Week 9 Wrap-up (and my first intro to the half-Iron distance)

With the swelling on my leg going down, week 9 started with some concern over the incredible stiffness the tetanus shot caused in my left shoulder, especially in light of the fact that my first half Ironman race, the Muncie Endurathon, was slated for Saturday. I hit the pool Monday morning for an easy workout—more just to make sure my shoulder would hold up OK, which it did. I made some modifications to my training plan to account for the race on Saturday—not even close to a proper taper, but I backed off on the cycling volume and intensity (figured I could do that after the two-ride weekend) and, while I kept the same running volume, I decided to take it easy on pace and not do any tempo work.

On Friday, the Kraft crew (all 13 of us doing the race Saturday) headed south to Muncie and met up at the expo—it was pretty wild to think that we had 10 people doing the whole race and another three competing as a relay. We even had a pre-race team meal at the Olive Garden early Friday evening before we called it a night—not exactly the finest of dining options, but it worked for us. Way too early on Saturday morning, we all convened in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn Express and headed to the reservoir for the race. As I am still very much not a morning person, the 4 am alarm was brutal…especially considering it was 4 am EDT and I live in the land of CDT. Thank God for Diet Coke which is, of course, the world’s best pre-race beverage—at least for me.

The reservoir water, unfortunately, was a balmy 82°F, so no dice on the wetsuits. That and the fact that the Athenas and Clydesdales (aka the big kids) were in the last wave of individual competitors made me just a tad nervous for the swim. I calmed myself with the knowledge that I was going to stick with my race plan, which was to race to a heart rate of 75% and not to actually go all out and race for the win. The swim actually went OK—I managed to pass some people in the two waves in front of me and, except for inhaling the diesel fumes from the rescue boats, I felt pretty good when I got out of the water. The bike was great—basically pancake flat on closed roads—and I figured out how to slow down enough to do an effective water bottle exchange. Even more exciting, I figured out how to fill my aero water bottle on the go—seemingly minor achievements, but they’ll come in very handy on IM race day. I came into T2 feeling pretty good, but it was again bloody hot (mid-90’s and humid), so I took off pretty slow on the run. I knew I’d be walking some—at the minimum through the water stops—so I wasn’t overly concerned with my initial pace and, again, I raced to my HR instead of to time, which also seemed to help. After taking full advantage of the cold towels and ice at each aid station, I managed to make it through the heat with a pretty solid race of 5:45:50 and a win in the 39-and-under Athena group. The rest of the Kraft gang had good days, too, considering the heat—everyone finished strong and Michele, Erin, Sue, and Joe Pa’s Favorites (the relay team of Penn Staters) came away with hardware, too. In general, I was thrilled with my race—I raced according to my HR plan and executed it very well. Plus, I had fun on the run—it was hot enough that everyone (well, at least those that I encountered) pretty much kicked into survival mode and was encouraging each other, high-fiving, etc. along the way.

After the race, Sue, Michele, and I took off for LaPorte—we had plans for a decent recovery ride on Sunday—but stopped for ice cream, coffee, and Mexican food along the way. Admittedly, I was pretty stiff getting out of my car, but I still felt decent considering the distance I had covered. Sunday morning, we begrudgingly headed out pretty early for a 56-mile ride—the forecast for Sunday was even worse than it was for Saturday, and we wanted to beat the heat as much as possible. Michele picked a flat and easy route for us so we could truly use it as a recovery ride—we took full advantage of LaPorte County’s bike system and meandered through the countryside. The three of us stuck together the whole way, which is fairly unusual, but I think we all just wanted to chill a little. Overall, it was a decent ride, and I have to admit it felt good to get my legs moving a little. But, I was also not sad to get back home and crash early Sunday night…

Here’s the roll-up for the week…

Swim: 3:13:50 / 8620 meters
Bike: 7:41:50 / 140.21 miles
Run: 4:39:51 / 28.90 miles
Total: 15:35:31 / 175.50 miles