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Ironman 70.3 Santa Cruz - Triathlon


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Santa Cruz, California
United States
WTC
84F / 29C
Overcast
Total Time = 7h 25m 40s
Overall Rank = 1872/2105
Age Group = 50-54
Age Group Rank = 129/141
Pre-race routine:

Woke up and got up shortly after 4:00am. Made a toastie and ate it with beet juice and water. Then consumed apple sauce.

New-Skinned both feet where needed (balls, big toes, tips of smaller toes). Applied sunscreen while that dried. Put on HR strap and lubed crotch and bike chamois. Got clothed and put warm clothes on since it was around 55°F. Left for transition at 4:55am.
Event warmup:

Arrived at transition at 5:10am and started setting up. Ate half Maurten Solid 160 at 5:30 and had some water. Wanted to go poop at 5:45 but found my big ring shifter was low and my chain was rattling. The condensation may have had something to do with that so I took my bike to the emergency bike tune up tent and they tightened the hex screw on the left side and it worked! I had trouble shifting but they showed me it works by applying more force. >.< I was conflicted about asking them to undue what they did a bit so it's easier to shift but I wanted to get back to transition spot asap cuz I wanted to poop. This took 10 minutes.

Upon reaching my spot, Tim was there, we chatted a few minutes and I wished him well and I rushed myself to the portapotty lines and it was LONG. I got in to poop at almost 6:20. I did that, cleaned myself and cleaned hands and rushed back to my transition spot to suit up. In that frantic state I forgot to spray some lube on my ankles and legs to ease removal (which I paid for after the swim). I did lube everywhere else though, especially around my neck.

My wetsuit was only halfway on as I walked to the swim start. Fully suited up while walking. I brought old shoes and a water bottle to clean the sand off my feet after the swim. Found the spot where other athletes left there's so I left mine nearby.

Got into the water and warmed up from 6:45am to 7:00am and seeded myself with the 37:00-40:00 group.
Swim
  • 39m 6s
  • 1900 meters
  • 02m 04s / 100 meters
Comments:

I found some tall athletes near the swim start chute and chatted with them and let them know I may be drafting off them by tickling their feet. They had a good laugh about that but I knew they'd be able to swim faster than me due to their height and arm lengths.

As soon as the bell went off at 7:32am for me to go I jogged into the water and the waves were small so I was able to jog in the water until knee height water. After that I jumped and and went for the yellow buoys. I felt really good heading out and focused on high SPM solid hip drive form. I stayed inline with all the buoys and did not swim off that line too much and had my best swim time in a 70.3 in a long time. My swim training paid off and it could have been a bit better if I didn't have that shoulder injury in May. I would have had more swim training volume and a higher sustainable speed.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing.
Transition 1
  • 10m 49s
Comments:

Exiting the swim went smoothly and I was able to unsuit halfway down with no issues. Getting my feet cleaned was a bit difficult with all the people around but as soon as I got my shoes on I jogged all the way to T1 with no issues.

At my spot I immediately mounted my Garmin 920XT, towel dried my hair a bit, Headsweats on, pocketed spare tube and lube and 3 Maurten 100 CAF100, Oakleys on, helmet on. Good thing I did that because I felt myself bumping my aero bar shifters a couple times as I tried removing my wetsuit from my ankles. Having no TriSlide there really slowed me down, argh!
What would you do differently?:

Practice the feet cleaning and shoe insertion during open water swim practices and spray lube around ankles before putting wetsuit on. Or try taking wetsuit off sitting down.
Bike
  • 3h 05m 49s
  • 56 miles
  • 18.08 mile/hr
Comments:

With that big chainring shifter adjusted like it was I wasn't confident in my shifting when the hills started showing themselves. After wasting too much energy at low cadence I gave in and started shifting to small ring at the big hill after the first aid station. The volunteers failed to setup the bike racks for the portapotties there, argh! Found a spot to put bike and went to pee even though it wasn't that bad but I knew it would get worse if I didn't go then.

I gained confidence in my ability to shift between big and small ring but the tension was so great I wasted more energy being in the big ring too long worrying about the shift pattern. My normalized power output was too high at 180 watts before the turnaround but my HR was in Z2 and my RPE breathing wasn't hard.

I started feeling bad, like stomach bad and head bad when the winds came about 5 miles away from the turnaround. It was at this point where I knew my day was unfolding in a bad way and decided to bring my power output down more than desired on the return trip. Also because I had the urge to pee again forcing me to stop and do so the next 2 aid stations costing me more time. Easing my power output by 10% helped ease the bad feeling a bit but then I think it was too late to salvage the remainder of the race at this point (seeing how my running legs died at around mile 8 of the upcoming half marathon).

With all the bike training I've done the past 4 years I felt I had the fitness to break 3 hours on a course like this but my big ring shifting issues and unrested state entering the race affected my mental sharpness and my decision making was bad at the start of the bike.

1:38 out
1:41 back
~2200ft elevation gain
What would you do differently?:

Figure out a way to get more sleep when there's a triple digit heatwave lingering around the days before a race.
Transition 2
  • 06m 38s
Comments:

Got to transition and got my helmet and shoes off smoothly. Racking my bike was a bit hard with all the stuff around. I had all this black stuff on my feet which I struggled to remove because I didn't want to run with rocks in my socks. That slowed me down bad. Finally cleaned enough, TriSlide sprayed my feet and put socks and shoes and went ran outta T2.
What would you do differently?:

Put a new medium sized towel down so my feet doesn't get dirty.
Run
  • 3h 17m 31s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 15m 05s  min/mile
Comments:

Run started okay with no grumpy legs though my HR was higher than expected at the pace I was going. I even slowed down to compensate but that wouldn't work. I was already in low Z3 near the end of my 5:00 intervals before walking for 0:30. After mile 3 my quads started feeling some cramps but I went with it and slowed my pace down a bit more to compensate during the trail segment of the half marathon.

By mile 9 my legs were no longer able to run. Quads were very angry and every attempt to go running they said NO so I had to walk my way to the finish. I stuck with my nutrition plan too but by mile 5 every sip I took made me feel sick but I still consumed it because I needed the calories.
What would you do differently?:

Better rest entering the race and more run training. I thought I did enough but apparently not. That and my bike pacing decision in my unrested state was bad too. If I had really taken my time and hovered in Z1/Z2 and no efforts above that I may have salvaged my run performance a bit but I don't know if that would have helped much seeing how bad I felt before the bike turnaround.
Post race
Warm down:

Felt like shit and didn't bother stretching. Got 2 tacos, 2 pizzas, 2 chips, water, Coke, banana, and orange and ate off it minus a chip bag and the orange.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Insufficient sleep and run training. Next time I get to the start of a 70.3 unrested, I'm going to pace it full Ironman style to put off as much walking as possible.

Event comments:

Good race for my fitness level. I aimed for a 6:15 to 6:25 finish but failed, ugh... Should I sign up for this or another 70.3, I'm gonna suck it up and race slower if my rest is suboptimal.




Last updated: 2024-09-10 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:39:06 | 1900 meters | 02m 04s / 100meters
Age Group: 87/141
Overall: 1202/2105
Performance: Good
HR reported Z4 and Z5 but my RPE/breathing didn't reflect that.
Suit: Roka Maverick Fullsuit
Course: Rectangular around wharf.
Start type: Run Plus:
Water temp: 59F / 15C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Good
Waves: Good Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 10:49
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
03:05:49 | 56 miles | 18.08 mile/hr
Age Group: 107/141
Overall: 1339/2105
Performance: Below average
Chip time: 3:11:19
Wind: Some
Course: Out and back on PCH.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 86
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Below average Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 06:38
Overall: Below average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
03:17:31 | 13.1 miles | 15m 05s  min/mile
Age Group: 139/141
Overall: 2048/2105
Performance: Bad
Course: Out and back with lollipop type turnaround.
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: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5

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2024-09-12 6:41 PM

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Subject: Ironman 70.3 Santa Cruz
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