In putting my race calendar together for this year, I never realized how

few 1/2 Ironman races there actually are not to mention trying to make it

fit into my schedule so I have time to recover for the build phases of my

Ironman preparation. Fortunately I found the Great Buckeye Challenge in

Millersport, Ohio..about 30 miles east of Columbus. Having been training

pretty intensely for some time now I was not too concerned about this race

nor had I given to much thought about how far away it was. On thursday

morning I went to mapsonus.com and plotted a course which told me it would

take 8 hours...big drive. Thursday afternoon I decided I should review the

registration packet I received 6 weeks ago in the mail to read about the

course...I never really thought about it because OHIO is in the flatlands

and it should be fairly easy course. I begin reading the materials and the

first page begins..."the 56 mile bike course is extremely demanding with

some very challenging hills. Please be sure you have adequate hill training

prior to racing! (recommended gear ratio 42-25)." I had never seen anything

like this before and when I went to Bikes Unlimited to pick up my bike

thursday afternoon Doug pulled out a nifty topographical computer program

that illustrates the elevation changes along any US roadway. By following

the route with the cursor I was able to see exactly how the terrain went.

While we breezed through this I new there was at least 1 section at about

mile 35 that had over 1000 feet of elevation change. In hindsight, I

probably should have studied this a little more carefully but afterall, this

is OHIO.

After about 7 hours of driving on the Interstate I pull into the race

registration area and get a brief look at the transition and swim area.

Looks pretty good and I don't see any real challenges...appears we can park

with immediately adjacent to the transition on race day. Head back to my

hotel and get everthing prepared for race day. All the hotel are about 15-20

minutes away so with a 7:00am start I set the alarm for 4:15am. Good thing

because the parking situation changed and we had to park about 1.25-1.5

miles away from the transition...this was the worst part of the race because

I was by myself and I take alot of stuff to the transition.

7:15 race gets off late because so many people were late to the transition.

Of the 500 entrants, 200 would have been out of luck had they started on

time. By the way this race is either a 1/2 Ironman or Duathlon with a 5.5

mile run preceeding the bike and 13.1 mile run following the bike (dubbed as

the longest duathlon in the US). The swim course was in Buckeye Lake and

consisted on two loops on a counter clockwise rectangle. The water was a

cool 75 degrees and calm. With the loop there seemed to be more traffic than

usual and I took more shots than usual. About 200 meters from the finish of

my first loop I got wacked in the face and my goggles came off. I have read

about this but this was the first time I had ever had to turn over on my

back and get my goggles back on. Swim felt very good and I was able to draft

off 1 guy who was much faster than me but sighted with a breast stroke about

every 8-10 strokes...I stayed with him the entire second loop. 15:10 for the

first loop and 15:50 for the second loop giving me exactly 31minutes for the

swim. Transition is immediatley out of the water and I was off on my bike in

2minutes and 23 seconds (pretty decent for me). By the way, they had male

and female changing tents for those who wanted to take their time and go out

in dry clothes.

BIKE

Off on the bike and the weather was very nice, probably in the low 70's and

overcast, with a slight breeze. The first 1/2 mile of the bike was flat but

that was the end of the flats for a while. The next 10-12 miles was hilly!

Much more so than I expected at this point in the race- maybe it was just

that I was still not warmed up yet but these miles definitely were grinding-

seemed alot like coffee road but straighter without as many flat sections.

Miles 12-25 was much of the same although not quite as challenging. There

was one section of about 5 miles that was fairly flat, slight grade, but

there was a strong headwind that made it seem much more difficult than it

probably would have otherwise and it ended with a fairly substantial climb.

Miles 25 to 32 were fairly rolling and the first real chance to get

comfortable and go. This did not last long as the biggest climb came around

32-35 (this was similar to SOB Hill although a bit steeper). From 35-40 was

basically rolling although it seemed there were 1 or 2 out of the saddle

sections almost every mile. About mile 45 the course became rolling (as I

think of rolling) and it was fairly fast with only a couple of challenges.

The last 6 miles was basically flat and fast. Bike course was by far the

most challenging race course I have been on or even seen. Compare it to

racing out 28 miles of coffee road and back! While this course was very well

marked and great aid stations miles 20,30,40,50 (bottled water/gatorade),

gels, bananas, etc. the drafting enforcement was not good. 8-10 Riders I had

passed along the way came flying by me about mile 40-45 in a large pack and

I could see them riding together...I did not like this! Anyway I hammered

the last 12 miles or so and finished in 2:39 minutes for 21.15 mph. I was

very happy with this considering the terrain and I felt pretty strong. I had

certainly stocked up on adequate fluids, gels and a cliff bar (Chris is

right....digestion at HR 150 is very tough...tougher in my case as I will

later explain)

Run

Fairly quick transition to the run and I am off on what is supposed to be a

flat course. I started running and felt VERY BLOATED. Covered the first mile

in about 7:20 hoping that my stomach would feel better. The next 3 miles was

tough and I could not take any fluids because I was so bloated. It started

to get warm as the sun came out and this course was not flat by any stretch

of the imagination. By mile 4 I started to feel better and ran pretty well

to mile 6 or 7 when my stomach was sloshing around. Unable to take on any

fluids without feeling like throwing up, I began to walk through the aid

stations. By mile 9 I figured that my body needed some fluids but it was

just not digesting the ones it had, so more just made the situation worse. I

walked through the aid stations and finished the run in about 1:50- not

great but not terrible all things considered. I finished in 5:10:18.

Overall I was happy with my time, considering how difficult the course was

but I was dissapointed with my stomach problems on the run. In reflection, I

think I made a big blunder...I accidently took some DayPro

(anti-inflamatory) prior to the race...meant to take it after the

race...this combined with too much fluid on the bike led to the problems.

Hope to get that all straightened out prior to IMFL.