Lake Stevens 70.3 - Eric Buckmaster's Race Report

What a day, almost 7 hours of racing. I finished at 6:52:35.56, Not bad for my first time but leaves plenty of room for improvement. There were some things that went well and and some things that can be improved on.

Pre-Race I felt like I did a good job preparing. I went to the riders meeting in the afternoon which was a little scary listening about the drafting and penalties and the draft zone is 4 bike lengths and 20 seconds to get through it. I had plenty of hydration, good nutrition, everything ready to go for the morning, and a good nights sleep. Morning of nutrition could probably be better but I'm just not hungry in the am. Had a can of slimfast, a protein shake and a doughnut. Got to the race in plenty of time to get my transition area set up. On the way to the water I felt like I should use the restroom one more time before starting but the line was huge and I would probably miss my start.

Swim, Went pretty well. My plan was to start on the outside and just maintain a steady pace. I maintained pretty good form, my tracking needs some improvement, I tend to go off to the right I probably swam an extra tenth of mile just being off course. Overall I was pleased with the swim although 1.2 miles was pretty exhausting and I got passed a lot.

T1, Went OK. My transition area was well set up and I had plenty of room. Seems as if most the bikes were already gone. The only thing that went kinda of wrong was when unracking my bike the straw from my aero bottle fell out. Luckily a spectator pointed it out and I was on my way.

Bike, Within the first mile I realized I should of waited in that line for the Porto-potty. I had to go! I contemplated peeing on the bike, but I wasn't quite ready for that, thought of pulling off and peeing in the bushes but figured that would come with some penalty for littering. So I continued on for 16 miles. I couldn't get into the aero position and all I could think about is how uncomfortable this is. Finally, a Porto-potty at the penalty station. Ahhh! So much better. So continued on with what is a really hilly course, just over 4000' in the 56 miles. My hydration on the bike was good. Plenty of fluids, I was using 3 scoops of Heed to 24oz bottle of water and I went through three of those, one bottle of regular water and 3 hammer gels. My pacing was a little off. The pre-race briefing on drafting and penalties took me out of my game a bit. There were times during a normal race I would of attacked more but the rules kept getting in my head. Next time I'll risk the penalty. The ride ended up being 3 1/2 hours. 30 minutes longer than anticipated.

T2- A little slower than normal. I decided to wear socks for the run so I had to sit down for a second to get them on. But it was a good choice a blister for 13 miles could of really sucked. It was interesting listening to the female winner's interview while I was still getting ready to go start my run.

Run- At this point I was already tired and those good thoughts were already gone from my head. I was making deals with myself, playing telephone pole relay. That's were you pick an object and run to it, and then the next. A succession of very short goals working towards the final goal. I looked forward to the water stops at each mile. Mile 2 was a restroom stop where I ran into coach Tammy. I knew she would be on my heels for the next 11 miles. Mile 3 I crossed through town and I think I swore to Charlene I would never do one of these again. As I went out on the lake out and back, I walked up the big hill. Then was able to run down it turn around and run back up it. I was pleased with that effort. I crossed through town again for my second lap, 6 miles to go.

Usually adrenalin kind of kicks in at this point but I think I had used it all up. It was a slow and grueling 3 miles to get back to cross through town for the final leg of the out and back along the lake. At this point I was exhausted I remember telling myself it's only 3 more miles, I can run 3 miles in my sleep. I walked up the hill again and ran down the hill to the turn around. Half way back up the hill I started walking when Coach Tammy was coming from the other way giving me some motivation to run it home. From there for the last 1.5 miles I ran as hard as I could and finished in 6 hours 52 minutes 35 seconds.

I didn't do as well as I hoped but still a good finish. Lots of room for improvement. I am going to frame that metal with my bib for this accomplishment. So now I have decided to do STP this Saturday in one day.