Rockman Race Report

This morning was the Rockman Half Ironman. The early weather report was a little sketchy - upper 50s and rain. That's cold. It was only about 60 degrees at the start of the race, but it was a warm 60 degrees if that makes sense. It was suprisingly comfortable. Not nearly as bad as I expected.

The water temp was decent. A little cold, but nothing to complain about. I haven't been putting in enough time in the pool, but was thinking I could pull off a 32-33 minute swim. I came out of the water in about 36 minutes. I'm very disappointed. I give up way too much time in the water, and I need to get in some hard work in the pool and improve my times.

When I came out of the water, it was already raining.

My transitions are typically pretty quick and smooth, but not today. For half ironmans and ironmans, I like to put on my garmin in T1. I turn it on toward the end of the bike so it can find satellites and then I have it for the run. I also wear my timex so I have my total time for the race (I can't wait to get the new waterproof garmin so I can wear it for the whole event) so yes, I wear two watches. It's goofy, but having my garmin for pace and distance is really helpful so it works for me.

But I screwed up...I put my Timex on my left wrist. I always put my watches on my left wrist, so when I plan on putting a watch on in T1 I put my Timex on my right wrist. Why? Because, for some reason, I can't put a watch on my right wrist. It takes me forever, but I can put one on my left wrist quickly. So I fumbled around trying to put my garmin on my right wrist in T1...then I tried to put on arm warmers which is really tough when your arms are wet. I should've gone without. I also lost some time in T1 when I headed back to the rack to get rid of my glasses. I couldn't see through them from the rain so I decided to bike without glasses.

The bike....it was good. I passed a lot of people, which says more about my lack of swim skills than my bike skills. I don't always wear glasses when I bike so that wasn't a big deal, and it actually worked out great. Visibility was never a problem. I stayed within my power zone and finished around 2:30-2:31. Right about where I expected to be. I thought I might go under 2:30 but the course was a little hillier than I thought (far from hilly...just hillier than I thought it would be).

Coming into T2 I got out of my shoes early (too early) and did my usual side saddle dismount. Sometimes when I do this, my shoe comes off and it did today. One of the volunteers grabbed and yelled that I dropped my shoe. I tried to stop on the wet timing mat and slipped and nearly fell...close call. Very close.

The run was tough. It's very hilly. Nothing too brutal, although there were a few hills that were really tough. Mostly it's just rollers. I don't think there was a flat stretch on the whole course. I was hoping to run 7:45s but realized early on that wasn't going to happen. The course was too hilly for me to hold that pace. So I made my goal sub 8 minute miles. The run was tough and I was hurtin, but I kept pushing and finished in 1:43 - a 7:54 pace so I'm happy with that.

They don't have official results posted yet, but I have my total time at 4:53. I was hoping for sub 4:45 so I'm a little disappointed, but not much. I signed up a week ago so I haven't been training for this race so I can't beat myself up for not hitting a goal I came up with a few days ago.

What I really wanted from this event, I got. Renewed motivation and a sense of where my current fitness level is. My bike is where I want it right now and my run is getting there. Swimming is way off so I now know where I need to put my focus and what I need to do to prepare for Racine.

My next two weeks of training will be screwed up because I'll be in Utah for 5 days, but after I return I'm going to be focused on making improvements and getting in some solid training for Racine.

Upcoming races: Aquathon #2 and Pleasant Pairie Open Water Challenge