Santa Cruz 70.3 Race Report

Santa Cruz was a very late add that was chosen to fill the 13 week gap between Lou 70.3 and IM Arizona. I signed up after feeling strong coming out of Lake Placid, but my body was starting to feel the load of 4 full IRONMANs in under 10 months. 

Travel was long, driving down to St. Louis after work Thursday and hoping on a plane that next morning. We had a 90min delay on our second flight that put us in a little later, but all in all not bad. I got a quick practice swim that evening before grabbing dinner and heading to bed.

Race morning was smooth and we had plenty of time to relax before suiting up.  It was a little chilly and the water temp was 62, which gave me some issues during my warmup swim. I came out of the water a little dizzy out of breath…a little concerning.

Swim: Beach start for the 50 pros and it was chaotic. I got out as hard as I could to try and make a group, but within 2 minutes I was panicking. I was actually to the point of grabbing onto water support and withdrawing from the race. Fortunately there was no one close by and I opted to just slow down and try to catch my breath. I was still near a few other pros and pushed to stay on their feel. I knew I was pretty much the last swimmer and just wanted to get through it.

Bike: Flying mount was alright and I immediately focused on pushing my power up to my goal of 270W. At mile 4 I had to cross some rumbles and lost my 160g bottle of carbs despite having a rubber band this time. That required me to slow down at all 3 aid stations trying to grab bananas and gels. I also lost a small aero benefit from that bottle. My power was great, but the speed just wasn’t quite there. I was passed by 2-3 other pros and the first place amateur. I only passed 1 other pro and was a little bummed to be at the back of the field. My goal was the average 270W and I was at 273 before the final technical section and flying dismount. I ended with my all time best average of 269W and 275 NP. I was a full 1mph slower than Louisville at higher power, but several other pros that competed in both races had similar splits. Little bummed, but so hopefully I can sort that out.

Run: I pushed harder than I ever had on the bike and was behind on nutrition starting the run. My goal was to take a gel every 2 miles or more. Spoiler, I PRed my gel intake at 8 gels in 81 minutes. Honestly, my only goal was to not get run down by any of the female pros that started 5min behind me. I figured 6:20’s would be faster enough, so that’s what I set out for. I was hovering around 6:15 pace as I got to mile 5. The middle 5K was all packed dirt out on a bluff with lots of tight turns. I didn’t lose too much time and held steady. Each gel I took, I could feel a small surge of energy within 1-2 minutes, but it was short lived. That final 10 minutes seemed to take forever and there was another pro 50 meters ahead of me that I just couldn’t catch. As I rounded the final corner, I saw the tape ready for the top female pro. In a panic I waved them off as I sprinted through the deep sand to get through so they could have it ready for her. After crossing, I turned around and Tamara Jewett came around just 24s after me.

It was unfortunate to travel all the way to California to have a sub par result. 

3 weeks prior, I finished just over 7 minutes ahead of the female winner Jackie Hering at Louisville 70.3. At Santa Cruz she finished just under 3 minutes ahead of me. That’s over a 10 minute swing between the 2 races and a pretty disappointing result for me. 

Another athlete that was at both races was Justin Metzler. He finished 6 minutes ahead of me at Louisville and 24 minutes ahead of me at Santa Cruz, an 18 minute difference… All that is to say despite pushing career best power on the bike, I was significantly slower this time around.

I have 2 more races ahead of me to close out the 2025 season, so I’m hoping to turn things around and end on a high note.