2019 Ironman 70.3 St. George

On May 4, 2019 I competed in the 2019 edition of Ironman 70.3 St. George. This event is of significance to me because 4 years ago, the 2015 edition of this race was my first 70.3 event. Even though this race is just part of my training build up for IM Lake Placid in July, I was curious to see how much I've improved in 4 years.

Quick Race Summary:

For those who aren't interested in all of the details...

Swim: 37:30
T1: 5:44
Bike: 2:58:11
T2: 7:00
Run: 2:18:33

Total: 6:06:58

Pre-Race:

My family and I drove to St. George on Thursday before the race. We arrived in the afternoon, in time to get athlete check-in done, and to make a quick run through the merchandise tent. I was supposed to link up with a couple others to bike the run course, but we all traveled separately and things didn't work out. So, I ended up just doing a short run to get my legs loosened up after the car ride.

Friday, I did a shakeout ride to make sure my bike was ready to race, and to get the heart rate up a little bit. I took care of run gear check-in, then we drove out to Sand Hollow Reservoir to drop of my bike and gear. The water looked great, and despite earlier reports, the water temp was up in the 60's, so conditions were looking good for the race. After that, we went and drove the hilly parts of the run course, and took a quick trip through Snow Canyon so I could reacquaint myself with that climb. After that, I got the rest of my gear put together, had a quiet dinner, then relaxed for a bit before getting to sleep.

Race Morning:

I woke up at 3:50am, after an unusually good night's sleep. I usually toss and turn, but for once I slept pretty well. I had to catch the hotel shuttle at 4:25am, so I quickly got dressed, loaded my nutrition and fluids into a backpack, and headed out. The hotel opened up their breakfast service early for triathletes on race morning, but it wasn't full service. I was able to get a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee before it was time to load up (I also snagged a muffin for the ride out to the reservoir). The shuttle dropped us off, and I made my way to T1 to throw a gel and a flask of Infinit Jet Fuel into my run bag. I caught the first bus that I saw loading people up, and we were off to the reservoir. Heather Wurtele (the pro triathlete, and 2x winner at St. George) was on the bus, which I thought was odd, but also super cool. We got to T2 at about 5:15am, and I went straight to my bike to get it prepped. I got right in line to use the pumps, which ended up taking way longer than I thought. But I finally got everything done, then waited in a very long porta-potty line before finally going over to get my wetsuit on and dropping off my morning clothes bag. I lined up in the 33-35 minute swim group, where I also ran into Gregg Doyle. There was no opportunity for a warm-up swim or to even get wet before starting to race. The pros started their race on time, and at 7am the first AGers started. It was about 7:27am by the time my group started to swim. The pros were already several miles into the bike.

Swim:

As soon as I took a few steps into the water, I felt very cold. I've raced in way colder water than 62 degrees before, but for some reason this really hit me. I did my best to dive under water, get moving quickly, and just embrace it. But for the first few hundred yards, I was definitely having a tough time. Once that passed, I settled into a good rhythm. There was plenty of traffic in the water, but I did a good job avoiding too much contact without deviating from my line. Navigation was easy. In fact, after the first red turn buoy, it was so easy to navigate that you could see at least 2 or 3 buoys ahead at times. My stroke felt smooth and easy, and things seemed to be going very well. There were sections where it seemed like the swell or chop picked up, but for the most part, conditions were great. I rounded the second turn buoy and headed for the swim exit. When I finally got there, I did have trouble getting stuck behind several people swimming abreast that where trying to stand up before the water was shallow enough. This impeded me, but only for a few seconds. When I stood up, I took a glance at my watch and was disappointed to see 37 minutes for my time. Aside from issues with the cold water at the beginning, I have no idea why I swam that slowly. I'm willing to bet that had I jogged back to the swim start and swam the course again, I could have beaten that time. I KNOW I am faster than that. I didn't want to dwell on it though, so I ran up the hill and started thinking about the bike.

T1:

The transition was set up more like what I've seen at full distance races: you grab your bike gear bag off of a rack, then head to a changing area where you ditch your wetsuit, get your bike gear on, then hand your bag (full of swim gear now) off to a volunteer before running to your bike. You can no longer put your shoes on the bike and do a flying mount. My bike was pretty far from the exit, so I was not looking forward to that run in my cycling shoes, but aside from that it wasn't a big deal. I took things nice and easy to avoid slipping and falling, had a clean mount, and got my ride underway.

Bike:

Snow Canyon hits 12% grade in some parts.

I remember from 4 years earlier that you hit a couple of hills pretty quickly into the bike, so I took it easy in the first couple of miles and gave my legs and cardio a chance to warm up before I did any climbing. It didn't take long to get comfortable and into a nice rhythm. As I went over those first two hills, I could tell that I had good legs. It was effortless to manage the power levels that I wanted to hold, and my heart rate was steadily in the mid-120's and low 130's almost the entire time. One thing I was happy to see where quite a few course marshals. In fact, I saw several people get blue cards for either drafting or blocking violations, and each time I passed a penalty tent, there were people in them serving their penalties. Despite that fact though, I saw dozens of riders around me that either didn't know or care about the rules when it comes to making passes or being passed by another rider. It forced me to make some aggressive passes a couple of times, but no big deal. Each time we climbed, I was careful not to let my power creep above 250W unless I was out of the saddle. I was also careful not to let it drop below 170W unless it was downhill, or while I was backing off of someone who passed me. I was hoping to have between 185 and 200W normalized power for the entire ride. Soon enough we entered the park and started climbing Snow Canyon. I stuck to my guns on the power output, except for a couple of the steepest pitches in the last 1.5 miles or so (but I did get out of the saddle a couple of those times, so technically I was still within my planned range). My heart rate got up into the 140's for a few minutes, but easily dropped back down once the roads flattened out. After we got out of the canyon and onto SR-18 to head back into town, I quickly took advantage of my larger gears and started pushing my 53x11 gear down into St. George. I averaged about 32mph for the last 9 mile segment and passed a lot of people, without putting myself into any difficulty at all. I think this is where a lot of people who train indoors a lot (or exclusively) have a disadvantage. Many people were not willing (or able) to stay aero and pedal down a lot of hills on the course. Finally, I made my way to T2 and dismounted in a time of 2:58. This was a bit slower than I had hoped, but I did nail my power numbers: 192W normalized power, and heart rate was 129bpm average. When I rode a 2:57 here 4 years ago, I pushed 218W with 149bpm average heart rate. So even though I was no faster, I was way more efficient and most likely way better prepared to run off of the bike this year.

T2:

I got my bike racked quickly, but I noticed something strange: my run gear bag was tied with a different knot than what I had used this morning. I'm an Army Ranger. We know entirely too much about knot tying, and this was clearly not my knot. And whoever did tie it, was probably not so meticulous about their knots. It was a mess. It took me a good 90 seconds to undo it, and once I opened the bag, I found some gels and a can of red bull that also didn't belong to me. Obviously, somebody accidentally dropped their nutrition in my bag this morning and retied the bag. I put their stuff on the ground, thinking perhaps they'd find it (assuming they weren't already out on the run course). I put on my visor and sunglasses, but my feet were totally dry after the bike so I didn't bother changing socks. I put my shoes on, grabbed my bib, ran to the porta-potties, then got sunscreen applied by volunteers before heading out. I definitely wasted a couple minutes (or three) in T2, but I felt ready to run.

Run:

All I could think about was getting up the first hills (basically to mile 4) in one piece. The first two miles are pretty gentle uphill, but then it gets pretty steep. Those first two went by pretty easily and quickly, but once we hit the steep part, I slowed to a shuffle. I promised myself that if I could reach the Mile 4 marker without walking, then I would allow myself to walk the next aid station if I needed to let my HR come back down. Even though I was barely shuffling, I made it. And yes, I walked the next aid station to let my HR recover a bit. I picked the pace back up, and actually felt pretty good over the next hill, and on the descent to mile 6. Not long after that, the course makes a u-turn and heads directly back up a hill that we just came down. And to make things worse, at the top, you make another u-turn and go down (and back up) again! It was on this second ascent that I started to run out of steam, right around mile 8. I knew the final big hill was coming up, so I did everything I could to conserve energy and try to rally for it. But after those last two climbs, my HR wasn't coming back down on the flats. I wanted very badly to run all the way to the top (at about 9.2 miles) but I decided to alternate shuffling with speed walking to avoid blowing up before I reached the top. It worked, but I had a very slow mile split there. At any rate, I made it to the top, then got back to a normal running pace to the aid station just past mile 10. From there, I started feeling confident again, having the hills behind me, and just having to grind out a hot, and mostly downhill 2.5 miles to the finish. I took my time in each aid station, but kept things moving. With a little over a mile to go, somebody was on course with a hose offering to spray people. I waved to him, and he proceeded to absolutely douse me with water. My shoes and socks (previously bone dry) were now saturated. I wasn't too happy, but I just kept rolling. I took a swig of coke at the final aid station, then was able to pick up the pace a bit, hang that last right turn through the traffic circle, and finish nice and strong. My run time was 2:18, which again I thought I would have been faster (I was hoping for 2:05 to 2:10). But seriously my longest run of 2019 before this race was 9 miles. So, all things considered, this was an ideal result considering my run fitness level. My total time was 6:06, which by the way, is 29 minutes faster than my debut 70.3 here 4 years ago. Certainly not an amazing performance, but definitely a large improvement (getting faster as I get older!)

Finally! I had a finish chute all to myself!

Notes:

Some information and observations from this race.

-Nutrition

--Pre-race: I ate a bowl of cereal and drank a cup of coffee first thing in the morning. On the bus ride and before the swim I ate a GU waffle, drank a 24 oz. bottle of Infinit Jet Fuel, and ate one GU gel, for a total of about 750 calories before the race.

--Bike: I took two gels, and drank 48 ounces of Infinit GoFar, for a total of 850 calories. I refilled my BTA with water, not gatorade or anything else.

--Run: I drank a flask of concentrated Infinit Jet Fuel in T2 before I started running (about 200 calories). For the first half of the run, I drank Gatorade at each aid station. From miles 7.5 to roughly 10 miles, I drank Red Bull at each station. For the final two aid stations I drank Coke. I sipped water a couple of times, but mostly just used water to pour over my head and down my back to help with the heat.

-Gear

--Overall: my trisuit was a two-piece LG short sleeved kit. I use a Wahoo TICKR HR monitor strap, and wore a Garmin Fenix 5X watch. I captured the swim and run data with the watch (bike data captured on my bike computer).

--Swim: I used my full sleeved Roka Maverick Elite wetsuit. It is getting old, but it seemed to do the job just fine. I had my tri suit shorts on, but no top. I did feel cold at the start, but can't attribute that to the suit. I used Roka X1 goggles (mirrored amber). The sun is in your face a lot on this swim, so those goggles were perfect. No fogging issues, but that's because Gregg had a bottle of water with him, and he let me pour a few drops in each lens before we got started.

--Bike: I rode my Felt IA16, with HED Jet+ Black wheels (disc wheel on the back, 60mm on the front). Tires are the new Continental GP5000 (23mm) with latex tubes. I love these tires, and have been happy racing latex tubes for well over a year now. The wheel combo was solid, and I think the disc was fast on the windy and flat/downhill sections of the course. For gearing I used 53/39 oval chain rings, with an 11x28 cassette. Smaller chain rings would have been nice on the steepest pitches in Snow Canyon, but I made very good use of the larger gears on descents. I used an X-Lab Torpedo BTA, and an X-Lab Aero TT bottle on the frame for carrying fluids. For data, I used my Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt computer. I used my Giro Aerohead helmet, which seemed great. I didn't notice any issues with heat, even though I forgot to wear my Halo sweatband.

--Run: I wore Hoka One One Clifton 5 (knitted) shoes with ultra-thin no show RR Sports socks.  I wore a Headsweats visor and Oakley Razor sunglasses with a dark polarized lens. The shoes have been great since I started training in them several weeks ago.

No issues with any of my gear today. Everything worked great.

-Logistics

We drove to St. George on Thursday, staying at the TownPlace Suited by Marriott. The hotel is race friendly, providing a shuttle on race morning to the town square (where we catch buses to the swim start/T1). We found a couple of good new places to eat: Red Crown Indian Cuisine, Rib and Chop House, and Peruvian Rotisserie Chicken.

Improvements For Next Time:

• Consider coming into town Wednesday if you really want to get shakeout rides and runs with the club or club members.
• For the swim, figure out how to better prepare for the entry to avoid being impacted by the cold (do a practice swim beforehand, find a way to get wet beforehand, something).
• Don't finger drill the transitions. Someone good at transitions who can swim/bike/run like me is under 6 hours at this race! If a bag is stuck tied up, just rip the damn thing open. Don't waste time untying a rat's nest knot.
• If I race in my short sleeve top, I might try to wear a sleeveless wetsuit over it, so I can just drop the wetsuit in transition and save the step of putting the top on in transition. I see a lot of people (even pro/elite) who use this setup now.
• Find a better way to air up tires on race morning. The provided pumps suck if you have a disc wheel. Try one of those handheld compressors, like the Fumpa, and see if it is worth carrying and putting in your morning clothes bag.
• On race morning, the 4:25 shuttle to the buses (and catching the first bus) was too early. Shift the schedule to the right by 30 minutes or so next time.

Conclusion:

Considering that this was just a training event for me, I'm pleased with the results. I am 4 years older, yet nearly half an hour faster than I was here in 2015. Hopefully one day I can come back again, with my training focused specifically for this event. I'd like to see what I could really do on this course. Also, the fact that I did this race 4 weeks earlier than it was called for in my training program, and still had a strong showing, shows that my training for Ironman Lake Placid is going very well.

2018 Ironman 70.3 Santa Rosa

On July 28, 2018, I traveled up to Santa Rosa, CA to compete in IM70.3 Santa Rosa.

Quick Race Summary

For those who just want the details:

Swim: CANCELLED
T1: NONE
Bike: 2:47:27
T2: 7:27
Run: 2:26:43

Total: 5:21:37 (153rd AG, 1171st overall)

This pic kind of sums up the day for me. People get in the way sometimes, not much you can do about it (please, limit your finish line happy dance to 5 seconds or less).

Pre-Race:

I signed up for this race right after IM Texas, at which time I felt ready to go after a sub-5 hour 70.3. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to go right for me after Texas. I injured my neck in the pool (no training for over 3 weeks), got sick for a week, and have been dealing with crazy hours and stressful times at work. Despite all of that, I decided to go through with the race, but decided to focus more on the vacation and rest than the race performance itself. I wasn't able to maintain the consistency and volume of training that I knew I needed to perform well. So, this would be another 'fun' race instead of a PR attempt. On Wednesday the 25th, I packed everything up, and headed to Santa Rosa with my family.

I went for a ride Thursday morning, and did a full recon of the run course. I was pleased at how nice and cool it was in the mornings, even though I knew it would warm up quite a bit throughout the day. The run course was mostly on a narrow trail on both sides of Santa Rosa Creek. Though there were a few exposed sections, there was a decent amount of shade on the course. Hills were also fairly minimal. All in all, a decent and potentially fast run course, though the narrow parts have potential for some crowding.

Friday, I did a very short run with some form drills and striders to keep the legs awake, then headed to T2 to hang my running gear in my transition spot. I also wanted to see the pro panel at the race expo, so we hung out for a bit waiting for that. I also ran into Jim Manton from ERO Sports, who fits and aero tests many of the pros in the race along with a lot of us in PTC. Apparently I had just missed Linsey Corbin, who was talking to Jim as I came up. Next up was a drive up to Lake Sonoma to drop off my bike and gear at T1. I had no bike course knowledge, so I was eager to try and get a look at some of the roads I'd be racing on the next day. The area near T1 was extremely crowded, and the volunteers were having a tough time managing the traffic. We eventually got through and parked in a dirt lot a few hundred yards up the road. I walked down with my bike and made my way into transition. My spot was actually very close to the bike out area, but about as far from the entrance as you could be. This meant extra running after the swim, but a short trip to the mount line from my rack, which I think is ideal. I got everything situated, deflated my tires a little, then headed out. It was quite hot, and I didn't want to waste any energy baking in the sun. As we were driving back to Santa Rosa, I got a notification on my phone: due to potential fog issues, the swim may be shortened or cancelled... WHAT??

The night before the race, I had a nice quiet dinner with my family at a place called the Bird and the Bottle, which had excellent food (highly recommended). After a nice meal, I spent a few minutes making sure I had everything ready for race morning, then turned in nice and early.

Race Morning:

I woke up at 3:30am and did my usual routine (vitamin c, bottle of fluids, and two bonk breaker bars). I skipped the coffee, as our hotel had terrible coffee in the room. I grabbed my swim gear, another bottle of fluids, and headed out. my wife drove me to the shuttle bus pick-up area, and I hopped right onto a bus and started the drive up to the lake. As we got closer to the lake, the fog indeed showed up, big time. Driving over the bridge, you couldn't see anything below. I walked over to my bike, put my fluids and nutrition on, got my bike computer fired up, and made sure all the sensors were connecting. Lots of condensation had formed everywhere, but the gear in my bike bag was completely dry. I took my bike over to the bike tech area to air up the tires, and took the opportunity to run through the gears with my Di2 shifters to make sure everything was good. I inadvertently cut in front of about 200 people who were waiting in line for the pumps (my bad). I re-racked my bike, and headed down the hill to the swim start area. I heard there was a significant uphill run from the lake to T1, so I wanted to have a look at that, and also to see the swim start up close. The hill was definitely steep, but it turned out to be a non-factor. The fog was so thick you couldn't even tell what direction to head out for the swim, no buoys visible anywhere. I found a comfy place to sit and relax a bit, and sure enough an announcement was heard saying they postponed the race start hoping to let the fog burn off, but then later told us the swim was off. We'd be doing a time-trial start of the bike leg to get the race going. I headed back to my bike and started preparing.

Bike:

The time trial start without a swim was a new experience for me. The pros all draw a starting position out of a hat, and basically go out one at a time with a short time gap between each rider. For the age groupers, you go out in groups of 4 or 5, every few seconds, and go in bib number order. I was bib 2776 out of about 3400 people, so I had quite a wait on my hands. By the time I was lined up to head onto the course, it had been about 1 hour, 45 minutes since the first pros took off. I did have a little bit of extra nutrition, and water was available so I did my best to try and stay topped off before I started my race.

I finally took off, more than 2 hours later than I would have, had there been a swim. I immediately passed a group of people ahead of me on the first downhill. As I picked up speed on the descent, I went to change gears and realized that my aero extension shifters were not working! My left base bar shifters (which control my chain ring shifts) were also not working. The only shifters I had available were on the right base bar to control the rear derailleur. This meant I'd be doing all of the hills in my big chain ring, and that my front derailleur would be rubbing a lot when I was climbing.

The first decent hill comes at around mile 5. Normally, I'd say it wasn't too bad, but climbing it in a 53 tooth chain ring wasn't much fun. Still, I managed to keep my watts from going too crazily high, and surprisingly my heart rate and perceived exertion weren't as bad as I thought they'd be. I passed a lot of people here, and once we started the downhill, I was able to really settle into a nice rhythm. I did notice that starting towards the back meant I would have to pass a lot of people, and this frequently caused issues: braking, bad gear selection, and I came out of my aero position very frequently. Even with all of that, as we approached halfway on the bike, I checked my average speed and was hovering right around 21.5 mph, which I thought was decent, all things considered. A couple miles later, we hit the bigger hill: Chalk Hill road. I had never ridden this road before, but other people I know who have ridden it told me it was not much of a climb and not to worry about it. However, I thought it was a decent climb once I saw it up close. Once again, I had to go up in my big ring, but fortunately I had decided to put my 11x28 cassette on my disc wheel, so I shifted all the way down to a 53x28 for a lot of the climb, which was noisy as the cross-chaining rubbed my front derailleur quite a bit. I also quickly learned that if I stayed in the saddle with this gear ratio, I had to push really big watts. I was able to push less power by standing, and trying to sway my body weight over the pedals. I ended up averaging a little over 300 watts for that segment, which wasn't that high. I'd probably be closer to 250-260 watts if I had my other gears available.

Once I was past Chalk Hill road, I was looking forward to making up for some lost time on flatter roads. However, I hit my third and final 'bump' in the road. Not long after we came off of the climb, my front tire started feeling a little mushy. I could also hear a very distinct ticking sound each time my wheel made a revolution. I could see that something was stuck to the tread of my tire. I wasn't wearing gloves, so I decided not to try to wipe whatever it was off of the tire. I had to make a quick stop. As it turns out, it wasn't glass, or a thorn, or just a shard pebble. It was a tack! By now, my tire was nearly completely flat, so I went ahead and pried it out. It wasn't super long, but had a very wide base to it, not your typical thumb tack, but maybe something used for roofing? I don't know for sure. However, I later learned that many people got punctures due to these tacks, and I did see a LOT of people changing flats on this ride, especially within about 5 miles of where I was. So anyway, I didn't panic. I actually practice tire changes and knew I could make quick work of this issue, especially since it was the front tire, and not my rear disc wheel. To make it even easier, two volunteers on bikes came up to me and helped. One guy held my bike up while I dealt with the front wheel, and the other guy put my Co2 cartridge and chuck together for me. All I had to do is get the punctured latex tube out, put one of my spare butyl tubes in, and get the tire back on. I had the wheel back on and ready to ride VERY quickly. And since I was stopped, I went ahead and grabbed a 4mm allen key and popped my headset cover off to see if I could find the issue that had caused my Di2 shifting to stop working. I spent maybe 20-30 seconds and didn't see anything obvious, so I put the cover back on, and took off. The rest of the ride went without incident. I was still coming out of aero to avoid people more than I'd have liked, and I personally thought the road conditions (asphalt, bumps, potholes, etc) were very bad. I had to do a lot of bunny hops, wheelies, etc to avoid sharp bumps and holes, and the course was littered with ejected bottles, broken cages, and I even saw a couple of complete BTA systems that people lost. I passed two people who had wrecked, also (separate incidents). Overall, probably my least favorite Ironman bike leg, so I was happy to finally cruise into T2 in Santa Rosa. My official time was just under 2:48, and my moving time on my computer showed just under 2:43, so I basically knocked out that tire change pit stop in under 5 minutes! Not too shabby.

I never saw anybody drafting, apparently because I never looked back.

T2:

I had a short distance from the entrance to my rack spot, which was nice. I changed into my running gear, and bagged up all my other stuff pretty quickly, but did have quite a distance to the run start. Along the way, I was looking for port-a-potties. I actually had to do the limbo under two rows of bikes to get to them, which wasted a bit of time. Finally, I made my way out to start the run.

Run:

I wasn't very exited about this upcoming half marathon, considering the level of preparation I had. However, I was pleasantly surprised that I actually felt quite good heading out of transition, and for the first couple of miles. I was averaging about 8:55/mile pace, but I knew that would get even slower once I started walking the aid stations, which I had planned to do after the first 5k or so. There is a trail section on the far side of the creek trail that you traverse twice (a two loop course) which I really liked. It was very shaded, and felt like a slight downhill. At the end of it, you make a sharp right turn onto a bridge overpass where there is also an aid station. I decided to take my first aid-station walk here. All seemed well, until I resumed running. The ball of my right foot was suddenly very painful. I hadn't stumbled, tripped, or stepped on anything that could have hurt my foot. So I had to assume that it was some sort of cramp or muscle pull. I thought about stopping, taking off my shoe, and trying to massage or stretch it a bit, but I was afraid I might exacerbate it. So, I just slowed down, and had to limp through my walk breaks at the aid stations. My mile splits became super slow at this point as the walk breaks became longer and more frequent with the continued pain. I focused on moving forward and getting closer to the finish, despite the slow pace. I saw a couple of PTCers out there, and tried to shout encouragement as they went by, and I ran for a bit with Steve Lis as he passed me. Before long, I found myself with about 2 miles to go, and I managed to pick up the pace slightly. Once I was off of the creek trail and back onto the city streets, I wanted to pick up the pace even more, but the pain in my foot spiked up. So I had to just cruise it around the last corner and into the very long finish chute. I was very relieved to be done with this race. Despite a terrible run split (2:26), this was still faster than I ran at St. George, Oceanside, or Taiwan. But still, after my HIM PR earlier this spring where I ran a 1:52, I'm holding myself to a higher standard.

Aside from some foot pain, I actually felt OK on the run.

Notes:

Nutrition:

My usual plan of taking in roughly 1000 calories from wake-up to swim start is still a good plan (two energy bars, one bottle of Infinit, and then one GU gel shortly before start). However, in the future, keep at least two hours (~600 or more) calories available in case of a delay like we had with the cancelled swim. On the bike, I drank Infinit and water the entire way, and ate one GU gel. That was plenty, and allowed me to avoid the carnage at the crowded aid stations. On the run, I carried nothing. I drank gatorade on the first lap, and switched to red bull and coke on the second lap. I backed off on water consumption after lessons learned at IMTX. Energy levels and hydration were fine.

Gear:

Swim - Had the swim taken place I was prepared to use my sleeveless Roka Maverick Pro for the 1.2 miles, but had they shortened it to the 1,000 yard option, I was going to use my Roka Viper swimskin, mostly because I like it and haven't had a chance to race in it yet. But alas, no swim, so not much to write about here.

Bike - Rode my Felt IA16 with HED Jet+ Black wheels (60mm front, disc rear) with latext tubes and Continental GP4KsII 23mm tires. This was the first puncture I have had since switching to latex tubes more than a year ago, but no setup was stopping those tacks! Gearing was 53/39 front rings with a 11x28 11-speed cassette. I am very glad I opted for the 28, since I didn't anticipate climbing in my big chain ring! Everything about the bike setup was fine except for the Di2 shifting. It has been a week since the race, and I still don't know what was wrong with it. I finally had to take all of the junctions apart and reconnect everything, and now it seems back to normal. I used my Giro Aerohead helmet, which worked out great. Not too hot on the slower parts of the course, and great for the windier sections.

Run - I wore my Hoka One One Mach shoes, which have been good for the most part. My right foot was extremely painful for about 9 miles of the run, and continued to hurt until about Wednesday of the following week. At first I thought it was something serious like a fallen arch, but I think it was just muscle/ligament strain from not getting enough mileage in prior to the event.

Logistics:

We stayed at the Best Western Garden Inn on Santa Rosa Ave, which was fine. There is no advantage to being much closer to the race expo area, as it gets very crowded with vehicle traffic, closed roads, etc. Plus, no matter where you stay, you still have quite a drive up to the lake for bike and gear drop-off. I boarded a 4:15am shuttle to the lake on race morning, which was too early. If I were to do it again, I'd move my whole schedule about 30 minutes later (i.e. rise at 4am, catch a bus at 4:45 or 5am.)

Conclusion:

Well there's a saying: "they can't all be winners" which is true of this race. In the last year of racing I've had several podiums and set PRs at all distances that I race, and I finally had a bad race here. I knew going into this event that it wouldn't be a good one, with injuries and a lot of other stuff going on that impeded my training. So I can't get too down on myself. And I am happy about how I responded to the bad luck, especially how quickly I dealt with my punctured front tire. Regardless of the lack or preparation or the slow finish time, I should be happy that even out of shape and under prepared, I can hop into a 70.3 (or 69.1 as it turned out) and get to the finish line in the top 1/3 of the field.

Next Race: IM70.3 La Quinta/Indian Wells (MAYBE, if I'm happy with my run fitness at that time)

2018 Ironman Texas

On April 28, 2018 I was fortunate enough to participate in Ironman Texas. This was my first attempt at the full IM distance.

Quick Race Summary:

For those who don't care for all the details, my race in a nutshell...

Swim (2.4 miles): 1:10:39
T1: 8:19
Bike (110 miles): 5:07:06
T2: 7:42
Run (26.2 miles): 5:16:12

TOTAL Time: 11:49:58 (133rd AG, 838th overall out of 2900+)

Pre-Race:

I traveled (along with my wife and daughter) to The Woodlands, Texas on Wednesday the 25th to allow myself a couple of days to settle in and relax before the race, and also to make sure I could get a few easy training sessions on or near the race courses. We stayed at the Westin at the Woodlands Hotel, which was right on the waterway, and very close to the run finish. The hotel was very nice, and the immediate surrounding area had all the amenities that we could hope for, tons of restaurants, stores, etc. The weather was definitely hot, but so far was not living up to the hype regarding humidity. It was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be. Over the course of the next two days, I got an easy 45 minute spin on my bike, and a short run just to keep the blood flowing, and to get a feel for the course and weather. I felt very good, and very confident in my fitness going into the race. On Thursday, I linked up with Sebastian K. and his friend Mark to do a drive-by recon of the bike course as well.

The day before the race, I was alarmed at how much walking I did (my Garmin told me I took 12,000 steps) but I didn't feel like I was over exerting myself. I got a short run in the morning, then took my bike and gear bags over to transition for the mandatory check-in. After that, I had an early dinner with my Army Ranger buddies (10 of us were set to compete) and did my best to just kick my feet up and relax. I was in bed a bit later than I had planned, but I knew I was going to get crappy sleep anyway (and I was right).

Race Morning:

I got out of bed at 3:50am, even though I had been waking up about every 10 minutes since 2:20am. I took my megadose of 1000mg lypospheric vitamin C, then started my pre-race nutrition. In this case, that meant two Bonk Breaker bars, and one serving of Infinit Jet Fuel. I took a second serving of the Jet Fuel with me, along with my special needs bags and headed to the lobby to meet up with Sebastian and Mark. We started the walk over to transition to do final preparations on our bikes. I got separated from those guys after I headed over to air up my tires, so I ended up doing the 15 minute walk to the swim start alone, and got myself ready for the swim. About 5 minutes before I joined the 1:00 to 1:10 swim time group, I popped a GU gel, which made for a total of about 1000 calories (and 40 ounces of fluid) that I took in between waking up and starting the race. As I edged toward the start with my group, I expected to be wrought with nervousness, but I wasn't. I was excited, I was happy, but the best way to describe it would be to say: I was ready!

Swim:

I stepped across the timing mat, and my first IM attempt was underway. The water was warm (I think 73 or 74 degrees) so I didn't have to deal with that initial cold shock that happens when you do not get to even toe the water before you jump in to start the race. The course turns immediately to the right, and I decided to go far left, nearest the buoys to make sure sighting was easy. Immediately, there was a lot of physical contact, which I did expect. What I did not expect, was for this contact to continue nearly all the way to the swim finish. I don't think I had a single 50 yard segment of the swim that was not impacted by contact from other people. I did my best not to let the contact bother me, but it did make it very tough to keep good form. I had to raise my head out of the water far more than I would have liked. But aside from that, the course was easy to navigate, and despite what it looked (and smelled) like in the days leading up to the race, the water quality was not as bad as I thought it would be. The buoys were yellow for the first half, and orange for the second half of the course. So it was easy to tell when we had begun the second half of the swim. Not too long after we hit orange buoys, we made a right turn into the waterway canal. This is one thing that makes the IMTX swim unique. It was actually pretty cool having spectators just yards away on either side of the canal, and on top of the several foot bridges over the canal. The narrow canal also made navigation trivial as you could see how close you were to the edge on each stroke. As we made our way up the waterway, I finally saw the last red turn buoy which signified the final left turn right before the swim exit. I never once stopped to check my watch, so had no idea how my progress was going. I did notice that my arms felt great, and I didn't feel even the slightest bit fatigued. Once I got to the exit, a volunteer helped me get stable as I grabbed onto the ladder/steps that we used to get out of the canal. Once I started running toward T1, I glanced at my Garmin and saw that I had swam a 1:10, which I was very happy with.

T1:

Transition zones at this race seemed huge. We ran quite a distance (or so it seemed) to an area where our bike gear bags were laid out on the ground. I remembered where mine was, and was able to identify and grab it before the volunteers were able to find it. From there, I ran onto a grass area that leads to the entrance of a large changing tent. Once I got to the grass, I walked, and started taking my time. I wanted to avoid getting too amped up and wasting energy in T1. I calmly found a clean chair in the tent, and sat down to put my socks, shoes, and helmet on. I also put some shower caps with elastic bands over my cycling shoes, since I knew we had a long jog through the grass and dirt (which is probably mud by now) before reaching the mounting line. Before running to my bike, I also ran to the port-o-potties since I absolutely refuse to urinate in my wetsuit, on my bike, or on myself. I had another jog to my bike (which was almost as far from the bike exit as you could be) and then the long jog with bike out to where the mounting line was. I had a smooth mount, and as I pulled away I saw my wife, daughter, sister, and nephew jumping up and down, cheering, and waving to me. It was great having family there.

Bike:

The first 5 or 6 miles of the bike were a bit awkward. Plenty of turns, and a bit crowded. There were several occasions where I wanted to pass, but knew I couldn't do it in under 20 seconds, or had to wait until I could do it cleanly. After 16 miles, we hit the infamous Hardy Toll Road, which has a reputation for fierce winds. The nice thing about the toll road was that it was closed to vehicle traffic, and was very wide. Passing was easy, and it was basically a double out-and-back circuit for a total of 80 miles. So, turns, bumps, and the usual things that slow you down were not present. The bad thing about the toll road: drafting! This race suffered from huge draft packs of epic proportions. It was absolutely ridiculous. I saw packs of riders that had more than 100 people in them. I decided to just focus on my own effort and ignore the cheaters, but it was tough not to be upset and offended by the lack of integrity displayed by a large portion of the field. I did a great job staying on top of my nutrition and hydration, and staying in my aero position. My legs felt great, and my power/HR numbers were spot on. I reached the 56 mile mark in 2:32, which was a bit alarming. My goal for the bike was to hopefully land right around 5:30 for the entire ride. So, 5:04 pace seemed entirely too fast. However, I was 100% sure that my effort was precisely were it should be and that I was not over-biking the course. Nevertheless, I decided to focus on backing off a bit, to ensure I arrived at T2 ready for a good run. On my second circuit of the toll road, the winds were noticeably stronger. I changed the display on my bike computer to just show watts and HR to make sure I focused properly on those numbers, and wasn't influenced by any drop in speed caused by the headwinds. I continued to maintain a solid but easy effort, and grabbed either water or gatorade at every aid station in addition to finishing off my concentrated Infinit GoFar bottles and Gu gels. The last 20 mile toll road stretch (heading north back towards The Woodlands) went by fast as we were back to having tailwinds. The final 14 miles or so of the course was back in town, through some residential areas and over some less than pristine pavement. I focused on finishing off the fluids I was carrying, and slowing my cadence down to more closely match my run cadence. As we approached the end of the bike course, I could see that we were going to be a couple miles short (110 miles total instead of 112). So, the 5:07 that I ended up riding was probably more like a 5:12 or so if we had those extra 2 miles. I don't care about the discrepancy other than to note that I had successfully slowed down my second half of the bike to make sure I was being conservative with energy. I had a clean dismount and handed my bike off to a volunteer and headed into T2. I was elated to be finished with the bike in a total race time of less than 6:30!

The bike leg went flawlessly! All those miles on the river trails were a perfect way to prepare for IMTX.

T2:

The run to the gear bags was pretty long. I stopped and took off my cycling shoes and did most of the run barefoot. I finally got to the gear bags, and once again I found my own bag faster than the volunteers were able to locate it for me. I did the same thing as in T1: once I hit the grass, I slowed to a walk and was very smooth and deliberate with my actions, to allow myself to stay calm and collected before starting the run. I put running gear on, stuffed my cycling gear into the bag, and handed it off to a volunteer. I doubled back to the port-o-potties to make sure I was on 'empty' before starting to run. I figured it was a good sign that I was hydrated. Finally, I left the tent, let the volunteers hit me with sunblock, then headed off to start the marathon!

Run:

I had been saying to myself for several hours that today was "all about the run." No matter how awesome my swim and bike were, if I couldn't follow them up with a decent run, then they don't matter. At the same time, I did some quick math in my head and realized that a sub-4:30 marathon today would mean a sub-11 hour Ironman! So I was torn between being ultra conservative and going into "let's just finish" mode, and trying to cap off an amazing first-timer IM finish by breaking 11 hours. So, I did the same thing as I did on the bike. I switched my Garmin to a custom page that only displayed my HR and the power from my Stryd pod. However, I still had it set to give me mile splits, so I soon realized that I was cruising the first few miles between 9:05 and 9:15 pace, which felt very comfortable. I started making sure to walk at each aid station, to both rest a bit and to make sure I was taking down as much fluid as I could handle. My heart rate was staying right where I wanted it, my breathing was very easy, and my legs felt great. However, after only 6 miles, I could already feel fluids sloshing around in my stomach. Once that started, I decided to only use water to douse myself to keep cool, drinking only gatorade. I figured this way I would only use up room in my stomach for fluids that also gave me calories and electrolytes. Though this seemed smart, it didn't really work. When I was back to the waterway on my first of three laps, I had to take an extended walk break to see if it would help settle my stomach. There is a long stretch along the canal, where on both sides there are no aid stations, so this 'break' allowed my stomach to drain a little bit, which made me feel better. I came upon my PTC teammate, Tyler Long, at this point, who also happened to be taking a walk break. We chatted for a quick minute, then I continued on. I managed to keep this same routine up all the way to the half-marathon point, which I reached in 2:12. So at this point, a sub-11 was still within my grasp! However, over the next 2 miles, I hit a very rough patch. My stomach sloshing turned into extreme nausea, and I started feeling some sharp pains in my lower abdomen. I had to extend my walk breaks. Usually, my stomach issues while running can be cured with some cola, so I tried that at the next aid station, and it actually seemed to make things worse. From mile 16 to 17, I actually walked the entire mile. During this stretch, I was wondering if I would be better off vomiting, or if that might lead to the loss of more crucial electrolytes. I opted to just keep moving forward, knowing that finishing the race was likely not in danger, but perhaps it was time to abandon hope on a really fast time. I was able to throw in some jogging with long walk breaks to get to mile 18, but my stomach was still in bad shape. By mile 19, the abdominal pains were gone, but I still couldn't eat or drink anything. Just before the 20 mile mark, I started to get light headed, and noticed that it was hard to walk or run in a straight line. My HR was fine and I still felt strong, but I was wobbly and a bit cross-eyed. I was pretty sure at this point that my problem was electrolyte depletion and not dehydration or lack of calories. When I got to the next aid station, I grabbed gatorade and pretzels (the only things I knew had sodium in them) and actually sat down on a curb to see if I could get them into my system. I got a few sips down, and a mouthful of pretzels, which was a good sign. I got up and started making my way toward the last aid station before we dropped back onto the waterway for the last time. Earlier on each lap, we run through a BASE Salts station, where you can grab a tube of their product and take it with you. It never dawned on me to use their stuff, because I had never tried it before (nothing new on race day, right?) but I was wishing I could get my hands on a tube right now. And as luck would have it, I asked for and received one in the next aid station. The guy who gave me the vial had to explain how to use it. You just pop it open, lick your thumb, plug the vial opening with your wet thumb and shake, then lick your thumb. I put the salt right under my tongue in hopes that it would absorb sub-lingually. I did the same procedure 3 times, then took one swig of water just to dilute the salty taste in my mouth. I don't know if this was a placebo effect or not, but by the time I walked the few yards to the start of the downhill leading to the waterway, I felt much, much better. I started with a slow shuffle, but quickly returned to my normal running pace. It was like the electrical system to a machine had been restored. With about 5K to the finish line, I knew it was too late to gain back the lost time from walking, but I didn't care. I was running, I felt strong, and most importantly, I was having fun! So, rather than lamenting the fact that I was going to miss a really fast time, I decided to just take it all in, smile, and enjoy the fact that I was just a few miles from a goal I've been focused on for several months. The final pass on the waterway was awesome. Tons of people on the course cheering, beating drums, giving high fives, etc. I got to the far end of the waterway, where we do a slight uphill loop to the bridge that takes us to the other side of the canal, and finally through the Red Bull arches that signified 1 mile to go. Slightly before the 26 mile marker, you get to a point where there is green tape on the ground directing you to either continue for your 2nd and 3rd running loops (left) or to go onto the finish (right). I cannot express the relief I felt to finally be going to the right! From this point to the finish, I don't even remember how I felt physically. I just remember going up a slight hill, through a bunch of turns with Ironman and Gatorade branded barricades everywhere, and finally seeing it... the M-Dot red carpet, with the black finish line archway at the end. I took a few people's advice and decided to walk the carpet, and just take in the experience rather than sprinting it in. My family was on the left side, just before the last turn to where I could see the finish. I gave them a wave, moved my bib to the front (so this guy named Mike would be able to get my name right!) and then slowed to a walk and just listened... and then I heard it... "Rob Egan from San Marino, CA... You're an Ironman, Rob!" As I got closer to Mike Reilly's booth, I pointed at him and yelled "You're damn right!" The clock on the finish line read 11:30, but that must be the time relative to the last people who entered the water for the swim. My official time was 11:49. Though this is way off from my potential sub-11, I'm not at all disappointed. I'm absolutely thrilled with a sub-12 effort for my first time in a full IM.

Early into the marathon, so far, so good!

Just steps from the famed red carpet, and a smile forming on my face.

Notes:

Some details about my preparation for the race, gear, etc.

Nutrition:

Before the race, I took in about 1000 calories (two energy bars, two bottles of my drink mix, and 1 GU gel). On the bike, I took in about 1800 calories (two bottles of concentrated Infinit GoFar custom mix, one GU waffle, two GU gels, and some Gatorade Endurance on course). On the first half of the run, all my calories were from Gatorade. After my stomach issues, I took in some cola and pretzels. As it turned out, it seems my calorie and fluid needs were MORE than accounted for, but I was short on electrolytes. The BASE Salts seemed to really do the trick once my stomach was backed up from all the water and gatorade that I couldn't absorb fast enough. Lesson learned: don't guzzle too much water. And going forward, experiment with BASE salts or similar and see if the stomach sloshing issue can be avoided altogether. My face was absolutely caked with salt after the race. With the increased heat and humidity, it is obvious that my electrolyte needs shot up much higher than I was prepared for.

Gear:

- Swim: I wore my sleeveless Roka Maverick Pro wetsuit, with water temperature around 73 degrees at race time. I stayed cool enough, and enjoyed the unencumbered feeling of no sleeves on my shoulder and arms. I used Roka X1 goggles with mirrored amber lenses. They were perfect for the lighting, but I did have to stop about 500 yards into the swim to deal with fogging. But in their defense, I didn't even get to touch the water until I was starting the race, so no time to dunk them or even put a few drops of water in each lens before I took off.

- Bike: I rode my new Felt IA16 with Ultegra Di2 components with Syncro Shift enabled, and the new TriRig Alpha One aero bars. Wheels were HED Jet+ Black (6 on the front, disc wheel on the rear) with 53/39 chain rings and 11x23 11-speed cassette. Tires were Conti GP4KS2 with latex tubes. Helmet was the Giro Aerohead. Bike computer was the Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt. All of my gear was great, no issues whatsoever with the bike. The new aero bars were very comfortable and from the pics I've seen, my position looked phenomenal.

- Run: Shoes were the Hoka One One Mach, which I really like. They feel light and agile, but still enough cushioning that my knees and hips feel good even after a full marathon in them. They do seem like they are wearing quickly though. I wore a Headsweats visor and Oakley Radar sunglasses with dark tinted lenses. My kit throughout the entire race was my LG short sleeved kit (from SSERT). The kit performed great in cool, warm, and hot temps (experienced all three in the race). It does great when dry or when soaked with sweat or water from aid stations. I have lost a decent amount of weight since I bought it, so I do notice a bit of bagginess in the top now, but still, excellent kit. My watch was the Garmin Fenix 5X. No problems with it, and the battery more than handled recording the entire swim and marathon (I didn't run the bike app, however, but instead recorded the bike on my Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt).

Logistics:

Flew to Houston via Southwest Airlines, bike was in my new PremierBikes hard case and was checked as oversized baggage ($75). No issues with the bike or case. We stayed at the Westin at the Woodlands, which was a very nice hotel, racer friendly, and close to the race expo and run finish. A mall nearby, restaurants everywhere. So hanging out and not wasting energy was very easy. My wife and daughter had a great time even when I was busy, and they were able to easily follow me in the race thanks to the multi-loop run, and through use of the Ironman Tracker iPhone app. Local traffic during the week before the race was pretty heavy, so getting training rides in on the local streets was a bit sketchy, but running and swimming were easy to get done. Race morning wake up at 4am, leaving the hotel by 5am to head to transition was ample time to get ready and head to the swim start.

Conclusion:

My first full Ironman was an amazing experience. No other way to put it. Seeing 30+ hard weeks of training come to an end and produce a great performance, even with all the stress and other issues that happened along the way is indescribably awesome. The race itself was extraordinary. From the moment I stepped into the water, until the moment I finished, it was fun. I will admit I was peeved at all of the people drafting on the bike, and the several times I saw people getting paced or receiving outside assistance on the run. However, I refused to let that spoil MY experience. Though I put together a solid race, I did make a big mistake with the electrolytes on the run, and I learned from it immediately. I can't wait to put that knowledge to the test in another race!

2018 Bayshore 70.4 Triathlon

On Saturday, March 10,  I competed in the 2018 Bayshore 70.4 Triathlon in Long Beach, California. Yes, it is 70.4 (not 70.3) due to licensing issues with the company that owns Ironman. To get around that, this race lengthens the swim to 1.3 miles.

Quick Race Summary

For those interested in skipping details, here are my results:

Swim (1.3 miles): 33:51
T1: 4:05
Bike (56 miles): 2:34:42
T2: 2:59
Run: (13.1 miles): 1:54:42

Total Time: 5:10:21 (2nd place M45-49, 17th place overall)

This is a huge PR for me at the half iron distance, and my third age group podium in my last three triathlons!

Pre-Race:

Despite being so close to home, and having courses that are familiar to most of my triathlon friends, not too many people seem to know about or have had much interest in doing this event. It happens to fit my IM Texas training plan perfectly, so I decided to go for it as a practice event. We were warned ahead of time that this is a very 'grass roots' local event, and not to expect high end support, fast courses, etc. But overall, I thought it was pretty good (a few notable exceptions in the details below).

For race morning: I had trouble sleeping, and was up without an alarm at 3:50am. I did my usual morning routine which is a dose of lyposhperic vitamin C, and some coffee, but I forgot to take my liquid vitamin B12. We left the house at 4:45am and I ate a PB&J Bonk Breaker bar enroute to the race. We arrived at 5:30am on the dot, and I was able to go in and get a great spot in transition, at the end of a rack so I could put my gear on the side without risk of anyone accidentally knocking it around. Weather was overcast, and cool (but not cold) and we knew the rainfall was imminent. I relaxed with my family for a few minutes, then got my swim gear on, did a quick bathroom stop, and headed to the swim start area with about 15 minutes to get warmed up.

Swim:

The swim course is at Belmont Shores, where my local club trains quite a bit. The only difference is that the start/finish was down the beach, outside of the Kayak Cafe instead of near the corner of Bayshore dr and 2nd street. The water felt COLD! They reported the water temperature as 56 or 57 degrees, but at packet pickup, I was told it was actually 54 degrees. When I stepped into the water to try and get warmed up, I was shocked. It took me about 5 minutes of wading and paddling around before I could even stick my face in and eventually dunk myself. I swam about 50 yards out, and then back. I went onto the beach and just did some jumping jacks and stretching to try and generate more heat under my wetsuit.

The race started promptly at 7am, in a mass start. The race was capped at 250 people, so it wasn't that bad, but I will say this was the most crowded triathlon swim I have done. I was in a tight group of people, making lots of contact, getting my feet and legs yanked, etc, for the entire first lap (it was a two lap swim where you get out and run around a cone on the beach before jumping back in for the second lap). Things opened up on the second lap, and I was finally able to keep my head lower in the water without getting sea water splashed into my mouth every other stroke. The second lap also seemed to go by faster. When I made the left turn to head back toward the dock, I drifted a little too far to the right, which probably wasted 20 seconds or so, but aside from that I was pretty even (16:22 first lap, 16:45 second lap). I was 33:07 out of the water and reached the timing mat entering T1 in 33:51. Since this was a 1.3 miler, I'd say that equates to probably a 31 minute 1.2 mile swim, which I'm very happy with. My hands, feet, and face were numb from the cold, but aside from that I was in good shape, not tired at all.

Though it was crowded for the first lap...

I actually managed to exit the swim all by myself.

T1:

I had a great transition setup, but when I got to my bike, my hands and toes were so numb that I had trouble getting my cycling shoes on. I fumbled around for quite a bit, and finally got them. I also put on my HR monitor and my tri suit top (which I left in transition to make sure I started the ride in a dry top). Finally, I put on arm warmers, since it was starting to sprinkle and I knew it was supposed to rain for much of the ride. Those were hard to put on with numb hands as well. Finally, I had my helmet on and made my way to the exit. My T1 time was ridiculously slow, but with the numbness, not much I could do about it.

Bike:

The first and last 3 miles (roughly) of the bike course are on city streets in Long Beach (and NOT closed to vehicle traffic). We had to obey multiple traffic lights and stop signs to and from the San Gabriel River bike trail. Right out of T1, I was stuck behind a slow car on Bayshore Dr, and had to unclip and wait at the corner before heading onto 2nd street. I made it through one traffic light on green, but got stuck at the longer one on a red light. After that, it wasn't too bad. I'll admit to blowing through one stop sign at full speed (clearly no cars around) and only slowing for another one that was also clear.

Once I dropped onto the bike trail I settled into a good rhythm and started picking people off. The rain also started at this point too, and got steadily worse throughout the ride. Since the course was not closed, passing was often difficult because cyclists coming the other way were a factor, and I also seemed to have bad luck at catching up to other racers right when we were dipping down into the narrow under-passes on the trail. On the trail itself, we had a couple of awkward spots, one were you dip down into a super narrow and dark tunnel, and another where you exit the trail and cross over the river on a local street. I managed to keep my speed up in the tunnel, but the river crossing did require everyone to slow way down. Beyond that, there is a spot near a golf course where you climb up a short steepish hill on a very narrow part of the trail, which winds up and around before you drop down towards the junction of the Rio Hondo and LA River trails. Not only did we have to slow down drastically here, but the rain had caused this whole area to get very slippery. A volunteer was tending to a guy who had slipped out and crashed at the base of the hill. He seemed unhurt, but his bike was damaged to the point where he wasn't looking to continue the race. I made it over the top with no issues. A guy close behind me loss traction on the way up and had to unclip. The next quarter mile or so is winding, downhill, and especially slippery so I took it easy and once we were back on regular asphalt resumed my normal power/speed. As I approached the turnaround, I started counting people to get an idea of where I was overall. At mile 28 I realized I was in 9th place and about 10-12 minutes behind the overall leader.

On the return trip, the rain and wind got a bit heavier. I was being very careful during turns, and doing my best to avoid painted lines, arrows, etc as they were extremely slippery now. When we got back to that bad area near the golf course, I got stuck behind a guy that I was clearly faster than, but it was just too dangerous to make a pass. Finally when things opened up I was able to go by him. I probably got stuck for a good 5 or 6 minutes there. I caught one other rider, and then at about mile 45 someone passed me (this was the ONLY time I was passed on the bike). We exited the bike trail, and this time I had less luck at the stop signs, I had to stop at both of them. I approached the first traffic signal and it was red. The guy who passed me, and the woman who was currently 2nd place female were also stuck there. It seemed like a very long wait. Once we finally got going, I dropped behind those two, I didn't feel right passing them after they had to give up 30-40 seconds they put into me because of the red light. All three of us made it through the next light on green, and then had to merge into 2nd street traffic and make a short stop at the last light before turning onto Bayshore Dr and heading to T2. We even had to weave around a couple cars to turn onto 54th street just before we dismounted.

My time was 2:34:42, which is a great split for me. Without the stops, and without having to slow down for slippery stuff so much, I think I could have dipped below 2:30 with the same physical effort. I've been solid and consistent with my bike training, and it showed today (a new awesome bike may have also contributed!). I was pretty efficient as well. My average power was only 199W and my normalized power was 207W, which gives a variability index of 1.04. Considering the conditions, the stop and go, etc, that's pretty smooth (I think anything 1.05 or under is relatively smooth). For my full IM, I only need to take maybe 10W off of this effort. It felt extremely easy for me.

Exiting T1, and as dry as I was going to be all day.

T2:

I intentionally took my time in T2. My toes were still numb, but hands were a bit better. My running shoes have regular laces, so getting them on and tied up was a bit slow. I also took the time to put on dry socks. The two people I entered T2 with were both on to the run course about twice as fast as I was, but I wasn't concerned. I lost two gels on the bike course, but I had a flask of concentrated Infinit Jet Fuel in transition just in case. I took the time to drink that, follow it up with a few sips of water, and then headed out.

Run:

The run is a double out-and-back on the beach trails. There is a set of switchbacks that you go up near Bluff Park, so the course is not entirely flat, but I'd still call it a relatively flat/fast course. This layout made it easy to break the run up into four segments, basically 3.25 miles each.

On the way out on lap 1, I was just focused on maintaining a very easy effort, mentally telling myself to think of how I want to feel when running the 26.2 miles at Texas next month. My HR was nice and low, legs and breathing felt great. I ticked off the first mile split in 8:08, which kind of alarmed me. I was aiming to average more like 9 to 9:15 per mile. I tried to relax and ease up. My HR was still low and I felt great. Mile 2 came at 8:16 and once again I was concerned that I was going too fast. Again I tried to ease up, and the next mile was 8:25. I decided to just quit worrying about it and focus on my effort and perceived exertion.

The first trip up the switchbacks made my body react. My breathing and HR went up a bit, and my pace slowed. I fully recovered on the downhill though. After that, my splits were a bit more 'normal' with flat miles coming in the 8:40's and hilly miles in the 9:15 to 9:30 range. There was a definite tailwind as we headed west (outbound on each lap) and a stiff headwind as we headed east (back toward the finish). Once I hit the 10 mile mark, I could tell that my legs were feeling a bit stiff. The last trip up the switchbacks was tough, but I was able to manage it pretty well. There is one last small uphill with about a mile to go, with an aid station. I actually walked for about 20 seconds while drinking one last cup of gatorade. After that, I pushed the last mile into the headwind, and made the little loop down to the beach, where we finished on the sand.

My run time was 1:54:42, which far exceeded my expectations and is also by far the fastest half marathon I have run in a triathlon.

Rounding the last corner before the finish... this part of the course was kind of ghetto, but what do you expect for a race this inexpensive?

Notes:

Some personal details about my preparation, gear, etc.

Nutrition:

I didn't eat much before the race. Just a Bonk Breaker Bar and some coffee. For race nutrition, I had about 450 calories worth of Infinit GoFar in 35 ounces of fluid in my BTA system on the bike. Additionally, I carried three GU gels for a total of 750 calories. My goal was to consume all of this on the bike. I did drink all of the fluid, and ate one gel. But then somehow the other two gels bounced out of my BTA system, so I missed those 200 calories. Fortunately, I put a flask of Infinit Jet Fuel in transition, so I consumed that to make up for the lost calories, and made sure to drink a few cups of gatorade on the run course. Overall I had no problems with energy and hydration. I didn't feel the need to chug water or eat a bunch food right after the race (though I had a free burger and beer, courtesy of the race director).

My nutrition plan is solid (roughly 300 calories per hour) but I need to dial in my storage so I don't lose anything when I do IM Texas. There will be less room for nutritional mistakes when the distances are doubled.

Gear:

- Swim: I wore my Roka Maverick Elite wetsuit (full sleeve) and my TYR SpecOps II goggles, with transition lenses. It was overcast and a bit dark, so I wanted clear lenses. I had no fogging or leaking issues, but I was cold. I have never used gloves or booties in a wetsuit swim, but they may have helped here. I also just used a regular (non-thermal or neoprene) swim cap. Though my face was cold, my head felt just fine.

- Bike: This was my first race on the new Felt IA16, and it was fantastic. Gearing was a 53/39 chainring setup (Rotor Q-Rings) with an 11-speed 11x23 cassette. My Ultegra Di2 is now set up to use Syncro Shifting, and it was awesome to have on this course. With the frequent stop and go, and the slippery slow sections, it was nice to be able to rapidly shift through a lot of gears with just one button, and picking good gear ratios. Wheels were HED Jet+ Black (a 6 on the front, and a disc wheel on back). This was my first race on a disc wheel, and I have to say I love it. It posed no problems in the crosswinds, and in fact it felt like having the disc may have helped reduce the pressure felt on the front wheel in the crosswinds. Unless I am doing big or long climbs, I intend to race this wheel setup a lot. For a helmet, I used my Giro Aerohead. The visor fogged a little bit when I was breathing through my nose while drinking out of the BTA straw, but was otherwise crystal clear. It also had no problems shedding water as the rain was pelting it. I used a Profile Designs FC 35 BTA, with no additional bottles. Plenty of fluid (I easily refilled it at aid stations) but the rear nutrition basket let me down, by allowing two gels to bounce out of it. Even with 35 ounces in it, the BTA didn't spill or splash at all, much better than my old Torhans 30.

The new bike 'honeymoon' is over. It was covered in mud and grime after 50+ miles in the rain.

- Run: I ran in the new Hoka One One Mach. They felt great. Not squishy like my Bondi's, but enough cushioning for me. They felt very light and quick. I don't have quick laces in them yet, which wasted some time in T2 as i struggled to tie them quickly with numb hands.

- Clothing: for a tri suit, I used my LG two piece short sleeved kit. I used arm warmers on the ride, and a visor on the run. Even when I was drenched from the rain, I was warm enough, and had no issues with chaffing. That's a great kit. My watch was the Garmin Fenix 5X. I can't say enough good things about it. And my HR monitor was a Wahoo TICKR chest strap, which was also flawless.

Logistics:

The race has a Friday packet pickup, but also allows race morning pickup. In the future, use the race morning pickup. No need to waste time in Friday traffic.

For race morning parking, use the paid lot near Ocean and 54th. It is free until 8am, and is super close to transition. Lots of free street parking nearby, but good luck fighting the local residents for it as that is their only parking option.

Leaving the house at 4:45am was about perfect. Plenty of time to get a good transition spot, get gear prepped, etc.

Conclusion:

I was pleasantly surprised with my results in this race. I set out just to test my gear and nutrition and to decide how prepared I felt for IM Texas. To get a huge PR at this distance, without even going all out, is amazing. With just a couple of minor tweaks, I think I have a relatively easy shot at going sub-5 hours for a 70.3. Heck, I may have been close to that here if it had been on a closed bike course. As far as the event itself: yeah it was definitely a low key 'grass roots' event. But it was still fun. Also, the entry fee is about as low as it gets these days, and it is close to home. So, I would recommend trying it at least once. But if you are purely seeking an 'A Race' quality event, I'd probably not choose this one. At any rate, I think I proved to myself that I am ready to go make a solid effort in Texas next month.

NEXT RACE: 2018 Ironman Texas (April 28)

Race Report - The Legends Triathlon (2017)

On Sunday, October 15, I competed in The Legends Triathlon in San Dimas, CA (formerly known as the Bonelli Olympic Distance Triathlon).

Quick Race Summary:

For those uninterested in the details, here's a quick look at my race:

Swim  - 26:42
T1 - ???
Bike - 1:04:49
T2 - ???
Run - 51:08

Total Time: 2:29:00 (29th overall, 3rd AG)

I managed to mess up both of my transition times by hitting Stop instead of Lap while in auto-multisport mode on my Garmin 910XT.

Pre-race:

This race is pretty close to home, so I didn't have to wake up particularly early. I woke up without an alarm at about 4:50am and forced myself to stay in bed until 5am. For breakfast, I did my usual 'supplement' routine (Lyposhpheric Vitamin C, a super dose of liquid Vitamin B12). I poured a to go cup of coffee, and grabbed a Bonk Breaker bar, which I ate and drank on the drive to Bonelli. By the time we got there, and I got my bike assembled, and walked over to the PTC area, a few people were just arriving to get our banner put up, etc. So I laid my stuff down and tried to lend a hand there. Then, we went over, got our packets, and got our gear ready to enter the transition area. PTC had it's own rack, very close to the bike exit. I didn't get a particularly good spot on the rack, but I don't worry too much about those things. I got everything set up, put about 16 oz of Infinit Jet Fuel in my BTA, and grabbed my swim gear (I forgot to bring my TriLube and BodyGlide, which comes into play later on). Then I headed back to the PTC area to hang out with my family for a few minutes. About 30 minutes before the first swim wave, I drank 8 oz of Rocket Red pre-workout/race drink. This is something I have been experimenting with in training, and wanted to see how I felt using it for this race. Finally, I put my wetsuit on, and walked down to the swim start area to warm up a bit (I only swam maybe 75 yards, but at least got to feel the water ahead of time.

Swim:

I was in the 2nd wave, along with a few other PTCers (Peter Day and Mike Lucero, to name a couple). When we finally took off, I actually entered the water right behind Mike, dove in, and focused on getting some really strong strokes in to get out quickly. After that first flurry, I looked up to make sure I was in line with the first green buoy, and I was surprised to see Mike was already AT the green buoy! Wow was he moving. I had to contend with a lot of contact, people bunching up, and several people who were just really bad at navigating and were obviously listing to the right. Just before we reached the first yellow buoy, I received a very hard kick to the face! And I mean hard. I was concerned that I might have a bloody nose (I had that burning sensation), but somehow I kept the presence of mind to grab my goggles, which were knocked off by the kick. They wound up behind me and to the left, but I was able to grab them before they sank (I'm not even sure whether or not they float, to be honest). I got them back on quickly, checked my face and was glad to see no blood from my nose or mouth. I got going again, and I was able to get into a pretty good rhythm despite the incident. I did bump a few more people, but it was actually not too bad at all after the first 500 yards or so. I noticed once we got to the north part of the lake, the water was about as choppy as I have ever seen it there. The wind seemed to be whipping up a bit. The rest of the swim was uneventful. It was pretty clear weather, easy to navigate, and I felt strong all the way in. I'm happy with that time, but I think i could have gone maybe a minute or so faster.

T1:

The only thing of note in T1 was my wetsuit. I had a horrible time trying to take it off. I had forgotten to spray my forearms and calves with TriLube, and the entire time I was running up the hill into transition, my arms were tied up like I was in a straight jacket. I finally got them out of the sleeves just before I got to my bike, then I had to wrestle to get it over my calves. I wasted a lot of time and energy on this, but otherwise everything was pretty fast. I could see that Tyler, Bjoern, and Alvin's bikes were gone (which I expected). So, I grabbed my bike and headed out. No flying mount this time since we were racked so close to the exit.

Bike:

The first thing I noticed was the wind. Just before we got to the dam area, I could see people treating what looked like two riders who crashed early on. I was kind of looking forward to the crosswinds (I tend to do well in them compared to others) but it sucks to see people getting hurt. I did encounter a lot of people getting pushed to the left as I was nearing them to pass, so I did my best to shout to people early to let them know I was coming. Out by the airport, I noticed the headwinds got pretty stiff. I would hold the exact same wattage on each lap, but my speed got progressively slower there. Also, on the second lap, I passed 3 guys who were totally riding in a pace line. Maybe I'm bragging a bit saying this, but I was giggling a bit inside as I rode past them, wondering what they thought when a stalky guy such as myself blew past them while they were drafting off of each other. On the third lap, just as I crested that last hill before you get back near transition, I heard someone say "Go PTC!" as they rode by. It was Peter Day. I must have come out of the water a couple minutes ahead of him, but he took that time back on the bike. I basically followed him back to T2. Once again, I did a very good job riding conservatively. My lap splits were pretty even (my slowest lap was 22 minutes, fastest was a bit under 21 minutes), and even though this is my fastest average speed on this course, I did it with far lower average and normalized power. I felt very well prepared for the run as I coasted in and dismounted.

T2:

Transition was very uneventful. I racked my bike, dropped my helmet, and quickly put my shoes on (I also put on some thin socks). I put my visor, glasses, and bib on as I jogged toward the run exit. I could already tell that my legs felt pretty good, and my breathing was good. Though I entered T2 just seconds behind Peter, he was already out of sight! That prompted me to get a move on.

Run:

As soon as you exit T2, you wind to the right, and go downhill for a bit. My legs did feel a bit awkward on the downhill, but once things flattened out a bit, I felt very comfortable. My plan was to hold a steady pace at high Z2 low Z3 on the flats, let myself go up into Z4 on the uphills, and use the downhills to regroup. I tend to blow my top on hills, so my goal was to do whatever was necessary to keep running and avoid walking at all costs. I ended up having to judge my effort 'by feel' rather than HR because my HR monitor strap came loose and was sliding down to my waist. I ended up taking it off and carrying it in my left hand the entire way. I crested the bigger hill a about 1.5 miles, and as I started to head down, I saw Tyler coming up the other way, with absolutely nobody else around. He looked to have a significant lead. Doubly impressive when you consider that he rode 150 miles the day before! I used that downhill to recover a bit, which worked great. I was averaging splits in the 8:40 per mile range, which was slower than I was hoping. But I was also sticking to my plan, and my perceived effort was where it needed to be so I didn't worry too much about my pace. Once we started climbing our way back up through the RV area and up the backside of that bigger hill, I could tell the effort was really getting tough. But I knew with just a couple miles to go, it was time to push myself, pick up the pace and finish strong. I really had to work to keep moving up that bigger hill, but after that I was able to pick up the pace and my splits went down over the last two miles. I was able to muster up a strong finish, making my last mile the fastest. I had two other people in my sights in the final half mile. One of them pulled up with what appeared to be hamstring cramps, so I focused on the other guy. I slowly reeled him in, but just as I was preparing to burst past him, he also threw in a surge and we basically stayed about 5 seconds apart all the way to the finish. At any rate, I met my goal: no walking, and I paced myself well enough to finish strong, without leaving much in the tank. All in all, very happy with that run.

Details:

Some notes about my nutrition, gear, etc.

Nutrition/Fuel:

Pre-race, I drank that Rocket Red stuff, which I do feel a bit of a surge with. It has that beet powder taste to it, which sucks, but if I feel results, I can deal with that. During the race, I had Infinit Jet Fuel on the bike. I drank about 16oz of it while riding. On the run, I had nothing but a couple cups of water at aid stations. No energy or hydration issues. Even though it got a bit warm on the run, its still only a couple of hours.

Gear:

- Swim: I wore my long sleeved Roka Maverick Elite wetsuit. I had a hell of a time getting this thing off in T1. Right now, I am the lightest/thinnest I have been since I started triathlon in 2014, so I am surprised that this wetsuit seems to be getting tighter. Maybe its time for a new one? Goggles were the Roka X1 (mirrored amber) which were excellent as usual.

- Bike: I rode my CENTRIC Prolog, even though I have a crack in the seat stay. I used my usual setup (carbon clincher wheels, 88mm rear, 60mm front - 53/39 chainrings, 11 speed 11x25 cassette, ultegra di2, 23mm Conti 4KS2 tires with latex tubes). I wore my Giro Aerohead helmet, with a Halo sweatband underneath it. Its hard to know if the Halo helped, because with all the wind I was bone dry until I started sweating on the run. I was glad I rode my tri bike even with the crack in the frame. The winds would have sucked on a rode bike.

- Run: I wore my Hoka One One Claytons with ultra thin socks, and my kit was Champion Systems PTC kit, white top. I think the white was a smart choice with the heat on the run. I wore a visor and glasses as well, since it was sunny and clear. One issue: my Wahoo Tickr strap keeps getting loose. I think it is due to the weight loss I have been going through (I have dropped about 15 lbs since early June!) so I have to make sure I adjust it prior to long runs or races to keep it in place.

Conclusion:

I'm happy with this race, overall. There was nothing particularly spectacular about anything, but at the same time,  ALL of the legs of the race went pretty well for me. I think I did my fastest swim in that lake, tied or slightly exceeded my best bike split at Bonelli, and clearly had my best 6 mile run there. Even if you extrapolate the bike course to equal 40K, this was about 16 minutes faster than my previous best here. Considering that I am just doing base training for Ironman Texas right now, that's a great result. And yes, two podiums in my last two races is very good (and unusual) for me.