Bill Manard Legend 100 RR
Legend Free State 100 (2/80/18) - Race plan was posted separately
Results - (Results here (with me highlighted))
Swim - 1:15:54 - goal 1:07
T1 - 5:16 - goal 4:00
Bike 5:26:01 - goal 4:50
T2 - 4:33 - goal 2:00
Run - 4:28:38 - goal 3:30
Total - 11:20:19 - 76/116 OA, 53/76 gender, 12/15 AG
Details -
Pre-race
Arrival/pre-race on race-day went pretty much according to plan. However, upon awakening at 0400, I still had some indigestion from the night before (damn hiatal hernia...). Nothing too bad, but burping last night's dinner on the swim wasn't great. Got to transition, set up, got comfortable, slipped into wetsuit once I heard confirmation of legality, got to the start, which went off as planned (only 3-4 minutes late). Did notice, however, that the flags were blowing straight back into our faces on the boat ramp, which will come into play through the day.
Swim - Strava info here (includes some T1)
Start wasn't too crowded at all. Spread out fairly quickly, and had a peaceful swim to the turn on the first lap. However, that wind that I saw on land translated into chop, and made the out leg a little slower than it could have been. Made the turn back, and came back for land segment between laps without incident. 2nd lap wasn't so peaceful, as the 70.3ers were just finishing getting the last wave in and the Olys were starting. I had to swim over/through a number of people, including several who appeared quite distressed by the chop and crowd. However, made it out and back without significant incident, although my 2nd lap was about 9 minutes slower, IIRC.
I had to keep reminding myself that the wind and crowd wasn't in the box, keep my head in the box, and just keep swimming... Fairly happy with the swim performance, but I know I have more speed in me.
T1
Didn't mention earlier, but transition was longer and narrower than I expected, which made it longer overall. Most of the extra time, though, was the 45 seconds struggling to get my wetsuit off of my legs when it bound up. I ended up flopping and pulling. After that, smoothly got helmet/visor, shoes, drank a quick 1/2 bottle of drink, grabbed my starting bar to eat, and headed to the mount line at the very far end of transition from me. Could have been a little quicker, but not bad overall.
Bike - Strava info here
Remember that wind from the swim? Here's where it kicked my ass and other parts... Got out on the body of the course. It's a little hard to completely flatten the hills with a FTP where mine is, but I did my best (still had a VI of ~1.11). Because of the wind, I found myself frequently braking on descents due to crosswinds or cross+head/tail winds, which increased the variability and decreased overall speed. I kept up with my planned caloric and Na+ intake, although ended up using more liquid calories than solid, because my stomach wasn't completely settled from the swim. It took a while for my HR to get down as well (not counting the hour when the HRM wasn't picking up), which made me consciously reduce to an IF of about 0.63-65 for the first 90 minutes. Didn't stop until BSN at about mile 50, unclipped for a few minutes, used the PP, and hit the road. I won't keep saying it, but I really HATED the wind, and it sucked quite a bit out of me. Again, outside of the box, but I let it get to me a bit.
I will note that I probably didn't account for the extra fluid I needed due to the heat. I took about 160 oz total fluid, and, with the heat, closer to 200 would have been needed based on prior sweat testing. That likely explains part of my upcoming run issue.
T2 - after getting off the bike, I took it slowly to the far end of transition to my slot. I was noting that my stomach was cramping a bit at this point, and the thought of puking my guts up crossed my mind a couple of times. Deliberately got into my run shoes, grabbed my go bag, headed out. A little longer than planned, but partly due to intent and partly due to unknown overall length of transition zone.
Run - Strava info here
After making the quick loop at the far end of transition, I headed back up the small hill, down the small hill, then realized I couldn't keep the pace I'd planned. I felt overheated, ready to express gastric contents, and not sure I was going to make it. I walked up the hill, came around the corner, and got my first view of EE yelling at me to keep going (for which I can't express enough appreciation). Picked it up a little bit (shuffling at about 12/mi pace), hit the first AS, and nearly had a meltdown when I found out they were out of ice. Took my fill of fluids, then headed on. Picked up ice at each of the remaining AS, and kept to my hydration plan (+20% for heat). Got cooled a bit by mile 5 (from ice + friendly hose-bearing children and adults at campsites), and I was able to run a little more of the time. Still was overall only hitting ~14/mi (12 running, 17 walking), but kept moving. By the 3rd lap/mile 13, my Achilles were cramping, which made running pretty painful. Kept to about 15/mi overall pace, thanked Ed on each lap, talked to my wife each time I passed her (sitting in front of the trailer cleanout station), made it to the finish at about 6 pm. I was grateful for the EN mojo, and my wife's support, to get me through a rough day!
Lessons
I have to remember that my first long course race was only 7 months ago. I'm still learning the mental toughness to push through those tough times. However, I pushed through them and made it to the finish line. I kept reminding myself of the time investment to get to that point, and I tried to stay true to my training self as much as possible.
I need to remember to increase fluids and sodium on the bike commensurate with the heat. Just because I'm not feeling it doesn't mean it won't hit me later. That probably contributed to my excessively poor run performance.
I need to continue to work on run durability. Due to a prior injury, my run will always be weaker (my left foot/calf are about 30% weaker than my right), but there are still some significant gains to make there.
I survived 100 miles in tough conditions. Many people who tried that day didn't - I saw a number getting SAGged on the bike toward the end. The vast majority of the population will never do something like this. I'm blessed to be able to participate in this sport and to have a supportive team. It was good to meet a few of the team face-to-face, and I know I'll see more of you in the future.
Now to clear my head, reset, and get ready for 70.3 Coz! Each race is an opportunity to learn, and I'll take the lessons from here there with me.
As always, feedback/suggestions welcome. I appreciate it all.
Comments
* one note... In the future you might want to try to frame your pre race goals in terms of measurables other than time. With this race you saw... Rough water... A windy bike... And a brutally hot run. If you swim in your box... Ride your watts... And run your HR... You've done your job no matter what the clock says.
Thanks for the report! Great job getting it done. I'm impressed.