This Ironman70.3 is slightly different than other races. The race starts at noon on a Saturday, and even allows race day bike check in. I opted to check in the bike before race day to take advantage of the shuttle bus they offered from T2 to T1 (about 15miles apart). We took the shuttle around 9am and had to wait for 2.5h at T1 for the race to start. It was already sunny and out in the open with barely any shade. We were lucky to get a spot behind a truck in the shade. Just to illustrate how hot it was, some people even opted to take advantage of the shade behind the port a potty.
I tried to stay hydrated during that time, but not sure if I did a good job. Especially once I put the wetsuit on and was even hotter. It was an in water start and we were allowed to get into the water 3min before the wave starts. The 58 degree water was a shock and relief at the same time.
Swim:
Swimstart of M30-34
Swim was uneventful. I tried to stay on some fast feet but lost the faster ones early on and than was swimming along. I was overtaking many people from the previous waves and was only overtaken by one from the next wave. I thought I was doing a great job until I came out of the water and saw an unimpressive 34min time.
But in the end I came out of the water in 20th place which is better than any race so far.
T1:
Was a fairly long run and the cold feet didn’t make it easier to run on the hard pavement. After 2:21 I was on the bike.
Bike:
Right after the start their was a long downhill, were I planned to eat my Powerbar and getting ahead with drinking. But it was so gusty that I just focused on staying on the bike course. My race plan called for 250-255Watts on the flats and 270-280Watts on the hills. The idea was that I could learn to still have a good run after a hard bike. I soon noticed that it was hard to keep the Watts steady at 250 and was often realizing that I was slightly lower around 240. The temperature was around 90f and the cold from the water was gone within a couple minutes but thanks to the wind I didn’t feel the heat too much.
Climbing one of the many hills...
I was overtaking many people in the first 30min and than fewer and fewer. Soon I was riding pretty much alone except for one guy which I would switch position with a couple times. But after 1h he was behind me and I was riding by myself. The heat started getting to me and I tried to drink enough as planned and also poured water over my head and body to stay cool which helped a couple minutes. Unfortunately, I only was able to do that 3x on the aid stations. After 2h about 45 miles into the ride I started struggling because my stomach started hurting. I was ahead with fueling (3.5 bottles) because it was hot, but had the hardest time to get additional liquid down. I know that the right thing to do would be to slow down and get rid of some heat, but I decided to push on since the goal of this race was to push hard on the bike. I decided to take a salt tablet and a gel for fueling but that upset my stomach even more. I finished the bike in 2:33:48 (only 24seconds slower than my bike PR from Texas70.3, which is a great because Texas is pancake flat) which was good enough to advance me into 10th place. Note during the whole ride only 3 people overtook me, definitely one of my stronger rides.
T2:
What a view, the transition was pretty much empty. Since I wasn’t going for a World championship slot I took even the time to put on some sun screen. Not that it helped considering my sunburn 🙂
Run:
My race planned called for a 6:15min opening mile. Normally, that means I have to slow myself down not to start too fast. Not this time, I quickly noticed that something was off. My muscles were doing fine and my brain was working I was totally in the spot an ready to go. Except my stomach was hurting. I started off with a 7min/mile but decided that I need water at the first aid station and walked the station to get enough in. I did the same again at mile 2. I decided to keep running as fast as my stomach would allow and take the time at the aid station to get the nutrition in I need. My idea was that my stomach eventually would recover and I could start to push the pace.
To my surprise I was running alone and nobody was passing me. I didn’t understand it, I though with my slow ~7min/mile pace people would be flying past me. Eventually, the guy I was switching position from the bike passed me just slightly faster than I was going. A few miles later (still walking every single aid station) a guy flew past me in a much faster pace but as it turns out that was the only guy who was flying by me. During one of the aid stations I tried to drink perform but that upset my stomach again so I decided to stick with water and code. To make up for the lost sodium I took another salt tablet. Unfortunately, that lead to stomach cramping which really sucked. All I could think of is that is what it must feel for a great swimmer who struggles on the run. What a horrible experience to struggle from mile one for the rest of the half marathon. At the midway point I even stopped and gave Amy a kiss and told her how miserable I was. She told me to suck it up and keep going. (though love) She even slapped my ass, which she regretted considering how sweaty and gross I was.
Finishline
The worst part on the run was the sticky/dry mouth. After an aid station it would only take a few steps until my mouth was sticky again. In fact it became so sticky that I hardly could spit anymore there was nothing I could do about it. Just one additional annoying distraction 🙂
My original plan was to start pushing around mile 10. But once I was there I hardly felt better. But shortly after that some guy started following me. I used that as motivation to push the pace a little. But I still had to stop at the next aid station and let him pass me. I never lost him and he was only a little ahead. With only 2 miles to go I started to close in again and around mile 12 I caught him. this time I decided to skip the last aid station and keep my position. Than I saw the guy which I traded position on the bike was just a few hundred yards in front of me. I started to push harder in the hope to catch up. Once we turned onto the finish line with about half a mile left I overtook him. To my surprise he didn’t match my pace. I couldn’t believe it and still kept pushing. Before entering the finish shoot I turned around to see if someone is following me and than for once tried to enjoy the finish line experience. Unfortunately, there was hardly anybody cheering in the finish line (check the picture). I finished the run in 1:35:56 which is one of the slower half marathon times.
I finished the race in 4:47:35 in 10th place. The finish was very emotional for me since for one I was struggling a lot during this race and was glad it was over. But I additionally I was very disappointing about my sub-par run. The only consolidation was that I could have gotten a roll down slot for the 70.3 World champion ship. But I declined because of Ironman Whistler which is only two weeks before the 70.3 World championship.
After Match:
This time I didn’t go sun tanning as preparation and regret that. I burned my shoulders arms once more. Because of the fueling/stomach problems I had my legs are not sore they only feel a little tired. Another race were I was limited by fueling which is a little disappointing that I couldn’t perform on the level my training numbers indicated.
Bike HR and Watts (my garmin is a little off but my bike computer indicates that the course has 2’000 ft elevation gain)
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