Hits 70.3 Hague, NY
SUCK IT UP BILL!!!! That’s what Jim Sullivan said to me moments before the race when I was deciding what to wear for the bike. Sleeves or a windbreaker. But after Jim told me to suck it up well…I nearly just wore the speedo.
So anyway Hits was my 3rd 70.3 in 7 weeks. That’s just a walk-in-the park for some of you but for me it was really asking a lot. My goal was to run 3 70.3 within a short period to see how my body would hold up to the challenge.
I did my first half in 2012. I did two more in 2013 (June 23rd Syracuse and Sept 8th Pumpkinman).
Anyways let’s get to the race. My goal in this race was to find my wall…once I got out of the water. I know I will fix my swim and being slower is just not a concern for me at this time. So having said that once I got out of the water my focus was on hitting the course (bike and run) hard and finding my wall.
So let’s get to the race. With my transition setup and feeling a bit on the chilly side we got our wetsuits on and headed to the water. It was great seeing so many Cyclonauts there. Many of them I haven’t raced a 70.3 with yet so I knew this was going to be a great race to finish my trifecta. We make our way down to the water and look out at the buoy’s. Man those buoy’s look further and further every race. Every time I look at them I think WOW!!!! Four years ago I would never reach the first buoy. Now I can freestyle the entire distance.
The water was pretty shallow and we all got where we felt comfortable in the water.
The Swim
The gun goes off and we start swimming. Except for Fran who was right next to me running in the water yelling YAHOOO I believe. Fran!!! Why you make me start laughing right at the beginning???? He’s so funny that guy…and always helpful!!! SO the swim starts and let me say the start wasn’t as bad as St Croix but THIS was the first time somebody palmed the back of my head and drove it two feet underwater. This was about 5 minutes into the swim and caused me to take water up the nose and in my mouth. Got me coughing a bit and threw off what little rhythm I had. I just kept going staying calm and settled back in. Made our turns at the buoy’s…of course one turn directly into the sun…and just past the half-way point my right quad started to cramp or pull or something. Never felt that swimming before. It really sucked and caused me to swim kicking just my left leg. I usually don’t kick much during the swim but did want to try to break 40 minutes.
Well I was getting a little worried. Not that I wouldn’t make it out of the water but would I be able to bike? It started to subside in a few minutes and I got out of the water at 43 minutes. Used a suit stripper and was over the timer pad in 44 minutes.
The Bike
I couldn’t WAIT for the bike. I knew NOTHING about the course except the 5 mile climb started right when you leave transition and the climb back into town was brutal. I did my T1 dance and took off. Mounted the bike and took off as fast as I could. Hit that hill and didn’t look back. I didn’t care what happened I’m going hard and finding that wall. I passed a lot of people on the climb which isn’t a surprise. Almost everyone was in front of me after the swim. The climb wasn’t too bad but it was long. Getting to the top was GREAT!!! Lately I have been watching my watts and not pushing down the hills. Not today. I pedaled those baby’s. Got in aero and flew down those suckers. IT FELT GREAT!!!! When I reached bottom I kept that speed going passing bikers at speeds I usually don’t hit in races trying to save my legs for the run. Not today!!!
Let me say this…when pushing this hard on the bike you do not get bored!!! Even though it took me just over 3 hours I didn’t get bored…I couldn’t get bored. My mind was set on one goal…keep pushing hard!!! During the bike I saw Brant and Derek fixing flats. The one thing I didn’t want was a flat. They handled it like Veterans and eventually both caught me on the run. Getting near the turn around I saw Jim and Mike heading back looking solid…way ahead of the pack.
Selling the Drama! I’m headed down a hill near the turn around and the road is pretty choppy on the side which forces me to the middle. I’m shooting down close to 40…not slow by any means…when a truck decides to pull up RIGHT BEHIND ME and BLAST HIS HORN. LAYS ON IT as he’s behind me…goes by me…and in front of me. When he was beside me I gave him the Joe look and yelled to him to suck my “Cyclonaut” as I flipped him a common directional signal until he was out of sight. Couldn’t believe that!!!. Plus it was one of the only cars I saw all day!
When I got to the turn around there was a water station. We didn’t get a water bottle in the swag so I asked them for a bottle. He handed me a water water bottle and I was like no no no that one…that one. He said that’s Heed though. I said I don’t care I just want the bottle and they started laughing and off I went.
Going back I felt just as good as going out. Hammered the hills (rollers) and cruised back until I hit the climb back into town. In the distance I could see Doug and Martha. Very slowly I was gaining until I had a mile left in the climb. My legs at that point really felt tired. I really wanted to give them 30 seconds of rest but didn’t at the same time. What got me up at that point was knowing I had a five mile downhill. How awesome that was going to be?!?! Finish the last 5 miles going downhill. I saw Martha and Doug make it over the peak and I wasn’t far behind.
The downhill was GREAT!!! I pushed it pretty hard but was concerned about the s turn they warned us about. At most of the turns I caught very quick glimpses of Doug and Martha before they disappeared around the next turns. When I got near the bottom Donna was there to warn everyone to slow down. I took her advice and rested my hand on the brake, got around the s turn and to the bike dismount. This was the first time I didn’t get passed on the bike. Not once and ended up 16th best overall. I knew I’d pay for it during the run…I just didn’t know when.
The Run
So I go to rack my bike and once again my stand is taken. I take another stand…most likely the guy who took mine…do my T2 dance and I’m off.
I see Doug and Martha in front of me and I’m doing a good job at what looks like a similar pace to them. Then I see them hit a hill and Martha looks like she found another gear. Buh BYE!!!! I wasn’t expecting to catch them…no way…it was pretty cool seeing her hit the hill like that. Impressive!!!
I saw Derek pretty quick into the run. By the third mile anyway give or take and he looked solid!!! Looking forward to seeing him at Placid. Around the 4 -5 mile mark I decided to walk up a hill for about 30 seconds…I hate saying that but yeah I did…then started up again. It felt great to get to that turn around and my run was going pretty good. Not great but good considering the bike ride I put out. At the turn around I grabbed water and pretzels. I figured salt would be a good idea at this point. So I started running with a handful of pretzels and taking a sip of water with each bite to help get them down.
THE WALL THE WALL THE WALL THE WALL THE WALL THE WALL
Oh baby did I ever find my wall. About mile 6-7 my legs cramped and cramped GOOD! Both quads. I kept moving…didn’t want to stop. I tried stretching my quad and got a Charlie horse in my hamstring. OMG!!! STRAIGHTEN THE LEG BILL STRAIGHTEN THE LEG!!!! Phew!!! Now I’m thinking just move forward don’t stop. You’ll feel better. Let those pretzels kick in. A couple racers go by and offer me salt. I took the second one up on her offer. Didn’t want to slow her down so ran next to her as she gave me 4 salt tablets. That was awesome. It sucked taking them without water and the third one got stuck going down but I got them down. And I don’t know if it was in my head or if they are supposed to work that fast or if it was the pretzels kicking in but suddenly my legs felt a lot better.
I knew now I’d be ok for the rest of the run. Brant caught me at this point and we ran together for a bit until I had to walk again. Got some coke and water and started running again. Caught back up to Brant…said hello then dropped back again. Legs were still hurting but hey they got me to the finish just behind Brant and Doug.
To finish this race but better yet finish the trifecta I signed up for felt GREAT!!! I was happy I pushed myself like I did.
St Croix was AMAZING!!! To go to a place like that with very good friends and experience everything first hand was PHENOMINAL!!! The swim was torture, the bike was grandular and the run was scenic.
Quassy was fun. Another race with great friends and fun people. Tough course but look forward to going back.
Hits: It’s hard to say which race was the hardest. They were all difficult. The climb coming back to town was a killer after racing hard for 46 miles. The run had some tough hills like Quassy and even St Croix had tough hills on the run just shorter.
Going into this I thought My GOD!!! What did you do? Training in the winter for a tropical race? You so STUPID!!! You Stupid Man!!!! SO STUPID!!!
But I’m glad now that I did it. Not just because I was able to finish the races and each one got a little faster. But the good friends I trained and traveled with became better friends…and I think overall that’s where I feel like I won something. Something that’s always been important to me!