June 10, 2012
Eagles flying like Crowies…
Eagleman Ironman 70.3 Race Report
Eagleman is one of my favorite races. As the defending champion I was toeing the line wearing number one but I was definitely not the odds on favorite to win the race as Craig “Crowie” Alexander, three time Ironman World Champion, was on the start list. Craig is a good friend and old training partner. I was fortunate enough to live with Craig and his family in 2008 as we did our Kona prep together. There is only one Craig Alexander, he is a champion’s champion. I have never beaten Craig in a race, but I wanted nothing more than to kick his ass at Eagleman.
The temperature in Cambridge, Maryland had been cool all week, but the forecast was calling for 92 degrees on race day with high humidity. The water temperature in the Choptank River was very close to the limit of being wetsuit or non-wetsuit legal. Since I have a short but intense history of overheating in these borderline swim situations, I opted to wear a TYR Torque Pro swimskin. Perhaps a sleeveless wetsuit would have been a better option, but better safe than sorry. After an overheat DNF in Galveston in April, I would rather take my chances in a swimskin than overheat and DNF. This way I still had a fighting chance, and my swim training was going well.
As soon as the gun went off, I was getting dusted by everyone. The tide was pushing a strong current out, and those in wetsuits were riding the tidal current like a wave and I just couldn’t keep up. It ended up costing me about 90s when it was all said and done, but I did not overheat and I was on the bike with a comfortable core temp and heart rate. I started passing guys quickly on the bike, but it was taking me some time to reel in the big dogs. I couldn’t see Greg Bennett or Craig Alexander for most of the race. Once I caught up to them, I took a small breather and sat a good legal distance behind them. It is amazing how much the power drops when sitting legally 10m behind two other riders. This rule really should be changed for the pros to about 20m, but I won’t complain, just obey the rules that are currently in place. The evidence is shown in the power file where you can see two big drops in power, but not much drop in speed. After a couple of short breathers, I took the lead and started hammering again. I looked back and noticed I wasn’t pulling away, so I backed off the throttle to throw in another punch then I finally made a short gap stick. I really hate having to play these games when I should be time trialing but it is part of racing within the rules. I was diligently focused on staying hydrated and properly fueled. I consumed 3 bottles of water and took a shot of PowerBar gel every 20 minutes. I biked into T2 with a 30 second lead on Craig (most of which he erased in T2 by not wearing socks), and 90+ seconds on Greg Bennett. I threw on the Mizuno Ronin racing flats (and some non-compression socks since all compression gear was banned from this event) and took off in the lead. Craig caught me pretty quickly then I ran 2 miles with him shoulder to shoulder or in his draft, then he put in a small surge and dropped me. I stayed within one minute of Craig until the turn around, when the heat really started to get to me and my heart rate climbed to 181 at which point I was forced to back off a little and let it fall a good 10 beats or so. Greg Bennett caught me just before the turn around, and I was pretty spent at that point, I tried to hang close to Greg, but needed to keep an eye on my HR so I didn’t totally blow up. I had a 7 minute lead on Richie Cunningham in 4th place, so while I was trying to race for second, I definitely was NOT going to finish 4th again. Greg was comfortably ahead of me and kept checking over his shoulder to see how far back I was, and Craig was in front doing the same thing to Greg. I faded a bit the last few miles, mostly from the heat and dehydration, but I was trying to hold everything together as best I could. I finished with a 1:19:17 run, not my best, but it was fine on the day after a tough solo swim and bike. I took a moment after the race to chat with Craig, Greg, and Richie, and congratulate them on their performances, then Craig and Greg were taken to drug testing and Richie and I stood in the river for a bit to cool off (amazing how 76 degree water helps you cool down when it is 92 outside). I had a quick post race massage then went back to get some food.
Eagleman has amazing giant eagle trophies for the winners and while I didn’t come away with the grand daddy of trophies like Craig and Meredith Kessler, I was still happy with a good but not great race that netted a medium size eagle trophy. My form and fitness are solid right now, and I can’t race to again in Syracuse in two weeks.
My power file is listed below, but as I mentioned in a tweet:
320 watts, 157 avg hr, 161 max hr, 2:02 bike split, 160 TSS (IF 0.9)
| Alexander, Craig | AUS | 00:23:17 | 02:03:57 | 01:15:07 | 03:44:57 | 1 | 1 |
| Bennett, Greg | USA | 00:23:15 | 02:04:58 | 01:16:23 | 03:47:14 | 2 | 2 |
| Tollakson, Tj | USA | 00:24:25 | 02:02:29 | 01:19:17 | 03:48:52 | 3 | 3 |
| Cunningham, Richie | USA | 00:23:16 | 02:10:08 | 01:20:39 | 03:56:29 | 4 | 4 |
| Bowstead, James | NZL | 00:24:30 | 02:08:42 | 01:24:26 | 04:00:29 | 5 | 5 |
| Kahn, David | USA | 00:22:47 | 02:14:02 | 01:23:43 | 04:03:24 | 6 | 6 |
Work Hard,
TJ
