5430 Long Course Triathlon

The Short Report

Did not finish. Solid swim and great bike, but my leg bothered me on the run. Because Ironman Wisconsin is only a month away, I decided not to push on with the run and risk an injury.

Swim: 35:10 (283/884)
T1: 2:05
Bike: 2:31:08 (170/884)
T2: 1:11
Run: DNF
Total: DNF

The Long Report

This was my second Half-IM of the year, and one that I had initially hoped would be a good tune up for IMMoo. But, with my difficulties involving run training, and those nagging injuries, it turned into a second DNF at this race. One of these days, I'm going to finish this race.

Going into the race, I felt really good. I'd done a 112 mi race rehearsal for Ironman the week before, and my biking felt pretty strong. This is a very flat course, so I wasn't too worried about it, and I'd planned to just ride fairly hard and see how the run felt.

The Swim (35:10 ~1:40/100 yds)

The swim was fairly uneventful except that I started to have another panic attack. I don't know what causes these. It's like I get constricted in the wetsuit, and I have this nearly uncontrollable urge to get out of the water. I managed to calm myself down almost immediately, and I finished the swim with no further incidents. I must say, however, that I'm a bit concerned about how I'll react in the water with 2200 other people at Ironman.

When I got out of the water I looked at my watch, and it said about 34:15. However, the timing mat was at the entrance to T1, so I had to run quite ways before the chip timer stopped my swim time. My official swim time was 35:10.

T1 (2:05)

Nothing much to say here. I was pretty fast, although I should have been closer to 1:30.

The Bike (2:31:08 ~22.2 mph)

This course is flat and fast. Aside from the first 5-6 miles, which is a false flat, it's either flat or downhill. When I started the bike, I noticed right awat that my power meter wasn't working right. Immediately, I realized I hadn't done the pre-flight check I should have done. I'd left it configured for my road bike, and I hadn't performed the pre-race calibration that I always do. Crap! Oh well... there was nothing I could do except race.

About 11 miles in, on one of the few hills of the course, my chain dropped. So, I stopped and fixed it, and reset my power meter for the proper bike. Although I hadn't calibrated it, I figured the offset hadn't changed much in the last few months, so it would be "close enough." Below are a few pictures from the bike course. I wonder why I wasn't in the aero position more?

<-- This one is one that should have me in the aero tuck position. I don't know why I was riding up on the base bar. I must've been a bit tired, or I was stretching or something. I didn't even see the photographer, or I would have tucked down to get a good "aero" picture. I gotta remember to stay aero at Ironman.

-->This one is one where I'm rounding a corner, so it makes more sense that I wouldn't be in the aerobars. Safety first, after all. I'm really not very impressed with the photography at this year's event. I would have thought there'd be more pictures.

<--This one is on the return trip back to the reservoir following the first loop (although, maybe this could have been the second loop). You can see a guy in the background heading back out on his second loop. I don't know if I was finishing or if I'm about to hit the turnaround. In any event, there is a very short climb here, which is why I'm out of the saddle. Again... not impressed with the photo, but the scenery is nice.

T2 (1:11)

This was much faster, although I'd like to get it under 1:00. Not too bad, though... and I was close to the run exit.

The Run (DNF)

This was not a great day for the run... and my lack of run training was certainly no asset. I felt okay for the first couple of miles, but by mile 3, my recurring calf issue was back. I could feel it getting worse with every step, and I decided that discretion was the better part of valor. Ironman is my "A" race, and althouhg I've now had 2 attempts and 2 DNFs at the 5430 Long Course, 2007 was not the year to finish it. I'll be back next year with this one as my "A" race.

Here's the only photo of me on the run that I could find... which is nice. It's at the start of the run, so I'm still actually running. Anything much later would have seen me limping in. Let's hope the calf issue subsides soon, or I'm heading into Moo with virtually zero run training in the last 4 months. Ooof!