16 Days To Go (August 22)
Gear ratios on a bike can be complicated to explain…
(So, simplify it for me.)
If you are going up a hill…
(Like you were.)
…like I was, shifting the chain to the biggest cog in the back will make the bike do more of the work.
(Didn’t Shlomo Rosenzweig say that gears “lower the force you will need to put through your leg muscles in order to turn the pedals”?)
Yes, and this is why when I first looked at the 13 mile climb at Ironman World Championship Nice, I asked him to check my math on being able to complete the course before the mandatory time cut off.
(If you want to understand how a mechanism works, ask an engineer. If you want to understand how nutrition works, ask a coach.)
I crested the top of the hill and headed back towards the end of the bike course. The last six miles were almost completely downhill. I had just conquered a 4,083-foot climb bike course. I had faced down a challenge on the course mid race, I was beginning to feel more confident.
OK. My plan could work.
(What plan?)
The plan to use this race to get my confidence back for a 13 mile climb into the French mountains at the Ironman World Championship.
(That sounds great. Didn’t you have to run a half marathon off the bike?)
Yeah, but it was just half.
(How far is a half marathon?)
It’s 13.1 miles.
(After riding 56 miles of hills?)
Yes.
(How did that go?)
After the marathon I had to run off the bike at Ironman United Kingdom, this was going to be easier.
(A walk in the park.)
Not that easy.
(Easy for you.)
Easier than what?
(Easier than a full marathon?)
Yes, but still challenging.
(Even for you?)
I wanted to finish as fast as possible. Except for the last two miles, the run course looked like the Croton Aqueduct in Westchester or Johnson Park in Teaneck. Just an asphalt path through a park.
The first six + miles led to the turnaround. That went smoothly.
(Good practice for the Ironman in three weeks?)
Exactly. Unfortunately, I did not pack enough nutrition.
(Which meant?)
Which meant that after an hour of running I felt my energy level drop.
(So?)
So, I had to use one of the gels from the aid station. I tore open the top and put the finger sized tube in my mouth. I’m used to flavors like chocolate or salted caramel. This was an ambiguous citrus flavor.
(Bad?)
Yeah. Have you ever tasted something and you could not identify the flavor and that threw you off?
(I am you.)
True. As I pulled the tube from my mouth the metal in the wrapper scraped my two front teeth and it felt like chewing tinfoil.
(Lightening on your fillings?)
Kinda.
(Your eyes roll back?)
Not that bad, but I did feel my shoulders twitch.
Mind you, throughout all of this I kept running. By the time I reached the next aid station at mile nine…
(Just some tables staffed by volunteers.)
…I was happy to drink Coca Cola to get the bizarre citrus taste out of my mouth.
(Wait!)
Yes?
(You were drinking Coca Cola to get a flavor out?)
Yup. The soda I hate to drink was there to mask a worse flavor.
(Don’t you also drink Coca Cola on the run for the sugar?)
That too. The truth is, I only drink soda when I’m racing or on Passover.
(Why Passover?)
It tastes better.
Passover Coca Cola is made with sugar.
(As opposed to the high-fructose corn syrup?)
Yes.
(So, sucrose vs. fructose?)
Sucrose is 50% fructose and 50% glucose.
(So what?)
So, the Coca Cola with sugar doesn’t leave an aftertaste in my mouth.
By mile 11, I was two miles from the finish, but I was now running past the start of the run course.
My brain said, “Turn right here.” to run to the finish line, but something else told me “Keep heading straight ahead.”
(Good thing you did.)
Had I turned right I would have been off course and probably disqualified. I ran around the back of the village and came down the center for the finish line.
This was the first 70.3…
(Half Ironman.)
…I had competed in since 2019 in Arizona. I had forgotten what it was like to cross an Ironman finish line in daylight.
I leaped in the air and sailed across the finish line without touching the ground.
I hoped that this was a harbinger for things to come in Nice France at the Ironman World Championship.
David Roher is a USAT certified triathlon and marathon coach. He is a multi-Ironman finisher and veteran special education teacher. He is on Instagram @David Roher140.6. He can be reached at [email protected].
