Originally Posted: March 18, 2021
The same weekend that some of the other Tri-team members were competing in the Patriot Half Ironman, I went to New York to compete in the Syracuse Half Ironman. In short, race day did not go as I had hoped when I was training for the race. I was in such bad shape after the race that I needed to take a quick trip to the emergency room to get an IV and replace some of the fluids I had lost. There were, however, some really important lessons to be learned from that day, and given the chance, I will be racing another Half Ironman. In no way do I think of that race as a defeat.
Talking to coach Jim before the race, he reminded me and all of the others training for Half Ironman that race day conditions can put down pretty much anyone, regardless of how much they train or prepare, but there is a difference between hearing that and experiencing that of course, and I think some part of me assumed that would never happen.
I did what I could to prepare for each of the challenges that faced me.
It was very hot, so l put extra water near my bike.
It was very sunny, so I put on sunscreen at the beginning of the race.
It was a very hilly course, so I had done as many of the hill workouts that Jim had suggested as was possible, for both the bike and the run.
I had had problems with bonking during training, so I made a point of eating food whenever possible in the bike (Even when their only flavor was spearmint! Ewwwww!).
I viewed the course beforehand online to make sure I understand where it would make the most sense to push and when I should take it easy.
The swim went pretty well. The course was more or less an out-and-back, and I was happy to see that I was catching up with some of the waves of swimmers that had left ahead of me. Partially because of some wind and waves on the leg back, my time was slower than I had been aiming for, but my most important goal had been to come out of the water feeling ready to bike, and I did. I jogged over to transition, taking advantage of the wetsuit ‘peelers’ that the race provides (a handy feature), and got ready for the bike. Stupidly, I forgot to eat the food that I had left in transition for myself (turns out if I want to remember something after a swim and with all of that adrenaline going through me, it needs to be pretty obvious. Having my food half-covered was enough to wipe away all thought of it). The beginning of the bike course was downhill, and I got a good start with my shoes already clipped in and ready to go.
One of the biggest challenges of Syracuse in my mind is to not get burnt out on the hills in the bike. After a short downhill starting at transition, there are about twelve miles of the course that are mostly steady uphill. There’s a strong temptation to try and power it up the hills, but you risk bonking hard for the rest of the race, so I took it easy, passing those that I could, but not going my hardest. It was starting to become apparent as we got to the flat middle of the course that sun was going to be an issue. There wasn’t much cloud cover and there were essentially no trees to provide meaningful shade. The temperature was already rising into the nineties as well, and I was sweating out a lot of water. I grabbed food at each of the stations. I also did my best to hit the painted plywood “trash target” that the race supporters had set up (I missed really badly. Turns out aiming is difficult while on a moving bike!). Honestly, I loved the bike. The course was beautiful, and it was exhilarating to be putting my training to work and to feel like I was in charge of the situation. It didn’t hurt that I had started in the last wave so there were always people to pass!
The first twinge of discomfort that had me concerned was when I got back to transition before the run. I got back to my spot feeling tired but ready to run. Then I tried to put on my shoes. I reached quickly down toward my feet only to feel a quick cramp shoot up the back of my leg. I’ve never really had cramps get better from doing more physical activity so that seemed like a bad sign, but I told myself that I was probably just tight after the bike and started running. I made it a few miles running slowly before I had to walk for a bit up one of the steeper hills. The next time that I started running, I only made it a little ways before my legs cramped badly enough that I almost fell over. This was NOT a happy moment, and it was the beginning of what was essentially a forced march for the rest of the race. I would jog until my legs cramped badly enough that I had to stop (usually about a hundred yards) and then walk for a while until the cramp calmed down enough that I could start again. Looking around me, I saw that a large portion of the people there were on the same routine. I have never seen so many people WALK almost all of a RUNNING race. My time for the run was almost twice what it should have been, which meant that I was in the heat and under the sun for longer than I hard bargained for. I could already feel a sunburn that would amount to essentially to second degree burns over a large portion of my shoulders. Wear more sunscreen than seems reasonable!!!
When I finally did make it to the finish line, I forced myself to run the last bit and fought back tears that came from a mix of pain and elation. I made two very crucial mistakes at that point: I did not drink gatorade right away, and I sat down. Never sit down: you might not be able to get back up. When it came time to get back to the car, I stood up from my seat to find that I was starting to feel nauseous and that walking very far was not an option. My mom had to ask the park staff to drive us in a cart back to the car. The following ride ended with a stop at a hotel and then a stop in the ER, as I kept feeling worse instead of better. All they had to do was give me fluids but it was important that they did. Because I felt sick, I couldn’t keep down gatorade. Without gatorade, I couldn’t replenish electrolytes, which kept up the cramps, which made me feel sick. Moral of the story: drink the Gatorade early!!! Make sure that someone is there for you after the race! I didn’t really realize how bad my situation was. I was just focused on getting home and going to sleep but I really wasn’t thinking straight. Having someone there to check on you and take care of you if you are in bad shape is not just nice. It’s a good safety measure.
I was hesitant to write a post about this race because I didn’t want it to come across as negative. I want it to be a reminder that race day is not always what you planned for, but that that is okay. I am proud of finishing and working through the pain. It doesn’t take away from the training for me, because that in itself was a really important experience. Try to complete your plan. If you can’t, then take the challenges one at a time.
Congrats to all of the others that raced the Patriot Half. You guys did incredibly well!!! It was really exciting to hear the results.
sbr
Tucker
About the Author
Tucker Evans is a '19 studying math and physics. He likes green tea, gardening, and anything that has to do with space.
