The Endurance Pig: High Cliff Half Iron

It's come to this...my last race before Ironman Wisconsin. It's only 84 days away! It is only fitting that my last race leading up to the Ironman is a Half Ironman; a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run (70.3 total miles). This race will be the 5th time I have done an event at the High Cliff Triathlon and my 4th 70.3 distance race (I did the sprint one year). So, it's not like I have never done a 70.3 race before. I was using this race for a couple reasons. First and foremost was to judge how my training has been going thus far and where my current fitness was at. Secondly was to practice my race day nutrition and race strategies for Ironman Wisconsin. The course is a little different from most triathlons as it is set in a Wisconsin State Park. High Cliff State Park is set on the Northeast edge of Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin's largest inland lake. Immediately after the swim you are challenged by a long, steep climb up the edge of the cliff that gave the park its name. After returning from the bike, you are forced to now climb up the cliff for a double loop half-marathon. The run is done on the intricate trail system. Other than running up and down the cliff and crossing a couple of roads, the entire run is done on a very nice, level, packed down, dirt trail. The day's leading up to the race, I kept a close eye on the weather since the days surrounding Saturday were nice, but Saturday continued to have between a 40-60% chance of rain/thunder storms. The morning of the race, the radar looked, okay, not great, but it looked like we might dodge a bullet. Majority of the storm systems were south of High Cliff State Park. I figured we might get wet on the bike, but it looked like the transition area would stay dry.

Training Plan

As I said in the introduction, this race was more than just an opportunity to get out and race. For those reasons, I considered this an "A-" race. It wasn't necessarily an all out "A" race, but it wasn't a sub category "B" race. I still scheduled a rest day on Friday leading up to the race, but I also still trained relatively hard leading up to Thursday. I also raced hard the weekend before, so no, it wasn't my big race of the year, but I still wanted to give myself a good opportunity to race well. Coming off the Elkhart Lake Sprint Triathlon last week, I realized I needed to get in the water for some open water swims before the Half Ironman. I did just that. I went to High Cliff on Tuesday right after work for a mile swim. I then had a couple short "mini-triathlons" scheduled for Thursday. I did these 2 sets right at High Cliff to simulate the race. I did 2 sets of a quarter mile swim, 5 mile bike, and 2 mile run. The combination of the one open water swim and getting in the lake for the 2 mini-triathlons really helped build my confidence and put me in the right frame of mind going into the Half Ironman.

Day/Night Before the Race

Like I said above, I scheduled a complete rest day to recover and recuperate from all my training with hopes of getting to the start line fully rested and ready to go. Sarah also had off from work on Friday. To take advantage of the benefit of having a full day of nothing to do, we brought the girls down to Oshkosh's Menominee Park and Zoo. The zoo is free with an optional donation. It is nothing extravagant by any means, but for free you really can't complain. It takes about an hour to walk through the entire zoo. After the zoo we found a nice spot in the shade for a family picnic and then spent about another hour at the park. It was a nice opportunity to spend the day as a family, which to be honest, hasn't happened too much this summer and probably won't happen too much more until after September 8th. The girls had a blast and were found sleeping in the car almost immediately. We stopped at High Cliff on the way home to pick up my race packet and were home around 3pm. I then laid out all my gear and got all packed up for the race the next morning. After packing up, it was time to start cooking my usual prerace meal of Walnuts and Pepper Pasta. After dinner, I was in bed relaxing by 8 and sleeping by 8:45 with my alarm set for 4:01am.

Getting to the Start Line

I was completely thrown off of my normal routine from the get-go. I was not woken up by my alarm as I had planned, but by Sarah yelling at me saying, "Matt! It's 4:45, wake up!" I don't know if I didn't set my alarm properly or if I shut it off in a dead sleep right away, but either way, I did not get up nearly as early as I had liked. After actually getting out of bed, brushing my teeth, getting dressed, and getting the final loose ends together I had planned on, it was already shortly after 5. I decided to forgo my usual prerace breakfast of a sweet potato and honey and just have a Bonk Breaker Bar an hour before the start. I left around 5:20am when my original plans were to leave around 5. I had my usual (large) cup of coffee on the drive to the race. After getting to the race, I first set up my transition area. The gal beside me had already staked claim to a large amount of real estate and the guy on my other side showed up right away too. This is another reason I like to get to the race early, you get first dibs at the space you need and want for your transition area. I made do with what I had and then wanted to get into the lake to do a short warm-up swim. I got on my wet suit and got down to the swim start area around 6:40 (20 minutes before the start) when suddenly I was overcome with a feeling of needing to get to a restroom....FAST. I jogged up the hill to the shower/restroom pavilion and got in line. I had a wave 1 start right at 7am sharp and while I was in line the announcer was making announcements about staging. I was getting nervous that I was going to miss the start! Luckily, I got in and out of a restroom and felt much better. I jogged back down the hill to the shoreline and put my suit back on and got in the water for the start. I had just made it to the start line...Whew.... THAT was close. All because I didn't get up on time. I am a creature of habit and routine and I was clearly thrown off this morning.

1.2 Mile Swim

In one word, the water was rough. There was a decent wind out of the South and with the race being set on the North-Northeast corner of Lake Winnebago, the waves were coming in hard. The swim was a triangle shape. For how big Lake Winnebago is, it is very shallow. I took advantage of this at the start by walk/jogging until it was counter-productive and then I started to swim. The first edge of the triangle was head on into the waves. It was difficult to get into a rhythm, as it seemed every breath I would take, a wave would come crashing over my head and I would get a mouthful of water. After making the first turn for the longest edge of the triangle I was finally able to find a rhythm. I was able to breath primarily on my right side since the waves were coming in on my left. I really got comfortable on this edge and started to swim hard. After making the final turn to head into the shore, the waves were at our back pushing us in. I really swam hard on this edge and as soon as the water was about waist high, I took my goggles off and started to run toward shore. That all sounds great, until I realized that was a sand bar, and the water got deeper...I stopped swimming too early! I was able to get in a dozen strokes or so with my head out of the water to get back to shallower water and finally made it to land. I finished the swim in 0:36:20, a 1:44/100 yards pace, which was the 61st fastest swim. Not bad, but I was really hoping for something between 30-35 minutes.

High Cliff Half Ironman - Swim Details

56 Mile Bike

I utilized the wetsuit strippers, who take your wetsuit off for you. It saves time in transition and is just one less thing I need to worry about. I grabbed a quarter chunk of a Bonk Breaker Bar at transition and was off on the bike. My 1st transition time was 1:10, the 27th fastest T1. The bike started with a hard category 5 climb. A cat 5 climb is the lowest ranked climb by road racing standards, but the fact that it's still ranked says something for a Wisconsin climb. After the initial climb, the ride took us straight south along the East side of Lake Winnebago. The wind was out of the South, so it was a headwind for pretty much the entire first half, which is exactly what I would have asked for (if any wind at all). My fueling strategy was to eat a quarter chunk of a Bonk Breaker Bar every 10 miles at miles 10, 20, 40, and 50. I then had a water bottle with a total of 400 calories which I would take a sip of every 10 miles starting at mile 5 and then at 15, 25, 35, 45 and 55. Something I have been experimenting with this season is fueling with nut butters. Justin's makes individual 200 calorie packets of peanut butter and almond butter, they even have varieties mixed with maple syrup, honey, and chocolate. I had one packet of Maple Almond Butter at mile 30. The rain that I had hoped we missed came as we continued to travel further South. The rain started with a light drizzle between mile 14 and 15 and got harder and harder until it was a steady rain, nothing significant, but enough to soak everything, including my socks, which left me wondering if that would become an issue on the run. It continued to rain until about mile 24-25. With the rain ending early in the bike leg, it left ample time for my socks to dry out and were never an issue. After turning around on a large loop, it was back up heading North on the same road we came South on. This time the wind as at my back and I really began to hammer on the gears. My speed was consistently above 20 and was hovering around 25 with the wind at my back. I really pushed hard on the bike knowing that I have been training hard on my bike this year and knew it would not destroy my run, like it did last year. I finished the bike leg in 2:30:48, a 22.3 mph average, and was the 25th fastest bike.

High Cliff Half Ironman - Bike Details

13.1 Mile Run

After coming into transition, I racked my bike, threw on my shoes, grabbed another quarter of a Bonk Breaker Bar and was out in 0:50, the 7th fastest T2. As I started running, I immediately realized there was something in my shoes. At first I wrote it off as being something from running from the beach to transition after the swim. It didn't go away or move out of the way from my feet. I decided to take the time to take what ever it was out of my shoe. I slipped off my shoe and found a frickin' wall anchor. I have no idea how the hell that got in my shoe, but it did. I was really happy I took the 5 seconds to stop and take it out, because that would have just reeked havoc throughout the half-marathon leg. I reached the base of the cliff that I had initially climbed on the bike, and now I had to run up this damn thing. It was at this point I could fully feel the effects of riding my fastest Half Iron bike split ever. My legs were HEAVY, but I just calmly pushed on up the hill. As I was running up, a spectator told me I was the 13th overall Half Iron runner at that point in the race. That was extremely motivating. After getting to the top of the climb, I had a double loop of about 6 miles per loop. My strategy was to run as hard as I could, as long as my breathing stayed relaxed for the first loop. After completing my second loop, I figured I would crank it up for the final 10k and race hard at that point. The first loop went just as planned. I passed a couple of other runners and was passed by only 1. On the second loop, I was passed by a guy who looked to be my age around mile 7 and I immediately decided I would do what ever it takes to hang with him and hopefully pass him before the finish. I stuck with him for the entire 2nd loop, but just wasn't able to match his final kick on the last quarter mile or so. For fuel on the run leg, I filled a gel flask with 5 servings of Hammer Gel (450 calories) and planned on taking a small swig from the flask every two miles starting at mile 4 and then at miles 6, 8, 10, and 12. I did not want to finish the flask completely and hoped to take in about 4 servings or 360 calories. By the end of the run, I did just that, left about 1 serving in the flask and felt fantastic throughout the run. I finished the half-marathon in 1:35:55, or a 7:20/mile pace, which was the 23rd fastest run.

High Cliff Half Ironman - Run Details

Post Race

I finished the race with a total time of 4:45:06. My previous best time at this course was 4:40:28, which had a significantly shorter swim. So, I was EXTREMELY happy with my finish time. I consider this a definite PR for me. I met up with Sarah and the girls, along with my Mother-in-law and they estimated that I was the 9th or 10th overall athlete to cross the finish line. Granted a lot can change due to the nature of having wave starts. But, regardless, I was super excited to see how I officially placed. I have never placed in my age group at a race of this distance and felt confident that I had an opportunity to do just that. After grabbing some eats, a couple of post race complimentary beers from Stevens Point Brewery, the initial race results where posted. Sadly, I didn't place in my age group. I ultimately placed 18th overall (out of 441 finishers) and 6th in my age group (of 51 finishers). I was not necessarily surprised that I didn't place, but 6th?? I was really astounded that 5 others placed higher than me. Especially since I finished 18th overall. But like I said, I am not letting the fact that I didn't place derail my satisfaction of my race time.

Other Notes

I have nothing to really add, other than I am motivated and ready to move on up to the full Iron distances of 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and a 26.2 mile run!

Lessons for Future Events

I am confident now that I will be able to physically make it through a full Iron distance race. It is strictly the mental aspect of moving for 10+ hours and not giving up. My training moving forward is what is really going to prepare me for the mental aspect of racing for that long. I am also confident in my fueling strategies. I have never felt better on the running leg of a 70.3 race as I did today and I give full credit to my fueling strategies. I will continue to implement those fueling strategies as my training takes me to distances I have yet to get to. I know I need to continue to work long open water swims into my training plans. Swimming in a pool is great for technique and pace specific swim sets, but there is no substitute for swimming in a dark and murky lake for over an hour.

What's Next

It's right back to training tomorrow. I have a 3,000 meter swim set scheduled for Sunday morning. I'm guessing it will end up being done in a yard pool as opposed to a meter pool, but it is just a recovery swim set, so nothing major. On Monday, it's right back to the long brick workouts. I am not sure if I am crazy or what, but I have a 50 mile bike followed by a 6 mile brick run scheduled. The intensity will be strictly aerobic and I will not push myself. As for after this cycle, I have no more races on the schedule until the Ironman on September 8th. All I have now is a lot of race specific training. My training will no continue to take my body to places it has never been yet and most likely will not go to again or at least will not get back to for a long time. The true work begins now. So obviously, this will be the last race report until the race report I have been dreaming of writing. Until then, it will be just personal weekly updates.

Below are more photos from the day.

Be fast, be strong, and carry on!