Ironman 70.3 Raleigh Race Report

I started this blog to keep note of some of my thoughts, and hopefully inspire a few others along the way. So the race report I am going to give you is the same one I wrote my coach. So it's not all book like, and it's not exactly an intense read. It's the raw feelings and emotions that went through my head on race day. I'm not going to sit here and act like I didn't give it my all, because I did. I'm not going to say I wasn't "racing" because I was. Yes, my #1 goal was to beat myself, but everyone out there racing enjoys the rush of passing other athletes and crossing the finishline first. It's part of the competition. Yes, this was a race to test my fitness for Ironman Lake Placid, and give me a better understanding to the positives and negatives that come out of my current training methods (both physical and mental). Part of racing is knowing when to hold back and when to push. It's making the wrong choice. It's pushing too hard on the bike and bonking on the run, as much as it's holding back too much to stay comfortable and finding yourself exhausted playing catch-up at the end. Making those choices doesn't mean I wasn't "racing" it means I was in the moment, and learning what my body is capable of....and yes, it is capable of much more than I allowed it do. Lesson learned to no one's fault but my own.

Pre-race: I felt good, nervous, but good. My body was ready to race. 

Swim: I planned right up front to start the race. I decided I was going into the swim with confidence that I could maintain a harder effort this race without the side-effects of freaking out. I couldn't touch the bottom of the lake at the start line, and didn't want to tread water for 4 minutes, so I moved about only about 1 row of athletes so that I didn't waste energy. 

When it was go time, I went. I knew the first bit of the race would be rough, but I put that aside mentally and just embraced the flailing arms and legs and trudged onward to the first buoy. It felt like I quickly got into a good groove, and felt like I was barely using any energy for the first stretch of the swim. Once I made the first turn all my nerves went away and I just focused on my swim stroke and sighting each buoy. I felt more confident in my sighting since there were lots of buoys to sight, so I did not look up as much as I normally would have. I tried to maintain at least 6 strokes before sighting and sometimes up to 10 for I have learned that picking my head up out of the water causes me to slow down. At the second turn I tried to pick up my pace, but because I was catching athletes in the waves ahead of me it was much more difficult and the pack was getting congested. I felt like the swim leg flew by. I told myself no matter what the time was, I would be happy because there was no way I could have swam better than I did with my current fitness level, and swimming abilities. My stroke felt smooth, I stayed calm, my sighting was great and I never felt "off course". 

Bike: Through the entire bike I was passing lots of riders and catching up to those who started far before me. I focused on keeping a high cadence and maintaining my watts in zone 3. There were times I wanted to push harder because I was getting frustrated at my calculations as to how long the ride was going to take me. I pushed those thoughts aside and stuck to my plan because I knew I would regret pushing too hard if I fell apart during the run. With the temperature rising, I didn't want to chance falling apart. There were times I felt like I wasn't going anywhere, and other moments when I felt like I was making good progress. I feel as if I could have pushed harder DURING the bike leg, BUT, I don't know what that would have translated to come time to run. My energy was good, I was doing a good job at delaying fatigue, and other than my saddle rubbing a previous saddle sore, I felt good and felt ready to run when T2 came around. Nutrition: 3 bottles custom infinit, plus salt stick every 30 min, and water for drinking/cooling at each aide station

Run: I tried my best to run by feel for the first 3 miles maintaining an effort that I felt I could keep. (I stopped at a port-a-potty around 2.5 miles) I felt like the turn around came quickly and I embraced the downhill portion of the race. At mile 5 I had a sharp pain under my left rib and started to feel some gas in my abdomen. There was a point I wasn't sure if I was going to need a bathroom or not, so I started increasing my salt and had to slow down a bit due to the discomfort. At this point, I continued to try and ignore the numbers on my watch and push at a level I felt would keep me moving forward at a decent pace. Miles 6-9 were the toughest for my body, but mentally I loved this course. At mile 10 I told myself "1 comfortable, 1 uncomfortable, 1 hard to the finish" To get me through the last 3 miles. I feel I could have pushed harder if I did not have the cramping and gas pains. My legs and muscles weren't the issue with running harder, it was the fear of the bathroom and the discomfort it was causing. I never felt like I got "too hot" because the cold sponges seemed to come at just the right time. Nutrition: 6oz napalm (equivalent to 3 gels) consumed by sipping each mile with water every aid station, sport drink the second loop of the course, and ice for cooling. Plan was salt stick every 3 miles. I took 1 at mile 3, and 1 at mile 6, then I started increasing the frequency, and I don't know when and how many I took.

I surpassed my goal for the swim, and just met my realistic goal for the run. I know I'm my own worst critic, but I have bigger expectations out of myself for LP, so this was kind of discouraging for insight as to what I can do for 112 miles. I am looking forward to our training camp to test my bike fitness on course.