Race Result

Racer:	Keith Bohnenberger
Race:	Eagleman Aquabike
Date:	Sunday, June 11, 2006
Location:	Cambridge, MD
Race Type:	Other - Other
Age Group:	Male 35 - 39
Time:	4:12:47
Age Group Place:	3 / 3
Comment:	eagleman 57.2 - something was missing

Race Report:

It took me a while but I finally got around to writing this up...

Splits
Swim 48:41
T1 3:45
Bike 3:20:22
Total 4:12:47

One of these days I hope to do a 1/2 ironman. Being that I'm not quite up to it yet, I thought 57.2 would be a good step in that direction. The eagleman aquabike would give me an opportunity to do my longest open water swim and longest bike leg during a race. I figured it would also give me a chance to see how my nutrition plan works out.

Pre-race:
For some reason I didnt think too much about where I was going to stay the night before the race. When I finally started looking for a place, they were all filled up. I ran into Rob Weitzel out on the trail and he suggested I camp out at the high school. Detailed info was kind of hard to come by on the web site but I finally got enough to feel comfortable that it would all work out. Fortunately, Kevin Kunkle was in the same boat so we hooked up and shared the ride and camped out together. Kevin is a self-proclaimed talker and he lived up to the hype :) Having someone else who was familiar with the race made logistics a lot easier. We arrived at packet pickup a bit before the race talk began. I picked up my packet and listened to the pre-race talk. Kevin and I left packet pick up and set up our camp site. On the way to rack our bikes I realized I didnt have my swim cap in my packet. We had to go back to get my swim cap. Then we made it to rack our bikes and I realized I didn't have my helmet number. Lesson learned: Check your packet and make sure everything that should be there is there. The funny thing was that I didnt have a swim cap or a helmet number but I did have a run bib. Kevin and I finally made it to dinner and back to the camp site. One thing to note, Kevin takes very good directions from the co-pilot. We were on our way to get food and I said, turn left here. Kevin didnt let that red light stand in the way. He turned left just like I said :) I had a hard time sleeping which is somewhat normal for the night before a race. The bummer was I didnt sleep well all week because of a head cold so I was feeling a bit fatigued.
We woke up in the morning, and tore down our camp site. We had later swim wave starts so we were kind of taking our time. We got close to the race and got stuck in a long line of cars. Then we had to park pretty far away from T1. By the time we got to T1 we had about 5 minutes before they were kicking us out. Another lesson learned. For big races, expect a long car back up in the morning! At that point I had to sit around for about 90 minutes before my swim wave went off.

Race:
One benefit of being in the last swim wave was I got to see the pros come in. The first pro hit T1 in about 25 minutes. Yikes thats fast. Finally I was in the water and ready for the swim. The water was at a nice temperature but things were a bit choppy. 50 yards or so into the swim I realized I didnt start my watch. In mid stroke I pushed the button. I felt pretty good on my way out to the sail boat but got stung by a couple of jelly fish. At the turn around point I started feeling the chop a bit more and I think the current was getting me a bit. At one point it felt like it took me forever to swim past a boat. Every right handed stroke I kept seeing the same people on the same boat. Finally I made it through the swim. The chop was a bit rough and it took me forever but I really enjoyed the swim. I dialed it back a bit effort wise and my time certainly showed it. With that said, I knew I was going to be racing at least an hour longer than any race I had done so I think it was a wise move.

T1 was pretty uneventful.

It felt good to be on the bike. It was going to be interesting to see how a 56 mile bike leg would work out. The longest bike leg I had done up to that point was Columbi which is about 25 miles or so. I was a little worried about how hard to push it and I was a little worried about how much to eat. I was hoping I could keep my heart rate at 150 or so and keep a 100 to 110 cadence. My nutrition plan was to eat a gel after 5 miles or so, then eat a cliff bar at the hour point while drinking about 3/4 of my bottle of accerlade. THe first hour went by pretty well. I was actually passing some people (benefit of being the last swim wave). The wind was pretty tough. It felt like it was a cross wind or a head wind just about the entire ride. I ate another gel after about 90 minutes and started eating a pack up cliff shots. I was going to eat my second cliff bar at the 120 minute point but for some reason I didnt. I also didnt plan well for hydration. My accelerade was gone and I didnt know which water stops had gatorade. I was also worried about the gatorade endurance given out during the race because I didnt try that in training. Another lesson learned. Try the nutrition that the race is giving out during training! Around the 45 mile point I thought I might be able to finish in 4 hours if I had a tail wind for rest of the ride. It turned out that around mile 48 I ran into a stiff head wind that lasted until about mile 53. That stretch completely broke me. My lower back was a bit stiff the entire ride. My legs were starting to burn out. I basically wanted to get off my bike. I struggled through it and around mile 52 or 53 I started seeing the runners. At that point I pretty much threw in the towel and became a spectator. I cheered on the runners and spun my way to the "finish." During that time I had serious runners envy. On one hand I wished I was during the full race, on the other hand I was spent. Misson accomplished. I got a good feel for how far away from a 1/2 I am. I also learned that I am pretty close with nutrition but will probably have to dial back my bike effort when I do the full 1/2.

I was happy that Eagleman offered the aquabike. With that said, I have a T-shirt that says 70.3. I have a sun visor (bald guys and visors don't go together) that says 70.3, I have a medal that says 70.3 and a water bottle that says 70.3. I didnt go 70.3. I have never gone 70.3. I don't deserve any of that stuff. I gave my visor and my t-shirt to my wife. I gave my medal to my son. I kept the water bottle because like a dope I used one of my water bottles during the race which I had to toss away at the bottle exchange to get some gatorade. I'm hoping the 70.3 rubs off the water bottle. If all of that stuff said, aquabike or 57.2 it would feel right. One day, I'll eary the stuff that says 70.3

Kevin, thanks for car pooling with me and getting me back to VA in time for dinner with my wife and some family that was in town visiting. The melting pot makes for a great race night dinner!

Final lesson learned. Sun tan lotion! I rememberd to put it on my face but I didnt put it on my arms. Interestingly enough, the marker they use for body marking makes for a good sun screen. I ended up with a reverse tatoo of my race number which was surrounded by a bit of sun burn. Remember the sun screen!