Sometimes the best way to go into a race is when your mind is free of stress. Going into the 13.1 Queens event, I had very little expectations – running mileage had been low and many scheduled workouts were pushed back due to unsafe running conditions (snow & ice). And just the day before the race, mother nature dumped about 3-5 inches of fresh powder all over the race course, making it nice and slippery on race morning.
THE RACE – March 21, 2015
Being that the race was held in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, I had the luxury of sleeping in till 7am before getting up for the race routine. By 7:45am, I had picked up my race number #76, pinned it onto my singlet and went on a warmup jog. The course was saturated with puddles and lines of slush – it was going to be a dirty race.
The race directors modified the start time, delaying it by 15 minutes to 9:15am, a relatively late start. There were two hand cyclists that made their way a few minutes before 9:15am.
The gun went off and it was a mad dash! The first 400 meters of the race was incredibly fast. The top guys had sorted themselves early on, and after hitting the first mile in 5:55 I knew that I had to dial it down or else I would pay for it later on. I was probably in 10th position around mile 1.
After mile 2, there was a right handed U-turn that showed all the guys in front of me. None of them were terribly far ahead yet.
Luckily, I was able to pace with two other runners for the remainder of the race. The 3 of us created a single file race pace line and every few minutes or so, one of us would take the lead and help push the pace…otherwise, running solo would have been miserable!
At the halfway point, we were 7th to 9th position. By mile 8, we had caught up to some runners that had started fading. Miles 8-11 were a blur and all I remember was focusing on my pacing and breathing. We had passed a couple more runners who clearly went out a tad too fast!
By the time we hit the final short climb (overpass over the I-495), I made a quick move to force a little separation. Mile 12 was right on the other side of the overpass, followed by a water station. By then, I knew that the two other guys weren’t too far behind.
I tried my best to elongate my stride and when I hit the mile 13 marker, I pumped my arms as hard as I could move my legs.
I finished with a time of 1:19:26, good for 4th overall.
After looking at the finish line video, the two guys behind me were only 2 and 3 seconds apart, respectively. If it weren’t for the late kick, I could have easily dropped to 5th or 6th position.
This was an unexpected personal best half marathon result. Hopefully the rest of my season is just as perfect!
I can’t believe it’s been a year since last year’s Ironman Florida. Time really flies by when you’re busy training and racing 🙂
Hanging out and about the Ironman village is always fun, and this year, Halloween was the day before race day! We had a bit of fun 🙂
And Club La Vela had their Halloween party! (The benefits of not racing)
This year’s IRONMAN Florida has completed, and like all Ironman events, there was plenty of excitement and drama. It’s been a tough year for Ironman, and that’s referring to the foul weather that has plagued a good number of their North American races, from extreme temps at Louisville, the blanket of smoke at Lake Tahoe, and to today’s heavy winds and dangerous rip currents here in Panama City Beach.
The race officials made a last minute decision to cancel the swim, noting that the rip currents had created dangerous conditions for not just the competitions, but to also the kayakers and other swim course aids. In my opinion, that was the right call – it’s not worth the risk. Period.
Once the announcement was made, competitors quickly fled the beach and scrambled to get their bike gear ready. Conditions this year were exceptionally difficult. Wind was always a factor, but the unseasonably cold temps made it feel like a Fall day in the Northeast!
The race was changed to a time trial start for the bike, by numerical order. Pro’s started at 8, everyone else at 8:30. I didn’t stick around to watch every TT start but word was that the last biker started after 10am. While they were doing that, I was able to sneak in a quick half marathon run by doing a loop of the run course.
Afterwards, it was the Lionel Sanders show! What an impressive performance and debut Ironman for Lionel. He crushed the bike course and followed it up with a low 2:40’s marathon split to win with no one close behind.
After that, it was Sherpa time. Because of the TT start, the only way to find the whereabouts of my Chocolate Milk teammate, Jill, was by refreshing the Ironman tracker every few minutes. I missed her coming out of T2 but later found her out on the run course. She did fantastic and fought through the tough conditions. Kudos!
As a Sherpa, I got the opportunity to check out her bags and her Trek bike so that she wouldn’t have to lug it around after finishing. The last thing you want to worry about after the race is checking out your stuff, so having a Sherpa is highly recommended!
Overall, Ironman Florida was a success, even with the adverse weather conditions and rough waters. It was a pleasure to be on the other side of the fence – spectating and being race support for my teammate. Thank you Team Chocolate Milk for providing delicious samples of low fat chocolate milk to all the finishers! It’s been fun. Cheers!
The long awaited IRONMAN Kona blog post…Sorry for the delay. Business school midterms and projects, along with work took priority immediately after Kona, leaving me virtually no time to write up my experiences in Hawaii. I promise that will be my only excuse in this recap of IRONMAN Kona.
Our journey to Kona began on October 6th. JFK>PHX>KOA. The 13 hour travel time didn’t even phase me, knowing that the Big Island would be filled with the best triathletes from all over the world.
Race week was super busy!
Not soon after landing, I found myself going to the CEEPO Launch party. Going to Kona with a bike sponsor was an honor, and I am proud to ride CEEPO Venom, developed by Tanaka Nobuyuki. Tim Russell, of Thoroughbred Triathlon Coach, joined in on the action.
The rest of the week, included: (excluding all other touristy events)
Slowtwitch Forum gathering party presented by Cannondale
Kona Underpants Run
Practice riding on the Queen K highway
Swimming out to the ,Coffees of Hawaii, coffee boat
Meeting 8 time olympian medalist, and Team Chocolate Milk teammate, Apolo Ohno
Some more pics!
Obligatory Energy Lab photo
Finishing is a memory that will never be forgotten
CEEPO well represented at the Slowtwitch party
riding the Queen K
post swim Team Chocolate Milk meetup!
2014 Kona Underpants Run
The week flew by. Splitting time between Family and pre race activities left me no time to rest, which would have been a priority if Kona was going to my IRONMAN race. This week was focused on the experiences, the sights, the atmosphere – just everything that makes IRONMAN and Kona ever so magical leading up to the big day. Like pineapples…I did not miss any opportunity to consume an immense amount of pineapples. No matter where I ate them, they were succulent and super tasty. And while I’m on the topic of food – I’ve learned to appreciate the deliciousness of adding Macadamian nuts to my food, especially on top of my pancakes! Island Lava Java on Alii Drive served the best pancakes with chopped up macadamian nuts on top.
Friday before the race was the mandatory bike and gear bag check in. I checked in around 2:30pm. The IRONMAN Kona bike check in process is like no other IRONMAN check in. Why? Because you get to have a volunteer escort you through the entire process, from bike check in, to run bag check in and then to bike bag check in. It was really cool to have a volunteer walk me through the Kona Pier and show me the direction of where I would be running during T1 and T2 on race day.
My CEEPO Venom was parked early.
Alright, let’s get onto RACE DAY!
Pre-Race – woke up at 4am, checked in to transition by 5am, body marked (temporary tattoos). I ditched my parents to get body marked and weighed in. My race morning weight was unusually high at 142lbs; it must have been all the pineapples and macadamian nuts 😉
I met up with my parents in from the King Kam hotel. They watched me body glide myself and put on the swim skin (no wetsuits for Kona!) By 6:30am, the Pro’s have already started and it was time for all the Age Groupers to enter the water. I got into the water 15 minutes before the start and found myself treading water for a while. That must have sucked a good amount of energy from me, which I will get into later.
Swim – 1:22:30 – for me, that was a bit faster than what I expected. Not having done an IRONMAN distance swim (2.4 miles) without a wetsuit, I was expecting a 1:25 swim split, which would be about 10 minutes slower than my Lake Placid split. The coolest part of the swim was that the water was always clear, so drafting was relatively easier than say…a lake swim. Conditions were choppy but nothing crazy enough to break my stroke.
T1 was super fast. A little too fast – I forgot to apply sunscreen. Bad decision. Always reapply sunscreen in transition.
Bike – 5:42:27 – This is where things got ugly. And after giving it some thought, I finally realized why I felt so sluggish on the bike; I had not eaten a big enough breakfast! So I ended up riding the first 40-50 miles feeling like I had bonked. And trust me when I say this, it feels like a death march. What was supposed to be a 5:10-5:15 bike split turned into a dismal 5:42, which put me in a bad position for the start of the marathon. Without really getting into much detail, I wasn’t able to generate my target wattage until I reached the 7-mile climb up to Hawi. After the turn-around, I tried my best to stay tucked in during the descent. Focusing on not getting blown off the bike was also a challenge…but it was also exhilarating! I found a good rhythm coming back into town but the deficit I suffered on the first half of the bike would inevitably catch up with me on the run.
Run – 3:53:23 – Leaving T2 has always felt as if I were shot out of a cannon, but in this case, I felt more sluggish than ever when starting the marathon. I knew that pushing hard on the second half of the bike would hurt, and it did. It hurt a lot. The first 10 miles, out and back on Alii was a constant effort. By the time I reached the climb up Palani Road where I saw Mom and Dad, I had started to lose it. That is where I decided to walk; running or shuffling up Palani wouldn’t have been any quicker. I knew that the longer I stayed out on the course, the more I’d hurt. So after a few walk/run efforts, I mentally topped off and ran the last 13 miles without stopping. My legs ran on cruise control at around 8:45 to 9:00 mile pace. What surprised me the most was that I was able to run in and out of the Natural Energy Lab without stopping. The stretch in the lab is nearly 3 miles long, where no spectators are allowed, only volunteers and racers. The last 10 kilometers hurt, but I knew that if I stopped and walked, it would hurt even more…so I kept on running. At mile 25, I saw my parents one more time coming down Palani Road. Mom was so excited that she ran down Palani next to me!
The moment I turned onto Alii Drive, I knew that I had made it. And in a blink of an eye, I found myself finally crossing the finish line, at 11 hours 4 minutes and 13 seconds.
Finishing IRONMAN Kona. Another stepping stone fulfilled.
