Eagleman Race Report

It's hard to believe that my first triathlon of the season is here and gone. However, this race will be one to remember for a long time. Jennifer and I woke up early Saturday morning and headed to Cambridge Maryland for the 2008 Eagleman Half Ironman 70.3 race. The Eagleman consists of a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike race, followed by a 13.1 mile run. The drive from Pittsburgh took a little over five hours but we finally made it into town a little past noon. We met up with Jen's mom and dad (who were about to see their first Ironman race), registered for the race, and got ready for our light workout. As we got our bikes ready for the easy ride there was one factor that we did not take into consideration. That being the heat. By 1PM on Saturday the temperature was in the mid 90's, and I was sweating just standing there. Just as we were about to head out on our ride we ran into two of our friends Jeremy Cornman and Jocelyn Smith.

A nice and easy 20 minute ride and a 10 minute run was just what we needed to loosen up the legs for Sunday. Jen and I checked our bikes into Transition and headed to the hotel to get cleaned up for dinner. Jennifer has relatives that live in Cambridge so we met up with them along with Jen's parents for dinner. They made an unbelievable dish of Lasagna with a very good mixed salad. It was just the fuel we needed in preparation or the hot and long race day. We said our good byes and headed back to the hotel for some shut eye.

Sunday morning came all so early. I had set the alarm for 4AM and began my pre-race ritual. I got down 600 calories for breakfast at 4:00 AM, jumped in the shower, and began to get in the zone. On one of the hottest days in the race's storied history, I knew I had to overcome both the challenging conditions and a competitive field. Temperatures were in the 90s (Fahrenheit) and humidity numbers were to match, the conditions were "just like Kona". Regardless I had to suck it up, and get ready for the long hard day. My heat was off at 7:00 AM and I quickly got into a smooth rhythm. I exited the water a little slower than I would of preferred in 31:03. Transition was a struggle as I fought with my wetsuit as it just didn't want to slide off. 2:26 later I was off on the bike. I felt strong the first 20 miles of the bike averaging 23-24 mph, but for some reason I didn't feel my best. I began wondering if it was a mistake doing Triple T two weeks ago, or if it was a mistake not doing enough "flat course" training. Regardless I came off the bike much slower than I would of liked averaging only 22.5 mph. Feeling slightly disappointed I now had to get over the fact that it was 96 degrees and I had to run a half marathon in the scorching heat. My position in the "male" division had me in 385th place and I knew I had a lot of hard work ahead of me. My pace wasn't very fast, but I hit the halfway point in 46 minutes and knew that I was again slower than expected. Little did I know that the heat was affecting everyone in the race, not just me. The last six miles I continued to take in fluids, salt, gatorade, and ice. People were dropping off like flies, and I was passing people by the second. My legs still felt fresh, but my core was overheating and I couldn't pick up the pace even though my muscles felt ready to go. I simply honed in knocking off the miles and knocking off other competitors. I finished the half marathon in 1:35:22 passing 353 males on the run with a total time of 4:39:51. I had missed my goal time by close to 20 minutes, but given the extreme conditions I thought maybe I placed in a decent shape among my age group. As the results were posted, I couldn't belive my eyes. The heat really demolished the field, and I was ranked 4th overall out of all males 25-29. And most importantly I had reached my goal of qualifying for the 70.3 Half Ironman World Championship this November in Clearwater Florida. Jen had a great day finishing 10th in her age group with a time of 5:39:25, and Jocelyn had a great day finishing 4th in her age group with a time of 5:00:07.

So to sum up the 2008 race season so far:
1.) I PRed with a 2:06 Olympic Triathlon Distance
2.) I PRed with a 2:55 marathon time on a very hilly "Big Sur" course
3.) I PRed in all swimming legs (Olympic and Half IM)
4.) I PRed in my half Ironman distance 4:39 (Eagleman - very hot day)
5.) I PRed in my half Ironman Run 1:35 (Eagleman - very hot day)
5.) I qualified for the 70.3 Half Ironman World Championships

I'd say I'm off to a nice start. My focus will now shift to Ironman Lake Placid. I talked to Coach Kevin yesterday, and he plans on doing what it takes to get me in shape for a Kona run.

posted by Chad Holderbaum @ 8:29 AM Comments: 3