On May 10, 2025 I participated in Ironman 70.3 St. George, the final time this event will be held, as Ironman and St. George did not renew the contract to keep holding events there. Even though I'm not race fit yet, I couldn't pass up the chance to be in the final event, as St. George is my favorite course on the circuit.
Well, I guess the big part of the pre-race discussion is this: I woke up Thursday with a mild fever and sore throat. I didn't feel absolutely horrible or anything, but since my daughter had just gotten over strep throat, I was worried that maybe I was catching it now. Despite the illness, it was kind of too late to back out of the trip, so we headed out anyway. We arrived at our hotel at about 5pm local time, unpacked and then headed to dinner with the PTC gang at Texas Roadhouse.
Friday, when I woke up, I could tell the sore throat was worse, but I didn't have a thermometer to see if my fever was the same, worse, or what. We did group check-in as a club (I like racking bikes with the club, as I trust everyone to be respectful of each other's gear, etc, and I like being able to see how my teammates are doing throughout the day). Then took care of gear bag and bike check-in at T1/T2. We did take-out for dinner, and relaxed at the hotel. I managed to fall asleep pretty early, as I think whatever bug I was fighting sapped a lot of energy.
RACE MORNING:
I was really hoping I'd feel a little better, but when I woke up at 4am, I could tell it was even worse. Throat very sore, I felt super hot (again, no way to measure my temp though, I should have gone to a pharmacy and bought a thermometer). I debating pulling out of the race for maybe 10 minutes, but figured I would at least go out to the reservoir and play it by ear. I ate a half a cup of oatmeal, drank a cup of coffee, and brought a pop-tart with me to eat on the bus ride. My wife dropped me off at the PTC AirBnB house so I could head to the buses at 4:45am with the team. I let teammates know I was sick in case they wanted to keep their distance. In typical PTC style, they were all very helpful. Richard offered me some ibuprofen (which I did take) then we walked over to the buses. I needed to drop off gels and sunblock in my T2 bag, so I ended up catching a separate bus, but regrouped with everyone over at the bikes in T1. Getting the bike set up was quick. The only issue is that I forgot the presta/disc wheel inflator hose for my Fumpa pump, so I had to use the double-nozzle one with my Silca Hiro chuck to air up my tires. After everything was set up, I had more time to contemplate DNS'ing the race. But ultimately, I figured it would be a huge pain in the ass if I had to get the mini-van and come out here later to get all my gear. So, the easiest way back to St. George with all of my stuff would be to do the swim, and see if I could handle the bike ride. If I felt okay after that, then I'd also get out onto the run course and hope for the best. We all got suited up, then headed to the swim start. It was already pretty crowded, so I only managed to push my way up to the 43-46 minute group. As I stood there waiting, sweat was pouring out from under my swim cap. This is quite unusual, and made me think it was due to the fever I was probably running. The Pros started on time, and AG waves seemed to start on time as well. I didn't get down to the water until 7:42am, but finally got started.
SWIM:
All of the pros and many fast age groupers were already on the bike, but I finally got to step into the water, realize it felt pretty nice, and take the dive to get my race going.
- No pre-race swim warmup or anything, I just suited up and used spit in the goggles for anti-fog
- First few strokes I felt that cold shock, but it went away quickly. Felt extremely comfortable in the sleeveless wet suit.
- Vision was great, even with sun in my face I could see all the way to the red turn buoy and used it to navigate.
- Made quite a bit of contact, but nothing like when I got punched in the eye back in 2022.
- Shortly after the first turn, a lifeguard jet ski crossed my path about 10 feet in front of me to go help a distressed swimmer. The wake tossed me pretty hard (out of the water to my waist at one point) but I was able to settle back down quickly.
- More contact on the leg back towards swim exit. Lots of people breast stroking to navigate, and people converging into me from both sides simultaneously. Also saw lots of people who get near the yellow and orange buoys and swim straight into them rather than parallel to them in a line.
- Kept tangling up with the same woman multiple times who had long, sharp purple fingernails. Tops of my feet and right hand are nice and scratched up from her.
T1:
Coming into the race with lower fitness level than I'd like, I decided to really focus on having good transitions, getting better at taking advantage of the 'free' time. T1 went very smoothly.
- Ran past the wet suit strippers, did struggle a little bit getting my suit off over my calves and inflexible ankles
- Took the time to spray on sunblock
- Put helmet on, with visor attached to helmet (not down in riding position)
- Shoes were already mounted to pedals, no rubber bands
- I brought the bike computer out of sleep mode as I ran to the exit, pushed the start button after I crossed the mount line, but before mounting the bike
- Flying mount went well, took probably 15 seconds to have both feet in the shoes, velcro adjusted correctly
- Moved the visor into riding position while moving, no problem at all
BIKE:
Being sick, I knew I wouldn't be able to ride my typical bike splits (I was in the 2:50's the other two times I did the 70.3 here) so I decided to shoot for a very conservative 170W average. This seemed doable for the first 15 miles or so, but my energy levels and ability to produce power dropped rapidly as the miles went by.
- Held 160-175W on flats, 200W on hills for the first 15 miles
- Started noticing that my perceived effort and actual power were WAY off (for example, I'd feel like I was pushing 170-180W and would look to see I was only pushing 145-150W). Heart rate was also far lower than normal, and difficult to bring up (if I wasn't climbing or trying to push power for some other reason, HR would dip below 120bpm, which is 15bpm or so below what I'd expect to average).
- I actually felt kind of drowsy for the entire ride. I'm not kidding when I say there were times I would have loved to have stopped riding and found somewhere to take a quick nap.
- By the time I reached Red Hills Parkway, pushing 200W felt like a huge effort and was difficult to hold (when I'm fit, I can hold 200-220W for an entire 70.3, so this is a huge red flag that I'm having big problems).
- I was still having an easy time passing people on downhills, especially if there was any wind. But whenever the road tilted up, I was getting passed by a lot of people.
- Finally got to Snow Canyon, where I averaged an abysmal 152W. Worst climbing I think I've ever done.
- I managed to pick things up down the highway back into St. George, but still low on watts, a few MPH slower than in previous races here, and the conditions were probably the easiest I've seen.
- Bike time was 3:22, about half an hour slower than my previous rides here.
- The bike itself rode great. Shifting was perfect, tubeless tire setup felt great, etc. But being ill, the engine just wasn't there.
- Another positive note: I stayed on top of my nutrition and hydration well, finishing all of my calories and fluids + extra aid station water.
T2:
Again, I wanted to focus on a fast transition. And again, it went very well, with maybe one exception.
- Flying dismount went great
- The asphalt around the T2 entrance and near our rack was very rough, and quite hot as I ran over it, which slowed me down a little bit.
- I emptied my run bag, and put it on the ground so I could stand on it to save my feet from the hot asphalt.
- Again, I took the time to spray on sunblock.
- I was able to get my socks and shoes on very quickly, just like we practiced at the PTC transition brick. The new socks, with liberally applied foot powder, plus the Asics Metaspeed Sky+ shoes felt really, really good when I started jogging.
- I put my bib, hat and glasses on as I ran to the T2 exit.
- Time was 4:04, making my total time spent in transition around 8 minutes. Certainly not elite, but this is very good for me.
RUN:
I was very depleted at this point, and was already sure that trying to finish this run was probably a bad idea. But, I wanted to at least get out onto the run course a little bit to see if things might change for the better.
- I wanted to get to the first aid station, and see what kind of pace and HR felt okay.
- Ran the first mile in 9:53, but my HR was only 128bpm. That is too low. I was also breathing quite heavily.
- Stopped at the first aid station, and spent some time drinking cold fluids, getting my breathing back under control.
- Ran to the next aid station, averaging about 10:13/mile pace. Breathing went out of control before I got there.
- And that's where I ended the day. I got control of my breathing, grabbed some ice and water, and headed back toward the finish area for the DNF.
NOTES:
Nutrition/Hydration:
-Pre-race: I ate my usual 1/2 cup of oatmeal with collagen peptides and some peanut butter. Drank a cup of coffee at the hotel, and ate two pop-tarts while prepping in T1.
-Bike: I drank two 300 calorie bottles of mandarin flavored Tailwind, ate one Maurten Solid 160 bar, and 3 Precision Fuel gels. Additionally, I took water bottles at all aid stations but one. That is 1120 calories, roughly 280 grams of carbs. That comes out to almost exactly 85 grams of carbs per hour. A perfect amount in my opinion, and exactly what I was shooting for. Considering the very slow speed and low power output, that probably made it easier for me to absorb those carbs with the amount of sodium and water I took in. Had I been able to ride the faster splits that I usually do, I could have chosen to either skip the Maurten Solid bar, or skip one of the gels and gotten the same carbs/hour.
-Run: I wasn't running for long enough for nutrition/hydration to be of any interest. I just drank whatever people handed me for two aid stations. My plan ahead of the race was to drink Mortal and/or water at each station, and take a gel roughly every 3 miles. I often switch to coke or Red Bull in the last few miles, but I didn't get far enough to worry about that.
Gear:
-Overall: I wore a black one piece Zoot tri-suit (the PTC kit) for the entire race. I also tried calf sleeves for the first time (white, Zoot brand) and really liked them. The suit was a bit loose compared to when I tried the sample on months ago. If we have another kit order, I might get another one in a size down. But it was super comfortable and I actually really like it. I wore my old and trusty Garmin Fenix 5X watch, and used my new Coros HRM armband. I really like the armband instead of a chest strap, and it performed very well. I also have a CORE temperature sensor that I've been using. I haven't been doing heat training or anything, but I was curious to see what it said since I was quite sure I did this race with a mild to moderate fever. According to the sensor, my core temp peaked at 103.9F.
-Swim: I used my Roka Maverick Sleeveless wet suit, with my tri suit top all the way on. I was very comfortable, and my arms and shoulders felt great the entire swim. I did have the worst swim of my career, though. So I am curious if this setup somehow has a huge amount of drag that I'm unaware of. Even being sick, I have a hard time understanding how I swam so slowly. I used Roka R1 goggles in the dark mirror tint. They were great for the first part of the swim with the sun directly in my face. No issues with them at all, no fogging, leaking, etc. I never saw an official water temperature, but I heard people saying it was above 65 degrees.
-Bike: I rode my Felt IA16, with HED Jet+ Black wheels (60mm front, disc rear). This was my first time racing since converting the wheels to tubeless. I had a 25mm Continental GP5000 Str on the front wheel at 62psi, and a 25mm Continental GP5000 TTtr on the rear wheel at 65psi. The tires felt great, buttery smooth. Road conditions were very good on the course, but there are a few pretty bad spots and this setup glided right over everything. I have no idea if the TTtr tire offered any advantages over the Str, but the setup felt really good, and I'll continue to race with it. Gearing was 53/39 chain rings with an 11-32 cassette. When I was basically unable to produce any power, I was in that 39/32 quite often, but I was also in the 53/11 a lot as well. I wore the Giro Aerohead helmet, which was just fine. It was a bit stuffy near the top of Snow Canyon, but otherwise great. I wore a Halo sweat band under the helmet, and had no sweat dripping at all (considering I had a fever, that's really impressive). Bottle setup was two standard 28 ounce bottles, both mounted in the cockpit (one above the extensions, one underneath). On a flatter course, I might prefer the XLab Torpedo to the top bottle, but St. George has enough riding where you are out of aero position to where this setup is very nice. I also sprayed Coppertone Sport 30SPF on all exposed skin in T1.
-Run: I wore the Asic Metaspeed Sky+ shoes, and I raced in my new Balega blister free socks. I poured a lot of Gold Bond powder into the socks so they would go on smoothly, and also to help with sweat and other moisture. Even though I didn't finish the run, the setup was super comfortable, and my feet were bone dry, even a couple hours later when I finally got back to the hotel and removed the shoes. To protect from the sun, I wore a Nike Dry-Fit cap, and my Oakley Radar sunglasses. I sprayed all exposed skin with Coppertone Sport 50SPF sunblock in T2, and though I tanned a little bit on the arms and neck, no sunburn.
Logistics:
-Travel: We drove into St. George on Thursday, arriving at around 5pm local time (about 6 hours trip)
-Lodging: We stayed at the TRU by Hilton Hotel on Sunland Dr, basically the other side of the I-15 from town square. Same place we stayed when I was here for 2022 IM World Championship. The room we had this time wasn't nearly as nice as last time, but still not bad. Staff was nice, and it was quiet at night.
-Food: We ate at some of the regular spots we know (Steak and Chop House, Viva Chicken, and of course post race went straight to Iceberg) but we also went to Texas Roadhouse for the first time, it was just okay. And we found this crepe place called Tifny's that was excellent.
Improvements:
-Swim: My poor swim was actually the biggest surprise of the day. I've only been back in the pool for a few weeks, but have had some decent sessions that would make me think a 35-37 minute swim was realistic. A 42 is just horrible for me. I can without a doubt swim faster than that without a wet suit. I'm going to find a way to test my wet suit setups and see if they are slow, or maybe I indeed need to chalk it up to being sick. Right now, I just don't know.
-Bike: I think the low power output was purely due to illness. Holding 170-180W for 2 or 3 hours isn't that hard for me. Strava says I averaged 137W on the day. I don't think I've ever averaged that low on any ride, even active recovery spins. I'll see how things are looking once I am past this illness.
-Run: Nothing to report here. I didn't feel like it was good for my long term, health to try and complete this run. It sucks, but its a smarter move. I have other races coming up where I can push myself when I'm healthy.
-Transitions: I'm actually very happy with my transitions at this race. The only slowdowns were getting my wet suit over my calves and ankles, and having to tip toe a little bit on the hot and sharp asphalt in T2. Maybe I can consider trimming the ankle portion of my wet suits to give more room to get over my larger calves and stiff ankles.
Conclusion:
It was definitely a huge bummer to get sick coming into this race. I didn't have any huge aspirations, but still wanted to go out and have a fun day, and get a finish on the final event at St. George. I'm not upset at my decision to DNF, as I think I went about as far as I could without jeopardizing my health. And also, I still gained a lot from the experience as far as testing my equipment, fueling strategy, and getting some real world practice (probably my best transitions in an Ironman). I;m going to take an easy week to make sure I'm recovered, then hit it hard (but smart) to get ready for Boise in July.
Next Races: I'll be at Ironman 70.3 Boise on July 26, 2025. Boise has a lot in comon with St. George (lake swim, hilly bike, very hot temps and possibility of tough winds). And after spoiling this race being sick, you can be sure that I'll be aiming to bring my A game to this one.
