| | Discussion: Race Report: Rage Half Distance, Lake Mead, NV |
Subject: Race Report: Rage Half Distance, Lake Mead, NV By: pam t.
Written on: Tuesday April 24, 2012 Message: The Rage half IM distance just outside of Las
Vegas last week was a B-race for me preparing for
my first Ironman in Coeur d' Alene, June 24th. I
had to keep telling myself this was a long
training day and my focus was on nutrition
planning and execution first and foremost. Also,
a secondary goal was to avoid heat stroke. The
air temp was expected to be 95 plus this
day!
I have been following Ben's IM
program (not the beginner one)while adjusting for
work, life and workouts I don't choose to do. It
has been a very solid program for me and while I
don't end up doing most of the speed workouts, it
has been excellent in developing a base and moving
from there. My goal for the program is do get the
volume in as a first priority and it has served me
well.
Going into the weekend, I was
anticipating a cold water swim... the water temp
had been listed in the mid-50's for weeks. The
day before the race, the temp jumped to 62 which
was perfect. Based on the water temp reports I am
seeing from CDA (today 50 degrees, last year at
this time, 40 degrees), I am thinking that the
water temp may end being very close to what Lake
Mead was this weekend.
It was 72 degrees
air temp at the start of the race and a perfect
morning, other than you knew it was going to be
roasting us later on the run! The water at Lake
Mead was crystal clear and I more than once was
startled by fish swimming beneath me! The open
competitors began first, then Half, then Oly, then
Sprint- guys then gals. We entered and exited on
the boat ramp, which was long, due to the water
level being low. We were assigned transition
areas by number with the Sprints being closest to
the water and the Halfs being at the top end of
the ramp, but closest to the bike start. I had
read somewhere that running up the ramp after the
swim only spikes the heart rate at the beginning
of the bike so I started walking up the ramp.
Yes, then I could not stand walking at this point
so I started a slow jog up the ramp, maintaining a
slower HR. Transition was fine... I took extra
time to apply sunscreen (super smart decision) and
then I was off!
The 56 mile bike ride was
a perfect training ride for CDA! There were
rolling hills, some sustained climbs and some
opportunities for fast downhills along with the
hills. This was my first race following a
professional bike fit,new aero bars and a water
bottle between the aero bars. The best
investments I have made so far in this journey (I
do not have a tri bike, but the lowest level
carbon Trek Madone). I had water in the aero
bottle and Ironman Perform in a 20 oz bottle on my
lower tube. Yes, I did drop the Perform trying to
get it back in the cage and had to drink Gatorade
which was the course drink. It was so sugary
compared to the Perform I did not drink much. I
did have extra food- gels, jelly beans and stinger
waffles so I did not loose calories from the
bottle drop, just comfort!
By the last 5
miles of the bike, I knew the run was going to be
a "hot mess". My plan for my first
Ironman is to run/walk the marathon so my plan
going into this race was to practice run/walk as
well. The first 4 miles of Rage were a gradual
uphill with two or three a little more than
gradual uphill parts. I struggled at this point
to keep my heartrate where I wanted it (I had my
garmin on), so I ended up walking more of the
first 4 miles than I had planned. I was also
super hot! With aid stations at every mile or so,
I adjusted my strategy to combat the heat. At
each station, I did the following: 1 cup of cold
water down the front and back of my tank and
shorts and 1 in my hat/head, plus one to sip as I
ran. Yes, my socks got soaked but by the time I
got to the next aid station, they were drying out
a lot! I focused on my gel eating. The only
negative was my endurolites were in the back of my
tank and got soaked to the point that I was not
able to get two of them in because they had
disintegrated!
Just before mile 4 started, I
caught up to a guy whose age on his calf was close
to mine! He seemed to be struggling a bit too so
I asked if he would run with me to the aid station
ahead, which he gladly did. He was from NY and
for the next 6 miles we worked together to take
our minds off the heat and our heart rates. After
mile 4, the path flattened out and took us through
the many tunnels that were carved to haul
materials up to build the Hoover damn. I loved
those tunnels for the obvious shade and coolness
benefits! There was a gradual downhill to the
turnaround point and then back up before the flat
3 miles again with tunnels. I stayed with my
run/walk plan incorporating the tunnels for
walking and the sun for running! The guy I ran
with went out in front of me for this portion
without walking, but by the time we got to the
last 2.5 miles, my walk/front strategy allowed me
to move past him and run myself to the
finish.
As hot as it was, I truly enjoyed
it and learned a lot. I stuck with my plan for
nutrition, had extra calories on board just in
case (which I needed with the bottle drop), and
was able to tweak my running plan to something
more conservative to accomodate for the
temps/avoid heat stroke. Coming from Colorado,
the heat was nothing I could prep for and it is
not typically that hot yet in Vegas. It was a
great training day and gave me mental confidence
that I can make adjustments on IM day without
freaking out.
The race was very well
run in my opinion. There was one small run course
marking issue I heard about, but did not struggle
with myself. All in all, it was a very rewarding
day! | Subject: RE: Race Report: Rage Half Distance, Lake Mead, NV By: Suzanne C.
Written on: Tuesday April 24, 2012 Message: Sounds like a cool race. I would love the
tunnels! Great job on being flexible with your
plan and enjoying the day - that's what it is all
about! Good luck at CDA - can't wait to read the
RR! That was my first IM and will always have a
special place in my heart!
Heat sucks!
The year I did CDA was FREEZING but it can also be
hot so it's probably good that you got to do a hot
race so you can be prepared! Keep your salt tabs
in a Ziploc next time :) | Subject: RE: Race Report: Rage Half Distance, Lake Mead, NV By: john m.
Written on: Tuesday April 24, 2012 Message: Nice preparation race to work out the kinks. The
Lake Mead venue sounds wonderful. Good job and
good luck at IMCDA. | Subject: RE: Race Report: Rage Half Distance, Lake Mead, NV By: Paul B.
Written on: Tuesday April 24, 2012 Message: Nice race! | Subject: RE: Race Report: Rage Half Distance, Lake Mead, NV By: Teri d.
Written on: Tuesday April 24, 2012 Message: This sounds like it was an excellent race for you,
congrats! You're on track to turn in a solid
performance at CdA. CdA is a roll of the dice; it
can be exceedingly warm and very cool, with the
water outright frigid. Be prepared for anything
and you'll be ready. | Subject: RE: Race Report: Rage Half Distance, Lake Mead, NV By: pam t.
Written on: Wednesday April 25, 2012 Message: Thanks for all of the replies... funny Suzanne you
mention ziplocs... I had my waffles for the bike
in a zip loc so I did not have to open the
wrappers... I did not even think about using them
for the endurolites... guess that is why you do a
couple of B races before the A race...
60 days until CDA... it seemed so far
away before and now it is amazingly close! | Subject: RE: Race Report: Rage Half Distance, Lake Mead, NV By: Brad H.
Written on: Wednesday April 25, 2012 Message: Great race, thanks for the writeup! Not knowing
anything about the Rage race, I was quite
interested in all the details you provided about
the course, air & water temps, etc. It sounds
like a nice course, and I'd really enjoy those
tunnels on the run, although it would be very hard
to prepare for such hot weather in
April.
Good luck at CDA! I'm not
familiar with the new bike course, but it's a
really good race!
| Subject: RE: Race Report: Rage Half Distance, Lake Mead, NV By: Leo F.
Written on: Wednesday April 25, 2012 Message: Great job! Looks like your preparation is right
on. Good luck on your IM.
Funny note - I
looked at your profile and saw that we were in the
same race last year, Derby half marathon, with
times within a minute of each other. Small world. | Subject: RE: Race Report: Rage Half Distance, Lake Mead, NV By: pam t.
Written on: Thursday April 26, 2012 Message: Hey Leo!
It is a small world! I actually
grew up in Louisville, KY so I wanted my first
offical half marathon to be the Derby one. Looks
like you live in Ky from your profile. I also did
Tom Sawyer sprint last year too so my folks could
watch me do a triathlon. Any aspirations of doing
IMLou? I think there is a half IM distance prior
to IMLou but I don't remember the name of it. | Subject: RE: Race Report: Rage Half Distance, Lake Mead, NV By: Heather N.
Written on: Thursday April 26, 2012 Message: Nice work! Those tunnels sound like a blessing! | Subject: RE: Race Report: Rage Half Distance, Lake Mead, NV By: Leo F.
Written on: Thursday April 26, 2012 Message: Hi Pam
I didn't really know how to swim until
this past winter which I spent learning to swim a
little so I don't ever see myself doing an IM. May
get a sprint tri in this year if I can get a
little more distance. Did do a half iron duathlon
last year though and enjoyed it. Next adventure
is trying to survive the Derby marathon this
coming Saturday for my first full.
Good luck
at CDA.
| Subject: RE: Race Report: Rage Half Distance, Lake Mead, NV By: pam t.
Written on: Friday April 27, 2012 Message: Good luck with Derby run! | Subject: RE: Race Report: Rage Half Distance, Lake Mead, NV By: daniel d.
Written on: Sunday April 29, 2012 Message: Nice race report. I may still be in the tunnels
under those heat conditions. | | Please log-in or join free to reply | |
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