Ironman 70.3 Florida - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Race Swim - Ironman70.3 Florida
38:37, about top ~23%

My objectives were modest:
1- Hoped for ~ 40' or better
2- Avoid any panic for this 'long swim' without the security of a wetsuit(longest race swim so far was 1000m, only 2nd race without wetsuit)

I succeeded for both goals. My swim is still tentative with a lot of stops after contacts/collisions, but I kept my cool. Also did a few breast strokes somewhere in there. I did not navigate as close as the buoys as I wanted. Form was not as good as it could be.

Still far from my training times, but I see that as an opportunity: I have potential for *relat. easy* improvements this season here which should be good for a few minutes if I can improve on all these aspects.

Be more focused and energic - move forward faster is the goal.

Just a bit faster than average here. My transition area was close to swim in, that meant a lot of running with my bike. Also, my area was set in sand and dead leaves. I took extra time to try to remove sand before going in my bike shoes, without much success. I need a second towel and water bottle in T1/T2 if I ever do this race again.

Try to do it faster, be better prepared in case i need to clean feet from sand.

Race Bike - Ironman70.3 Florida
2:28:28, about top ~12%

PWR_AVG_no_0s: ~230watts

Awesome bike split.

I am sure that run results may have implied that I over-shooted my targets for the bike, but I did not. By feeling, I really did not push too much either.

Race plan called for ~240w. I was at 238w for about the first half, but it dropped a bit later due to several factors including some legal drafting, a bit of backwind and intentional adjustments late in the ride.

I felt really good for the whole thing except for a few incidents (race almost ended early when someone threw a bottle under my front wheel at km18, and the chain fell off once at km 78).

However, at about km 80, I noticed quads (spec. vastus medialis) giving up when doing certain motions. Not sure why: I do not recall having this during long training rides even with higher wattage than this.
Hypothesis:
- Too much standing and wallking in the days leading to race.
-Somehow, may have used a different pedal stroke on race day
-?

Suspected that could be real trouble in the run and reduced power output for the last 10k's of the ride.

I was hoping for a 33 to 34 km/h avg speed, but got ~36.4: I am more than happy with that, Course was crazy fast. I should not expect this kind of speed everytime.

Overall, I think I did what I was planning for here, listened to my body, and pulled back slightly accordingly.

Nutrition note:
On the bike, I had [1 bottle of inifnit (tgv2.0)+1 gel] per hour for hours 1 and 2, then ~1 gel about 20-30 min before end of bike split.

Also did about 1.5 bottles of water.

Nothing.. i sticked to my plan, and I think I did a great job at pacing myself.

A bit better than average here. Kept my bike shoes on for the long run to my transition spot due to sand and leaves in my area. Still got gritty feet on the run.

Clean feet better...

2:04:58, about top~27%
~barely sub 6:00/km

ran into BIG problems. Stopped and/or walk ~27 times according to HR data. That's insane.

I was a bit worried before the run because of hamstrings failing (contracting/cramping) at end of bike (?!?)

Start of run felt relatively OK RPE wise. I stopped after 2 min. to lace my shoes tighter (race socks thinner than training socks -missed this prep. step-). But after that, I ran 5 km straight without issues at decent speed with RPE MOD. After a few k's, I thought I might be able to go sub 5h. Oh boy was I wrong!!

After only 2 km, I had pain issues relating to big right toe... Huge mistake in the morning to put a fabric band aid on 2nd toe to protect a nail threatening to fall since a couple of months on the second toe. Fabric from band aid made friction and peeled a huge patch of skin on adjacent big toe. Combined with sand still left from my T2 transition area, pain was awful. Somehow managed to tune out and ignore the pain and keep running (did stop a few times to remove sock and try things without success though)

Then had issues with HEAT and HR and started to do small periods of walking and then running. I was still moving good at that time when I was running. Heat was crazy at noon. no shade on a huge portion of the course: it was brutal. Thank god for sponges and kiddie pools filled with ice.

Things got worse after half mark. Legs were locking, not always responding. Started running with modified stride to avoid/reduce muscle locking. Walked through each aid station every mile to ice my head and drink. Shoes became wet (squishy) and heavy from the ice showers, not helping the cause.

At the end, I could not run more than a few hundred meters before walking again. Each step was a challenge. I had only one km to go, and I could not even manage to run it despite all my intentions to do so.

Can't tell how happy I was to finish. If the course would have been just a few km's longer, it would have taken me forever to cover those.



?

After the race, took HR forever to go down below 135, which is scary. I had to keep moving for like 15 min after: everytime I stopped, felt like I would pass out.

Went to the massage tent, where they could not do anything with me. As soon as they would raise my legs, quads would contract and cramp like crazy. They sent me to the medic tent where I got ice for my quads.

Went back later once I removed my shoes and saw the state of my big right toe with a huge patch on raw flesh. They tried to clean it with alcool or seomthing like it and I thought I would die from the sharp pain. They finally used something else that worked without the sting.

Really thought I could do a better run than that. I really did not want to walk. Hope it goes better next time.


Heat in the run. Quads locking at end of bike and during run. Need longer training sessions? I was really not expecting these problems in the run.


Logisitcs were pretty good in my book. Shuttle system worked great in the days leading to the race. (of course, there was crazy wait time after the race ended, and decided to limp back to the parking lot rather than wait).

Aid stations during race were perfectly spaced for me (did not need any during bike anyway since I am self sufficient) and the aid stations at every mile were a MUST in these crazy conditions. Thanks for kiddie pools filled with ice.

Post race food was the worst I've seen, but that was my first M-DOT event. No other choices than pizza.

Overall, organization was good, but I would have liked a run course with a bit more shade.