Harvest Moon post race report

The race this weekend was bitter sweet. There were a couple of bad things, but mostly good.

I'll start with the best thing first. Most of you guys know me and know that Michael and Amanda Lovato are my two biggest idols. They are two VERY dominant triathletes. The way they treat people, the way they persevere through tough times, are rare traits in pro athletes these days. I wrote Michael about three months ago, he responded with a personal and heart felt letter. Here's a portion of the letter I sent:

I watched the 2005 Kona Ironman and saw you were forced to walk the run course. It was explained to me that if a pro triathlete is unable to finish in the top 20 that that they almost always quit. But you didn't. You continued to walk finishing around 395th. I was completely motivated by your determination and refusal to quit! That night I pulled out my indoor trainer, wiped off the dust and started training again. I haven't stopped training since. Every time I become frustrated or want to quit I think of your outstanding performance at the 2005 Ironman world championship race- yes, I feel it was the most outstanding performance of the day! You could of stopped and packed it up once you realized you're race was impacted by severe GI problems. Most pros would have to insure not becoming injured. But you didn't, and I haven't quit either.
I plan on doing the Harvest moon long course half Iron distance triathlon in Col. as a tune up race in Sept. Then the Silverman Iron distance in Nov. If I can persevere and never quit like your example has taught me next year I'll be known as an Ironman not just a former fat guy. Knowing the gratitude I have for you, my cousin called me to tell me he watched Kona in person, he said you came back out after your race and cheered on the last people to finish. He said you were the only pro who before the race was smiling at all the amateurs, you were friendly and approachable. We believe you are an incredible representative of the sport, and I just wanted to take this opportunity to tell you that after what I've done, and plan to do my life will never be the same. I owe allot of that to you due to your example.

Well, Michael and Amanda were at the Harvest Moon half Iron. Amanda was racing the long course. She actually started the race on the same wave as me, but she wasn't on the course nearly as long as I was :) She took 1st place with a blazing 4:34!!!!

From my letter Michael and Amanda knew I'd be at the Harvest Moon. After the race they took the time to find me and introduce themselves. After that we hung out for almost an hour. What great people they are. It really made this weekend a special occasion! On a really cool side note: When I first got introduced to them I went to shake Amanda's hand and instead she gave me a great big hug!! I got to hug Amanda Lovato!!!!!! I can die happy now. That just shows how down to earth and approachable those people are.

Now for my post race report. This was the Clydesdale long course championships. So I was pretty exited. I have always raced half Irons at a high zone 2 heart rate so that I can finish in a good time and not fall apart on the run. At the Harvest Moon I decided to try and push mid zone 3 on the bike and run. I knew I may end up bonking, but I wanted to test my limits. ]

I got out of the water in around a 37 minute time. It would of been a PR but T-1 was around 200 yards from the exit of the water, so my official time was 41:57. On the bike my mid zone 3 is around 135 beats a minute. My race strategy was to keep it around that area. But because of my coach was there, it was the Clyd long course championships, and probably the biggest reason was the Lovato's were there I couldn't help pushing it harder than I should have. I never let my HR below 140. My ave HR for the bike ended up being 142. I also only kept one water bottle holder on my bike. Which meant I was limiting my fluid intake to 26oz every 15 miles. HUGE mistake!!! My sweat rate is immense! On a day where the temp is about 90 degrees I sweat approximately 50 oz an hour. It turned out the temp's were almost at 90. So at the 10 mile mark I was out of fluid. The next aid station wasn't until mile 15. Between every aid station I became more and more dehydrated. At the 40 mile mark I stopped sweating and had a migraine head ache that was so bad I could only keep one eye open. Keeping 2 eyes open seemed to make the migraine feel worse.

By mile 45 I was only keeping up a 10 mile an hour ave. I was crashing hard! I could tell by the way my body felt that I could of kept up the pace I was trying to keep on the bike if I had been able to stay hydrated. Coulda, woulda, shoulda.

When I got off the bike I felt HORRIBLE! I've bonked before at races and on long training days. Not sure if it's me or if every one is like this, but when I bonk there is no possibility of recovering. The days race or training is essentially over. I have never once recovered from a glycogen or hydration deficit no matter how much I drink or eat. But let me tell you, I've never given up on a race. In April of this year I got two flats but only had one tube so I walked 7 miles with my bike to T-2 and finished the swim anyways. I was dead last, but I didn't DNF! Did I mention I saw a guy named Michael Lovato do something like that in 2005 at Kona? I wasn't about to start quiting now. I walked to the first aid station which was at the 1 mile mark in 16 minutes. I slammed 2 cups of water. I would of drank more but I felt like I was going to throw up if I did. I did a shuffle to the next aid station at the 2 mile mark in another 15 minutes. At that station I drank 3 cups of HEED and ate a gel. By the 2.5 mile mark I had recovered enough to start a semi-run. Did you hear that people? I was recovering! I ended up able to keep up a 10:30 pace the rest of the race finishing the half marathon in 2:26.

I ended up with a total time of 6:26. 2nd best of four 70.3's for me. If I would of managed my hydration correctly I'm pretty confident that I would of finished around 6:06. Considering how dehydrated I got and that I recovered from a bonk really makes me feel confident of my fitness level. The Silverman is MINE baby!!!!! It also makes me realize I have a great coach! Peter Alfino at Mile High Multisport if anyone out there in blog land is in need of a dang genius! So, I finished 3rd place Clyd 39 and under in the Clydes long course championships which technically ranks me as the 3rd place Clydesdale in the world at the long course this year. Hey, if there's faster and they didn't toe the start line that's their fault. I'm only reiterating what the results are telling me. The Harvest Moon RD is going to mail me my plaque. I'm pretty exited.