Jason Brandt St George 70.3 Race Report
Jason Brandt, 41m, 5:21:21 59th of 381 AG
Swim 33:26
Bike 2:39:39
Run 2:03:07
T1 3:21
T2 1:48
Pre-race notes: Flew with bike in a box. Due to circumstances outside my control didn't get my bike assembled until Friday afternoon. Original plan was to have assembled Thursday night when landing in Vegas and have short ride to ensure bike was 100%. No test ride and thus didn't discover my front derailleur was not quite right until on the course. Additionally we should have arrived St George earlier on Friday as the logistics took a lot of time and ended up skipping the EN dinner.
Swim: This was my first OWS of the year as my Masters group doesn't typically start OWS until Mother's Day weekend. I had worn my wetsuit in the pool once the week prior to race just to reassure myself it still fit and to practice a little more body roll. This race employs a wave start with waves spread out by 3 minutes. I was lucky to be in the first wave after the pros which afforded me more warm up time then I think most got and no slow swimmers in front of me. I started in the middle from left to right and one or two back from the front. Race started and I was pleased that I didn't really encounter more than the casual contact with other swimmers and it stayed that way the whole way for me. The first 300 yards or so I dealt with some anxiety issues (not breathing left side due to really bright sun, heart rate spiking, not getting full enough breaths) which I will chalk up to not having done any open water swims yet this year. In the past few years this has gone away after a few open water swims. Then I hit my groove, felt like I sighted well (though the buoys between the turns seemed to not be the straightest distance. Exited the water and looked at my time and was 2-3 minutes slower then I had hoped.
Changes here would have been to swim with tinted goggles. That was my plan originally but my test run with them the week prior revealed they were defective and I hadn't purchased a new pair.
T1: Lots of open strippers so I ran to the two biggest guys I could find and they peeled my wetsuit pretty quickly. I had a long run to my bike given the TA setup but that meant I wouldn't have to run with my bike very far. Proud that I've minimized what I do in transition. Helmet, socks, shoes and grab bike. Given the size of the TA I felt this was a good time to have. I didn't practice though and am making a note that I should practice this either in my race rehearsals or something prior to next race.
Bike: I was really looking forward to the bike course as I thought it would suit me well with lots of variety, lots of climbing and amazing scenery...it lived up to all that and more. My plan was to end with a .81IF but be at .82/.83 at the top of snow canyon knowing that I'd likely fall short on target watts on the descent back in town. I also was using bestbikesplit.com for the first time (more on that in next paragraph). Again being in the first wave there were very few bikers ahead of me and with the exception of Snow Canyon never was part of a pack or contending with passing/being passed. I spent the first few minutes of the bike ensuring my HR had come down, that I was getting fluids and I was thinking about how I wanted to execute the bike. Overall, I rode harder then I should have ending with an IF of .82 and that contributed to my poor run performance. Definition of a good bike....is good run which I didn't have.
Best Bike Split predicted I would have a 2:45 bike time. I used the power course files which I then uploaded into my Garmin 910xt. Similar to the turn by turn course option but instead of showing me turns it gave me power targets for up to 50 segments of the course. The power targets seemed to follow what EN would teach us in how to ride the course. I ended up not following it as much as I should with overdoing it on the flats at least from what it was recommending. I ended up with a 2:39. There was one annoying problem though and that was my garmin kept beeping say it had found the course implying I had gotten off it sometime during the ride, this must have happened 35 times or so. I also believe it was battery intensive as my watch was fully charged at the start and was down to about 25% at end of the race. I think the best bike split is very interesting and I may continue to play with it. May have to email the engineers to ask about perhaps setting a wider course variance allowance as to not show me off course. BBS said I should be able to do a 1.05 VI and I rode a 1.09 so definitely room for improvement here. Bike data from Garmin Connect is below.
Details
Timing
Time: 2:39:50
Moving Time: 2:39:37
Elapsed Time: 2:39:54
Avg Speed: 20.8 mph
Avg Moving Speed: 20.8 mph
Max Speed: 44.7 mph
Speed
Pace
Elevation
Elevation Gain: 3,291 ft
Elevation Loss: 3,602 ft
Min Elevation: 2,761 ft
Max Elevation: 4,094 ft
Heart Rate
Avg HR: 149 bpm
Max HR: 170 bpm
Training Effect : 3.8
Zones
% of Max
bpm
Power
Avg Power: 211 W
Max Power: 544 W
Max Avg Power (20 min): 245 W
Normalized Power (NP): 230 W
Intensity Factor (IF): 0.82
Training Stress Score (TSS): 178.3
FTP Setting: 280 W
Work: 2,024 kJ
Zones
Watts
Cadence
Avg Bike Cadence: 80 rpm
Max Bike Cadence: 120 rpm
Run Course
I was worried I had overdone the bike a little when I came into transition. My T2 of 1:48 was good considering I had stopped to get sun screen. I did not have the run I would have liked partly due to overdoing the bike, it was hot, it was hilly and I really hadn't run any hills in the training leading up to the race. I had intended to start out with 8:15-8:30 miles for the first few and then pick it up. My HR kept going over 170 on those hills and there was no way I could maintain. I chose to mix in some 30 step walk breaks which as the miles wore on became more of a 1:1 run/walk approach. As you've already read in the other race reports this is a tough course.
1.00 8:17
2 8:13.3 1.00 8:13
3 9:44.3 1.00 9:44
4 8:49.9 1.00 8:50
5 8:04.4 1.00 8:04
6 8:47.8 1.00 8:48
7 7:54.3 0.80 9:51
8 9:33.6 1.00 9:34
9 11:02.7 1.00 11:03
10 10:35.6 1.00 10:36
11 10:10.5 1.00 10:11
12 9:56.4 1.00 9:56
13 9:50.6 1.00 9:51
14 2:38.2 0.22
I finished in 5:21. Believe I was 29th coming off the bike and lost 30 spots on the run. My goal had been to hold my position on the run so this was clearly a disappointment. I'm now on my training for IMC and this race certainly validated what I need to do with running (get all my runs in, add in hills, and practice picking up the pace in the second half of my runs).
Sorry it has taken me awhile to get my race report published. I would love some feedback, questions, critique, etc...
After the race we got the milkshakes at Iceberg Drive inn. Next day I rode the scenic out and back rode in Zion canyon, then hiked the narrows up to wall street and then had a murder burger at Oscars. Thanks Rich for the suggestions.
Swim 33:26
Bike 2:39:39
Run 2:03:07
T1 3:21
T2 1:48
Pre-race notes: Flew with bike in a box. Due to circumstances outside my control didn't get my bike assembled until Friday afternoon. Original plan was to have assembled Thursday night when landing in Vegas and have short ride to ensure bike was 100%. No test ride and thus didn't discover my front derailleur was not quite right until on the course. Additionally we should have arrived St George earlier on Friday as the logistics took a lot of time and ended up skipping the EN dinner.
Swim: This was my first OWS of the year as my Masters group doesn't typically start OWS until Mother's Day weekend. I had worn my wetsuit in the pool once the week prior to race just to reassure myself it still fit and to practice a little more body roll. This race employs a wave start with waves spread out by 3 minutes. I was lucky to be in the first wave after the pros which afforded me more warm up time then I think most got and no slow swimmers in front of me. I started in the middle from left to right and one or two back from the front. Race started and I was pleased that I didn't really encounter more than the casual contact with other swimmers and it stayed that way the whole way for me. The first 300 yards or so I dealt with some anxiety issues (not breathing left side due to really bright sun, heart rate spiking, not getting full enough breaths) which I will chalk up to not having done any open water swims yet this year. In the past few years this has gone away after a few open water swims. Then I hit my groove, felt like I sighted well (though the buoys between the turns seemed to not be the straightest distance. Exited the water and looked at my time and was 2-3 minutes slower then I had hoped.
Changes here would have been to swim with tinted goggles. That was my plan originally but my test run with them the week prior revealed they were defective and I hadn't purchased a new pair.
T1: Lots of open strippers so I ran to the two biggest guys I could find and they peeled my wetsuit pretty quickly. I had a long run to my bike given the TA setup but that meant I wouldn't have to run with my bike very far. Proud that I've minimized what I do in transition. Helmet, socks, shoes and grab bike. Given the size of the TA I felt this was a good time to have. I didn't practice though and am making a note that I should practice this either in my race rehearsals or something prior to next race.
Bike: I was really looking forward to the bike course as I thought it would suit me well with lots of variety, lots of climbing and amazing scenery...it lived up to all that and more. My plan was to end with a .81IF but be at .82/.83 at the top of snow canyon knowing that I'd likely fall short on target watts on the descent back in town. I also was using bestbikesplit.com for the first time (more on that in next paragraph). Again being in the first wave there were very few bikers ahead of me and with the exception of Snow Canyon never was part of a pack or contending with passing/being passed. I spent the first few minutes of the bike ensuring my HR had come down, that I was getting fluids and I was thinking about how I wanted to execute the bike. Overall, I rode harder then I should have ending with an IF of .82 and that contributed to my poor run performance. Definition of a good bike....is good run which I didn't have.
Best Bike Split predicted I would have a 2:45 bike time. I used the power course files which I then uploaded into my Garmin 910xt. Similar to the turn by turn course option but instead of showing me turns it gave me power targets for up to 50 segments of the course. The power targets seemed to follow what EN would teach us in how to ride the course. I ended up not following it as much as I should with overdoing it on the flats at least from what it was recommending. I ended up with a 2:39. There was one annoying problem though and that was my garmin kept beeping say it had found the course implying I had gotten off it sometime during the ride, this must have happened 35 times or so. I also believe it was battery intensive as my watch was fully charged at the start and was down to about 25% at end of the race. I think the best bike split is very interesting and I may continue to play with it. May have to email the engineers to ask about perhaps setting a wider course variance allowance as to not show me off course. BBS said I should be able to do a 1.05 VI and I rode a 1.09 so definitely room for improvement here. Bike data from Garmin Connect is below.
Details
Timing
Time: 2:39:50
Moving Time: 2:39:37
Elapsed Time: 2:39:54
Avg Speed: 20.8 mph
Avg Moving Speed: 20.8 mph
Max Speed: 44.7 mph
Speed
Pace
Elevation
Elevation Gain: 3,291 ft
Elevation Loss: 3,602 ft
Min Elevation: 2,761 ft
Max Elevation: 4,094 ft
Heart Rate
Avg HR: 149 bpm
Max HR: 170 bpm
Training Effect : 3.8
Zones
% of Max
bpm
Power
Avg Power: 211 W
Max Power: 544 W
Max Avg Power (20 min): 245 W
Normalized Power (NP): 230 W
Intensity Factor (IF): 0.82
Training Stress Score (TSS): 178.3
FTP Setting: 280 W
Work: 2,024 kJ
Zones
Watts
Cadence
Avg Bike Cadence: 80 rpm
Max Bike Cadence: 120 rpm
Run Course
I was worried I had overdone the bike a little when I came into transition. My T2 of 1:48 was good considering I had stopped to get sun screen. I did not have the run I would have liked partly due to overdoing the bike, it was hot, it was hilly and I really hadn't run any hills in the training leading up to the race. I had intended to start out with 8:15-8:30 miles for the first few and then pick it up. My HR kept going over 170 on those hills and there was no way I could maintain. I chose to mix in some 30 step walk breaks which as the miles wore on became more of a 1:1 run/walk approach. As you've already read in the other race reports this is a tough course.
1.00 8:17
2 8:13.3 1.00 8:13
3 9:44.3 1.00 9:44
4 8:49.9 1.00 8:50
5 8:04.4 1.00 8:04
6 8:47.8 1.00 8:48
7 7:54.3 0.80 9:51
8 9:33.6 1.00 9:34
9 11:02.7 1.00 11:03
10 10:35.6 1.00 10:36
11 10:10.5 1.00 10:11
12 9:56.4 1.00 9:56
13 9:50.6 1.00 9:51
14 2:38.2 0.22
I finished in 5:21. Believe I was 29th coming off the bike and lost 30 spots on the run. My goal had been to hold my position on the run so this was clearly a disappointment. I'm now on my training for IMC and this race certainly validated what I need to do with running (get all my runs in, add in hills, and practice picking up the pace in the second half of my runs).
Sorry it has taken me awhile to get my race report published. I would love some feedback, questions, critique, etc...
After the race we got the milkshakes at Iceberg Drive inn. Next day I rode the scenic out and back rode in Zion canyon, then hiked the narrows up to wall street and then had a murder burger at Oscars. Thanks Rich for the suggestions.
0
Comments
Outstanding job on the transitions! I don't think you overcooked the bike with a 0.82, but certainly you did with the VI of 1.09. More time in rollers tholepin you ease off on the ups and work harder on the downs? Similar strategy might apply when running - not a question of learning how to run uphill as much as learning how to run at a steady HR/RPE both up and down.
Thanks for providing feedback.
Thanks for sharing