Even though Muncie 70.3 fell right in the middle of the summer, in a lot of ways it was like a big end-of-season A priority race for me. Up until now Louisville has been on the back burner while I've been putting in the training for 70.3's. The plan was to get essentially a full season of racing in before dedicating a big chunk of my summer to training miles. Besides a couple longer workouts in Florida and racing Around the Bay, up to this point my training really hasn't been any different from the previous 2-3 years. But that's ALL about to change!
I had targeted Muncie as a good way to "end" the first half of my season that consisted of some small tune-up races, ATB, Welland and TTF. And after Welland not going to plan I had some extra motivation to race well and try to take some time off my half-IM best time.
Shortly after Welland I got in for a long overdue physio assessment to get an idea of what caused my issues in the race, and to be honest had been bugging me in training far too long before that. As I suspected it was nothing serious, just some minor muscle imbalances and tightness which I caught at the right time. Although it took missing out on a good race, I was glad I got it sorted out and in the short turnaround between Welland and Muncie things already started moving a lot better. Still not perfect though, so there was some uncertainty.
After my GPS got me lost a few times in rural Ohio I eventually arrived in Muncie on Friday afternoon. Ironically it was kind of like I had driven 6 hours to end up back in Southern Ontario. The race venue and course was strikingly similar to many of our local races like Guelph Lake, Binbrook or Belwood. Quick race prep, Panera Bread dinner and off to bed for a 4:45am wake up.
Swim - 31:30
It seemed as though Ironman borrowed Multisport Canada's "magic thermometer" for this race which never reads a temperature above wetsuit cut-off. I had anticipated a non-wetsuit swim and was actually looking forward to it. But despite what felt like 78-80 degree water, off we went in our wetsuits!
I guess I understand why Ironman often puts M25-29 in the final wave, to allow the older age groups a little more time out on the course. But this was my fourth straight time starting in the final wave of a 70.3, and this was by far the most congested race I've ever done. I'm not reading into my swim time too much as it seems that all the swim times in my wave were very slow. Whether it was the course or the traffic I ended up about 2-2.5 minutes back of where I would typically come out of the water.
Bike - 2:14:58
Within the first 30 seconds on the bike I knew two things. First off, it was going to be a very congested ride. Second, I was MOVIN'! I thought my Garmin wasn't working properly when I saw 46-48km/h through the first 5k. And it certainly made it a little more interesting with how crowded the course was on some narrow roads that lead to a 2-lap out and back on a wider highway. I did my best to not do anything stupid and be respectful of everyone, but it was quite dangerous at times passing large groups at 45+km/h. However that's part of racing an Ironman branded event, it's crowded and you can either waste your energy stressing and peer-policing drafting, or focus on your own effort.
About 6 miles in I got out to the highway for the double out and back and got to work focusing on my power output. It certainly made things more interesting to constantly have people to pass, compared to Welland where I saw 4 or 5 riders over the entire 90k. I could tell I was moving well and at the end of the first lap I was on pace for a 2:13 split. I still didn't believe my Garmin was right based on how comfortable it felt. My goal was to ride more conservative than in Welland, and try to beat my run time from Knoxville last year. So I was not expecting to be riding faster than my 2:15 in Welland!
The second time around felt a little longer than the first of course, but I was still rolling along well. I had let my average power get a little on the high end with the constant spikes in effort to get past the groups of riders so I decided to back off a little through the final 20k, get some extra fluids in and try to just maintain my average speed to get back.
The 6 miles back to transition were once again painfully congested, but rather than get frustrated I used it as an opportunity to stretch out my back and come in fresh. I was happy to see that I was still under 2:15 when I hit the dismount, my first time over 40km/h for 90k :)
Run - 1:29:09
Another quick transition and it was onto the hot and rolling run course. I had driven about half of the run course the day before, and although it wasn't crazy hilly like Worlds last year or Muskoka 70.3, it was still challenging. The steepest hills were right at the start/end so I took it out nice and easy and settled into my 4:05-4:10/km pace. It was getting HOT but I really wanted to sneak under my run time in Knoxville last year of 1:28:39. It felt easy through 5k but I knew the pain was coming!
I was hoping that at the turnaround I'd feel some relief that I was now on the back end, but my train of thought was more like "f**k, now I have to go all the way back!?" My pacing was still ok and at each aid station I did everything I could to stay cool...ice down the suit, sponge on neck, water on head. But my stomach wasn't absorbing any more fluids so it was hard to get my carbs in. I couldn't get gels or chews down so I tried to at least get half a sip of coke or gatorade at each aid station.
I was still right around my goal pace at 14k, then slowly but surely I saw my pace slipping away and had conceded the thought of going sub 1:30 on the stinkin' hot rolling course. But I had a little motivation that I seemed to be slowing down less than many others. At 17k I spotted someone in my age group just ahead, and I thought to myself "damn it, I really don't want to pick it up now". But as I went past I had the feeling he was trying to respond, so I did everything I could to get back down to 4:00 k's.
With a mile to go I had brought some time back on my Knoxville time and I told myself if I'm this close I have to go for it. I tried to bring my pace down further, and that lasted about half a mile. I was completely done! But I had one small hill left then the finishing chute, and when I got to the line I was happy to see I had gotten safely under 1:30, and sub 4:20 overall.
So now it's a bit of an easy week, and then s**t gets real!! I'm equally excited and terrified that my true Ironman prep is here, and I've got about 10-12 weeks to get it in!! But my race in Muncie not only left me really satisfied with my results so far this year, but also confident particularly in my bike fitness moving forward.
So from here on out it will be very little racing...maybe one fun one late in the summer to break up the grind. But I've got some serious work to do getting some miles in my legs. First up is going to be a mini solo "training camp" up in Muskoka at chez Switzer in a few weeks! Although I was cursing myself during the race for committing to double the distance, I really can't wait to see what's in store over the next 3 months. I'll do my best to keep this updated!
