Chattanooga 70.3 Race Report

 Racing 70.3s back to back weekends! I wasn’t sure how this would go, but I’m satisfied.

Travel: I’ll skip the travel and pre-race logistics this time. Everything was smooth and nothing to note EXCEPT I brought Taco Bell back 2 nights before the race.

Swim (31:20 - 27th pro): Arguably one of my better swims. The water temp was non-wetsuit for pros and the current was light this year. I felt I positioned myself well at the start as everyone was bunched up to the right. I went out as hard I I felt comfortable and was getting bodied for the first 200 meters. Once things settled out, I could clearly see a decent group ahead of me and did my best to recover a bit and not lose the back of it. I could tell Ari Klau was ahead of me and I felt good being in his company (he missed the win by 5s). I felt like I had to work very hard to stay with him, and throttled the gas the entire time. Once things did settle, it was “easy” in a sense of just stay on the feet. The current certainly helped me and I had to work for it. 

T1: I did better with the helmet strap this time! Took 3 tries which is better than standing there for 35s! I didn’t lose any positions, so that’s a win in my book. No aero socks this time helped as well.

Bike (2:18:54 - 38th pro): Here we go again on the bike. I was really happy with my position starting the bike and I had several opportunities to try riding with a large group or a few individuals that came by. A group of 5 came by and put down the power to stay with them for about 10min. Even at 300W, I was getting dropped so I decided to go back to my target of 270 before blowing up. I auto lap every 5 miles and 5-10 was 290W. Each rider that came by pretty much dropped instantly to the point where I asked another pro if I had a flat on a climb. He said it looked low but he wouldn’t stop for it. I checked after the race and it was about 10psi below where I thought I had filled it (despite being 15 deg warmer too). Either way, I can only describe it like I was riding a flat up those small rollers. I ended up pushing the same power as I did in Gulf Coast last week, and my split was comparable to 2 other pros that did the double as well. I was fully expecting the top female pros to come by at any moment, but fortunately they didn’t. I will have some time before my next race to attempt a few tweaks. One thing I was going to leave out but I think is important...I've been dealing with a nasty eye stye since Guld Coast. Without exaggerating, I could not see out of my right eye during most of that ride, so I just kept it closed. I felt this had a minor impact on my ability to see hazards and navigate turns as well as I would normally. Not going to post any pictures of that here.

T2: No issues here and took the flying dismount cautiously again. Pretty much every bike was racked like last time, but I just focused on myself again. One reason I had preferred socks in T1 is because I’ve had my abs cramp when bending down to put on the socks. This happened like normal today and I had to straighten up twice to stop it. As I was starting the run, I saw the lead female roll in.

Run (1:19:51 - 28th pro): Yes you read that right, relative to the pro field I had a better swim. I still thought it was a solid run, but this was a first for me. I started the run pretty disheveled… put my bib on backwards, dropped a gel and just struggled to get myself situated. It’s also all uphill and I had to pee again. I was able to take care of business between miles 1 and 2 this time then got to work.

I thought run was going to be bad when both of my calves were feeling very tight and crampy. I couldn’t run a single sub 6 mile that first loop. But when I saw my support crew, shoutout to Dynmo, my mom, Sarah and cousin Hannah (with her daughter)…I got quite the boost. Everything seemed to loosen up and from 8 on, I as under 6 except for 1 uphill mile. I also closed in a 5:38, so that felt good. 

Overall I am very satisfied with this performance after Texas 4 weeks prior and Gulf Coast 1 week prior. Even those the river helped me stay with a better group, that swim showed me I can come out ahead of strong riders. My big missing piece is still the bike, and I am bleeding way too much time. I welcome any and all thoughts. In typical fashion, I ran down a few positions at the end. 

Gulf Coast 70.3 Race Report

Getting straight into this one! Taking a stab at being concise for once.

Travel: I left after work Wednesday and spent the night in St. Louis with my mom. We got up early and drove a little over 10 hours to a hotel in Alabama, then finished the last 2 hours Friday before the race. She was a huge help sharing the drive so I could relax and stretch myself out in the passenger seat. 

Friday was a little hectic getting checked in, the pro briefing, setting up my bike in the parking lot and waiting until 3:30pm to check into our hotel. I let a few of the little details overwhelm me, but managed to get to bed by 8pm for a start time of 5:40am. 

One thing I want to touch on going into this race is a change to my day to day and race week nutrition. I won’t go into the details, but everything I consumed was timed and tracked to hit certain macros. My girlfriend Sarah was the main reason I tried this and she was pivotal in meal planning. She also sent me with every snack imaginable and even pre-packed bags with the macros listed to make tracking easy.

Race morning: We got to transition right as it opened and I quickly got my gear setup. As I was leaving they announced the swim would be shortened to 1000 meters due to hazardous water conditions and we’d now start at 6:10am. They mentioned this contingency plan during our pro briefing, so I wasn’t too shocked. My mom and I found a place to hunker down for the extra 30min and I was glad I packed a little extra nutrition to stay topped off. 

Swim (9:23 - 27th pro): It was a beach start and I opted to stay in the back row to avoid some of the chaos. As we ran into the water, several bodies were falling and I just did that awkward water skip until I had passed most of the breaking waves. The swells were decent and I found my space heading to the first turn buoy. After going around it, I started swimming to the first sight buoy and soon noticed no one in front of me. Confused, I looked around and saw everyone closer to the shore side. Those buoys must have been blown out slightly and I could see the far turn buoy and aimed for that. I don’t think I swam too wide, but definitely missed my chance at sitting on anyone’s feet. It was over in a blink and probably closer to 600 meters. I’m not happy or disappointed with it.

T1: I felt like I was efficient through the sand and getting to my bike quickly. I opted to skip aero socks this time and just grab my bike. Despite practicing clipping my new helmet strap 30+ times the night before, I literally stood there for 30s unable to clasp it (verified because my buddy Kyle was 35s faster and we ran through it together). I lost touch with anyone I came out of the water with starting the bike, so that stunk.

Bike (2:07:45 - 29th pro): The first 10 miles of the bike I was solo and passed 1 guy who didn’t try to stay with me. As I was grabbing a bottle from the first aid station, 2 guys came around me and may have been with me without me realizing. I actually had some fun playing with race ranger and stayed with them since they were similar in ability. It felt like actual racing to me, and I was pretty happy with my power production and effort level. I felt like we were moving a little slow with what I believed was a tailwind until we turned around and had an actual tailwind riding about 30mph. At the time, I thought I was killing it and was super happy to split under 2:10 for the first time. When I saw Sam Long 3 miles into the run as I was coming off the bike, I realized everyone rode insanely fast. Looking at the results, 18 guys broke 2 hours which is insane. Still some work to do, but I felt strong and enjoyed my first taste of “pack” dynamics.

T2: I felt like this went well. I took the flying dismount cautiously. The last time I did one was Texas, and we know how that went. Pretty much every bike was racked, but I just focused on myself and was quick to get socks and shoes on. I did drop my sunglasses and had to stop and grab them.

Run (1:16:50 - 15th pro): If you’ve read my blogs and race reports before, you know there’s no such thing as TMI. I really had to pee starting the run, so I took the first mile slow. I was running behind another pro and was trying to take care of business before passing him. After a mile of trying, I couldn’t get it started and decided to run through it. I split a 6:20 and then a few 6’s for loop 1. As I started loop 2 I decided to try again and was successful at mile 5 clocking a 6:10. With an empty bladder, I started dropping 5:45 miles and felt strong. I actually felt comfortable and could lean into that effort. I told myself I would wait until the final lap to go, but I kept accelerating around lapped athletes. When I saw my mom ending lap 2, I told her this is the strongest I’ve felt deep into a 70.3. I fully attribute that to how well Sarah helped me fuel for the race. I ended up closing the final 5K in 17:45, and that felt really good. First time under 1:17 and a minute run PR. I will say the course was very fast and conditions were perfect, but my run was strong compared to the rest of the pros.

Overall I’m happy with the performance 3 weeks post Ironman. I wasn’t sure if I could recover in time, but maybe that’s from having a slower day in Texas. Little shoutout to my buddy Kyle Martinelli in his pro debut finishing 3min ahead of me! I was hoping to catch him on the run, but his bike was just too strong. Next up is a quick turnaround in Chattanooga, and I’m excited to see how the body responds to racing back to back weekends.