Anna's IM 70.3 Steelhead Race Report
This was my second IM 70.3 (first one was Raleigh in June).
Pre-race: we (my husband Rich came along to support me) arrived in Benton Harbor the day before the race, checked in, went to the briefing, met some friends. Had an early pasta dinner and went to bed around 8 pm. I actually managed to sleep most of the night (unlike Raleigh). I decided not to leave the bike in T1 over night. This way I could get it ready at the hotel. The downside was we couldn’t park close to T1 and the shuttles didn’t take bike. So I took the shuttle and Rich rode my bike to T1. There were boy scouts parking passes available the day before for 10$ but we didn’t know that.
Race day: Wake-up 3:30 am. Breakfast: Cliff Bar, Stinger Waffle, Gatorade, Red Bull, half bagel. We arrived at T1 around 4:50 am. I set up my transition in the dark and then we were just sitting around waiting. About 50 min. before my wave start we finally got up to walk 1 mile on the beach to the swim start: way too late! By the time we got there they were singing the anthem and I didn’t even have my wetsuit on. I just had time to jump into the water to make sure my goggles don’t leak and got a feel of the temperature. At the same time I realized the waves were a little bigger than expected – oh well.
Swim: I was in the 5th wave (including the pros). This is a beach start and the water is shallow for quite a distance so it took a long time to get to a depth were you could swim. The first turn is about 100 yards out and for some reason it was a mess even before we got there. People swimming across to get to the rescue boats (that early into the race!) and very crowded. After the turn it started getting better at least for a while. I’m a very slow swimmer and the waves were catching up with me periodically. So as soon as I would get into the rhythm, people would be all over me. The waves were not huge but enough to make the sighting a little challenging esp. when it would get crowded. I didn’t enjoy the swim, but I stayed pretty consistent and didn’t stop. At the end it was shallow again and I stopped and walked to the shore. I should have tried to swim a little further but I guess I was happy to be done. Time: 58:34 min (last time it was 54). But considering the beach start it’s about the same I guess.
T1: 7:28 - the transition area was narrow and long. No strippers L and you have to rinse your feet because you have to run through the sandy beach. Took me forever to put my gloves on too because my hands were cold and moist.
Bike: 3:05:07 – fastest bike ever. This is a very flat fast course. There is only one hill that is a worth mentioning. The road is mostly good with some bumpy section in the middle. I did my best riding my numbers and for the most part was pretty much on spot:
Target Result
NP: 122 W NP: 121 W
IF: 79 % IF: 79 %
TSS: 208 TSS: 191
Cadence: 80-90 84
I felt tired the second hour into the ride and decided to eat something (plan was to take in mostly liquid calories). I guess that worked because I felt better after a while and for the rest of the ride. It did get crowded from time to time: a lot of drafting going on but you could not avoid it. Overall very happy with the ride – I was hoping for 3:20-3:30.
T2: 5:14 - long run/walk through transition area with people in the way, change shoes, grab visor and water bottle, bathroom stop.
Run: 2:19:45 - My plan was to run 9:45 average based on the test and training. Ha! I was tired right from the start but told myself that will get better. It never did. It got worth. It was super hot (at least it felt this way), not much shade on the course and must have been humid. I thought I would end up walking the entire run course. There are 3 big hills on the run. Two of them almost everybody walked (very steep). But unfortunately I ended up walking the last 2 miles downhill too. I did walk all aid stations, poured water on my head, drank perform, grabbed ice. Not sure what was wrong but I had no energy and my hamstrings were hurting. Don’t think I ever had that problem. So the run was no fun. Talking to other people afterwards, I was not the only one who struggled with it. The sun was super hot and the heat coming off the road made it worse. Temperature on my bike Garmin read 87.8 at the end of the bike. There was no breeze; the temperature adjustment to my run time was pretty much on target.
Lessons learned:
- at Steelhead, start walk to swim start 1 hour before scheduled wave
- learn how to skip through waves on beach start swim all the way to shore on swim exit, stopping early cost time and energy walking through the waves, also slowed down T1 from being tired after walking through waves
- Start in the front of the group, it cost a lot of time and energy swimming around the struggling swimmers
- need to get some liquid calories at the start of the bike. the long walk to the swim and the 1 hour swim depleted a lot of energy and liquid. this means i need to get fuelled a little faster on the bike.
Overall: 6:36:08 (better than Raleigh by 19 min)
Comments
Matt, thanks for the tips. :-) I saw a lot of people "dolphin-diving" in Mont Tremblant this Weekend - have to try that.