Silverman Race Report

I signed up for the Silverman Half late in the summer to get some motivation to train this fall and to experience what is a supposed to be a pretty cool race. The full IM at Silverman is branded as the world’s toughest Iron distance, so the half seemed like it would also be a real challenge. So, it was something new and exciting – a new way to challenge myself. With my usual optimistic, I-can-do-this attitude, I got after it with a pretty good block of late summer and fall training.

On Saturday, I drove up to Vegas with my buddy Jeff, who has gone 11:08 at Vineman and is looking to go low 10 hours at IM AZ in April. He kept claiming to be under-trained for this race, but having known him since kindergarten, I knew better and expected good things form him. We left LA by 6:00 or so and got to registration in an easy 4 hours. Everything at the registration was smooth and all of the volunteers and race folks were fun, supportive, and just plain cool (this became a trend). After registering, we drove out to Lake Mead to drop off the bikes and transition bags. Lake Mead is pretty spectacular out there – clear sparkling water set amongst big red and orange canyons.

After we parked, we assembled the bikes and went for a short spin. Wow, the first thing I noticed was the monster climb up from the lake. I guess this is a natural consequence of a man-made lake, but to get up to the highway from the water, it was about a mile of steep climbing. “Nothing like getting the heart rate jacked up right out of T1,” I thought. After a short ride along the main road, we returned to the lake and left our bikes and bags.

We retuned to T2 and the expo for the athlete meeting and I got to meet Chris McCormack as he was signing autographs. He was also racing the half and I told him that if he was nice to me I’d go easy on him. He signed a poster and wrote, “Remember I was nice to you so let me win. See you on the course, Macca.” Then he took a picture with me and continued to joke about how he hadn’t been on a bike since Kona, and how he refused to preview the course after hearing about the hills. He couldn’t have been nicer to everyone. It’s always so nice to meet such cool, down-to-earth pro triathletes. I really love this sport sometimes.

Race day came pretty early, as we were bused out to the lake just in time to see the full distance athletes start their day under decent conditions. After the usual dealing with gear and other stuff, we got to watch many athletes finish their swims – I must have seen Jen in here somewhere. Anyway, we were soon in the water. My buddy Jeff, a strong swimmer, was lining up right next to Macca and Dave Scott. I knew he wanted to go grab the early lead just to do it. After the gun, he was off. He ended up with a 29 minute swim and missed the fastest age group swim (and $250 prize) by 15 seconds. I followed and had a decent draft on the way out, which was protected by a harbor. Out towards the first buoy, we started getting some real chop and wind from the right. It was just like the water at CdA in June. My navigation was lousy, and I didn’t swim a very good course. After some extra swimming to get back on track, I got a slight leg cramp (foreshadow) and finally made it to T1 in 37:01, my slowest ½ IM swim to date.

After a good transition, it was time to climb out of T1 and up to the highway, which went pretty well. Out on the road, I settled into a good rhythm and felt like I had the day under control. For 10 miles, we had some big rollers (think about the upper part of the CdA course on steroids) to get back to the entrance of the park. Instead of exiting, we turned right and took a huge descent past Lake Las Vegas and then a huge climb back up into the hills of Lake Mead. Then it was more juicy rollers. The scenery out here was pretty cool – just stark, desolate desert and canyons as far as you could see. It added a real man vs. the elements feel to the race.

About this point, Macca passed me on his way back out of the park. Man, what a site to see him hammering along in the aero position. He was encouraging all the athletes he passed – I got a “keep it up!” from him. After some more rollers, I saw Jeff going the other way and we shouted some encouragement to each other. I still felt good and was thinking I could start to close the gap on him. After the turnaround, was my best stretch of the day, I was cruising the hills in a good aero position and shifting and handling my bike well. Going past Lake Las Vegas meant one last huge climb to leave the park and head back towards Henderson. I got up this pretty well and was feeling very confident. Then we went under “the tunnel” and got to the Red Mountain Trail, a notorious stretch that began with “the 3 sisters” – 3 brutal climbs of 18% right in a row at about mile 35 or so. I got into my easy gears and started up them. After a bit I got out of the saddle and immediately my quads and calves locked up…uh oh. I clipped out to stretch and had to repeat this exercise up each climb. Not good times.

After the climbs, I got back on the saddle and began the worst stretch of the course – a long slow climb up to the top of Henderson straight into a headwind. Through here I struggled to find much strength in my legs and just tried to keep a decent cadence up. I was really slowing and wearing dow. This long slow climb would just never end and it was the worst kind of climb – you couldn’t see the top, just distant images of triathletes trying to spin up and up. Finally at the top, we turned down into the streets of Henderson – man, I was happy to leave that bike path! – and started a good descent back towards T2. But, of course, the last mile or two was back uphill. Coming into T2 I was happy to ditch the bike. The race clock read 4:18. I had a 3:32 bike split and legs filled with lactic acid. Let’s go run 13.1 super hilly miles!!

The first part of the run was down hill for a mile or so, and I could tell my legs were close to cramping. I did some stretching and realized I would have to drink more than the usual amount to clear my legs some. When I got down to the first aid station, a stereo was blaring that Beach Boys song that goes, “This is the worst trip I have ehh-vvuurr been on!” I was like, you know it guys!!

After the first aid station, we turned uphill for a murderous climb of 2 miles up and up and up through Henderson. I started to feel better and got going a bit better. Then I passed a golf course and there were a couple of 20-something guys teeing off, drinking beer, and driving a cart – I was like “that should be me out there! Why am I suffering out here!” That was good for a laugh. Also the next aid station at mile and finally at the top of this climb had some belly dancers. OK, I do like racing in Vegas. Now there was a long descent back down past the finish before a left turn led to the only ¼ mile flat stretch of the run. Then it was up and up and up again for a few miles. This course was insane! Through here I figured I was doing about 10 minute miles, but I was starting to slow. After cresting this climb, we had another descent. Here I came on Jeff going the other way and we stopped and shared some curse words about the course. He was also struggling.

After this, there was one last big climb up to the turnaround. At this point I really hated my optimistic can-do attitude that got me into this! After this climb, though, just a couple miles of downhill back towards the finish (including going through the Margartita Mile!). As I finally came towards the finish, it was good to hear my name from the announcer and cross that line. 2:20 run split, my slowest ½ mary ever and a 6:34 total time, also a new slowest ever and 52 minutes off my 70.3 pr.

But I was 7th in my age group, which is one of my better finishes. So, hard to decipher how much was due to the ridiculously hard course and how much was due to not having my A game on race day. Lots to think about and analyze. I think my nutrition was off a little, I needed a little more water. And I didn’t taper enough after a good block of training, just never felt particularly rested. But enough of this, I was in Vegas after all.

I did enjoy some great finish line food, a great massage, and a great shower before a big Mexican dinner. And, geez, a beer has never tasted so good. So, I tried that again. And again. And again. And so on. And then we gambled a bit at the tables. Wasn’t my day there either!

Overall, I am really glad to have experienced the Silverman – it is a great event, great SWAG, great volunteers, and just a course that has to be seen to be believed. I wouldn’t want to race here all the time, but I am sure glad to have seen it. If you are feeling adventurous and up for a challenge, I recommend it. I am already thinking about going back and how I could perform with a little more knowledge and a better day.

Oh, and my hat is off to anybody with the courage to do the full distance race – wow, that would be nasty. Great show by them.