Overall: 4:54:11 46/102 in age group, 316/1174 total participants
Swim: 26:55 - 30/102 age, 317 overall
Bike: 2:34:53 21.7 MPH - 48/102 age, 355 overall
Run: 1:47:23 - 49/102 age, 328 overall
I woke up on race morning to mostly cloudy skies, almost no wind, and a temperature in the low to mid 60's. Perfect condiions for some quick times. I put on an extra layer to stay warm, packed up the car and drive from the hotel t the race site. My bike had been checked in the night before so I just had to re-inflate tires and get the rest of my gear set up in transition.
The swim in Racine is a point to point, which means a nice long mile walk along the beach to get to the swim start. Once there I tried to get used to the water and waited for my heat with the rest of the competitors.
I was in the third heat and 6 minutes after the first wave left we got up to the start line to begin the race covering 70.3 miles.
After the siren fired we ran into the water and began the swim.
I will have to admit, although the water was reported to be 64 degrees on race morning those first couple of strokes felt a lot cooler. Really I doubt there was any way that the temp was really 64. I think there was a nice little current pushing us along as well. I stood up from the swim in the shallow water and looked at my watch ~ 25 minutes. I thought 1.2 miles highly unlikely but oh well on to transition.
Change out of wetsuit, into bike shoes, etc and onto the bike.
The ride was pretty uneventful. 56 mikes basically through the county roads surrounding Racine. Most were genearlly smooth, although some bumps here and there. The best part of the bike course is the incredible police presence at every single intersection. It really was quite impressive. The winds stayed at bay for the majority if the race and really only started to pick up in the last 10 miles or so. At that time it was generally a north wind which just helped to push me back. There were a couplebof big packs out there this year. I think I did a pretty good job of riding my own race and not being sucked into the draft fest. 56 miles later and a new PR on the bike I was back to transition. Compared to last year i took off about 2:30 from my overall bike time and my speed increased by 0.4 mph and compared to the Florida half earlier this yesr my speed also increased by 1.2 mph. It is probably due to a couple of key factors. 1. More miles this year. 2. absolutely perfect conditions with minimal wind and perfect racing temps. 3. I hear this rumor that race wheels help people go faster as well.
I was able to get through transition and despite riding faster my legs felt pretty fresh. I start on the run thinking that the lack of heat, mostly cloudy skies and and legs that felt better than expects might turn into a great run.
I ran the first 5 miles at about an 8:05 pace which I thought was spectacular. I slowed every other aid station to hydrate. I felt great making the turn at the half way point if the run.
I looked down at my watch and saw 4:00:00 at the turn around. With this and the first 6.55 miles behind me I started to think that there was going to be a great probability of breaking 5 hours and destroying my best prior half marathon time. I kept running and surprisingly felt much better for the last 6.55 miles than I had expected. My pace slowed a little as I made sure to keep hydrating at the aid stations. I ran through the last aid station with my sights set on the finish line and a sub 5 hour finish. Overall run was 1:47:23 at a pace of 8:12 minute/mile, by far the fastest I have ran that distance. That is just over 7 minutes faster than the year prior and almost 20 minutes faster than my Florida time from this year. While I can clearly thank the cool weather and the cloud cover, I think the biggest factor is the nearly 100 more miles that I have run this year compared to the same point the year before.
I got to the finish line with arms up in the air very excited for improvement on the run as well as the overall race.
I packed everything back up and headed back down to Chicago. It really is fun to go fast, and to go faster than prior years. Thanks to my parents for driving up for dinner the night before despite having some conflicts the day of the race and to Evan for being the support crew and and usual taking fantastic pictures. Now, a day of rest and then the last final assault before the big race.
For more pictures from the race go to:
http://salz.smugmug.com/gallery/8974533_KntpX#596459720_5rHNZ
8 more weeks until Madison. See you there.
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