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Eagleman is a half-distance Ironman triathlon located in Cambridge, Maryland. Eagleman is known for being flat as a pancake and for how hot and humid it is. A half distance triathlon includes a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride, and 13.1-mile run. This year, while Racing in the Rain, there were a little over 2,400 athletes including 43 professional triathletes. My training for this event involved 3-4 bike rides, 4 runs, 2 swims, and 1-2 resistance training sessions each week. My average training time each week was around 12.5 hours.
As a former collegiate swimmer, swimming is by far my strongest leg. I finished the swim in 25 minutes and was third out of the water heading into the transition area for the bike. This was the least eventful part of Eagleman!
My bike took about 2 hours and 23 minutes, averaging 23.6 mph. My average power was 284 Watts and normalized power was 290 Watts. The bike is my weakest part of the race and was passed by a good number of athletes during this part as a result. Which was frustrating at the time, but I knew if I tried to keep up with them, I wouldn’t have the energy for a good run. It was raining almost the entire time on the bike, which led to me taking a spill around mile 40. I made too wide of a turn and slid into the grass. Luckily it was a soft fall, and everything was okay. I was able to get back up and only lost a minute or two.
My run was the biggest surprise of Eagleman. Around 6 weeks ago I was having some weird calf/ankle issues. This forced to do run-walks until about a week and a half before Eagleman. I was unsure of how well the run would go and planned to start the run conservatively. My goal was to be around 7:00 minute per mile pace. I started the run faster than I had originally planned, finishing my first mile in 6:45 min/mile. I thought about slowing down but my breathing felt in control, so I decided to stick with 6:45 pace.
I felt strong until Mile 9. Around that point, my pace started to slow and my legs started to feel heavier and heavier. I started doing the mental math of how many more minutes I had left until I finished and gave myself the pep talk of “20 more minutes you got this,” “10 minutes left hang on,” and kept pushing.
Once I saw the crowd around the finish area, all the pain washed away, and I picked up my pace until I crossed the line. Afterwards I hobbled over to my parents and girlfriend, gave them hugs and high fives and asked for my final time.
My final time was 4 hours and 20 minutes. Crushing my goal of a sub 4:30 performance. I placed 6th in my age group and 62nd overall. Based off how I finished in my age group, I qualified for the Half Ironman World Championships this year in St. George, Utah. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend but still a pretty cool accomplishment and a big confidence booster.
-Ironman Mantra
For any sport, you have to focus on what you can control. But sometimes during the race, you have to be uncomfortable and really push yourself to find your limits. Often, this requires you to go faster than you think you can, and that is okay. I could have easily started out slower on the run because my training wasn’t ideal, but instead I took a risk to see what my body could do. It could have gone the other way, but I wouldn’t know what I was capable of if I did not push from the beginning.
Especially during the bike, I did a good job consuming enough carbs and water, giving me the energy I needed to have a strong run. I was able to take in a 100g of carbs an hour on the bike, which is around 400 calories an hour! When you do not consume enough calories during longer races, you “hit the wall” or “bonk.” An area to improve would be my ability to tolerate eating energy gels/drinking gatorade and water when running. Later in the run I felt like my stomach would not tolerate any more liquid or food, leading me to fatigue faster. This is something I did not practice enough and that will definitely improve with practice
With the weird ankle/calf pain I had leading up to the race, I was really worried about my ability to have a strong run. What I forgot is that leading up to the injury, I had put in 5-6 months of solid run training in. Those months of solid run training definitely helped me out on race day. It is not the last couple of weeks before a race that determine how ready you are, it is the training done in the past 6 months to a year that determine how ready you are.
Wait, strength training is key for long races like this? YES! Strength training improves your efficiency and reduce/delay fatigue. During the final miles, I attribute my ability to hold on to my pace due to the strength training I had done. During the run, it wasn’t my cardiovascular system that was limiting me, it was my muscles not being able to muster the strength to push harder. Interested in seeing what endurance athlete specific strength training can do for you? Contact me.
Everyone is different, what works for the person next to you might not work for you. This is especially true in triathlon. Leading up to races, I always find myself comparing the training I am doing to what other athletes are doing. This is not helpful at all. Stick to your plan and do what works best for you, after all everyone is different.
This was a great race and while it was hard, it was a lot of fun. I will definitely do more half Ironmans in my future and will start to look for a time when I can train for a full Ironman triathlon. If you managed to read it this far, you are awesome, and I appreciate it!
This content appeared originally on June 27, 2022, on Eperformancetraining.
Used with permission fro AlexEwart at Eperformancetraining.
