That was a bad day.
I wasn't feeling good all week, but I've felt that way before great races before. Sometimes showing up below 100% can lead to smarter, more controlled execution. But Sunday, I never got the chance. I've finally had a little time to reflect, and I think the downward spiral is actually a pretty simple story.
The swim. I went slightly off course with a couple other guys very early and we lost contact with the back chase group. By the time I saw them pulling away, I was almost too late. I had to swim HARD to regain contact with any of them, which spent way too much energy that early in the day.
The bike. I was already farther back than I could afford, so I again had to go way too hard to work my way back to the field. I knew exactly what risk I was taking, but by then I had little choice. There was a 90% chance I was going to blow myself up, but if I didn't try there was a 100% chance that I would never get back into the race. Well.. for the last 20 miles my vision was blurry and I got dizzy every time I looked down at my computer (so I stopped doing that). I biked myself right into the early stages of heat stroke. Kinda predictably!
The run. I knew what I was in for. At that point the train was on the tracks. The dizziness and blurry vision continued right to the finish line. And like the bike, the course was surprisingly hilly. So that combination left me in survival mode right through the food tent. I was a solid 13 minutes slower than I should have been.
Overall, way closer to the back of the pro field than I wanted to be. Way farther back than I know I'm capable of. A disappointing day. Maybe I'll learn something from it in a couple weeks. But for now the lesson is that if I want to train like an Age Grouper and compete with the Pros, things have to go perfectly if I want to be anywhere near the front of the bell curve. And they did not go perfectly.
#ProTriathlete #Sufferfest #MastersAthlete #IronmanTraining #Ironman #Triathlon #TriathlonLife #Triathlon #SwimBikeRun #ImAlmostGettingTooOldForThis #NotYet
