A weekend in the Hamptons.

Wikipedia (picture credit) defines the Hamptons as "several villages and hamlets in the towns of Southampton and East Hampton on the far east end of Suffolk County in Long Island, New York. These townships occupy the South Fork of Long Island, stretching into the Atlantic Ocean. The Hamptons form a popular seaside resort, one of the historical Summer Colonies of the American Northeast." I was not partaking in any of the seaside activities last weekend nor some of the potentially snooty activities hobnobbing with the goober schmoochers but had two training days on tap that were wrapped around events the the Hamptons.

The weather forecast called for the weekend to be a washout but I had to get the work done as the beginning of the last big training block for my Ironman. First up was the Hamptons Half Marathon where I was putting my Iron run math to the test.

My first mistake was actually waiting until the last minute to actually see where this event was. There are many villages in the Hamptons. I thought somehow that this race was in Southampton which is about an hour from my house when the reality was that it was in East Hampton which is an additional 30 minutes or so away driving. I also read that there were concerns about the parking and they arranged for a bus to get people to the starting line but that bus was sold out. I got up at stupid o'clock and watched the lightening reflect off the fog as I drove. It was wet but I was happy that it wasn't raining. I brought many different types of rain clothes in the car just in case. The parking proved to be a non issue and after I got my number I chatted with some former Team in Training buddies. This was a big TNT event.

My plan was to start running every 5 minutes and to stop after running for about 2.5 minutes. If I felt strong I could go an extra few seconds. It the terrain was uncooperative (aka hills), I would cut it a little short. I carried a water bottle and wanted to drink a lot. The humidity was close to 100% with the expectation that it would start raining at any moment. I wanted to keep this up for the whole half marathon and keep each mile under 15 minutes. If I could go a little faster than plan I expected best case of a 3 hour half.

I started out flying (for me <9:00/mile). It was hard to shut it down and follow the plan but I realized it wasn't a cardio problem that I was trying to solve, it was an ankle problem. The miles clicked off and I was doing well. I kept it up and found myself soaked from either sweat or the ambient humidity. My ipod died at about mile 10I think due to moisture but I kept on plan. The mile splits were:

Mile 1:12:06 (a little quick with 2 walking breaks but hey, it happens)
Mile 2: 13:55
Mile 3: 13:37
Mile 4: 13:46
Mile 5: 13:36
Mile 6: 13:50
Mile 7: 13:48
Mile 8: 13:17
Mile 9: 13:55
Mile 10: 13:40
Mile 11: 13:30
Mile 12: 13:32
Mile 13: 13:54
Remainder pace: 11:35 (.19 mile). ( you have to kick it in a little).

Overall time was 2:58:58. The plan worked perfectly! I didn't get rained on! Even more exciting was that I was in no more ankle pain than usual. I got in the car and headed home.

The next morning I was up early again and headed back out for the Tour of the Hamptons Century. This one started in Southampton and I was expecting a flat ride as a training ride perfect for IMFL. I've ridden out there a lot and while there are some hills the closer you get to Montauk, the south shore of Long Island is generally flat. There is the probability of wind but that would be OK. The humidity again up there but the forecast just called for occasional showers (there were none again). It was supposed to be cooler (proven to be yet another meteorologist lie as it got very warm).

This ride, in contrast to my expectations, was decidedly unflat. The route seemed to follow every opportunity for an uphill. There was nothing major but mostly short little stingers. I rode with some friends who were doing some of the other route choices (there was a 25, 50, 70, and 100 plus mile option) and rode a lot solo. I ran into some hot spots on my cycling shoes that I need to address. I was in no real mood to continue as I was hot and paying the price from running the half the day before. I considered short cuts to get back to my car but then realized this was where the hard work was. Either do it or do not. It was up to me. After some instant soul searching. I chose to do it and wound up putting 104 miles in the bank.

Next weekend I have another half Mary on tap to test the Iron run math again and an unofficial century to ride at race pace. I'm sure I will find a flat route to ride realizing this is the hardest time of training. I chose to do sign up for this and need to remember to HTFU and just get it done.