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Santa Cruz 70.3 Ironman - Triathlon


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Santa Cruz, California
United States
WTC
63F / 17C
Overcast
Total Time = 6h 40m 54s
Overall Rank = 1160/1624
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 123/148
Pre-race routine:

Woke up at 4:10am and brushed my teeth and inserted contacts. I've tested these for the past 3 weeks to see if it would help with my sighting during the swim leg and everywhere else.

Lubed myself as well as chamois pad using DZnuts and Bodyglide. It was going to be cold so I inserted some plastic insulators for my torso and put arm warmers. Applied Banana Boat sunscreen and applied NewSkin on both pinky toes and fronts of the 3 toes next to them. I thought about applying them on my big toe sides and bottoms and ball area but decided to let SportSlick take care of the possible blistering/hot spot problems there. (I should have applied it, btw).

Made 2 toasties and ate one, drank Trader Joe's apple sauce, and water while getting to transition. Left at 5:15 so maybe I should get up earlier or prepare faster. :P
Event warmup:

Got to transition at 5:35. Set up my transition area and walked to porta potty around 5:45. The line was sorta long because I finally got into one at almost 6:00 and took a dump. ;)

Returned to transition area and finalized my setup while eating my 2nd toastie and all the while sipping on water and a tad bit of my bike Infinit formula. I took my wetsuit out and decided to do a 5-10 minute warmup of dynamic stretches and movements and a short jog where there was space to do so in the transition area.

At 6:20 I started suiting up and did a final check on my setup. Shortly after 6:30 I ate 2 Clif Shot Bloks Tropical Punch and made my way to the swim start. As I gulped down those bloks I really wanted to drink a bit more water because I only had a tiny sip left in my drinking water bottle, doh!

At 6:45am I jumped into the water south of the starting area to get acclimated. I heard the pro men and women canon fire then the national anthem. I was still in the water so I just stopped warming up and stood still in the water for that. Shortly atter 7am I got out of the water and seeded myself with the 37:00-40:00 swim coral.
Swim
  • 40m 9s
  • 2211 yards
  • 01m 49s / 100 yards
Comments:

Based on my recent time trials before the race I felt I could swim between 38 and 42 minutes depending on how straight I swim and how well I draft. Completed it in about 40 minutes so I'm happy with that. If I didn't have my shoulder injury late July I think I would have shaved off a few minutes and possibly make a new swim PR.

I drafted behind some random athletes while making sure I was inline with the buoys. Near the end of the swim I think I veered off course a bit adding about 100 more yards. There were a few times where I felt I was getting out of breath and losing form so I slowed my pace down a bit to get back in control.
What would you do differently?:

Not get a shoulder injury entering peak training phase. Don't lose sighting focus near the end of the swim.
Transition 1
  • 10m 44s
Comments:

The jog back to transition was long... almost half a mile based on Garmin Connect. A fellow triathlete who did this race before said there was some rough parts which made me cringe a bit because I didn't bring my water shoes. The first 2/3rds of the distance was fine but then I hit the really rough parts which made me walk. Maybe flip flops would have saved me some time and agony. Getting into the transition area was a big relief as I continued to jog to my bike.

Unsuited as quickly as possible without falling down. Mounted watch, sprayed TriSlide on my feet and got into bike shoes, headband on, Oakleys on, helmet on and clipped, race number on.
What would you do differently?:

Bring water shoes.
Bike
  • 3h 11m 41s
  • 56 miles
  • 17.53 mile/hr
Comments:

My plan was to negative split the 2nd half of the bike course and I successfully executed that. However, right out of T1 my HR was up in Zone 4 fast but my breathing did not reflect that so I just ignored it and paid attention to my power output. There was a bike aid station at around mile 15 with uncrowded porta potties and I felt a slight urge to go but I planned on holding it the entire bike segment like I did in practice but this didn't work because the pressure to go felt unbearable at mile 18.

There was a hill where I did not shift to my small ring wisely and my chain dropped shortly after I passed an athlete who was stupid enough to stay on my right despite seeing I was having problems. I nearly crashed into her despite her cries, "Oh no, I'm on your right!" I didn't cuss her out but basically yelled, "Fuckin shit, FUCK!" at the situation I was in. I wasted time trying to shift and spin my front chain rings to re-engage my bike chain but that failed and after 3 attempts I just used my fingers to re-mount it and that worked. I must have wasted about 2-3 minutes with this mishap.

Back on the bike and kept myself in control because I still had about 35 miles to go. For some odd reason my pee pressure was slightly relieved but I peed at the 2nd bike aid station anyway. The damn place only had 2 porta potties! Argh! I wasted 3-4 minutes there waiting in line with 5 other athletes. I was thinking, "Damn, I should have went at the first one then I could hold it to the run course." And this would have worked nicely because I didn't have to really pee again until mile 5 there. No matter how hard I tried to relax and pee on the bike, I couldn't do it.

There was headwinds all the way to the turnaround but despite this, my power plan was executed well and the tailwind on the way back helped lots.

~2300ft elevation gain

~1:45 to get to turnaround, ~1:25 back

HR zones:

1:25 -- Z2
1:16 -- Z3
0:25 -- Z4

Power zones:

0:42 -- Z1
1:26 -- Z2
0:38 -- Z3
0:12 -- Z4
0:03 -- Z5

134watts avg/144 normalized @ 0.70IF and 1.07VI
What would you do differently?:

Pee early or pee on the bike.
Transition 2
  • 05m 21s
Comments:

Unable to dismount while moving because it got crowded in the dismount area.

Took off bike shoes, applies SportSlick, socks, and running shoes. The application of lube took between 1 and 2 minutes because I wanted to minimize any blisters or hot spots that may form. Maybe give Trislide another chance?

Race belt with 2 bottles and ran for the run out chute.
What would you do differently?:

Still trying to figure out what works 100%. NewSkin all over trouble spots???
Run
  • 2h 27m 58s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 11m 18s  min/mile
Comments:

My hamstring problems I developed right after the swim stuck with me all day and I had to be a bit tentative about it on the bike while climbing because I always felt it about to cramp up which caused me to reduce my power output to compensate. I had to do this the early miles of the run as well.

The hill out of T2 was a bitch because my quads were seizing up forcing me to walk about halfway up that damn thing. Then about half a mile after clearing that my hamstrings started locking up forcing me to stop and stretch, walk and stretch. After a few minutes of this I was able to get my run legs going again at a careful pace. I sipped the remainder of my bike nutrition in the last 5 miles of the bike course to prevent this problem but nope, it didn't work, hehe.

I sipped a tiny bit of Jet Fuel and that may have helped me get going again. The course wasn't very rolling yet as I saw my pace was going as planned but then the rolling hills came and wind which slowed my pace down a bit to just over 11 minute mile. I aimed for an overall sub 11 minute mile pace but my legs couldn't hold it because of the rolling hills on the bike and run course. At mile 9 made my quads start seizing up bad on the hills at that point onward. I had to walk up every hill so that they wouldn't. After mile 11 my legs started feeling really bad and I was shuffling at 5:00/0:30-1:00 run/walking. My quads were cramping up really bad and my left foot had 2 hot spots/blisters since mile 6. I think at mile 8 they started really bugging me.

I forced myself to walk for about a minute before the downhill run to the sand and the finish so I wouldn't fall down and it worked! I was able to run myself to the finish chute! Yay!

BTW, I ran tangents like a smart runner would. ;)
What would you do differently?:

More speed work but then I had a shoulder injury that affected my preparation. :P
Post race
Warm down:

Drank water, Endurox, walked around, ate a slice of cheese pizza, oranges, banana, and cola.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Shoulder injury late July, lack of running speed work, and sub optimal swim prep.

Event comments:

Great race and venue. I wish transition was closer to the swim finish, hehe.




Last updated: 2018-03-24 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:40:09 | 2211 yards | 01m 49s / 100yards
Age Group: 95/148
Overall: 966/1624
Performance: Good
Suit: Roka Maverick Pro Full Suit
Course: 3 sides of rectangle around wharf.
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 63F / 17C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Good
Waves: Good Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 10:44
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
03:11:41 | 56 miles | 17.53 mile/hr
Age Group: 116/148
Overall: 1111/1624
Performance: Good
Time on bike course > 3:16:18.
Wind: Headwind
Course: Out and back.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 89
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks:
T2
Time: 05:21
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
02:27:58 | 13.1 miles | 11m 18s  min/mile
Age Group: 123/148
Overall: 1160/1624
Performance: Average
Course: Out and back, 3 miles on trail around mile 5 to 8.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
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? Yes
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 5

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2018-09-12 10:02 PM

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Master
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Subject: Santa Cruz 70.3 Ironman


2018-09-13 1:42 PM
in reply to: #5249286

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Toronto
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Subject: RE: Santa Cruz 70.3 Ironman
2018-09-27 3:30 PM
in reply to: juniperjen

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Master
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Subject: RE: Santa Cruz 70.3 Ironman
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