70.3 Timberman - Quick Recap

This was my 12th time racing the Timberman venue. I love this course and the surrounding area. I went to prep school on the lake back in 1990-1991. I have always admired the beauty of the Lakes region. I'm going to keep this recap very short and go over the major points of my race. Swim: I saw Charles Perrault right before our wave started and knew that I would definitely not be the fastest M40-44 swimmer on the day. I did try to hold his feet at the beginning and it was the first time that I almost overheated in a wetsuit. I could not hold him and I ended up doing the remainder of the swim by myself. Bike: I came into the race really well rested. I had a hard time settling in on the first 12 miles as my legs were so fresh from the rest. I was able to settle things down once I got onto the main road at mile 13. However, I did make two critical mistakes in hindsight. The conditions were hot and humid on the day. I did not take in enough calories to account for the extra needed in the heat. I, also, got behind on my hydration. There was 1 less aid station at the beginning of the bike this year and I dropped the water bottle at the 2nd aid station. So, I got my first bottle of water at the turnaround at mile 29. Both mistakes are completely my fault and I know better, but sh*% happens sometimes. Run: I started the run conservatively to find my rhythm and then built into a good clip by mile 4. I registered my first and only sub 6 minute mile at that point. Then the wheels slowly started to come off. This is where my 2 big mistakes on the bike started to manifest. It was like a slow moving train wreck. I started to lose energy and focus. I have experienced this numerous times in the past and I should have been able to recognize the symptoms. By mile 7, I was ready to take a nice long time out. So I made a deal with myself to walk the aid stations until I started to feel better. It took 3 aid stations to get back on track, relatively speaking. I was able to get back to a somewhat respectable pace for the final 5k and I crossed the line in 4:21:47 2nd M40-44/5th Amateur/ 34th Overall. This was not one of my better days. They say you learn more from your failures than your successes. While I do not consider this a failure, I sure learned a lot on the day.