This last weekend I headed down to Muncie, Indiana for the world's longest running half ironman, the 26th Annual Muncie Endurathon. After an 8 hour plus drive, I arrived into town with my girlfriend Brooke, at around 9:00 pm on the night before the race. The race director was nice enough to hang around after registration had closed to give me everything that I would need in the morning. Not every race director would be so accommodating and it is the little things like that which will keep me coming back.

The day would bring many surprises, starting with a temperature of around 80* with humidity close to 95% at 4am. Hurricane Dennis had given us clouds, but also humidity. I knew that many would be fooled into thinking that they didn't need to take in fluids like they would if the sun were out.

The swim started at 7amand with a water temperature of 79*, we would not get wetsuits. The water was choppy and a layer of fog over the lake made sighting a bit of a challenge. The gun went off and I felt good in the water. I swam in 3rd the entire swim, pulling a long train of athletes until about halfway through the 1.9km swim, where I picked things up a little bit. I came out in 3rd and satisfied, knowing that times quit a bit slower than last year (3minutes).

Once out on the bike, the plan was to not over work the first 20k, just stay smooth. That is exactly what I did and it was encouraging to move up into 2nd by around the 15k mark out on the course. I rode steady to the turn around into the wind and had planned on working the second half of the ride. Boy were we in for a surprise, just as we reached the 45km mark, we also reached a lightening storm that sent out bolts of lightening and dumped rain that was so heavy, it was hard to see where I was riding. I am pretty sure that my Rudy Project glasses kept me from going completely blind and riding off the road.

I kept on top of my nutrition which included 6-24oz bottles of Energy drink, 500cal of Hammer Gel (Cappuccino Flavor) and Endurolytes every 10minutes. In the past I may have thought that this was too much to take in on the bike, but it kept me riding strong all the way back to transition where I arrived feeling good with a bike split of 2:13:42.

I didn't know exactly how much time that I had to make up on the leader (Ryan Shannahan), but I tried not to think about it. I just stayed relaxed and got into a rhythm. I felt good and with just running at just under a tempo effort and was clicking off the miles in just over 6minutes. I moved into the lead at mile 5.5 and came to the turn in 40:52 feeling great.

As I headed back on the challenging run course I saw that Zach Ruble, who came off the bike behind me, and was having a very quick run. It gave me confidence knowing that I hadn't worked the first half of the run too hard and kept a little bit in "the tank," if I should need it....and I did here!!! I picked things up and ran a few miles close to 6min and then mile 10 just under 6minutes. As I got to mile 11 I was relieved to see that I still had a lead of about a minute and I was able to relax just a little bit, but never completely. I saw Brooke at mile 13 and that is when it hit me that this was my day out on the race course. My feet got a bit lighter and I seemed to forget about the pain of the race.

After running a 1:21:19 half marathon (I was excited to see that I negative split it.) I crossed the line in 4:07:40, giving me my second win of the year and the first substantial payday of my career.

I want to say thank you to everyone that supports me; Brooke for standing out in the rain all morning on Saturday and everyday, encouraging me on. My mom and stepdad for their financial and moral support. My brother for working so hard on my webpage (www.blakebecker.com) which is up, but still being modified. The other racers; Zach and Ryan, on their great races and the Muncie Endurathon Race Crew for putting on such a good race!

Also thank you to my sponsors for helping me get to the finish line first. They are Oomph! Sportswear, Rudy Project, Zipp Wheels, Litespeed Bikes, Orca Wetsuits, Fleet Feet Chicago, and Hammer Nutrition.

Now it is time to recover and then back to my build for Ironman Wisconsin on September 11. I will also be racing at Age Group Nationals on August 13, the USAT Regional Championship on August 21 and then Chicago on August 28. Until next time...