2010 Ironman Augusta 70.3 Race Report - Part 3 (Conclusion and thoughts...)

Hello Everyone,

     It's Saturday, just got out of a Federal Tax Accounting Class, and I needed something to do while my lunch was settling before I can get in my afternoon workout.  Missed the morning 8am run with the West Stride Support Group.  Sorry Lee!  Was out at Ormsby's and Waffle House too late last night.  I was planning on being late to class this morning anyways because of the run, so I did not feel guilty getting up late, waiting for Planet Smoothie to open at 9am and then go to class.  So I decided I would complete the last part of this race report, put some thoughts and feelings behind how I felt about the event and my completion of it to tie everything together.

     First off, I think that my attitude and priority towards this race was all out of whack!  I think you may have gathered that from part 1 of this race report.  I signed up for this race in May and did not do enough training for it.  I kinda feel like 2008 and 2010 were lost years with respect to training and racing.  In 2007 I had a huge racing season (not that I was actually good, just a lot of races) and then I guess I was burnt out when I hit 2008.  In 2009 I did IMCDA, so there was the motivation there.  There were a couple times during the season where I slacked off and I admit that, both for being burnt out and trying to keep a relationship in check.  2010 I think was the same result as 2008, though it was due to training really hard for one race rather than multiple races.  There were also other major things that happened in my personal and business life in 2008 and 2010 that had significant impacts on my training and competing in triathlons in general.  In 2011 I am trying to remedy that situation by one, getting back into a year where I am fully training and participating in the sport and two, actually not having another "off" year going into 2012.

     Second, and this is more of a humor related intermission for this post (but still topical to it), I really need to start taking some sort of laxative around 5pm the night before the race.  I mean come on!  I stopped 4 times on the run????  Not to mention I did not go at all BEFORE or during any other portion of the race.  And not only that, it was like 2 days worth of food!  Not cool!  And the fact that I wasted somewhere between 25-30 minutes waiting in line for a porta-john and using them.  I mean, I think I added a 4th discipline to the sport that day so we could call it a quadrathlon.  Swim, Bike, Run, and poop.

     Third, I really need to work on my run.  Not necessarily the time, but the running off the bike.  In most, if not all of my long distance races (HIM + distance events), every time I come off the bike I have to walk at some point due to cramping or leg fatigue (notice I did not say body fatigue, usually when I stop I feel fine, just my legs are trashed).  One of my tri-resolutions for the year is to do lots more bricks, and not all of them are going to be 2-3 hours in the saddle and then 15-30 minutes of running.  My buddy James that I did CDA with and also trained with, his original discipline was duathlons, and he has a few key workouts, similar to bricks, that I am going to employ so that when it comes time to race in another HIM or IM distance race, I am not gonna have trashed legs/cramping all the time.  That's not to say that I won't ever get a cramp again, or that I won't ever walk again, I just know there is a large area of improvement for me in that area.

    Lastly, I think something that will stop the huge roller coaster effect from year to year when I participate in this sport is to have fun and remember not to be so serious about this sport all the time.  Sure you have to have discipline to train, you have to plan out your workouts, you have to schedule your events in advance, etc.  But once that is all over with, we should all be able to cut loose and have a little fun with this sport.  If we forget to do that, then we go down a path where it is not fun anymore, and we decide to cast it by the wayside like some toy we got for last Christmas knowing there is a new present wrapped under the tree right now for this Christmas.

Hope you all have a great, safe training weekend.  Don't know who all of you are rooting for in the Superbowl, but I hope that Pittsburgh gets their butts kicked!  :)