Toughman Half
Chisago Minnesota
Sunday, July 30 2017
1.2 mile / 56 mile / 13.1 mile
Training
My summer classes ended on July 17. Since then I've been getting in a lot more hours of training for Ironman. The two weekends leading up to this race I did an 88 and a 100 mile bike ride. Both ended up being about a 16 mph average. The hills really don't rival the Ironman WI course, so I think I'm hoping for a 7-7.5 hour bike with a 15-16 mph average. Otherhows, there's not much new in training. I've started doing one hour swims at the gym, and I average about 20 miles a week running. Going into Toughman, I've been trying to treat the race as just another training day. It's tough to get into that mindset though. This was the race of my life last year.
Swim: 1.2 miles
Goal: Under 40 minutes
Actual: Over 40, but a little better than 2016
Just like last year, the swim was not wetsuit legal for this race. There was a wetsuit wave for those who wanted to, but I just stuck it out in wave four without my wetsuit. I felt crappy the morning of the race and through the swim. I had a rotten stomach. The swim went alright; I followed a few different folks to avoid sighting on my own. This seemed to work out well. I figure this will be the game a Ironman; with 2500 people in the water I think traffic management will be the key.
Anyhoo, pretty uneventful until the one mile marker when I took in a big gulp of water. When I was hacking it up I saw I was at about 35 minutes. This put me behind the 40 minute goal, and I kept that pace through the end of the swim. Oh well, maybe next time.
2017 Swim Time: 42:25 with a 2:01 min/100 yards average
2016 Swim Time: 43:07 with a 2:03 min/100 yards average
Swim Rank:
194 out of 396 finishers
140 out of 259 males
21 out of 32 age groupers
T1
Goal: Run, don't walk
Actual: Yup
It's worth noting that there was one finisher time that I dropped from my calculations. It seemed pretty clear to me that the guy cut the run course.
T1 was the same as T1 always is: pretty uneventful. While I was putting on my shoes, the announcer mentioned that the winning swim time was 26 minutes. Me and the lady next to me agreed we could have lived without that information at that particular point of the day.
2017 T1: 3:40
2016 T1: 3:44
Position
194 coming into T1
205 leaving T1
Bike: 56 miles
Goal: 18 mph
Actual: Not as close as it sounds
The sprint and long courses use the same bike route for the first 12 or 13 miles. I spent those miles contemplating a DNF. I did not feel well. Also, my legs were a little dead. I suppose I should have done a shorter recovery type ride after my century seven days prior, but my knees started giving my troubles on Wednesday. Anyhoo, at the turn off I decided to give it a go. I still haven't had the DNF in a race; hopefully that never comes.
I really didn't feel much better until about 25 miles in when I hit an aid station and got some water. On my bike, I only carry a couple bottles of Infinite Go Far to drink. The Infinite is great for a long race, but terrible for a rotten stomach. After the water, my stomach loosened up and I was on my way. I ate a cliff bar or two and a few Gu packs on the bike in addition to my Infinite.
I had the bike course short by about half a mile. That makes my speed look a little better than it actually was. I was slow. It was a pretty big let down from last year.
2017 Bike: 3:08:19 with a 17.8 mph average
2016 Bike: 3:07:05 with an 18 mph average
Bike Ranks
314 out of 396 finishers
219 out of 259 males
29 out of 32 age groupers
T2
Goal: Run, don't walk
Actual: Yup
Nothing interesting happened in T2. I dropped my bike stuff, grabbed my run stuff and was on my way.
2017 T2 Time: 2:13
2016 T2 Time: 3:02
Position
297 coming into T2
287 leaving T2
Run 13.1 Miles
Goal: Under 2:30
Actual: Yup
I have not really lit it up on distance running yet this year. I know what my knees can take and I don't want to push it much farther than that. As a result, I had only run the half twice before this race.
The run started off with a mile and change of shade. That was pretty sweet. Then you take some back streets and end up on the highway for most of miles 4 through 10 (out-n-back). It was hot on the black top. It was hot anyway, but the blacktop just helped that sun beat you down. On mile seven you do get a little shade again, and that helped me pick it up a bit.
It seemed like I passed more people than usual on the run, but that's probably just because most of the field passed me on the bike. I knew I was going to be close to beating my time from last year by about mile 8. I had a poor mile 12 but otherwise the inward half went pretty well. Somehow I messed up the math on the last mile, and I ended about two minutes ahead of my last minute estimates. It was a nice surprise.
2017 Run Time: 2:27:02 with an 11:13 pace
2016 Run Time: 2:30:13 with an 11:29 pace
191 out of 259 men
27 out of 32 age groupers
2017 Total Time 6:23:38
2016 Total Time 6:27:13
Finishing Positions
289 out of 396 finishers
202 out of 259 males
27 out of 32 age groupers
What's Next
Well, my time was better than last year, but it didn't feel as good. I suppose, last year I dropped my time about twenty five minutes, and this year it was about four. Anyhoo, good training run. Ironman is now four weeks away. I probably have one more long ride and one or two more long runs left. I hope I can make it to the start line healthy. So far so good. Then, I hope I can make it to the finish line.
Swim: 1.2 miles
Goal: Under 40 minutes
Actual: Over 40, but a little better than 2016
Just like last year, the swim was not wetsuit legal for this race. There was a wetsuit wave for those who wanted to, but I just stuck it out in wave four without my wetsuit. I felt crappy the morning of the race and through the swim. I had a rotten stomach. The swim went alright; I followed a few different folks to avoid sighting on my own. This seemed to work out well. I figure this will be the game a Ironman; with 2500 people in the water I think traffic management will be the key.
Anyhoo, pretty uneventful until the one mile marker when I took in a big gulp of water. When I was hacking it up I saw I was at about 35 minutes. This put me behind the 40 minute goal, and I kept that pace through the end of the swim. Oh well, maybe next time.
2017 Swim Time: 42:25 with a 2:01 min/100 yards average
2016 Swim Time: 43:07 with a 2:03 min/100 yards average
 |
| My time is noted in green. |
194 out of 396 finishers
140 out of 259 males
21 out of 32 age groupers
T1
Goal: Run, don't walk
Actual: Yup
It's worth noting that there was one finisher time that I dropped from my calculations. It seemed pretty clear to me that the guy cut the run course.
T1 was the same as T1 always is: pretty uneventful. While I was putting on my shoes, the announcer mentioned that the winning swim time was 26 minutes. Me and the lady next to me agreed we could have lived without that information at that particular point of the day.
2017 T1: 3:40
2016 T1: 3:44
Position
194 coming into T1
205 leaving T1
Bike: 56 miles
Goal: 18 mph
Actual: Not as close as it sounds
The sprint and long courses use the same bike route for the first 12 or 13 miles. I spent those miles contemplating a DNF. I did not feel well. Also, my legs were a little dead. I suppose I should have done a shorter recovery type ride after my century seven days prior, but my knees started giving my troubles on Wednesday. Anyhoo, at the turn off I decided to give it a go. I still haven't had the DNF in a race; hopefully that never comes.
I really didn't feel much better until about 25 miles in when I hit an aid station and got some water. On my bike, I only carry a couple bottles of Infinite Go Far to drink. The Infinite is great for a long race, but terrible for a rotten stomach. After the water, my stomach loosened up and I was on my way. I ate a cliff bar or two and a few Gu packs on the bike in addition to my Infinite.
I had the bike course short by about half a mile. That makes my speed look a little better than it actually was. I was slow. It was a pretty big let down from last year.
2017 Bike: 3:08:19 with a 17.8 mph average
2016 Bike: 3:07:05 with an 18 mph average
Bike Ranks
314 out of 396 finishers
219 out of 259 males
29 out of 32 age groupers
T2
Goal: Run, don't walk
Actual: Yup
Nothing interesting happened in T2. I dropped my bike stuff, grabbed my run stuff and was on my way.
2017 T2 Time: 2:13
2016 T2 Time: 3:02
Position
297 coming into T2
287 leaving T2
Run 13.1 Miles
Goal: Under 2:30
Actual: Yup
I have not really lit it up on distance running yet this year. I know what my knees can take and I don't want to push it much farther than that. As a result, I had only run the half twice before this race.
The run started off with a mile and change of shade. That was pretty sweet. Then you take some back streets and end up on the highway for most of miles 4 through 10 (out-n-back). It was hot on the black top. It was hot anyway, but the blacktop just helped that sun beat you down. On mile seven you do get a little shade again, and that helped me pick it up a bit.
It seemed like I passed more people than usual on the run, but that's probably just because most of the field passed me on the bike. I knew I was going to be close to beating my time from last year by about mile 8. I had a poor mile 12 but otherwise the inward half went pretty well. Somehow I messed up the math on the last mile, and I ended about two minutes ahead of my last minute estimates. It was a nice surprise.
2017 Run Time: 2:27:02 with an 11:13 pace
2016 Run Time: 2:30:13 with an 11:29 pace
Run Ranks
283 out of 396191 out of 259 men
27 out of 32 age groupers
2017 Total Time 6:23:38
2016 Total Time 6:27:13
Finishing Positions
289 out of 396 finishers
202 out of 259 males
27 out of 32 age groupers
Well, my time was better than last year, but it didn't feel as good. I suppose, last year I dropped my time about twenty five minutes, and this year it was about four. Anyhoo, good training run. Ironman is now four weeks away. I probably have one more long ride and one or two more long runs left. I hope I can make it to the start line healthy. So far so good. Then, I hope I can make it to the finish line.
