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Ironman 70.3 Racine - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Racine, Wisconsin
United States
HFP Racing
66F / 19C
Sunny
Total Time = 00m
Overall Rank = 1044/2150
Age Group = Male 35-39
Age Group Rank = 132/275
Pre-race routine:

This was supposed to be my focus race for the year. I trained very hard for a good result. It probably sounds pretty arrogant that I'm dissapointed in the result. However, I didn't race anything else this year except a marathon. Which was training for this race. Everything was focussed on this race. I thought I did everything right. I guess that's why I'm so dissapointed. Now, I wish I incorporated more races into training instead of just training. If I had some other good results this year maybe it wouldn't feel so bad.

Last week wednesday my neighbors wife stopped by the house. I was in taper so was actually not out training. She informed us that her husband Phil passed away during the day. Phil was 49. He died of a heart condition he didn't know he had and showed no symptoms of. Phil and his wife Carol are a little older than my wife and I but had become our friends and good neighbors. My wife and I were pretty upset. The wake was set to be the day of the race. I knew I couldn't miss the wake and actually debated forgoeing the race. It was a very difficult decision to race being I trained so long for this and I knew we had to be there for Carol and pay our last respects to Phil.
Event warmup:

I walked down the beach and put my wetsuit on close to the start line. Got the wetsuit on and went for a quick swim. My start time was 1 1/2 hours after the pros went off. I got to watch them, and my wife came down and met me near the start. When I saw her walking down the beach it hit me. I REALLY didn't want to be there. I wanted to go home and pay my last respects my friend and neighbor. My wife, Anne, was trying to take pictures. I was holding back tears. I knew I had to do this anyway. Phil was a fun guy. He loved sports and was very light hearted. He constantly made people laugh, something I desparately needed at the moment. Anne told me he wouldn't want me to quit as I broke down on the beach. I must of looked like an idiot crying before the start.

I waited for my wave to start and stayed cool by sitting in the water until my wave was called
Swim
  • 45m 22s
  • 1931 meters
  • 02m 21s / 100 meters
Comments:

It was time to put all the anguish aside. The horn went off and I ran through the water until it was just above mid thigh. I dove in and started my swim. I had lined up near the front and was in the lead group at the first bouy. To avoid the mess at the byou I went a little wide. I made the turn and started looking for something to sight off of. There was nothing in the distance. I kept swimming and looking. Before I knew it I was a good 100m or so off course. My right goggle had been leaking and was swishing the sun screen into my eye. It stung pretty bad. Since already lost contact with the lead group I decided to stop and fix it and look where I had to go to get back on track. As I fixed my goggles I was breathing heavy from the sprint to the first turn. Up came a wave and I inhaled. So I had to cough out the water. I inhaled a really big gulp. I thought for a second I was going down. I coughed and coughed. Then I started swimming and coughed some more as I breathed. At this point I had continued my off course antics. I popped up and saw a race volunteer on a suf board waving me back on course. I found the line of byou's we were supposed to be following and started heading that way.
What would you do differently?:

Just stay in the pack and round the byou tight. When there isn't anything to sight in the distance it's not worth going wide and losing my way. I should have stayed with that lead group and had them help lead the way. I could have used a draft better.
Transition 1
  • 05m 2s
Comments:

I wasn't overly concerned with my times in transition. It was a pretty long run from the beach to transition. 5 minutes wasn't the best time, but wasn't too far out of line either. I was relaxed and didn't rush anything. Being it was a long race I figured I could make up any time lost on the course
Bike
  • 2h 56m 5s
  • 56 miles
  • 19.08 mile/hr
Comments:

Course was aweful! I had some lower back issues going into the week of the race. The cracks were painful and annoying. It was about 3 miles into the bike my stomach started hurting. I felt extremely bloated. I'm not sure if it was from the heat (I heard 100+ heat index), the gulp of water I took from the swim, or something I had taken in nutritionally. I was so focussed on the pain in my stomach my legs didn't have anything. I'm easily a 20mph+ rider on easy training rides. This should have been 22-23 pretty easy. I had planned on using 225 watts average for the race. At some point I felt so bad I quit paying attention to power, but I think I was under 170 watts. This was not like me at all. Cycling is my strength I was pretty dissapointed.
What would you do differently?:

I should have quit taking in gels and perpetuum. Maybe my stomach would have felt better for the run.
Transition 2
  • 02m 11s
Comments:

This is usually a really quick transition for me. There were others in front of me crawlling to there spots. They didn't seem to care about anyone behind them. Since I was having a bad race already I just dealt with it. I didn't feel like getting aggressive to get to my spot so I just crawled behind them. It probably should have been around 1 minute, but waiting for the others made it 2
What would you do differently?:

Today.....nothing
Run
  • 2h 30m 58s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 11m 31s  min/mile
Comments:

Just aweful! Everytime I tried to run my stomach felt like a pin would pop it. Everytime I drank something it felt worse. But it was HOT, so I had to keep drinking. The people in the neighborhood were great, hosing us down and keeping us cool. Even so, I think a lot of people in the race suffered here because my rankings are about the same as they were in the bike and I walked most of this run. I ran a marathon at 8min/mile until mile 20 earlier this year. In training I was doing great and expected 7:30 miles here. Being it was so hot I would have been ok with 8min/miles. But this was horendous and dissapointing. When I started the run I saw my wife cheering me on coming out of transition. It was a much needed boost of energy after a terrible bike. Usually I would use that, put my head down and run. But I knew that wasn't going to happen today. So I went to the wall, grabbed my wife and gave her a big smooch! I figured the race was going to suck anyway. What's a couple of seconds to give her a big thank you for putting up with all the time I spent training for this mess. She was happy. When I came around for the second out and back I did it again. She doesn't know it, but my stomach hurt sooooo bad I debated going down the finish shute and calling it a day. If I didn't see her, my mom, and my dad standing down the shute for the second loop I probably would have. So I gave her another kiss and headed out for the second loop and for the my finishers medal.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing I could do differen today. My stomach issues got the best of me.
Post race
Warm down:

I was sooooooo happy to see that finish line! I threw my hands in the air and hit the guy next me. I had to apologize. My wife was there right away and I couldn't have been happier to see her. She had to have known I wasn't going to be happy with my time and kept reminding me how huge it was to finish this race. She kept telling me how many people dropped out because of the heat and she was amazed at how I kept going even though it was very evident I was in a lot of pain with my stomach

What limited your ability to perform faster:

bloating. I wish I could say I learned something here, but I'm not sure what this was from. Best I can tell, it was from taking in water on the swim, but I'm not positive. The gels and perpetuum had been fine in training, but it is possible they could have bothered me with the combonation of the heat

Event comments:

I would have high marks for this race except for the bike course. I can't believe how rough it was. Everything else was great. I didn't get to enjoy the post race festivities. We had to leave for the wake right after the race. Being I took so long on the course we barely made it too. I'm glad we did. Carol really needed us there, and I couldn't live with myselfe if we missed it.




Last updated: 2011-01-26 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:45:22 | 1931 meters | 02m 21s / 100meters
Age Group: 169/275
Overall: 1407/2150
Performance: Bad
Suit: Quintana Roo
Course: Point to point swim in Lake Michigan. There was very little in the backgound to sight
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 66F / 19C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Bad
Breathing: Average Drafting: Bad
Waves: Navigation: Bad
Rounding: Bad
T1
Time: 05:02
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
02:56:05 | 56 miles | 19.08 mile/hr
Age Group: 137/275
Overall: 1046/2150
Performance: Bad
Wind: Headwind
Course: 56 mile loop through Racine and into the country just outside it. This was the worse bike course ever. Wisconsin is known for it's clean smooth roads and I expected more. I heard there were cracks in the road but you couldn't even describe how bad they were. There was very little of the course that was smooth. I think every pot whole and crack in the state was on this course. The wind felt like it shifted on our way back too, so I felt there was a headwind the enire time. It was extremely annoying.
Road: Potholes Dry Cadence: 83
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Below average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 02:11
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Below average
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
02:30:58 | 13.1 miles | 11m 31s  min/mile
Age Group: 132/275
Overall: 1044/2150
Performance: Bad
Course: Through town and behind the zoo out and back 6 miles
Keeping cool Good Drinking Too much
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 2
Good race? No
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 2

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2011-07-18 9:29 AM

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Elite
3515
20001000500
Romeoville, Il
Subject: Ironman 70.3 Racine


2011-07-19 5:02 AM
in reply to: #3601428

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Expert
1104
1000100
Canada
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Racine

Congratulations, Brian,

You da man!!

CoolCool

2011-07-19 5:48 AM
in reply to: #3601428

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Champion
7163
500020001002525
Verona WI--Ironman Bike Country!
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Racine

I am really sorry this isn't the race you wanted it to be.  It wasn't for me either.  In the end conditions played a huge role in the result and there was no way you could have controlled that.  Post analysis you perserverd, you finished and that probably made your friend AND your wife very proud.  You can come back stronger next year!

As far as the stomach bloating.  I have that frequently.  For me, it's all related to how much air I swallow during the swim.  Maybe that happened in all the chaos leading up to the first buoy and the leaking goggle fiasco.

 

2011-07-19 10:21 AM
in reply to: #3603266

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Elite
3515
20001000500
Romeoville, Il
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Racine
SSMinnow - 2011-07-19 5:48 AM

I am really sorry this isn't the race you wanted it to be.  It wasn't for me either.  In the end conditions played a huge role in the result and there was no way you could have controlled that.  Post analysis you perserverd, you finished and that probably made your friend AND your wife very proud.  You can come back stronger next year!

As far as the stomach bloating.  I have that frequently.  For me, it's all related to how much air I swallow during the swim.  Maybe that happened in all the chaos leading up to the first buoy and the leaking goggle fiasco.

 



thanks Richard and SS Minnow!

I'm more and more certain the bloating was air I swallowed fixing my goggles. I was breathing heavy when I fixed them and sucked in a ton of air and water when a wave hit me in the face. It took me a good minute to cough it all out. That must be what did it.
2011-07-19 12:27 PM
in reply to: #3601428

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Extreme Veteran
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Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Racine
So sorry to hear about your friend.  Way to hang in there and nice finish. 
2011-07-19 12:44 PM
in reply to: #3601428

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Champion
9600
500020002000500100
Fountain Hills, AZ
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Racine
Wow, that's a tough one all thing considered. Great job getting through it and I am sorry about your friend. Dollars to donuts, he would have been proud of you.


2011-07-19 2:38 PM
in reply to: #3604134

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Elite
3515
20001000500
Romeoville, Il
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Racine
bryancd - 2011-07-19 12:44 PM

Wow, that's a tough one all thing considered. Great job getting through it and I am sorry about your friend. Dollars to donuts, he would have been proud of you.


Maybe..........but, I bet he would have expected me to kick a little more a$$!! LOL

thanks!
2011-07-20 9:17 AM
in reply to: #3604384

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Expert
1358
10001001001002525
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Racine
Hey, that was a tough day, and extra tough for you.  I would not downplay the effect of losing your friend, at least on your state of mind, which of course can impact your physical performance.  Thanks for writing your RR, it's easy to share when things go well, but harder to lay it all out when we are disappointed.  
2011-08-17 11:43 AM
in reply to: #3601428

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Regular
110
100
SE Wisconsin
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Racine
Good race under tough conditions, and good report.  You beat me by about 4 minutes overall (same division).  I had some of the same bloating issues, and ended up with nearly the same run time as you did.  However, I didn't swallow any air on the swim and blamed the bloating in my mind on drinking too much and the heat.  But my stomach issues did not manifest until a couple of miles into the run.  Wish I could have done your bike split even without stomach issues! 
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