Ironman 70.3 Rhode Island - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Providence, Rhode Island
United States
World Triathlon Corporation
85F / 29C
Sunny
Total Time = 4h 58m 25s
Overall Rank = 16/503
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 3/83
Pre-race routine:

The usual breakfast 3 hours before the race, followed by a bottle of perform an hour before, and a gel about 20 min before the swim start ...
Event warmup:

Quick swim before my wave went of. I waited till the last minute to do it, but was still shivering by the time we actually got to go off.
Swim
  • 41m 40s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 58s / 100 yards
Comments:

Non wetsuit swim! Oh Oh! The more I swim, the slower I am getting! The lake was quite nasty, and I spent some time trying to get weeds off of me! They were wrapping around my feet, shoulders, neck - it was actually quite nasty! The first half of the swim was pretty descent (or at least I think), I was able to get on someone's feet for a little while, and then I spent good half of the swim on someone's hip. I sighted off of them, as well as the shore and swam pretty straight. Once we hit the half way point and started to come back, even I started to swim into the slower swimmers from the waves in front of us, and I had an extremely difficult time with sighting,navigating through them and found myself all over the place with no rhythm whatsoever! Ugh! It was now, when I really couldn't wait to be done, and get out of the bacteria infested lake and get on my bike.
What would you do differently?:

I just need to continue to work on my swim. To say that I am a bit frustrated is an "understatement", but if it was ez everyone would do it, right? As slow as my swim was, I did come in the top half of my AG, so I guess everyone else was also pretty slow. Just trying to look for some positives here, because I know in my head what needs to happen and it's just not happening ....
Transition 1
  • 02m 18s
Comments:

Pretty long run up to transition. Since this was a no wetsuit swim, and a point to point race, everything had to be either attached to the bike or in the transition bag. I also couldn't swim with my gels, and race number since it was a non wetsuit swim, so it took me a while to get the shoes out of the bag, put all my nutrition into my pockets, and put my race belt on. Put cap/goggles back in the bag, tie it up and get out of there.
What would you do differently?:

Just wish I wasn't so clumsy.
Bike
  • 2h 35m 51s
  • 56 miles
  • 21.56 mile/hr
Comments:

I knew that if I wanted a chance to get my ticket to Vegas, I had to have an awesome bike after the horrendous swim time. I rode pretty hard, but not to the point where I totally overcooked my legs. My overall power was 185 Watts, which is actually right where my coach wanted me to be. I actually think it would be a bit higher it if wasn't for the last 10 shitty miles getting back into town, but the conditions were the same for everyone. My normalized power for the first 48 miles actually was 190 Watts so you can see my power went considerably down in the last 10 miles due to road conditions. I ended up having the fastest bike split in my age group by 4 minutes, and 4th overall bike split (3 Pro's beat me, and 1 age grouper).

It wasn't always that peachy though. When I first got on the bike, I had a super hard time keeping any nutrition down. I forced down a gel, I kept sipping on Perform, and water, but my stomach really wasn't having it. I knew that if I didn't try to eat/drink, I would be in big trouble so I kept at it. 45 minutes later, as I kept trying to hydrate (it was already getting pretty hot) powerbar perform went in, and right back out. Oops!

I actually started to feel a lot better after that little incident, and was able to get in all the calories needed. I definitely went through almost 3 bottles of water, 3 gels, and 2 performs (I did lost my last bottle on the beginning of the awesome bumpy section 10 miles from the finish). I spent most of the bike in the "left" lane, and a lot of it all alone which was a bit weird for an IM course. I guess that's what happens on a hilly one loop course! No draft packs!

The first 48 miles went by quick and the last 10 miles I was just hoping to not get a mechanical. I already mentioned the bumpiest 1 mile stretch, with as many potholes you can imagine. Add in 3 sets of railroad tracks one of which was a double set (can't bunny hop those), broken glass through the ghetto parts of Providence, lots of twists and turns, and it makes for some stupid silly 10 miles that you should NEVER ride your bike on.

I was glad to emerge out of this section in one piece and still on my bike.
What would you do differently?:

I think I executed the race plan very well. I actually don't watch my avg. watts when I ride (I keep my power meter on current wattage), so to end up right where I was suppose to was awesome! Highest avg. watts to date in a race yet ...
Transition 2
  • 01m 9s
Comments:

Almost ran right by my transition bag! Again since this was a point to point, every spot looked identical! Good thing i put a nice yellow ribbon on my bag, which saved me running right by it! I took care of all the nutrition stuff in T1 so just had to get my socks and shoes on and off I went.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing much - I moved as fast as I could.
Run
  • 1h 37m 27s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 07m 26s  min/mile
Comments:

PR on the run for me so considering the heat, and that this run wasn't flat, I am happy about that. Run is coming along! The kinesio tape did it's job, and I didn't have to worry about my calves feeling like rocks!

I again didn't run with my garmin, and planned on only glancing at the splits at mile markers, but since those were seriously off, I was out of luck. My watch said I went through mile 1 at 6:20 pace, which cannot be right! I was trying to hold back, and running that pace would probably about kill my race.

Since this was a 2 loop course, it was really EZ to spot your competitors, which was great! I only saw one chick ahead of my at the 2 mile turn around so I assumed I was in 2nd. It wasn't long before I got passed by another chick who just flu right by me. And then another one, and at the half way turn around I got passed again! Fuuuuuuuuuuuuudge! Now I was most likely in 5th, and all I could think about was my ticket to Vegas slipping away.

I wasn't going down without a fight though. When I made it to about the 9 mile mark, and we started to come back downhill again, I saw one of the girls that passed me on the first loop! She was in my sights for a while, but kept running about the same pace as me. At the bottom of the downhill she started to repeatedly grab her hamstring, and I knew it was time to make a move. I picked up the pace a bit, and started to really huff and puff. I went by her, and didn't even turn back. I just kept on running. I started to hurt quite a bit, but I knew I only had couple of miles left and a Vegas ticket to get. I actually passed a few people in the last 2 miles, but I knew I was still in 4th, and wanted to podium. It wasn't too much longer, before i spotted the other girl who had passed me on loop 1. Since I was already in the hurt locker, I came up with a plan. She was obviously slowing down, but I had no idea how much gas she had left in the tank, so I was going to run behind her until the end and then outsprint her to the finish line. My coaches famous sentence (it will hurt, but when it hurts run faster, I want the last mile to be the fastest mile of the day kept popping up in my head). As we were nearing the last aid station which was located no more than half a mile from the finish line, she started to call for water/coke and since the volunteers didn't have it quite ready she had to slow down a bit, and as much as I wanted coke and water and another spunge, I knew I was very close to the finish line,and made my move. (My Macca move! - if he could do it after 139 miles, why couldn't I after 69 miles right? ) :)

I never ran this hard (at least effort wise) to the finish line as I ran here. I attempted to sprint to the finish line, and my legs felt like 2 gigantic bricks! I never looked back, and I left it all on the race course! That girl actually ended up slowing quite a bit because she ended up over a minute behind me.
What would you do differently?:

Very happy with this run. this was the first time I actually re-passed girls in my AG, and in the closing miles of the race. Run is definitely improving, but still have lots of work to do.

I literaly left it all out there. When I crossed the finish line a volunteer lady came right up to me and didn't want to let me go ... it took me a little bit but I convinced her I was ok. I just really needed to sit my ass down.
Post race
Warm down:

Lots and lots of water, and the best massage EVER followed with ice! Super psyched I got my ticket to Vegas!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I left it all out there and have no regrets!

Event comments:

The last 10 miles of the bike were super shit, the lake was crap, but the race was still fun. Just needs a bit of work. I think it's totally unacceptable to let people swim in a lake at which the bacteria level was over 500 all week long leading up to the race,and the day before it went down to the acceptable level of 7? I say BS!




Last updated: 2010-12-29 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:41:40 | 2112 yards | 01m 58s / 100yards
Age Group: 36/83
Overall: 0/503
Performance: Below average
Suit: No
Course:
Start type: Run Plus:
Water temp: 79F / 26C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 02:18
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
02:35:51 | 56 miles | 21.56 mile/hr
Age Group: 1/83
Overall: 0/503
Performance: Good
Wind:
Course: Rolling hills through the first 48 miles to keep everyone honest. The last 10 miles of the course doesn't deserve a word! By far the worst 10 miles I have EVER ridden on, including a .5 to 1 mile stretch of an absolute mess! You know it's bad, when it's a no pass zone and a bunch of bike mechanics are spread out throughout that segment! Really a shame they would let people ride their bikes here, or even cars!
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:09
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
01:37:27 | 13.1 miles | 07m 26s  min/mile
Age Group: 3/83
Overall: 19/503
Performance: Good
I didn't run with my garmin again - I think running by feel works better for me but it's still TBD
Course: 2 loops with two 1 mile climbs ....
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? No
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 3