Patriot Half Ironman Race Report

On June 16th I raced at the Patriot Half Ironman in East Freetown, MA.  This was my one and only half ironman for the year as the second half of the year was going to require a lighter training load.  This race was well recommended online – and from everything I saw throughout the day, rightfully so.  It also was driving distance from my parent’s house and therefore was a much cheaper option than an Ironman branded race that required staying at a hotel.  It is a good size race with about 650-700 people, including relays.

 

The weather for the day was a big factor, in a mostly positive way.  The temperature was ideal with temperatures starting out in the low 60’s but only peaking in the high 60’s.  This was particularly ideal for the run.  However, it was quite breezy which made the swim very choppy and caused some nervous sections on the bike where I was getting blown across the road.

 

The race sets up the racks by your tri club, so upon arriving I met some fellow HEAT members setting up which was a welcome distraction.

I have put in a lot of swim hours this year and it had not paid off with especially good results.  Here my modest goal was to get inside 40 minutes for the 1.2 mile swim.  My previous best was 41:37 in a nonwetsuit swim at Rhode Island last year.

 

As usual, I started up front but on the outside.  That’s me looking back on the far right.

 

 

It was a fairly slow journey out.  The waves were coming onshore, as you see in the picture below, and the chop was worse the further out you got.  The waves also were very random in timing and direction so it was tough to get into a rhythm.  It was probably the roughest water I have swum in during a race.  There was minimal contact though and I focused on just keeping a steady pace out to the turn.

 

 

At the half way point I checked the watch and saw I was behind my time target.  I pressed on and started to notice that I was coming by the buoys much faster on the way in.  With 2 buoys to go I quickly checked the watch again and saw I actually was going to have a chance at sub 40.  I picked up the pace a little as I really did not want to settle for another poor swim.

 

Approaching shore:

 

I was out of the water in 38:47.  This put me 215 overall and 15 in my age group.  I was really happy I made up the time in the second half of the swim and started hustling through transition.

 

The air was chilly, so I did a quick towel off and had arm warmers ready to go on the handlebars that I put on after I got moving.  It wasn’t a particularly fast transition – but I picked up 20 spots overall and 2 in my age group.  So I started the bike in 195 overall and 13 in my age group.

 

 

Transition had a long run through the grass to get to the mount line.

 

 

I took it pretty easy in the first five miles as I settled into my pace and brought the heart rate down from the swim.  My target was to back off a little on the bike and try to get a solid run split.  Although it was fairly breezy, most of the course was sheltered with heavy tree cover.  The exception was the northern end of the course which had a very exposed road that ran along a causeway between two lakes.  The bike course is also generally in excellent condition with good pavement.  There were plenty of people to pace off of which usually helps me meter my effort and ride a consistent pace.  There was one rider in particular who I went back and forth with several times.

 

At the end of lap 1, coming by transition:

 

I took a look at my pace coming through lap 1 and noticed I was very close to averaging 20 mph so decided to try to keep holding that pace as it did not seem too aggressive.  I also noted the end of the run course while on the bike as the last 2 miles of the run shared the same road as the last 2 miles of each bike lap.  I noted an immediate hill on this stretch, followed by a long flat to downhill section before a final brief hill into the finish area.

 

My dad was able to cut through some back roads and see me twice per lap, once at the transition area and once about halfway through the lap.

 

My nutrition on the bike was pretty dialed.  I used a concentrated mix on the downtube of Carbo Pro and a between the bars bottle of water which I exchanged once on course. 

 

Coming into the end of the bike I was just a tick under 20 mph and I got ready for the run, which meant ditching my arm warmers.

 

 

 

Although my time was pretty good for the bike, my results were not strong relative to the field.  I think the cool conditions and flat roads led to many fast bike splits.  2:50 was only good enough for a midfield result in the age group and top 30% overall.  Unusually, I actually lost ground on the bike starting in 13th in my AG and finishing in 16th.  Overall I made up just 10 spots from 195 to 185.

 

I did have my usual fairly quick T2 as I ran thru while many were walking.  I improved 9 spots overall but none in my AG. 

 

Exiting onto the run course.

 

 

I was immediately looking for a bathroom but not seeing any, ducked into the woods in the first mile.  I lost about 30 seconds there but got that out of the way.  I was getting passed by a lot of people in the opening miles and was struggling to find my running legs.

 

Mentally I tried to focus on maintaining 10 min/miles and told myself I had to at least keep running until 5km.  There were frequent aid stations and I alternated water only with water/heed.  The cool weather was ideal for running and overheating was not a possibility.

 

I started to get my legs under me and kept resetting a goal to make it to before I allowed any walking.  At 5km I pushed it to 10km, then to mile 8, then mile 10, then the main road.  It really seemed to work and in the end I ran the whole way with the exception of those two hills on the bike course.

 

Also of huge help was my dad who was able to bike out onto the course and offer encouragement.  I was expecting to see him at mile 6.  I really wanted to be running when he caught up with me.  I didn’t end up seeing him until mile 8.  He then leapfrogged forward.  It was a great carrot to push towards and keep running.  This was also a fairly flat section and I was able to increase the speed a bit.  I also connected with a group of runners moving more or less the same speed around halfway.  We would constantly be passing and repassing each other but it was more motivation to keep moving.  I took it real easy on every uphill and tried to cruise the many flat sections.

 

As the race went on it became apparent that my goal of going better than 5:50 was in the bag, and barring a meltdown or a lot of walking that 5:40 was on the table.  But I was at my limit running as my legs did not have the needed training in them.  My IT band was getting super tight in the last 2 miles but I wanted the fast time so I just kept pushing.

 

Turning onto the main road I knew it was close for 5:40 but I wanted to keep under control so finally walked a brief section just before mile 11.  Once over the top of the hill I knew I needed to keep under 10 min/miles to make it.  Once on the last hill at 12.5 miles I knew it was really close but I had to walk that hill.  Over the top I gave it everything for the last 0.6 miles.  It was tricky because the last section was on grass and I was worried about tripping over a tree root.

 

Turning the corner and seeing the clock, I knew I had made the 5:40 with time to spare.

 

 

After one last pass it was time to hit the line.

 

 

My run was really surprising.  It was my best half marathon time ever.  My splits for each mile (moving time):

9:04, 9:09, 9:40, 9:45, 9:56, 10:03, 9:39, 9:35, 9:35, 9:38, 9:58, 9:40, 9:09, 8:46

 

I started a bit fast in the first 2 miles and then really muddled through the next 4.  Once I hit mile 7 I really got into a nice groove until the last 2 hills – then it was survival on the hills and desperate running on the flats.

 

I lost only 37 spots overall and 3 in my age group on the run.  I think this is an indication that many people over biked and blew up on the run.  I also noticed that I went just a bit easier on the bike and the run (based on HR) then my 3 previous HIM’s.  This seemed to allow me to run more and resulted in a faster time.

 

This was a great race that I look forward to doing again.

 

 

	Time	Distance	Pace	AG Place	%	Overall Place	%
				M30-34
# Entries				35		611
Swim	38:47	1.2 miles	1:50/100yd	15	42%	215	35%
T1	2:21			14	40%	173	28%
Bike	2:50:39	56 miles	19.69 mph	18	51%	186	30%
T2	1:59			6	17%	53	9%
Run	2:05:09	13.1 miles	9:33/mile	27	77%	312	51%
Total	5:38:52			19	54%	211	35%