. My ITB was hurting the last mile or two, but not that much, since I could still run. I also noticed a blister around mile 8, but I welcomed it as it was a different kind of pain than what was going on in my legs (a day later it is not so cool). But the stabbing/sharp pain felt nice during the race. The finish with the family there was sweet. 8:33 miles, which is really good for me. General: This was my first triathlon, and I did much better than I expected. I wanted to break 6 hours when I started. I wanted to use this race as preparation for the Louisville Ironman next year (i.e. Ironman length pacing and heart rate zone). But my place in the small field kept me going faster and faster with delusions of grandeur, since I was near the front. My RPE was much higher than I wanted in all 3 legs. I was happy with it though.
1 comments:
Congrats, Ben. You are my hero.
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