Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Half Iron Preview

It's that time! This upcoming Saturday is the Patriot's Half Ironman in Williamsburg, VA. This is my second half iron after the Beach 2 Battleship last November. Now I'm not as nervous about being able to complete the distance, but I want to be able to set and meet some time goals. This is all still a part of Ironman Prep Year 2010, and I'll probably do another spring or early fall half next year in prep for Ironman Florida.

This half should be really fun. The weather is supposed to be mostly sunny with a high of 81 on Saturday. The half is the only game in town that day; I hate running a half anything when there is a full going on. So this time everybody's hitting the same race.

The 1.2 mile swim is in the "brackish" James river, whatever "brackish" is supposed to mean. I have no idea if it's wetsuit legal or not, but I bet the water temp is going to be around 80. The start and finish points change with the tide, so it's a guessing game until right before race day. But that means we will swim with the current, so that's good. I've been feeling good in the water lately, so I'm predicting a 30 - 40 minute swim time.

The big goal is in the bike leg. Break 3 hours. If I can break 3 hours on the 56 mile bike everything else should fall into place. On the event web site it claims to be mostly flat with some rolling and false flats, but you can leave your bike in the big chainring the whole time. I've never seen an event description actually claim that. And I've been killing the bike lately, so I am very hopeful for a good bike split. Reading other people's race reports from last year's race they all seem to agree that the bike was faster than anticipated. I'm just going to roll my 20 mph minimum and push as much as I can. The B2B bike split was 3:11, so it's just a small amount of time that I really have to make up here. and that course had bridges and tons of false flats, plus I feel much stronger now.

The run should be around 2:20. I know the B2B half marathon was 2:40. I really think I can make up some time here. The running has been going really well the last few months. And the run course in this race is supposed to be the best part! I'm just going to try knocking down 10 minute miles, maybe some 9:30's if I'm feeling good.

So the goals:

1. Don't die.
2. Sub 3 hour bike split
3. Sub 6 hour total time. If I roll sub 3 then sub 6 is totally within reach.
4. Have fun! It's my first time in Williamsburg and it's supposed to be a great town.

I hope this is as much fun as it was last time in Wilmington. I'm really looking forward to a good weekend away and running a nice hard race. Cheers!

P.S., in family news Evil Genius started kindergarten today! It's a 3 year old program at the church nearby. I'm so proud of my baby girl for embracing school like this! See how happy:

I think that backpack is going to swallow her whole.

13 comments:

RockStarTri said...

Brackish is a mix of fresh and salt water. What it really means is that the water tastes weird.

if it is 80, then no wetsuit. The limit is either 78 or 76.1 based on what org is sanctioning the race.

Enjoy your race! Looking forward to hearing about it.

Mike Russell said...

With your training times John, you will come in under 6. I think you should be shooting for a 5:30...

Amy said...

good luck with the race! I can't wait to read the race report. I'll be cheering for you from afar!

Amber said...

That is such a cute picture! Good luck with the race, you're going to rock it I'm sure!

Carly said...

Good luck on the race! Evil Genius is a DOLL. I hope she enjoyed her first day of school.

Sun Runner said...

You're going to kick ass. Have fun!

Sweet polka dot pants on that child. You should get a matching pair.

Wes said...

pacing the swim and the bike is the key. good luck!

Jess said...

Good luck with the half IM! Sounds like your training has been going really well. Hoping you have a great race day and kick some serious booty!

Tony Bowles said...

Good luck, John. You should kill at this race. Have fun.

Kim said...

let's send each other good vibes on sunday, shall we?! we have very similar goals, and we are gonna kick these HIMs asses!! good luck john! you are going to kill it!!!

Badgergirl said...

Good luck this weekend! You're going to kill it!

Alisa said...

Good luck!

Kim said...

well?!! im dying to know!!!