Back to Racing! Well, sort of 🤷🏼 been a while since my last post, so I’d like to get back to it with a race report on my backyard Ironman 70.3. It was a carefully planned day, but not everything went according to plan :) I’m going all out with the details, so if you get bored feel free to skip to the summary at the end.
Swim: Thanks to my friend Roger, I was able to do an open water swim and completely time my transitions. After a few practice swims at the lake, I knew 8 laps would get me over 2112 yards. Based on the splits I was seeing, I knew the gps was losing me and granting extra yardage. This was my first time using the swim skin that I purchased from my sponsor Quintana Roo. Even with the swim skin, 1:24/100 yards seemed too quick, so I swam an “extra” 150 yards in attempt to balance it out. I came out of the water at 30:50, which would be 1:28/100 yards. I have been holding 1:26-1:27 for 2150 in the pool, but I still believe this time to be slightly fast.
Bike: I wasn’t quite
sure how the bike was going to go, but I had a goal of pushing 240W. In the
first few miles, I wasn’t able to hold over 220 without my heart rate getting
too high and my legs fatiguing on me. With a tailwind on the way out, I was
averaging around 25mph and just pushing by feel since I was so far off my goal.
The route I had planned was going to end farther west than I started, and the
wind was increasing from the west all morning. It was frustrating to deal with
a stronger and longer headwind on the back half, but in a true race everyone would
need to deal with the same conditions. Ty came out for a bottle exchange at
mile 40 for me and drove with me the last 16 miles. When I got to my final turn
with 6 miles to go, the railroad crossing was closed and we had to call an
audible. I wrapped up the bike with a 221W average, but still held 23.7mph
despite the low wattage. 2:22:12 was my split.
 |
| Bottle Hand off on the bike |
Run: A mixture of being over zealous and too much Gatorade at the end of the bike made for an incredibly painful run. My first mile split was a 5:54, and it only got more challenging from there. The road we ended up on switched to gravel for 2 miles, and I had a terrible side stitch from miles 2-5. My goal of 6:10 pace quickly dissipated as I split 6:33 and 6:39 on miles 2 and 3. I couldn’t take any fluids either as the pain flared up. After 5 miles in the heat, I slowly started taking half sips of water and eventually Gatorade. At this point it was a little too late and I just focused on holding form. Although I was frustrated with my run being crippled by a stomach cramp, I was happy to pull together 1:23:53.
Transitions: Last year
and Muncie 70.3, my combined transition time was exactly 4:00. For this
simulation I was right at 4:30, so I believe this to be a true comparison. I
did not flying mount because of my rear hydration (I normally race 1 cage and use aid stations), and I nixed the flying dismount because our route change ended
on gravel.
Summary: I finished my backyard 70.3 with a total time of 4:21:23. The swim went great, but I am not sure how many extra yards the gps gifted me with. In a race I’d have athletes to draft and swim around, but I still believe this to be a reasonable (maybe 1 minute fast) swim time for me. The bike was challenging with an 5 extra miles into the increasing headwind, but I am very happy with holding 23.7mph solo. Again, in a race setting there would be drafting from 6 bike lengths back as well as from athletes passing/being passed. The run was brutal as I cursed into the farmland from the pain from miles 2-5. I missed much needed fluids while battling, and struggled on the back half from dehydration. I held it together the best I could and closed in 1:23:53 for my 4th fastest half marathon.
All in all, it just felt good to rest and put my fitness to the test. I couldn’t have done it without Roger or Ty, and that shows why the support of friends is paramount in this sport.
After finishing, Ty and I packed our bags to see my dad and race another 70.3 with him the very next day.