2010 Ironman Timberman 70.3 by Rico

My preparation leading up to the race was a bit unconventional, I had just completed the Bronx Half Marathon and biked 50 miles the weekend before rather than taper. Also spent Thursday and Friday ALL DAY on my feet visiting Mystic Seaport/Aquarium and Six Flags New England before finally arriving to New Hampshire with Regina, the kids and our adopted step child Mike Kimelman.

The temps felt perfect for race day, low 70s with overcast. I was hoping the rain would not hit but eventually did mid way through the bike. The Pros started at 7am with my wave starting at 7:50. The swim start was crowded and I took an unusually high volume of kicks and elbows for the first quarter mile. My sighting was not the best but overall was happy to see my time of 44:06.

I quickly got into an easy rhythm on the bike, I had planned to bike based on a heart rate of 85% rather than just hammering away to maximize my MPH. My watch was not reading my heart rate nor my speed, so I was left to use perceived exertion to base my pace. For the first 15 miles I kept what felt like a sustainable pace as though I was doing a full ironman. I than picked up the pace slightly and when I hit mile 25 I was feeling strong. I decide to once again pick up the pace and really start working hard but keeping it comfortably hard (if that makes any sense). I wish I had the stats on my heart rate but when I got off the bike, I felt strong with energy in the tank for the run. Despite what I thought was a slower pace I realized that I still managed to finish with a strong bike split of 2hrs 50min flat or 19.8MPH on what was a hilly bike course. Starting the bike split slowly and not getting to cocky or letting ego take over was paying off.

I lost a little bit of time in T2 as I accidently ran down the wrong isle and struggle to find my transition spot. My sneakers and socks were soaked due to the rain but by the start of the run the rain had stopped.

At the start of the run I was immediately in the right place mentally. I was feeling happy with my bike split and had energy to spare. At this point I knew as long as I didn’t fall apart I was going to have a shot at a PR. The first mile marker came quickly, Before I really knew it I was already at mile 4 and still feeling no pain. I though about pushing harder but I was on track for a PR by keeping at my current pace. There is still a long way to go and anything could happen. I hit mile 7 and realized I was feeling the same as I did during my first mile, no breaking down. Typically by this point I am hating the sport, cursing myself out and claiming to never registering for another race again. Instead I was smiling and feeling like I couldn’t be having a better time right now. When I hit mile 10 I finally felt the effects with my legs feeling heavy but by this time I was on such a high and feeling great about my race that It would take more than heavy legs to slow me down, I kept the same pace right to the finish line. I passed a lot of people in the last three miles of the run, that’s how I knew I was having a great race, I generally never pass anybody in the last three miles of a half ironman. This time it was me who was doing the passing right to the finish line with a half marathon time of 2:00:51 and overall finish of 5:40:01 (11 minutes faster than California). I finished strong and even got slightly emotional about it for 10 seconds and smiled the rest of the day.

They say almost everyone shows up to race physically ready to race but 80-90% of the field does not know how to execute a race, I believe that comment to be dead right. A successful race = a good run. There is no such thing as a good bike followed by a bad run. That usually means you messed up on your bike which means you had a bad bike. I proved that to be the case this weekend with a PR and feeling stronger at the finish line than any race I have done.

Thanks to Mike Kimelman for really pushing me to go do this event, and of course special thanks to my wonderful girlfriend Regina and the kids for being my number one fans and doing so in the rain.

Rico