NOLA 70.3 Race Report - Scott Alexander
Breakfast: two smoothies for 550cals, one banana for ~80cals
Line out the park, for delayed start til 730
Swim (44:57):
Time trial swim start. I went in water at 8:02
Sighting difficult on middle leg back towards start
Supposedly, length was short by about 300m. Can't validate that personally, but all the times were extremely fast
T1 (4:07):
Not too long of a distance.
Pretty simple: aero helmet w/ visor, shoes
Jogging somewhat-flying mount, past the throngs on people clogging the mount line area
Bike (2:29:52):
-Fast!
-Favorable winds for most of bike
-Decent roads, with some bad sections on bridges and lots of lines/cracks that weren't too smooth
-Averaged 23.1 for first two hours.
-Last 30mins was mostly 20+mph headwinds along lakefront/access road and final overpass/climb back down into transition.
-Got passed by one (solo) person from a younger age group. And one draft pack of three younger guys exchanging pulls between them. Three of the worst bike handlers I've ever seen!
-Passed countless others..."on your left"
-Drank nuun out of aero bottle, every 15mins
-Ate 1/4 honey stinger waffle, every 15mins, starting at 45mins in.
Bike numbers:
First hour: .75 if, 24.2mph, 1.03vi
Second hour: .733 if, 22.0mph, 1.04vi
Last half hour: .738 if, 18.9mph, 1.05vi (windy section, last hill/overpass back into t2)
Overall: .741 if, 22.3mph, 1.04vi (lowest ever, on any course)
T2 (2:59):
-"go bag" with sunglasses, race belt (should've worn under wetsuit, to begin with), maple syrup "gu", garmin. Also had hat and bottle of pickle juice to carry
Run (2:25:11):
-all fears of bad weather ended up being hot and direct sunlight - no shade whatsoever
-slight headwind on way out
-pickle juice while walking first two miles, due to shins cramping
-no real tailwind, just stagnant air and no breeze, on way back
-Untapped maple syrup packet (100cals), at halfway point
-more "hilly" than I expected, with overpasses and levees
-most accurate one mile apart aid stations I've ever seen, per my garmin
-poorly executed on my part, ended up too fast on runs between stations, and overcooked myself.
Mile splits:
1-2: walked due to shin cramps (still have to figure that out)
First half: 10:10 pace, 1:14:45
Second half: 9:38 pace, 1:10:24, neg split
Total time 5:47:04
-15 minute PR!!!
-I've been trying to crack sub-6 for several years and finally got it, by a good margin in the process!
-Still have a lot of work to do on the swim
-too much lolly gagging in t1
-bike was awesome, kept in aero pretty much the whole time
-minimize the "go bag" even more
-run more off hard bike efforts in training
-execute run better, pay attention to pace more
Line out the park, for delayed start til 730
Swim (44:57):
Time trial swim start. I went in water at 8:02
Sighting difficult on middle leg back towards start
Supposedly, length was short by about 300m. Can't validate that personally, but all the times were extremely fast
T1 (4:07):
Not too long of a distance.
Pretty simple: aero helmet w/ visor, shoes
Jogging somewhat-flying mount, past the throngs on people clogging the mount line area
Bike (2:29:52):
-Fast!
-Favorable winds for most of bike
-Decent roads, with some bad sections on bridges and lots of lines/cracks that weren't too smooth
-Averaged 23.1 for first two hours.
-Last 30mins was mostly 20+mph headwinds along lakefront/access road and final overpass/climb back down into transition.
-Got passed by one (solo) person from a younger age group. And one draft pack of three younger guys exchanging pulls between them. Three of the worst bike handlers I've ever seen!
-Passed countless others..."on your left"
-Drank nuun out of aero bottle, every 15mins
-Ate 1/4 honey stinger waffle, every 15mins, starting at 45mins in.
Bike numbers:
First hour: .75 if, 24.2mph, 1.03vi
Second hour: .733 if, 22.0mph, 1.04vi
Last half hour: .738 if, 18.9mph, 1.05vi (windy section, last hill/overpass back into t2)
Overall: .741 if, 22.3mph, 1.04vi (lowest ever, on any course)
T2 (2:59):
-"go bag" with sunglasses, race belt (should've worn under wetsuit, to begin with), maple syrup "gu", garmin. Also had hat and bottle of pickle juice to carry
Run (2:25:11):
-all fears of bad weather ended up being hot and direct sunlight - no shade whatsoever
-slight headwind on way out
-pickle juice while walking first two miles, due to shins cramping
-no real tailwind, just stagnant air and no breeze, on way back
-Untapped maple syrup packet (100cals), at halfway point
-more "hilly" than I expected, with overpasses and levees
-most accurate one mile apart aid stations I've ever seen, per my garmin
-poorly executed on my part, ended up too fast on runs between stations, and overcooked myself.
Mile splits:
1-2: walked due to shin cramps (still have to figure that out)
First half: 10:10 pace, 1:14:45
Second half: 9:38 pace, 1:10:24, neg split
Total time 5:47:04
-15 minute PR!!!
-I've been trying to crack sub-6 for several years and finally got it, by a good margin in the process!
-Still have a lot of work to do on the swim
-too much lolly gagging in t1
-bike was awesome, kept in aero pretty much the whole time
-minimize the "go bag" even more
-run more off hard bike efforts in training
-execute run better, pay attention to pace more
0
Comments
I have never raced the NOLA 70.3.....need to try that one someday.
Any way you cut it, a 15 minute PR is HUGE! Shows some commitment to get that kind of progress.
Loved the report too! Way to open up the season coming out swinging with both barrels bro!
Congrats!
SS
Congrats!
You must have a heck of an FTP if .75 is 24 mph. Was your plan to stay at .75 IF for the race? I had practiced .8, but only got to .73. What about the run pacing - is MP figured through our 5k testing really a realistic goal in a HIM? Maybe it was my lack of salt/hydration on the bike into the run. But I felt like MP plus 30' may have overcooked me early in the run as well.
@Scott D, Always stuff to work on! Shin cramps have been a long-standing issue that is on my "to solve" list (which is always getting longer! haha)
@Gordon, thanks a bunch. My FTP is usually around the 300w mark; at it's peak a few years ago it was 330ish. But I've also got 210+lbs to push around, so flat courses for the bike are better suited for me. I like hills, they don't like me! haha
I was pushing for .80ish of an "easier" 280w, about 224w, to have a better run, knowing it would be warm (not THAT warm) and humid. I don't display any lap or normalized power info on my computer, only 3-sec power (no point getting caught up in the past - can only control NOW). So I think I nailed my final goal for power, an extra reason to be happy about that split. Those shin cramps I think killed my motivation real quick!
15' PR is a big deal.
I stand by my belief that it is very difficult to train in moderate to cooler temps (like most of us have had this winter/early spring) and then show up to a race where the sun comes out and the temp starts rising, not to mention the humidity of NOLA.
Well done, sir!