Chris Oubre's IM70.3TX Race Report
I've been in the sport for around 2 years. This was my third 70.3 and my fifth IM branded event. I'm 35, married with two kids. I'm happy to get in 7-10 hours of training on any given week, This was my first triathlon with Team EN, I've highlighted yellow the race course tidbits I think you could use. My two goals were
- Negative Run Split
- Test out the EN race strategy
Pre-Race
The family and I arrived in Galveston on Thursday. We were very relaxed and took it easy. I followed the EN recommendation and drove the bike course on Friday. I brought my bike and rode about 4 miles so I could feel the effect of the wind on my new wheel cover. I then hopped in the water next to the Flamingo Restaurant for a 5 min swim. That is on the bayou side so it's more like the swim than the seawall side. I wanted to feel the water temperature and try out my wet suit. I haven't swum in my wet suite since last year. Saturday was a take it easy day. The kids ran the IronKids fun run. Then we went to check out the aquarium. All in all I tried to cut out as much fiber as possible.
Race Morning
Woke up at 4:15 since my wave start was 7:35. I managed to get down 2 cups of applesauce with protein powder. Got the kids up then headed to transition.
Let me start by saying this was my easiest Ironman morning so far. I used checklists and and had everything I needed. I evenr mentally rehearsed what I would do and the order I would do it.
Walked to swim start and tried to see how the current affected early waves. I could see the waves crashing but it didn't look like people were fighting a current.
The Swim
Goal: 40 min, RR: 38:20, Actual: 49:47 Div Rank = 219
Hopped in the water with 2 min to go. Water temp was nice and the wet suit + salt water let me float easily. The practice swim on Friday helped me understand how the water would feel. I lined up 2 back from the front. The line was about 5 deep. I had originally planed to sight off of the Home Depot across the water but the fog was so dense I couldn't see it. Unfortunately I didn't execute a backup plan. :-(
Minimal contact at first. The current was weak but the waves kept crashing on me the whole way to the first turn buoy. The waves knocked off my goggles twice. I zig zagged a lot because I didn't sight enough and was getting roughed up. I didn't fear drowning but I was overwhelmed by the waves.
I swam to the second buoy and held on. I told myself to stay in my in my box and started again. I reduced my world to 4 strokes at a time. I still didn't sight enough. I was just trying to find a rhythm, any rhythm. My form sucked so bad.
When I finally made the turn I assessed the damage. My left shoulder was shot because it is my breathing arm and I used it to lift me over the waves. My first adjustment was to focus on pulling with my chest and core to save the shoulder.
I noticed that I was still zig zagging bad. I finally executed the back-up sighting plan: to sight on every 10th stroke. That really helped me go straight but distracted me from my form. As a result I used more shoulder than core.
Near the end I was swimming with my right arm only. On the turn to the finish I felt the current and waves again. I kept getting off track until I realized I needed to take the current into account with my sighting. I change from sighting on the finish line to sighting on the paddle boat just to the left of the finish. That worked well. So happy to finish the swim. Disappointed I. My time but very happy to have faced such difficulty and beat it.
T1
Goal Sub 4, Actual 5:42
Too many moving parts. My arm warmers were inside-out. The strap on my helmet was FUBARed, the people in my way didn't look to excited to get on the bike course so they were lolly-gagging and in my way, Arg!
The Bike
Goal: 156 watts for 20 min then 182 watts until complete (FTP of 218). Expected HR ~ 145 bpm
Strategy: Auto-lap every 2 miles. Drink 1.5 bottle of perform an hour. Eat 1 PowerGel every 35 min.
Actual: Time = 2:41:57, Speed = 20.75 mph, Div Rank = 170, NP = 173, VI = 1.02, Tss = 158, IF = 0.788
This was a first for me. I had no time goal or speed goal. I would just take whatever the course gave me. The first section has a lot of admin plus two speed humps! Once I got onto the main road I tried to settle in. My first indicator of stress was my heart rate. I was clocking 180+ bpm!! That's like full sprint effort. I just slowed down my breathing and tried to think easy happy thoughts. At the 20 min mark I upped my watts but I still just felt off. Not sure what else to do so I decided to stop and try to use the port-o-john for an "extended stay." After cleaning house I felt fabulous and got to work. I averaged 178-184 NP per 2 mile lap.My issue on the bike is the insane number of times I had to pee. 6! I was thirsty and worried about dehydration (bad experience in IMTX 2013) Also I think I sip when I'm bored. I took one salt pill somewhere in there when I felt twingy in my legs.
The road before the bridge is quite crappy.
I admit that I spiked the watts 5-7 times to pass someone. Not sure how to do it otherwise when they wont hold a constant pace, or they're only 3-4 watts slower than me.
I finished the bike like never before. Full of life. Loaded with fluids and ready to run.
T2
Goal: Sub 3, Actual 4:14
I had to pee.... a lot!
The Run
Goal: Negative Split
Plan: 3 miles at 8:18, 7 miles at 7:48, 30 steps per aid station, then race!
Actual: 1:51:08 (8:29 min/mile)
This course is curvy, run the tangents. It never leaves Moody Gardens. My wife set up shop near a playground so my kids were super happy. I felt great and kept near my pace targets. My actual paces were slower due to the aid station walks but that's OK. I took some Excedrin in here when I felt some exhaustion. I took another salt pill. And I just kept my pace. I had no friends and no other goals.
Then finally the 57 mile warm-up was over and the race began. I dropped 20-30 seconds per mil off of my pace and got to work. I never had to turn myself inside out. I had a 40m sprint finish with some other guy who wasn't even in my age group. My pace dropped to a sub 6 min/mile sprint. That was the best part of my day.
The After
A great day and a great race. The plan was well executed and worked. I had the best result that I could have had. There were only seconds left to gain on the course (maybe a minuet or two in transition) Thanks EN for the help. I may come back later and add more. Family calls for now.
Comments
It looks liek the first leg of the swim is diagonally out into the waves is that right? ALso, how long is thebad stretch of road on the bike course?
thx!!!