Coming off Florida I was hungry to get back after it. My recovery didn't go as well as I would have liked it but there were lessons learned in the process. I still managed to get in a couple of solid training weeks between Florida and Liberty which I raced last weekend. Liberty was a fun race I went on a whim, and I was fortunate enough to have my brother join me and split the 8hr drive. We hammered out on a Thursday after work and got to the hotel around 2 am. I crashed instantly and was up again at 7:15 to do my race prep session. After that it was legs up and really kick back and just take in nutrition. Stayed low key and was in bed early.
Race morning I was up at the crack of 4am ready to rock! Since Florida was a bomb it was time to change up the system. I was up early enough so I had breakfast which consisted of:
1 bowl organic oatmeal
1 banana
1 cup of coffee
1 500ml NUUN solution
and water
Not to much not to little just enough to get the gut working. got to the race site at around 6 am which left plenty of time to set up and warm up. I took it real easy. It was going to be hot so a big warm up wasnt needed. I also slammed one more power gel before the swim start.
Swim:
Couldnt have asked for a better day to swim. It was a nice fresh water lake, standard rectangle course, and I was in the first wave. I started out to the side again found my pace and then moved into the pack. Mentally I just focused on swimming. Tried to stay smooth. It was a lot less cluttered then Florida I was able to get really dialed in. Coming up out of the swim I saw that I was in the lead pack!! At most 1 min off the leaders. Thrilled with my swim I stayed focused as I sprinted to T1.
30:51
1:29/100yrd
Bike:
I was on my bike quick and as always went out hard. I needed to remind myself to just ease into it. I took on water and packed some electrolytes this time to avoid a Florida disaster. At about 35-40mins is when I really got locked into my groove. Nutriton was flowing and the pedals were turning. Everything was peach and cake until where the second aid station was suppose to be...... there wasnt one. There ended of only being one aid station on the whole 56 miles. I came pretty much prepared but an extra 500ml of water would have been a real treat. Despite the missing aid station it was still another PR ride on a much harder course.
2:23:48
23.4mph avg
Run:
Ahh yes the run. My love hate relationship continues with the run. I started out and saw my bro running by in the bush, made me smile for a good couple miles after. I started out better then Florida right on pace with a couple sub 7 miles. Then I could feel the cramps tiring to start again. This time I was prepared for the bastards I slammed more sodium tabs and was able to get them to subside. The course map that was given to us showed a series of 10 foot hills across the 13.1 miles. These were not 10 foot hills. Maybe 45 foot is a better guess? Either why I am not going to bitch about that I messed up again I had my sodium under control but my legs were running on empty. I was running on pure coca cola. I understand what pros are saying when they have nutrition dialed in I am getting closer but I am still not there yet. I pushed out to 6 miles and then hurt for 6 miles digging as deep as I could and running to the point were my legs could simply no longer fire. Again a run that was not matched with my ability but better then Florida and there were more lessons learned.
1:40:57
7:43 min/mile
With 2 more races coming up in July and a mountain of new knowledge. I can say that after to races that were far from perfect I am more excited then ever to race again and apply my new knowledge. Its only been 5 days from race day and I have already recovered much better then Florida. So bring on the next block and I will see you at the start line in Morden armed with more new knowledge, looking forward, and chasing a dream.
Liberty total
4:38:12 PR
