Adam's IRONMAN 70.3 UK Race Report/Eval
Race Report
The road to this race has been long and interesting. It started on March 25, 2012 in Brandon, MB when I awoke to bright lights in a bleach white room. I couldn’t feel my feet. I couldn’t feel my legs. Panic started to set in. Just then a nurse turned up and, seeing my terrified expression, thought she should explain what was going on. It was the spinal anesthetic, she explained, and it would start to wear off soon.
What the hell had happened? I thought hard. I was in Manitoba that week because I was visiting my parents. My parents were building a cottage. I was out helping them build their cottage. And then… I had fallen, awkwardly, from a scaffold onto an unforgiving plywood subfloor. In medical terms, I had a comminuted femoral neck fracture. The night before, a surgeon had put in three titanium screws in an attempt to repair the damage.
So, in the months that followed I started on a long road to recovery. I had a great support group of family, friends, and co-workers but the all-star of the team was undoubtedly my girlfriend Rachel. She was by my side the entire way and made sure I had everything I needed to get better.
I’ve had a few people ask this week about what it took to get from that surgery to finishing a half Ironman. I don’t really know how to answer that - for me it was quite simple. I just did everything in my control to get better. I ate well, I worked hard, and I surrounded myself with positive people. The rest worked itself out!
So that’s the long-winded version of how and why I got here… now for the race!
After preparing mentally for frigid water, strong winds and rain, it was a surprise to have warm and sunny weather on race day. The swim went well, lots of contact but nothing that threw me off my game. Coming out of Wimbleball Lake I was greeted with a ~500m climb straight up a hill to transition. Not fun but got it done.
Garmin data for the swim: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/521164337
The bike is the monster of this race. It’s two laps and each lap has two steep climbs that come on the back half of the lap. According to my Garmin, there was 1575m of climbing on the bike course. I was very careful to not get too far out of zone on the climbs, but it certainly takes a lot of discipline (and low gearing) on this course.
Garmin data for the bike: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/521164347
The run also has a fair amount of climbing (423m as measured by my watch). Since the surgery I’ve found running up and down hills to be very difficult. It’s something I’m working on, but there is certainly more work to be done! My favorite moment of the run came when a child shouted out “You’re almost there! Less than 12 miles to go!”
Garmin data for the run: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/521164364
Crossing the finish line was fairly emotional for me. I’d completed another part of my journey back from injury. I’d raced the race I wanted to, and got to share the entire weekend with with the love of my life Rachel. As an awesome bonus, she wants to do a half Ironman with me next year!
Race Evaluation
Race Name: IRONMAN 70.3 UK
Race Date: 2014/06/15
Race Day Stats:
Total Time / AG Place / Overall Place: 6:10:37 / 87 (of 225 starters) / 405 (of 1303 starters)
Swim Time / AG / OA: 38:12 / 109 / 570
T1 Time / AG / OA: 6:13 / 111 / 612
Bike Time / AG / OA: 3:18:29 / 72 / 359
T2 Time / AG / OA: 4:11 / 143 / 733
Run Time / AG / OA: 2:03:34 / 101 / 501
Race Day Goals:
1. Sub-2:00 pace on the swim, while conserving energy. I ended up at 2:00 on the nose, which I was happy with. I was relaxed on the swim which is a new feeling for me this year. Used shaded goggles on the swim, which didn’t seal as well as the pair I usually wear. Next time I need to make sure I have options that seal for sunny and cloudy conditions. Also, I made a conscious effort to start kicking for the last 50 metres of the swim which woke my legs up and probably made the uphill run to transition a little easier.
2. Race by numbers… power numbers that is! I was lucky that my Stages power meter arrived in time for race day. I’d been training on a Wahoo KICKR trainer which measures power but didn’t have power on my bike until the week before the race. I had a chance to do a trainer ride and compare the numbers the KICKR and Stages power meters were putting out. The Stages puts out ~10% lower numbers fairly consistently - I suspect this is because of my left-right balance since surgery (femoral neck fracture.) Left-right balance between my legs is an area where I need to concentrate going forward. In any case, the course had a lot of climbing on it (1575m according to my Garmin.) I’m a strong climber, but with a power meter I was able to see that I normally dial up the watts to push up hills. During the race, I paid attention to the power numbers and shifted accordingly. I’m pretty sure this saved my race!
3. Negative split the run. I didn’t achieve this one. I think I was feeling a little too good about myself coming off the bike. My legs felt great, I was properly fuelled, but I should have slowed down at the start. The first KM I ran a 5:14, which would be my fastest split. There was one long, steep climb on each lap which I walked. This made my splits uneven but I think this was probably better than charging up them for my race overall - next time I should do more hill work if the course warrants it. Also, paying attention to the terrain is important. This run was almost exclusively off-road… whereas I’d trained on the road. I definitely felt the run in different muscles - probably because of the uneven terrain. I think a big take-away from this race that my biggest gains are going to come from the run. I need to keep working at it and I need to have better strategy next time.
The Swim -- Race Day Evaluation
Target swim time: sub-38:00
Actual swim time: 38:12
Weather / Conditions / Notes
Cloudy, 14’C. Not much wind. Ideal conditions really.
Challenge 1: Left side of goggles wouldn’t seal.
Response 1: Paused for a couple of seconds to try and re-seal. Tried tightening strap. Nothing seemed to work.
Evaluation 1: Need to prepare better next time. No using new equipment on race day!
The Bike -- Race Day Evaluation
Target bike time: 3:20:00
Actual bike time: 3:18:28
Weather / Conditions / Notes
Cloudy, 16’C. Slight wind.
Challenge 1: Ran out of fluid between aid stations 2 and 3.
Response 1: Picked up two water bottles at the third aid station. Got down as much fluid as possible to “catch up”.
Evaluation 1: This was a bit silly really. I’d planned to not drink on the bike for the first 20’, which meant that when I got to the first aid station I still had a third of a bottle left. I discarded it and grabbed a full one. Next time, assuming similar positioning of the aid stations I should keep the partial one as a reserve.
Challenge 2: Dropped partial pack of Cliff Blocs at start of second lap.
Response 2: It was on a climb and I didn’t want to stop to pick them up. Instead, I grabbed a piece of PowerBar at the next aid station.
Evaluation 2: This worked out in the end I think. But a better plan next time would be to have more fuel than I need available on the bike. That way if I drop something I’ll have a backup.
Challenge 3: Lots of climbing.
Response 3: Kept looking at the power meter. Dialed it back as much as possible to stay within target range.
Evaluation 3: I think I was as prepared as I could have been physically. One thing I would have done differently in training would be to use power on my outdoor rides ahead of the race. I think this would have meant I went a little less hard on the hills during training. Next time I won’t make the same mistake.
The Run -- Race Day Evaluation
Target run time: 2:00:00
Actual run time: 2:03:33
Weather / Conditions / Notes
Sunny, 18’C. Not much wind.
Challenge 1: Hilly course.
Response 1: I allowed myself to walk up the steepest portion of the longest hill on the course.
Evaluation 1: I don’t think there was much choice here. I wouldn’t have had a strong run if I was pushing out of zone just to keep running up the hill. The day before the race I gave myself permission to do this, but only when absolutely necessary. I think that was a good plan. Not allowed to do this on a flat course (which Mallorca will be!)
Challenge 2: Hydration
Response 2: I’ve never been able to drink much while running. This race I felt like I entered the run well hydrated which really helped. The downside was having to take a bathroom break about a quarter of the way through the run, but it was well worth it. I took in a gel at the start of the run, and sports drink for the first half of the run. In the second half I switched to water on the head to cool off.
Evaluation 2: This approach worked well. I don’t think I need to change anything here.
Challenge 3: Pacing
Response 3: This was made so much more difficult by seeing the time I was starting at. Some quick mental math indicated that a sub-6:00 HIM was only slightly out of reach. I think unfortunately I ended up pushing a little too hard at the start of the run to test whether I had it in me, and this hurt my run later on.
Evaluation 3: I need to focus on pacing and ignore outside influences next time!
Comments
I looked up the times for my AG and wow...the hills on the bike must have been brutal. Great job. Are you going to do an Ironman next?
Thanks for the kind words Paul. Yeah it's a hilly course, especially on the bike. I figured if I started with a tough race I can crush my time in a "normal" race!
Sounds like a tough course and unless the numbers are restricted, seems like a smaller-than-average race for the WTC.
Enjoy training with your girlfriend for the next one....although that might not be all it's cracked up to be...