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IM Syracuse 70.3 - Triathlon


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Syracuse, New York
United States
90F / 32C
Sunny
Total Time = 5h 42m 14s
Overall Rank = 234/1283
Age Group = 55-59M
Age Group Rank = 6/45
Pre-race routine:

Drove to Syracuse by myself and did registration on Friday. Earlier is FAR less crowded, for sure. Came back on Saturday for Bike Drop off and practice swim and got to feel the water temp, which they said was 68, although felt warmer in the afternoon. Lots of seaweed/muck in the first several hundred yards of the swim and we were introduced to this in the w/u. Blech. Felt like sea serpents were gently grabbing at me... Kept with hydration plan and got ready for race day. Checking and double checking lists.
Event warmup:

Up at 4:30, but I was already awake. Race day routine is pretty easy, but it took a while to get to this point, and I wasn't changing anything. Get up/eat/coffee/shower/BR/dress for the start-includes timing chip/tattoos (if applicable);body glide. Put warm clothes to the side and take with you. Double check lists for transition at the truck. Get in and drive. Got to venue early from the hotel, which was only 5 miles away. Parked and made the LOOOOONG walk to the transition area. I took a rolling bag loaded with my trigear along with ice/drinks etc. Lots to carry but it was a bit easier with the wheels. I was able to check the big bag too, which was nice. Got there, set up towel, laid out stuff and walked down to check my bag and get ready for the swim start. Did several warm up swims along with a little jogging to get warm. It was cool and I needed a long sleeve sweatshirt to keep reasonably warm initially. Water was cooler but I felt in control today and did not feel anxiety would be an issue. Swimming more frequently helps a lot.
Swim
  • 37m 51s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 47s / 100 yards
Comments:

Goal was to stay relaxed and not have an anxiety attack, like my past 2 races and it worked. A short run warm up, frequent swimming and the right mindset have helped me more recently.

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1220905609
What would you do differently?:

Nothing. It went as planned-average was the goal.
Transition 1
  • 04m 17s
Comments:

I thought I was pretty good with transition, but those that are really good at transitions are MUCH better. It was a long way to T1. Wetsuit strippers are excellent-I've never had one before and needed instructions on what to do. What a rookie. My foot hurt every other step and I think I said 'ouch' out loud every other step for a little while. Got to the bike and I realized (too late) that I had not laid out my socks and they were still in my bag, so I had to go sockless, for only the second time this year with the last time being the Rev3 Oly race, and I knew my feet were going to get chewed up again.
What would you do differently?:

Remember socks-what a dingbat I am.
Bike
  • 2h 57m 15s
  • 56 miles
  • 18.96 mile/hr
Comments:

I am happy with this result. It's the first HIM that I cracked 3:00 on the bike, and I've certainly tried to do it previously. Pacing went pretty well and I'm learning how many matches I can burn and keep momentum up without blowing up. GC (Golden Cheatah, my performance manager) has been very helpful with that as well as setting my taper. Legs felt pretty fresh for the race, despite doing a double race (oly and HIM back to back) two weeks ago. I was able to shift reasonably well and that helped too.
AP=178; NP=193: VI=1.08 (yuck!); IF=0.82 (spot on!); TSS=199 (also spot on); c=77.

Of note, my contact blew out of my eye during one of the last down hill segments and I never had a chance to put my spare in and rode and ran without it. Blurred vision shouldn't slow you down, but I did keep it a bit slower on the downhills, with the loss of binocular vision.
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1220905632
What would you do differently?:

Probably hold back a bit more early and push harder later. I am still happy with the low cadence as I coasted a lot and that averages down but I know I can get very low and aero and go faster than trying to hold my goal power. For me, at least, as I've done the experiment and that's what my data said.
Transition 2
  • 02m 10s
Comments:

Had a bit of a problem racking the bike and it confused me momentarily. There was no space as things had moved a bit. Also, I knew my feet were chopping up so I toweled them off to get some sand out. Grabbed run stuff, put it on and when I picked up my nutrition, the stuff spilled out and I had to pick it up.
What would you do differently?:

Be a tad slower and more organized. It will work out to be more efficient in the end.
Run
  • 2h 00m 41s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 09m 13s  min/mile
Comments:

I was steady right from the start. Legs felt tired but I knew I could do the run. The heat was the 'X' factor. It was hot and getting hotter. 90 degrees by the end, which is 20+ degrees warmer than the start of the race-it's striking! As usual, I split up the course into quarters. Get to mile 3.3, with the hill and see how bad it is. Walk if necessary and it was. Get back to transition. Do it again and adjust. That was the plan, but the best laid plans.. So, I executed the first loop very, very well. And I started to get a bit dizzy so I had to back off. Started drinking 2 and 3 gatorades and waters at each station. Took ice and sponges when I could. No salt caps on the course and I didn't bring any with me (mistake). Did not cramp, however, until mile 12, so that was good. Took extra gels and nutrition as I thought that would help. Legs were feeling beat up by mile 10 but I vowed a renewed push, which lasted only a mile, then I had to back off again. Walked even the little hills for 5 breaths to keep from passing out. It was much nicer when running in the shade but it was an oven. Most people were walking significant portions of the race by the time I was finishing.

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1220905678
What would you do differently?:

Bring S caps and endurolytes. Bring socks.
Post race
Warm down:

I needed 10 minutes sitting and drinking before I could move. Got some (bad) pizza and wandered down towards the water so I could cool my body off. Drank a total of 5 waters/gatorades by the time I got down there and saw Tony and Jeremy by the bike/swim entrance sitting in the shade so I stopped and chatted them up. Had 5 pretty large blisters on my feet and my cut on the bottom of my foot was very sore. They both did very well and congratulated me as well. They said I'd likely be eligible for World's 70.3 and I confirmed that an official also thought it highly likely, but it would not fit into my schedule so I wasn't going to wait 4 hours to actually see if I would have made it in rolldown. Went to the water and soaked for 20 minutes and felt MUCH better, almost normal, albeit a beat up, tired, sore, barely able to walk 'normal'.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Not much. I pushed and left it all out there. Very happy with execution. Planning and weather could have been better. I think there were 45 in my AG that finished with 2 DNF's and 55 extra people-DNS/DNF. 1283 finished, with several hundred!! DNF's. It WAS very hot.

Event comments:

Could use more water stations on the run. It seems this is often a hot race.

My results from the IM website.
http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/events/americas/ironman-70.3/syrac...


Profile Album


Last updated: 2015-11-23 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:37:51 | 2112 yards | 01m 47s / 100yards
Age Group: 15/45
Overall: 536/1283
Performance: Average
No HR data and my Garmin had dropout during the first 1/3 for a bit which makes my pace look better than it was. I stayed slow and relaxed.
Suit: Vortex Sleeveless
Course: Rectangular loop leaving Jamesville Beach and swim a giant rectangle. Follow a bunch of buoys to the red turn buoy and a short trek up to the next turn buoy and then back to the swim finish. Was a wave start with all waves going at 4 minute intervals. I've never done that before...but it worked surprisingly well.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 68F / 20C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Average Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 04:17
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed:
Biking
02:57:15 | 56 miles | 18.96 mile/hr
Age Group: 9/45
Overall: 237/1283
Performance: Good
My HR monitor died last week and I was still waiting for the new one to be sent to me, so I was going only on power/effort with no second metric of HR to back up the power numbers. I split the course in 1/4's-of 14 miles each, with the big hill in the first quarter and the little hill in the last one along with the big downhills. Goal was 220w/200/190/200. Wasn't sure I'd hold the power on the final quarter, as it included the big downhill. I looked at my 3sec/30sec/cadence screen a lot. So much, it was dizzying..
Wind: None
Course: New bike course, I'm told. Flat for 6 miles then up ~800 feet of steady climbing from 6-11. (Hell that's only 5 miles and I just did Quassy which had 7 miles and 700 feet with gearing issues on the bike). I ain't afraid...Super flat from 14-42, then another moderate hill followed by rollers then what looks like screaming down from 53-55. During the race, there was actually a 20 mph speed limit and if you went over it, the RD said you would be DQ'd, really! Well, I don't even have an average speed on my data fields so when I got to that part, which was obvious, the group of 4 of us, all slowed and went together, which became a group of about 8 or 9 by the end of the hill. I said to someone, 'I hope we are going less than 20' and he just chuckled...
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 77
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 02:10
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
02:00:41 | 13.1 miles | 09m 13s  min/mile
Age Group: 6/45
Overall: 234/1283
Performance: Good
Splits were good. No HR monitor on and that was probably a good thing, as it would likely have been MUCH higher than usual due to the heat and I'd have backed off rather than push it right to the brink.
Course: Out and back with two 200 ft hills at mile 3 and mile 9. It wouldn't be fun if there weren't any hills, right??
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? No
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5

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2016-06-24 5:31 PM

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Veteran
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South Windsor, CT
Subject: IM Syracuse 70.3


2016-06-25 12:21 PM
in reply to: #5188504

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Pro
6520
50001000500
Bellingham, WA
Subject: RE: IM Syracuse 70.3

Great job Dale.  Very well executed, balanced race despite the heat.

Good to see you tearing it up.

2016-06-25 4:56 PM
in reply to: #5188504

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Extreme Veteran
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Langley, BC, 'Wet Coast' Canada
Subject: RE: IM Syracuse 70.3
Great job. I enjoyed reading your race report.
2016-06-30 10:30 AM
in reply to: #5188504

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43
25
Rochester, New York
Subject: RE: IM Syracuse 70.3
Solid race! I blew up on the run and turned it into a walk...well 'hike' with those climbs!
2016-07-01 8:39 AM
in reply to: #5188504

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Member
131
10025
Connecticut
Subject: RE: IM Syracuse 70.3
Nice job Dale - and great report. I did Patriot the day before and the run was pretty damn hot there as well. Sounds like quite a few casualties at the 'Cuse. You're going to crush IMLP!!

Chris
2016-07-03 6:53 PM
in reply to: littycm

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Veteran
945
50010010010010025
South Windsor, CT
Subject: RE: IM Syracuse 70.3
thanks Steve, Triosaurus, Johnny and Chris.
You are all too kind. It was a challenging day and I was lucky to survive it.

Now, on to the next, the real race I've set as my 'A' race. Hoping weather and injury don't play any role in this event...IMLP, t-21 days


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