HIM Steelhead - Jonas McCluskey
Steelhead 70.3 Race Report – Jonas McCluskey
Finish Time: 05:06
23rd out of 217 (40-44 age group)
Pre-Race
Wooooo. Way too much going on at work and with family the week before this race and boy could I feel it race morning. I didn’t feel bad, but I sure didn’t feel as good as I did for Muncie 70.3. Note to self – figure out some way to shield stress better week before races, somehow.
Race Nutrition:
Began carbo loading 2 days prior to race as outlined in webinar on website (seems to work for me). Did applesauce, protein, banana, perform breakfast at 3:00am. Powerbar 1 hour before event, 1 gel 10 minutes before swim start.
Bike: ½ Powerbar at 0:10. Gel at 0:40, Gel at 1:30, 2 x 24 oz. bottles of Perform.
Run: Perform gulp at each aid station. Coke at last 2 aid stations.
Now that I’ve done three 70.3 events, hoping to feel a little better towards the end of the run I think I’d experiment next w/ more nutrition later in the bike.
Swim: 00:39:18 – 35th fastest in AG.
First swim in Lake Michigan, that was interesting! Running start off the beach was cool, dolphin diving out into the waves & then 1.2 miles up shore in 2’ swells! Was not expecting that, but it really wasn’t that difficult, have to say it was fun, made the swim less boring, however it definitely slowed me down though as I was targeting around 32-33 minutes (last race was 34 min.) Also will now learn how to breathe on both sides J, I breath to the left, waves coming from the left, buoys on the right, lesson learned. Already worked on right side breathing during swim this morning, wish I would have done that before.
Bike: 02:34:36 – 25th fastest in AG.
Norm Power 189. TSS 198. IF .88. VI 1.02. 146 HR. 21.7 mph. Had a problem holding onto my nutrition on the bike for some reason. Dropped ½ of my ½ :10 PowerBar. Then dropped 3 Cliff Bloks I was going to try later in the ride around 2:20. I have to believe those bloks would have made me feel a little better towards the end of the run. I tried to be more cognoscente of my aero position during the ride, keeping head low, I noticed from race pics of Muncie I had a tendency to sit up higher than I should. I must say I think doing so paid off. Definitely time to do some bike focus training if I’m going to work my way up to a top 10 AG contender. Only 2 MPH J, I know those are 2 MPH to grab but I will.
Run: 01:45:40 – 23rd fastest in AG.
This is where my weeks stress seemed to creep up on me. I was surprised how good I felt on the bike, nailed my wattage and was surprised without too much effort. But as soon as I started running I could tell I did not have the bounce in my step that I had at Muncie. My plan was to target and hold 7.7 mph, I did so for the first 4 miles, then the course took a turn down some trail that winded through the woods and I lost a tenth, then a good size climb knocked me down to 7.5. Out of frustration/desire I pushed to get at least 1 of those tenths back, but it just wasn’t there. I finished the last 2 miles strong, but just could not seem to gain any time, my push was only basically maintaining my speed.
All in all I would consider Steelhead 70.3 a success. I’ve only been at triathlon for 1 year and 1 month now. I’ve learned so much about my body, my mind, training, nutrition, the importance of proper techniques in each discipline, and even more importantly I’m excited as I know as my knowledge grows so will the gains in fitness and speed. There are crucial steps I need to take in each discipline that will be beneficial. However, I am amazed at how stress from work, family, whatever impacts my performance more than anything. When I’m taxed, it amazes me how I feel it heading into a workout/race, I feel it pulling me down during, and I feel it as my body does not rebound from a workout/race as fast as I know it can. Might sound silly, but I feel there is as much fitness/speed gain in working on maintaining my stress levels as there is in simply having good workouts.
Jonas McCluskey
Comments
You are right about the additional stress but all that other stuff is more important than this is IMO. This is fun this is a game and it's all about balancing every thing to make it work.
Rest up de-stress.