Powerman Alabama - Official Race Report

Ah, race at last. This morning I completed my first multisport event of the year. I was pumped as I was tired of just competing in running events. Just get me on the bike please!

So the forecast was looking oh, not so good. Rain and thunderbangers were supposed to take away our day of fun, but luckily it held off and didn't effect the race at all. So here goes.

The race was held in Downtown Birmingham which is all of 5 miles from my front door. The course spread out over the city streets covering most of the northern section. The race included two laps around the 2.68 mile run course for a total of 5.32 miles and three laps around a 10.3 mile bike route for a total of just under 31 miles. This was all followed up with another 2 laps around the 2.68 mile course. Downtown B'ham is fairly flat with only a few small gradual hills so I knew the splits were going to be fast.

Run #1 My plan was to conserve, conserve, conserve. I didn't want to run my first 5+ miles too fast and ruin the rest of the race. This would prove to be mentally hard to do as my wave of 39 and under men took off like their pants were on fire. I looked around and some of guys pushing a 6:10 pace, and I was like what the heck are you doing bud? What the heck was I doing? I tempered it back to my planned pace of 6:45 and stuck with that. This put me behind all of these runners quite a bit, but I knew it was a long race and I'd have time to catch up. I finished Run # 1 in 35:41, a 6:41 pace.

T1 - lickity split - shoes, helmet, bike, go - 40 seconds

Bike - I wasn't too sure what to expect on the course. There were 25 + turns per 10.3 mile lap so I wasn't sure how long I'd be able to stay down in my aero bars. Come to find out, it wasn't going to be that hard. I was able to stay aero and maintain speed for all but a handle full of turns. There were three complete 180 degree turns which were actually pretty cool and one "windy as hell" bridge to cross. As for the ride, I felt great. The legs felt strong and I started mowing people down. I started looking for legs with my age group on them for added confidence. The one casualty was my bike computer. I hit a pot hole or something and the speedometer totally quick working. I still had my cadence so I based my pace on my effort and my cadence. I had no idea how fast or slow I was going. Turned out, I ended up with the 13th best bike split of the day at 23.1 mph. How bout them apples?

About to make the turn around and ditching a bottle

Run #2 - Bring on the pain. Well, whatever lead I had built on the bike, I knew that it was about to be challenged by the runners in this second run. I didn't know what I had in me, but we were about to find out. Mile 1 my mantra again was conserve, conserve, conserve. I ran it in 7:06, but I could tell troubling times were ahead. For the next 4.32 miles my mantra was just hang on and don't walk (repeat 2 times). I felt completely zapped and just couldn't find the energy to push any harder. With 2 blocks to go, I just wanted to be done and finish this thing. With a final run of 41:06 a 7:42 pace, I crossed the line. I didn't have enough in me to sprint the line, but I didn't care. I was toast.

Making the turn and not looking so hot.

Coming in for the finish.

I finished the race in 2:47:12 which was good enough for 5th in my A/G and 29th overall among the age groupers. Not a great complete performance, but probably a good indicator for where I am right now. Overall, I had a blast. There were some great athletes out there and it was great to mix it up with them. I've got a long way to go and a lot to learn. I was able to meet up with two buds who absolutely rocked the course today. David (1st pic) and Tony (2nd pic). David whipped my butt in all three parts today. As for Tony, he only won his (unnamed) age group by just under 5 minutes. Both of these guys are super strong and incredible guys.