Finally had a chance to sit down and write up my race report.
I entered this race as "race ready package" with IMWI. Seemed like a good idea back in Sept. 2013. MY parents live in Michigan, so I'd put it together with a visit and maybe they'd even come see me race. After I put together my annual training plan, it quickly became a "B" race. Too close to IMWI for a full taper and rebuild. I think you need at least 12 weeks between "A" races. 16 is even better.
I came off a 2 week build with 21 hours per week for both. I had some solid rides, long runs and the highest swim volume since March. I did however push my limits and get some PF in my right foot. I shut it down early and it's been fine since. I just went a little too aggressive in my run load with the long runs and some faster paced tempo work.
Race Morning:
Typical breakfast of oatmeal, greek yogurt, orange juice, banana, and coffee around 4:30AM. Hit the road at 4:45 to stay ahead of traffic...less stress that way. I had my bike checked, so 1 less thing to fuss with. Rode the shuttle with tons of beach gear. I got my wife set-up on the beach. Our XL Umbrealla tent is awesome. I forget the brand. There were 3 or 4 others on the beach that afternoon. I kept sipping perform to top off hydration and calories. I set-up transition including pumping tires, computer set, powdered shoes, and attached rubber bands on shoes. Back to the tent and one with the wetsuit. THe wetsuit is a Profile Marlin I just bought off Daniel Bretscher that week. I tried it out in a pool at my parents house and it seemed to fit well and I swam well in it. The only "catch" is that Daniel is a little shorter than me with larger calves and cut off 2" from the legs to make it fit better and speed transitions. The good news is that it comes off easy, but I have small calves anyway, and a few ore inches would be nice. Oh well, can't complain at $50 for a $350 wetsuit.
Swim: 32:02
I carried 8oz of perform in a plastic bottle and another gel. It was about a 1 mile walk down the beach. I found a few flat stones along the way and couldn't resist reliving my youth and skipping them. I went camping 1-2 times summer with my parents at probably a dozen different state parks in Michigan, always along one of the great lakes. This race was sort of a homecoming and I was looking forward to the wavy swim... I wouldn't be disappointed.
They let us warm-up near the pier side of the start. Water temp fell great, nice fresh clear water. Waves were nice rollers, no white caps. Seemed like it would be a fun swim, though challenging. I swam maybe 200 yards or so. Nothing major. I probably should have swam a little more and closer to the start.
I managed to get a spot up front towards the outside. Gun goes off and I'm suprised to find that I have a step or two on the group. I do a few dolphin dives and I'm side by side with the lead group. About 100y in, disaster. I suck in a wave. Hard. I chock really bad and struggle ot catch my breath. The chase group swallows me up. I get my breath back and find a easy pace. My legs feel a little fatigued from the little struggle. I just keep moving forward. I move past the group and pretty soon, as usually, I'm all alone. No idea where the leaders are. It's hard to sight over the 1-2' swells. Fortunately i pull to the left and the waves are pushing us towards shore to the right. They are also coming towards us, so we're fighting the current. It will be 2-4 minute a long swim. I find a steady pace. I'm kind of in damage control and just want to get to T1 at this point and get my time back on the transition and bike. I'm pretty fast in T1 historically. I end up swimming the exact same split as my rival, Scott Iott. I never saw him running right next to me on the beach. He;s improved his swim this year, so comming out next to him means i had a descent swim.
Transition: 2:24. Grab my helmet, step out of my wetsuit and put on my sunglasses, toss it into my spot, grab my bike and I'm off. I hit full stride and roll towards the exist. Flying mount at the line, both feet slide in before my rubber bands break....wohoo first time ever and I'm off.
Bike: 2:09:05
My calibration message pops up... crap, forgot to zero the Stages PM. NBD I just hit NO... uhohhhooohhhshittttt... i hit yes. It calibrates while I'm pedaling. My wattage will be crap. Thinking quickly I power down and back up, unclip my left foot, hold the crank at 6 o clock and calibrate it. I think I see a 887...but it could be 892... close enough. 886 or 887 is my typical value. I pedal off and get to work, enough with this BS.
As usual, I resist the urge to go for the bottle. I'm better off settling down, getting any air out of my stomach and waiting 15 minutes. Legs feel pretty good. I get through the corners and into a longer climb. I hold around 280-300W and still feel good. Crest the top and settle into about 240-280 through the rollers working through traffic. Lots of yelling left, but not too bad overall.
Around mile 15 or so, I see a red Shiv roll past...I was waiting for that. It's Dan Stubleski from the 2nd 35-39 wave. I yell "go get em Dan". He looks back, probably no idea who I am. I push the pace up ot follow and as expected it's taking 270-290W to match his pace. I ease off to let him go , but suddenly, there's Iott rolling past. I say to myself "oh hell no". I jump on the Stubleski Express...woowooo! It's actually the first time I've ever really had to try and legally "draft" maintaining a 7M gap but still getting just a slight benefit, though most of it is mental.
So here we are, most likely 1-2-3 in 35-39 though Dan has a 4' lead. I know i probably can;t rely on outrunning him, not without a taper. ... so this is it. Hell, it's a B race who cares if I overbike a little. A good opportunity to test my limits. Daa pulls ahead a few times and the pace surges a couple times. A couple stretches I'm at 90-95% steady for a few minutes. Coming out of turns power goes up to 350-400 for a a bit. On one climb just after dan fell back to take a hand-up, we bunch up and I take the lead for a bit.
Finally around mile 40, dan hits his stride and it's either ride at 280W or fall back. Part of me now wishes I would have tried. I knew my run was likley to be uninspired, so I really had nothing to lose. Although just riding 240-250 was getting pretty hard as is typical after 90+ minutes at 85%.
SO now Scott and I are on our own. I take a few pulls and show him I'm not going away. Finally around mile 50 I push up one of the last small climbs and without realizing it, I dropped him. If I had noticed I might have pushed hard to pull a big gap and make him respond. My legs still feel fairly good at this point. I hang out a few of the last turns and hit the dismount line hot...really hot. I stumble and just barely keep from face planting. I suspect the wind picked up and turned a little in a favourable way. Bestbikesplit says I would have needed to ride at 90% to ride that time. My Garmin says 245W AP, 252NP, almost identical to Kansas. 1.03VI. 0.83IF. Hell I'll take it! Smoking fast. 7th fastest split on the day, 3rd fastest amateur split. I'll take it. Especially since I feel like I could have rode harder.
T2: 2:37
I fly into transition, keep flying and going and going and then realize of shit! I'm turned around and my spot is WAYYY behind me. I spin around and try and stay calm. I see Scott running the other way. Reminding myself that it's just a "B" race and nothing I can do about it now. I get me socks on, visor, grab my belt and I'm off. Put on my watch while running then try ot find my stride.
Run: 1:28:04
I try and find my stride, but I clearly don't have the legs I need for a 1:21... or a 1:23. I'm thinking 1:25 at this point. I can see Scottin thne distance and hope he falls apart but he seems to pull away slowly. I Just try and hold a 6:15-6:30 pace and hope they come around. Long story short, they never come around. But the good news is that no cramps and I never fall apart completely. But I'm mentally checked out and just trying to run 6:45-7 for the remainder to salvage a descent time. The humidity is picking up and the sun is shining. I'm pouring water over my head at every station, and feeling pretty thirsty. Drinking a cup of coke and perform at every station. I'm tolerating it well. So that's good.
The miles roll past fairly quick. At mile 6 I pass the 3rd place female pro and shout some encouragement. Her name is Jeannie Seymour and I start a streak now of running with pros with british or similar accents in 70.3 events (she's south african). She thanked me after the race. I think she was in a dark place and sometimes the little things push you on.
Overall it's a nice run course, but hard to get into a groove. There's just no snap in my legs. I finally kick it up a little as I make the final split towards the finish line 2 miles out. Feels very long as usual. I'm happy to cross that line. Validating a solid swim, killer bike and steady run. I learn that even if I'm off on the run, I can still pull off a solid time. Very pleased with where my fitness is and how my bike has progressed.
Finish Time 4:14:12, 4th 35-39, 5th amateur, 19th overall. I was actually up to 12th off the bike.
I'm really looking forward now to IMWI. It will be round 3, winner take all between Scott and I. I think this swim gave me a little more open water confidence and I still swam a good time going at a steady pace close to what I think I can hold for 2.4 miles. I may revise my target wattage after this. In part because I think the worst I will run is around 3:30. So it's worth the gamble to ride maybe a 4:55 and still run a 3:10-3:15.
Recover this week, moderate load next week then tapering off. Just 26 days!
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