Nemo's Raleigh 70.3 Race Report
This race was targeted as my “A” race for the early season. I had done the Lake Anna/Kinetic Half (similarly hilly bike course with a much hillier run course) 3 weeks earlier as a race rehearsal and done fairly well with a 6:27:19 time. Going into the race I felt pretty confident that under good conditions I could knock about 10-15 minutes off that time (with improvements on both the bike and run) and I was looking forward to “racing” a half again for the first time since before my surgery in 2013.
Friday:
I took off work at 3:00 and Joe and I drove the 3ish hours to Raleigh where we grabbed dinner with friends Kerry and Bob Sanders. I was glad to be there on Friday night because there would be lots of admin stuff to do on Saturday and I didn’t want to be rushed. We stayed at the Marriott Residence Inn which was a 15 minute strait shot drive from the city center where T2, the Finish Line, and the Athlete Village were located. While not as convenient as being downtown, it was a lot cheaper than the downtown hotels and I really liked having a full kitchen available for prepping meals.
Saturday:
Had a relaxing morning and just let the daylight wake me up. The hotel had a pretty good spread for the complimentary hot breakfast so we decided to just eat breakfast there. I had some yogurt with fruit, waffles with chocolate chips and whipped cream, and coffee. After breakfast we headed downtown for packet pickup and to scout out parking spots for race day. Packet pickup was quick and efficient; I strolled through without waiting on any lines. We checked out T2 so I’d be familiar with where my spot was for dropping the run bag off in the morning and walked back to the parking garage so I could put the numbers on my bike. Next up was meeting the Endurance Nation crew for lunch. It was great seeing everyone in person and Mariah (our team captain) had lots of answers to many of our questions concerning logistics of the day. Joe and I shared a mushroom pizza and some calamari.
After lunch we drove over to Lake Jordan to drop off my bike in T1. This was the first time things really seemed to get backed up. The venue at Lake Jordan is nice, but very small with little parking, so it was a bit of a traffic jam getting in. I walked through the very long transition (my bike was way at the back) and tried to note where I was “parked”. Since T1 is in a parking lot, some folks had brought chalk to mark their locations- really great idea! I racked my bike with slightly deflated tires (due to the heat) and we then headed back to the hotel. But first, a quick stop at Trader Joe’s (which was very close to the hotel) to get dinner makings (salmon for me, steak for Joe, potatoes and a salad). Joe cooked the salmon and steak on the gas grill at the hotel and we nuked the potatoes. Packed all the transition bags (this was my first Half Ironman with 2 different transition areas and bags to pack), made my nutrition bottles, and just relaxed. I was in bed by 9:00.
Sunday (RACE DAY!)
All 3 alarms we had set went off together at 4am sharp. Such an ugly hour of the morning! Joe started the coffee and I got dressed, including liberal applications of chamois cream and sunscreen. We walked out the door of the hotel at 4:30 sharp and drove down to the parking garage we had picked out the day before. Strolled through T2 to drop off my “run” bag where we were instructed to keep everything inside the bag (although some folks didn’t seem to be following those instructions). Next up was to get on the very long serpentine line for the bus that would take us to Jordan Lake. I ate breakfast (Oatmeal w/PB & Banana) during the roughly 40 minute bus ride and took advantage of the bathroom at the back of the bus just before we got to the lake so I wouldn’t have to wait on line at a port-o-potty when we got there. Got body marked as soon as I got off the bus and then walked into T1 to drop off my Bike bag, set nutrition up on the bike, and pump up the tires. The bikes were racked very close together and since I was so close to the T1 exit I opted not to put my shoes on my bike. Met the OBX crew (there were approx. 17 of us doing the race) for a group picture and a pre-race prayer, and then it was time to take my UCAN (2 scoops) and stand in the port-o-potty line again. I know we always complain about long lines and not having enough port-o-potties at races, but this seemed to be an extreme case of under estimating the need in my opinion. I made it to the front of the line and did my (much needed) business with just enough time to walk to the swim start and get in the water with the rest of my white caps for our designated 7:40 wave start.
Swim: Weather was sunny with just a little SW wind and temps at the start were around a comfy 68 degrees. Due to the warm water temps, the swim was “wetsuit optional” which meant you could wear a wetsuit if you wanted- but you’d have to go in the very last wave of the day. For me that meant adding almost another hour to the wait and putting me out on the run course later in the day (where temps were expected to reach near 90). I decided to go without the wetsuit and live with a slower swim time. My plan here is always to just stay calm and relaxed and keep in the middle of the pack as much as possible without getting too beat up. Our wave started out pretty normal with not too much contact, but when the fast dudes from the waves behind us came through there were a few times I got pushed underwater or groped (really, if you are gonna cop a feel- at least buy me dinner!). As usual I had to pee close to the end, but couldn’t do so while swimming. I grabbed a kayak to relax and take care of the need and then continued on to the swim exit. My normal Half swim is 42ish minutes (with a wetsuit) but on this day, without the wettie, it was 49:25. So much for knocking 10-15 min off my Lake Anna time, I’m already 7 in the hole!
T1: Was nice to see Becky and Joe cheering as I ran through T1 to my bike. I put everything on, threw my goggles and cap in the bag (everything had to be in the bag when you left) and stopped at the sunscreen ladies for a quick slap on my shoulders before mounting the bike. Time: 3:39
Bike: My current FTP is 135 (yes, pathetically small, but it is what it is). My plan was to ride the first 30 minutes at NP=95-100 with a Max HR at 150 and the rest of the ride with NP=105-110 and Max HR 155. I estimated that would put me with a bike time of 3:15-3:30. However, with the hot temps (and little acclimation beforehand) I also knew that the HR would be the number I would focus most on, making sure that stayed in check. By the time I started the bike, the temperature had already risen to 74, it was going to be a hot day for sure. The bike course is deceiving. There is a long gradual climb right out of T1 that is very easy to go too hard on if you aren’t paying attention. I saw a lot of people in big gears breathing really heavy going up that hill, essentially working too hard too early. I just sat back and let them go by. I grabbed water from every aid station (every 15 miles) and poured cold water on myself to keep cool. My nutrition plan was simple, Salt Sticks every hour on the hour, UCAN every hour on the half, and water every 15 minutes. I stuck to that plan with no issues- except that the caffeine pill I hoped to take at the 1hr mark slipped from my mouth. Around mile 28 I stopped at the aid station to pee and had to wait for an open potty (frustrating, but dealt with it).
Other than that first set of climbs out of transition, the beginning of this bike course is just some small rolling hills and nothing really to worry about. It’s pretty easy to settle into your pace and stay on track. The real challenge (and deceiving part) starts around mile 35 or so when you start to hit the hills. There’s nothing horribly big or terrible here, but if you went out too fast at the beginning, the hills here are gonna hurt. I had done a recon ride of the course so I was completely prepared to ride smart and have good legs towards the end.
Everything seemed to be going well until somewhere in that 35 to 40 mile zone where on the hills I noticed my front brake was rubbing. GRRRRRR. I have no how long this had been going on, but I suspect it got tweaked at the port-o-pottie stop I took at mile 28. I hopped off my bike and attempted to adjust it but it wouldn’t budge, so I opened up the brake just a little in hopes that would help. Seemed to work for a little bit but a few more miles down the road, there it was again, rub…rub…rub….Ugh. I stopped again, spun both the front and rear wheel and couldn’t find the problem so I hopped on again and continued the course. On the very next hill, rub….rub…..rub….. it seemed to only be rubbing when under stress. By now I’m probably around mile 45 or so. I hope off the bike one final time and open the brake all the way (Mom, hope you aren’t reading this part) and just prayed I wouldn’t need it for the rest of the ride! It still seemed to rub occasionally (although not as often) and I just resolved that while I’d be going slower, I wasn’t going to push beyond my zones and would get to T2 whenever I got there.
I got there in 3:33:39 with NP=100, VI=1.09 and Avg HR= 153. Well within the plan even with the mechanical issues, so I’m pretty happy about that. At the start of the bike I was 49th in my age group, but by the time I entered T2 I had dropped down to 75th.
T2 I normally remove my feet from my shoes while still on the bike before dismounting. However, the bike course doesn’t quite lend itself to that idea because the last and final climb takes you all the way into T2! I had to run with my bike nearly all the way to the end of T2 to get to my spot so I decided to stop for a moment and remove my shoes (carry them in my hands) so I could run more easily. I dumped my bag of run stuff, grabbed my UCAN bottle and Ziploc bag of run goodies and headed to the port-o-pottie. As I exited the pottie the sunscreen volunteers were right there and I stopped for another top-off of the white stuff. Finally exited T2 in 4:30
Run: It’s now 85 degrees and still climbing. The Raleigh run course is essentially a double out & back with the outbound side being mostly uphill and the back side being mostly downhill. There’s little to no shade, but what shade there is you find on the return side, so at least you have it on the final leg of the race. My plan for the run was Miles 1-3 at max pace of 10:05 with max HR of 165 and then Miles 3-10 at maxes of 9:35 and 175. The last 3 miles would be whatever I could handle. I would walk every aid station gathering water & ice and nutrition was simply UCAN and Salt on a similar schedule to the bike with a treat of coke at the last 3 aid stations. Based on this plan I estimated a run finish in the 2:10-2:20 range. Again however, with the heat I knew that I really had to throw planned pacing mostly out the window and just focus on keeping the HR in line.
I felt pretty good starting out on the run but could already feel the heat coming off the pavement. I ran the first 3 miles at paces 10:53, 10:48, and 10:25 and my Avg HR was pegged at 165. Despite having to go a lot slower to keep the HR in check, I was in really good spirits. I saw lots of my OBX and EN friends on the course (one reason I actually like out & back races) and I got to see Joe and the whole OBX Sherpa crew several times.
Miles 3-6 were of course mostly downhill and paces were 10:29, 10:46, 10:48 with my Avg HR still pegged at 165. Things are going slow but good. At one aid station they had run out of cups but still had ice, so the volunteers were just dumping it wherever you asked. I didn’t realize this until I approached the volunteer and before I could think clearly I realized I had just pulled out my jog bra to allow a 13ish year old boy dump ice down my chest! Whoops! Hope that doesn’t get me in any trouble!
One the way back out again though, miles 7-10 seemed to be a bit tougher and I got a little bloated/gassy. I stopped at a port-o-pottie around mile 8/9 to relieve that need (never trust a fart) and found that very helpful. Paces in this section were 11:13, 14:12, 11:36 with my HR dropping to 154 during the pitstop but climbing back up to 165 again afterwards.
The final 3 miles I gave myself the treat of warm flat coke. If you don’t do triathlons you probably think that sounds awful, but if you do, you know it’s like the most wonderful fairy dust you could ever ask for! I caught up to a friend from Maryland (Beth) who was there for the race and we exchanged “holy heck it’s hot out here” words before I continued on forward. As I closed in on the last mile, I could see OBX friends Kerry and Jenny running together ahead of me and thought I might be able to reach them before the finish. When I caught them at the last turn, Kerry was super excited, but I could also tell Jenny was still suffering. We decided to run the last quarter mile or so into the finish line together. Kerry is a fitness instructor and completely went into “spin class” mode with all the “we got this” “keep it up” “we are doing this together” motivational speak. She got so excited that at one point I looked down at my Garmin and saw we were running sub 7’s! YIKES! I got her to pull it back a bit ‘cause frankly I didn’t think I’d make it if we kept that up! But we all finished together with our Sherpa crew right there to see us cross that line together. It was awesome!
My last 3 miles were 10:43, 11:09, 10:03 with Avg HR climbing to 168 in the last mile. That brought me in with a total run time of 2:23:12 and I managed to claw my way back up from 75th place into 56th place in my AG.
Total race time is 6:54:25. Frankly, that’s a personal worst and over 1 hour off my personal best. BUT I’m really happy with my execution on the day. I didn’t let things get to me, I stayed positive even when I knew time was slipping away, and I stuck to a smart race strategy. Considering the non-wetsuit swim, the heat of the day, and the mechanical on the bike, I still consider this a good day. Besides, just finishing 2 HIM’s in 3 weeks with no knee pain at all is a major victory from the 2013 meniscus injury saga. It’s good to be back and I’m really looking forward to preparing and racing Ironman Maryland in the fall!
Oh, and sorry it took me so long to write this up, but after the race Joe and I headed to the Blue Ridge Mountains in NC for a week of backpacking in the hills. Great way to recover!
Comments
You haven;'t lost any of your race execution and reportorial skills, nor the effervescent optimism. It's clear you're not done with this sport yet.
Small thought on the brake rub - did you release the QR and check the alignment of the wheel in the dropouts?
That was the one thing I did NOT think to do on race day- and it may have helped the situation. When I returned home I also found the front brake pretty badly aligned and needed to muscle it back to center.
It was a HOT, Tough day. It was 85º and climbing... those are the weather temps that are taken in the shade. The temps on the tarmac that we ran on without the share were a lot more than that. I think that executing as well as you did in the face of brake challenges and heat is something that you can feel really good about and build on.
Congratulations and keep on going!
Nemo...congrats and welcome back to racing. Well done.
I always get good ideas from reading your reports. Tks!