Distance: 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run
Total Time: 5:30:15 (Rank: 252/590 Overall, 10/16 Age Group)
Swim Time: 39:00 (Rank: 247)
T1 Time: 2:09
Bike Time: 2:43:54 (Rank: 229)
Bike Speed: 20.5mph
T2 Time: 1:36
Run time: 2:03:34 (Rank: 255)
Run Pace: 9:24 min/mile
HR Pacing (Friel Scale): Z3 swim, Z3 bike, Z3–>Z5 run
Weather: 74 at swim start, rain and some wind on the bike, 83 + humidity on the run
For my highest “priority” race of the season, I chose to compete at the Muncie Endurathon, a Half Ironman distance event that has been going strong since 1980.
However, for my highest “priority” race of the season, I also chose to stay at the cheapest hotel in Muncie, which is a pretty dumpy town to begin with. We stayed at the “Passport Inn” in the quaint shady disgusting side of town. I dubbed it the “Pissport Inn”, and then just the “Piss Poor Inn”. I could write a whole blog post about the dumpy exterior, the pot-smoking hooligans hanging out outside our room, the pool with no water in it, the “gazebo”, and more. But you get the idea. At least the room was comfortable, and I was able to get some sleep and get on track with my race nutrition.
We arrived super early at the race site, and I spent most of the time in line at the port-a-johns (spectacular). The water temperature was 82 degrees, which means that wetsuits were not allowed if you wanted your time to be official, so I didn’t wear mine. My wave was scheduled to start at 7:30, but they moved up the waves by a few minutes so as to get as many waves in as possible before THE STORMS (oh god, not another Rockman?). I went off at 7:16, got into a good tempo, got my goggles whacked off once, and was pleased to exit the water in 39 minutes flat, though I think the swim was short by about 200 meters (possibly more since I still can’t swim straight). I was not pleased, however, to exit the choppy surf and find it POURING as I ran to transition.
Although I don’t mind riding in the rain, I really wanted to do a Half Ironman where the weather wouldn’t be a huge factor. As it turns out, it did rain a lot on the bike but the wind stayed relatively calm. This means that the rain cooled my core temperature, and the wind didn’t kill my speed too much. The corners were a bit tricky, but other than that my super-stable, super-aero Giant Trinity Alliance tri bike really gave me a leg up in these conditions.
The bike course was amazing. First off, the entire course (100%, start to finish) was completely closed to traffic. I saw zero non-race cars on the road. Period. Amazing. Second off, we raced on two major highways (US 35 and US 36), which both had the nicest pavement I’ve ever ridden on. I probably got a 5% speed boost just from the pavement. Third off, the course was pancake flat. I was able to get up to a really nice cruising speed on the flats and slight downhills, and even the slight uphills. I only left the large chainring going into the wind.
The combination of these three “offs” set the stage for a super fast bike split for me. I was almost disappointed that the biking portion was over when I reached transition.
The run was almost as flat as the bike, and was just as amazing as the bike course, but in a different way. The run course had 12 aid stations (about one per mile), and they were all extremely well-stocked and well-staffed. I had water, Gatorade, Hammer gels, pretzels, flat coke and cold towels at my disposal. And it all helped.
I paced the bike leg of the race so that I’d have plenty left in the tank for the run. The plan was to start easy/steady, accelerate to “tempo” pace in the middle and give it my all in the last 4-5 miles. I got off the bike and immediately felt something wrong in my stomach. I wasn’t sure if I was cramping, or if I needed some nutrition. I figured that if I was cramping, I’d cramp whether or not I took in a gel or two so I decided to chance it and have a gel. I took one at mile 2 and 3 and immediately felt better (guessed right!), and got back to cruising along.
I hit the turnaround at about 1:03, and realized that I could break 5:30 if I put in a good time on the last 6 miles (though I knew that beating my Rockman time would be tough, thanks to the heat). I decided to kick it almost all the way up to my lactate threshold right then and there. I ended up just missing 5:30 by a scant 15 seconds, but I definitely was completely done once I crossed the line. Those last 6 miles were definitely really rough, but the solid 3-minute negative split just made the post-race food taste that much better 
I am very pleased with my performance today. I paced myself perfectly and I handled my race-day nutrition as well as I think I could have (see below). I beat my Rockman time by 17 minutes (even though the course and conditions were easier, it’s still the same distance!). I perservered through a tough last 6 miles on the run, reminding myself how awesome I’d feel when I finished. And I will definitely be doing this race again next year (and you should too, if you’re a triathlete reading this and live anywhere near Indiana).
I did notice, interestingly, that relative to the other competitors, I didn’t do as well in this race as I have in past races. This tells me that I may fare better on tougher courses (like the Rockman run course, for example, where I kicked some serious boo-tay on the run), or shorter distances (like Terre Haute, where I placed pretty well). It’s entirely possible that I just need more experience at the Half Ironman distance to improve my ability to place well.
The only thing I didn’t like about this race was the “mandatory” pre-race meeting, which was pretty much a waste of time if one reads the documentation on their website. Ugh. However, it was only mandatory for first-time Muncie competitors so I won’t have to do it again next year. Also, I didn’t get my shirt in my race packet (they’re mailing it to me), even though they put them in the packets first-come-first-serve and I signed up for this race back in January.
Once again, Lana is super cool for coming to the race with me. I keep telling her that it’s okay if she doesn’t want to come to a race, but she always indulges me! (I suppose there’s a small chance she enjoys coming to my races, but I had better play it cool else she decides to stop coming to my races!)
Okay, here are some techy notes.
Nutrition notes: The day before, I took it easy with cereal, PBJ, Subway, rice and some other easy foods I eat all the time. Nevertheless, I arrived at the race site feeling slightly bloated and constipated, and I had to pee three times on the bike (and once on the run), even though I cut my water intake pretty hard after the first time peeing. Incidentally, I have now mastered peeing without stopping on the bike (eew). Also, my 850 calories of Infinit liquid nutrition I had on the bike didn’t seem to be enough, as I was pretty hungry coming into the run. For the next race, I will consider supplementing my Infinit with one or two Hammer gels. Caffeine note: My Infinit mix contained about 125mg of caffeine, and I took another 200mg (plus whatever they put in the Hammer gels) at mile 1 on the run, which helped to dull the pain and keep my cadence high.
Gear notes: No wetsuit. Giant Trinity Alliance Tri bike, with 50mm carbon tubular front and rear and a disc cover on the rear. Aero helmet. Aerobottle topped off with water, one bottle cage with Infinit liquid nutrition. Running visor (I’ll never go back to a hat).
