Monday, August 20, 2012

Steve W's Calgary 70.3 Race Report, July 29, 2012

I don't usually do race reports...mainly because the litany of my errors is something I like to keep between Angie and me....sort of like going to confession....




ANYWAY

I wanted to write a race report because I finally learned something and listened to my coach(s) (Angie and Janice the Adrenaline Rush running coach)



Angie has been trying for quite awile to stop me blowing myself up on the bike so I can acutally have a good run. Janice the AR coach was aware of this gave me some code words sort of a mantra to keep saying on the ride.



First Third of the bike---PATIENCE



Second third- STEADY



Last third- STRONG but not to the point of "emptying out" that last bit really resonated with me cause I usually do...feel like I really don't want to bike anymore.

I would have to say I think I did overbike a bit still. My RPE felt right but did not match my HR which was faster than I wanted. It may be because I am not riding my tri-bike enough.

It was also suggested to me that I should think especially about the first few km of the run as a time to RECOVER from the bike. Generally, I my legs don't feel well off the bike and I just push through it and run slow. However, this time...I .LISTENED!....and backed off after the first frenetic km and waited until my legs felt better...then I found I could really start to push it....INTERESTING...If you read anything in this race report read this bit. It was amazing.



Angie also saved my bacon at the aid station...at 14km I was booking it and I got the mother of all cramps just below my ribs left of the midline....I couldn;t breathe came on all of a sudden, totally panicked how the hell am I going to run 7km like this!!!!!. I yelled for angie at the aid station (picture Marlon Brando in a Streetcar named Desire but more of a dying gasp....)

ANYWAY she made me stop completely (which I would not have thought of.....man thing you know, we just push on through the pain....to the point we can't run anymore...) and she made me wait until it stoped then I started running again...I had to keep testing it and backing off but after another 1km it didn't bother me again even though I was sure I was running faster than when it hit....

So in the end I had a way better run than the pain fest of last year (7 min faster) and 11 min off my PB.



So that's it. For those of you who have always listened to Angie/Sarah/Sharon/Rachelle (Janice) and haven;t got carried away with the adrenaline of the race I suspect this was highly redundant BUT for those of you who haven't (Yes I am talking to you the guys here)

LISTEN TO YOUR COACH(s)!!!!! That's what you pay her/them for isn't it???



Sincerely,



Stephen

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