Ironman 70.3 Timberman, 2013: The Latest Race Report Ever

When prepping for Timberman 2013 I found myself scouring the internet for previous race reports and found them immensely helpful in knowing what to expect.  The least I can do is pay it forward to future racers.  Now to remember the glorious details.

First, I'll give you some context about this competitor, because it's all relative:

2nd half iron, 6th triathlon
Category: Age Group F 40-44
Previous (only half) PR: 6:09 (bike mileage for prior race was 58, 72.3 total)
Base Goal: Break 6 hours
Dream Goal: Break 5:45 (40min swim, 3hr bike, 2hr run, 5 minutes of transitions)

Greg and I arrived in Gilford NH in the early evening on Friday, August 16th, after 10 painful hours of I-95/northeast corridor traffic.  Greg, being from western Nebraska, is never deterred by long drives.  8 hours?  No problem.  But he sometimes forgets that when traveling NE from Washington DC, 8 hours is not 600 miles averaging 80mph on open roads -- it is 350 miles averaging 40mph and sometimes finding yourself at a dead stop, break lights everywhere.  We stayed at the Marriott in Gilford, which I would highly recommend for racers.  It is predictable, clean, close to everything, and opens breakfast up super early on race-day morning.  That evening we checked in for the race, picked up some good swag (including an awesome swim bag, which I for two years have been too cheap to buy myself) and assorted Timberman merchandise.

On Saturday, the plan was to sleep in, do an easy warm-up brick, go check out some of the race course, then meet up with our cheering section (the rental units) for the obligatory pre-race Italian, followed by an early night to bed.  The warm-up brick is always interesting for me, mentally.  It feels great, but I can never process how much further I will need to go the following day -- it's like my mind cannot believe my body can do it.  Anyway, we finished it up and took a picnic lunch over to the race site (swim start and transition area).  This was the first in a series of bad ideas.  

We walked over to the edge of Lake Winnipesaukee, next to the huge buoys that had yet to be placed out in the water, and both started to feel queasy.   The lake was, well, ANGRY.  There were waves.  Wind, chop, waves.  Greg started to panic, I started to feel a little faint.  Fortunately, we were told by a local that this was typical afternoon lake action and that by morning it would be like glass. Hmm.   Cautiously optimistic, we ate lunch, dropped our bikes off in the transition area, then we got back in the car to drive part of the bike course.  Once again, this had limited value.  I pride myself in racing smart - knowing the course, planning my attack.  But trying to "know the course" the afternoon before race day is plain old dumb.  I should have just studied the map.  As I heard our car's engine rev loudly up what seemed like insanely steep hills, I started sweating, and yep, crying, like a big baby.  The hills, which were bad enough, looked much worse in the car, and I was starting to doubt all my training and fitness.

We finally abandoned the race course and went to go meet the family for dinner.  We hit up Fratello's, in Laconia, along with about 1,000 other racers.  All I can say is get there early!  The food was average, but exactly what the doctor ordered.  I had worked myself up into such a panicked state that afternoon, I was afraid I wouldn't be much fun at dinner, but the company, too, was exactly what the doctor ordered.  Timberman suddenly became like one of my 6th grade field hockey games...even if I had been the worst one on the field, the fam is still proud. 

Greg and I, collectively, probably got about 5 minutes of sleep that night.

I have to do WHAT today?!?!

At 4 am, we got dressed, got some bagels and peanut butter at the Marriott buffet, and made our way to the race site.  We were told the parking lot would fill up super early, which wasn't really the case.  We could have easily gotten there an hour later than we did.  Instead, we sat in the car, in the dark, and debated a bail-out.  It is hard to admit this, but the thought really did cross our minds to abort the race.  We felt exhausted, stressed, afraid...when we wanted to feel confident, ready, and energized.  Ugh.  Coach is here, teammates are here racing, family is here...can.NOT.bail.  Fortunately, we coaxed each other out of the car and went to set up our transition areas.  As soon as I got to my spot, the woman setting up next to me exclaimed, "WHAT am I doing here?!?"  Gosh, anxiety loves company.  I was so happy someone else felt that way!  I set up a nice streamlined transition area and met back up with Greg.  We got marked, put on our wetsuits, I had a quick snack of Honey Stinger Chews, and headed to the beach for a warm-up swim.  The water felt warm, but that could have been from all of the racers emptying their bladders in the lake before the start.  Oddly, the waves were set up such that after the Pros, the AG's went in descending order, so Greg and I were off relatively early in the race.  Greg's AG wave was right before mine, 4 minutes ahead.

SWIM
The swim was one of my most pleasant tri swims.  I lined up to the far left in the front.  This is my typical strategy.  By lining up on the side, it costs me minimal distance, I get a little more space, and can find my appropriate place in the pecking order and slide in without being run over or worse, stuck behind really slow people.  My F40-44 wave didn't feel crowded and people were calm.  The water was MUCH better than the afternoon before.  Didn't feel any chop until the middle leg, the furthest part out, that runs parallel to the beach.  Swimming in the wetsuit was admittedly fantastic.  I had only done one triathlon (my first, a sprint) in a wetsuit and I hated it.  It was a full-sleeve wetsuit and I felt totally constricted.  Plus getting it off was a nightmare as a newbie.  This time I had a sleeveless, a HUGE improvement.  I felt faster and stronger.  As I came out of the water, I am my usual clumsy and disoriented, but I hear familiar voices calling my name.  I glance at the clock and realize I'm well under 40 minutes.  That's all the wetsuit.  So far so good.  I run towards the transition area and see the wetsuit strippers.  Fabulous.  And one of them, happily, is a former teammate and Clydesdale who will have no trouble getting my suit off lickety-split.  Thanks Adam!!!!  I'm off and on my way. 

Swim time:  37:31, 26/103 in AG

Transition #1, thanks to the wetsuit strip, was a breeze.  Note, there was conflicting information about wetsuit strippers online prior to the race, so I posed the question to the race directors via email, who responded adamantly that strippers were only for 140.6 Ironman races and there would be none at Timberman.  Hmmm.  Not sure how they wouldn't know, but thank God they were wrong.  I grabbed some more Honey Stinger Chews and strapped on my helmet and shoes.  Odds were that I had passed Greg somewhere in the water, and he'd leapfrog me on the bike.  Off I go!

T1: 2:37, Cumulative Time; 40:08.  Still on track.

BIKE
The key to this bike course is patience.  The first 11-12 miles offer some relatively (for triathlon) steep ups and downs of medium length, with a net elevation gain.  I didn't think ahead, just took one hill at a time, and focused on keeping my cadence up -- nice and efficient.  When you finally hit mile 11.5ish, your climbing is done for a while.  You have a fast downhill, then you make that left onto Laconia Rd and this is where you can really drop the hammer.  It is probably a 1-2% negative grade to the turnaround, so you can FLY, with little effort.  There is one section of rough road where I was a little nervous in my aerobars but overall I was probably averaging about 24-25mph in this section.  This was also the section where I started seeing the pros coming back, just incredible to watch.  I was right on track with my nutrition plan, sipping Perpetuem every 10 minutes for fluid and fuel and grabbing some Combos, my fav cycling snack, for easy carbs and edible texture.  The turn around, which basically goes around the block, is a little more than half way through the course.  It is coming back on Laconia that I found myself having to be careful.  Now you've got a +1-2% grade, which looks flat, but clearly is not.  Tried to just maintain a solid, even cadence and stay tucked.  Then comes the hills section again, in reverse. You have some good climbs, some ultra-steep descents, but you can taste T2 at this point.  It was on the first climb off of Laconia, about 44 miles in, that Greg finally comes up on me.  Hooray!  It was so great to see him riding well.  It gave me a little kick of energy, as this is the time where I start getting antsy...I want off that bike so bad, but I had to force myself to stay focused.  Some of those descents are plain old scary...especially as I had M20-24 whizzing past me in their aero helmets in their aerobars at 50mph.  You can hear their Zipp wheels coming a mile away.  I kept having flashes in my head of horrible crashes - I just tried to focus on keeping my weight back, grip relaxed, eyes down the road.  I ride in on the bike, pass coach and our cheering section, and am thrilled when I see the clock.  Dream goal could still be a reality.

Bike is done!  Hooray!

Bike time: 2:57:03, 19mph avg, 29/103 in AG; Cumulative Time: 3:37:11

Transition #2, I come in energized.  I have set myself up perfectly.  I feel like I am flying in and flying out.  Off I go on the run.  I see Greg up in front of me.  He must have been dilly-dallying in T2!

T2: 2:23, Cumulative Time; 3:39:34.  Oh yeah!

RUN
Heading out on the run I know that a 2 hour run would give me my dream goal and then some.  But I've got my work cut out for me.  It's a hilly run course and still a long way to go.  Personally I loved the format: two 10K out-and-backs with lots of aid station and crowd support.  The out-and-back setup gave me three passes of Greg and all my racing teammates which I found incredibly energizing.

One foot in front of the other.

I didn't rely on the AS's for anything other than water and ice sponges.  (The ice sponges are hands-down the best race invention...seriously...love 'em.)  Carried a bottle of Heed and a bunch of Honey Stinger Gels.  My strategy for the run was to walk the upper half of all the hills no matter how good I felt, and power on the flats and downs.  At my current triathlon ability level, this strategy works like a charm.  I can't run up those steeper hills (which on the Timberman course, are fortunately short) much faster than I can power walk them, so there is no sense in burning out.  I finish the first lap in 1:00:03 and I am psyched, but nervous.  I'm starting to feel the fatigue set in and am wondering how the heck I'm going to keep up this pace.  I must stay focused and prevent the wheels from coming off the proverbial wagon.  Keep eating.  I have another gel.  On the return leg of second lap I see Greg up in front of me.  He had increased his lead on the first lap but he is falling back now....boy, do I know how he feels!  But I didn't have the strength at this point to catch him...just kept that bright red & white kit in my sights.  With a mile to go, I know it is downhill from here.  I am beat, but I give it everything I have.  I turn left into the grassy chute towards the finish and hear my coach and Adam yelling "catch him! catch him!" encouraging me to chase down Greg who is right up ahead.

God help me, where is that finish line???

I didn't quite get there, but I was close enough for a great hug at the finish line as we both celebrated PRs and happy finishes.

Run time: 2:04:01, 9:28 pace, 29/103 AG

Official Race time: 5:43:45.

Mission accomplished.  I was pretty surprised to be only in the top 1/3 of my AG with that time.  My time last year would have landed me a 10th place finish out of 75.  The course is definitely not easy so perhaps it was a competitive field?  Who knows.  Doesn't matter.  I'm nowhere near podium material at this stage; I'm just trying to improve at my own pace.  I was pleased, enjoyed myself thoroughly and felt like a dope for being so nervous.  This is a great race and great venue that I'd recommend to anyone considering a 70.3.  Enjoy!