Superior Man Race Report - Half Iron 2016

Pre-Race:
The Honda Fit, really an ideal triathlon vehicle, was packed up and we were ready to go.
Mandatory bike check-in takes place at the arena over Saturday, so after working a night shift and trying to catch a nap, The Hotness (what I call my wife, abbreviated TH) and I loaded up the car and drove north to Duluth.

A nice shot of Duluth showing the bay where the swim takes place

Duluth looked a little more like an industrial town than I expected, but perhaps that's not so surprising given that it would likely be a sizable shipping center along Lake Superior. The arena is located right along the waterfront downtown and was immediately off the highway. TH dropped me off at the arena so I could in turn drop off my bike and pick up my race packet (which included a can of Red Bull, for the win). Parking at the arena is $5 per day with unlimited entry/reentry, unless you get the VIP package when you register which has parking included. The transition racks allowed for plenty of room to set up a really spacious transition zone, and I practiced locating my rack so I wouldn't get turned around when I had the fog of war, or what I call the dazed sensation you get running through T1 after the swim.

Dinner was at the Duluth Grill with TH, which was awesome. I had the pancake breakfast, and the fresh maple syrup with home -made jam made for some great pre-race carbo loading.

Race Morning:
A really fun element of this race is that you get to jump off the Vista Fleet ferry to get your day started, which took me back to the Escape From Alcatraz. It was great, but the downside is the race takes off in two waves and the first wave gets up at zero-dark-thirty to make an early departure. Fortunately I was in wave 2 and only had to wrap up work in the transition zone at 6:30am for a 6:45am ferry trip. I stood outside and chatted with a couple other races while we watched the first wave round the rectangular course.

Swim:
The Vista Fleet pulled up and loaded us aboard. I went along with the other pink caps to the third deck and enjoyed the view, which also afforded a nice overlook of the swim course. The wind made for some chop and a slight bit of current, which had pulled a few of the buoys askew. I made a mental note to sight off the buildings to avoid swimming a sinusoidal curve following the buoy line.

An athlete gets their swim started in style. Source: perfectduluthday.com

We filed down the stairs to take the leap after having the swim course detailed again. A first lap all the way around the rectangle, starting from the ferry at the far corner of the course, and then swimming it in around another 3/4 lap or so. I was excited to get started (Pro-tip, start from the starboard side of the ferry rather than port if you're racing when every second counts). Jumping off the ferry, I had splashdown in the cool, tea-brown water and set off on the swim feeling strong.

Working a long month on night shifts, I hadn't had the opportunity to revamp my swim training, but I did get some strength training in and correspondingly felt strong. My sighting was nice and straight as I made my way around the course, and it was easy to sight on the way down and back by specific buildings.

The wind and a bit of chop made for what would be a moderately challenging swim. Fortunately my formative triathlon years took place back in Washington state, and I learned to open water swim in the much colder and choppier Puget Sound, so it was fairly pleasant in comparison. I was happy I've always trained to breath to both sides, as that made it easier to navigate minor surface swells (breathing away from the roll of the water).

I really enjoyed the time trial start. Mass starts, especially at packed Mdot races, are a complete cluster and this made the race a lot less cluttered, if at times a bit lonely out on the bike course. The race results had a neat feature where it tells you how many people you passed that leg vs how many passed you, and it wasn't hard to find the odd pair of feet to draft off of when swimming into the chop. I found myself soon enough rounding the final buoy and swimming toward the Red Bull arch along the shore, beating a fellow racer in a pointless race to the ramp.
Swim time: 38:33 , 1:50 per 100yrds, passed 11, passed by 13. Place: 47/166.
Swim Takeways:
  -anti-fog worked well
  -sighting off the buildings down and back was helpful. Choose a building for down and back while on the ferry heading to the drop-off.
 -I need to actually train for the swim next season

T1:
After s short 100 yard dash, we entered the arena and found our bikes. The transition zone inside the arena made for a unique race atmosphere (and the on-site bathrooms and showers were a huge bonus). I forgot my awesome, multi-colored transition towel, so I used two t-shirts and that worked well enough. I also forgot my rubber bands so I elected to run out in bike shoes, which probably wasn't much slower to be honest. Exiting the arena, I was excited to head out onto the bike course.
Time: 3:06, passed 2, place: 36/166.

Bike:
I, like most triathletes, love triathlon bikes. The sleek frames of molded carbon fiber transmitting power straight through the wheels into the road is a thing of beauty. It's like racing a race-tuned suspension on a track car.

Unfortunately, that energy transfer works both ways, and the first half of the bike course was a little rough on the uh, sensitive places.

The bike course starts out downtown and you make a number of 90 degree turns and quick ascents and short descents to reach a residential road that takes you to the highway which serves as the remainder of the outward leg of the bike course. The downtown section and bike path had some rough concrete with lots of divots and cracks, and I saw a few ejected bottles. I was glad I had my frame mounted bottle and between-the-aerobar bottle nicely secured, as I think even with a nice tight rear bottle cage like the Xlab gorilla cages, you'd likely have an ejection. After one steep downhill with a U-turn at the bottom, which was well-signed and had a number of volunteers out there warning you to slow down, I unfortunately saw an athlete had crashed and it looked like his fork had broken off the frame. That was a real shame, but he was at least up and about and being tended to by the volunteers there.

Reaching a long residential road, I was happy to start to settle in and hit my stride on a smoother surface. We reached a highway, the two-lane per direction separated by a wide median variety, and I looked forward to time trialing in some miles. Unfortunately, the taint punishment continued with those thick cracks they have in highways every ten yards guh-gunge  three seconds later guh-gunge. It was a bit unfortunate. I was glad to had a latex tube up front with 100 psi in the tire, as that helped take the clunk out of each bump. Even still, if I lived in Duluth and rode this out section of the course in a training ride, I wouldn't ride it again.

The bumps were hitting everyone equally, though, and I wondered to myself if being a bigger athlete was a benefit in that the bumps didn't jar me as much, or a detraction since there was more weight with each clunk. I got surprisingly used to them, and set about passing people and being passed by others on the long, gently rolling section of highway. The time trial format was great for the bike in that it prevented drafting and also allowed for someone always being just up the road, to keep chasing.

Aid stations were at the 19mi and 38mi mark, and after the first I took on some more Gatorade to keep washing down the Clif shot bloks, Power bars, and chocolate GU that I use for long course bike legs.

At around the 28mi mark, there was a quick right turn and we were now off the highway on beautiful, smooth, tree-lined roads. It was great to turn off the highway and ride down through forest with Lake Superior just below coming up through the trees. The road meandered gently downward until we reached the coast and followed that back into Duluth. The sudden change in the course made for a nice boost in spirit for the second half of the bike leg. Coming back downtown and into the city, I was able to pass a number of people as I tried to keep my speed up, all while stretching the back and hamstrings to get ready for the run.
Bike: 2:48, 19.9mph. Overall: 74/166, Passed 17, Passed by 13.
Bike Takeways:
  -Nutrition: the regimen I made for the Iron distance has continued to work well
  -pacing by average speed worked surprisingly well. I had nice even splits averaging ~20mph the whole race and felt like I exerted just the right amount of energy
  -Latex tubes and 100 psi in nice tires (Continental GP4000 IIs) is really the way to go

T2:
Coasting in behind the arena with my foot pedaling on top of my shoes, I came around the corner and saw The Hotness with camera ready. I ran my bike into the arena, racked it, slid on my running shoes while grabbing my hat and race belt and was out of there.
Time: 1:33, Overall: 18/166, Passed 1.
  -Honorable Mention: fastest time in my age division of 15! Booyah!

Run:
Heading out onto the two lap run course, I was shocked at how good I felt. Even if I still had the effort from the bike in my legs, I didn't deal with the usual stiffness. Probably a result of the core work I added in after Toughman, proper pacing, and loosening up in the final miles of the bike. Anyway it felt great to feel strong heading out on the run!

The two loop course was actually really nice, in that there was a jaunt out along the waterfront then back through the downtown area. The different sections segmented the course nicely and mentally broke up the distance really well. It was a flat, fast course, with just a few "overpass" hills to break things up.

I felt pretty strong and had some nice compliments from other racers, "Looking good!"
I tried to give encouragement to everyone I passed or that passed me to keep powering through. I made a point to thank each volunteer that I ran by. The course was well-marked and the volunteers at aid stations were enthusiastic each time I yelled "Both!" in response to their "Water or Gatorade?"

After a long straightaway we rounded a final U-turn and I tried to keep the pace up toward the finish.
A brief sprint down the finish chute and I was home in 1:50 for a 5:22 finish, good for 51 out of 166 overall. I passed 40 people in the run and was passed by just 1, so certainly that mental pick me up helped push me along.

Overall:
Really enjoyed this race. The convenience and atmosphere of the arena (post race showers for the win), the ferry ride, a beautiful return trip on the bike and a charming run course all made for a fast and unique race. The Superior Man team did a great job putting on an excellent, well-supported, well-run race. Considering I came off the Toughman half four weeks prior and a month of difficult night shifts, got sick the day before the race, and only slept for 3 hours on three separate nights the week of the race, I was really proud of my time and that I could improve by 10min on the run. Other people, especially parents, have more challenges in life to interface training with, but it does go to show you that we can still get these awesome experiences in. Looking forward to next time.