Mark Cardinale's 2015 Boulder 70.3 Race Report
Lead-up
Going into this race my training has gone very well and I was coming off a 20 minute improvement at St. George 70.3, vs. my 2014 performance. I’m always a bit hesitant prior to a race to talk in terms of goals for fear of jinxing, or letting my outcome based goals take over. Also, my intent here is not to be arrogant, but rather honest in terms of what was going on inside my head coming into this race. Sometimes it’s easier to pull out a strong performance when you are flying a little under the radar. However, for this race it was quite the opposite. Based on my performance at St. George, how my training has progressed, and my performance here last year, I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t have big expectations for myself coming into this race. That made this race about seeing if I had the physical and mental resolve to pull out a peak performance when all signs were pointing in that direction. My journey in this sport has taken me to the point where I’m now expecting to do well vs. hoping to do well, but i was curious to see how i would respond. Before the race, I felt like I had the appropriate balance of confidence, mixed with a healthy dose of nervous energy.
Friday
I arrived in Boulder Friday morning just after the announcement was made that bacteria levels in the boulder reservoir have subsided and the swim would continue as planned. I went through registration and bike check-in with no problems. I put garbage bags around my cockpit and drive train to protect them from any overnight rain. This turned out to be unnecessary. From there it was on to lunch with the EN Team. It was a really fun couple hours getting to meeting everyone and talk a bit about racing, training, and life in general. It’s funny how we all can relate so well to the challenges of trying to balance training, with work and family life. After lunch I headed to my hotel to prep my gear. Gabe Peterson and I made plans to meet for dinner and I had a really nice time getting to know him a little more. I feel like he and I would be friends and training buddies if we lived in the same town.
Race Day
Alarm went off at 3:45 am and I began working my morning checklist. 3 cups applesauce, protein powder, etc…You get the picture. Left the hotel at about 4:50 and was at the reservoir about 5:10. Did my morning setup and was out of transition before they closed it. My wave wasn’t schedule to start until 7:47 so I took my time getting my wetsuit on and doing a practice swim (temp about mid 60’s). About 7:30 I had 1 caffeinated gel and 1 can of beet juice. After that I made my way to my swim corale and waited until we were given the all clear to get in the water.
Swim – 34:14
This past outseason and even during my HIM build I swam a lot. I’m talking multiple blocks of 20+ days of swimming every day. So far this year I have logged 185 miles swimming. I’m a bit faster, but probably more importantly I am able to hold my pace for longer before my form starts to breakdown and I feel that alone makes all the work worthwhile. Also, I’m realistic that to get my swim to where I want it to be, it is not a 3-4month or even a 1 year project. It is going to take consistent focus over several years to get in the 31-32 minute range. Luckily, for the most part I enjoy the swimming and I like the challenge of trying to make all the pieces fit together. Sorry for the tangent! 
I lined up on the inside buoy line about 1 or 2 people back. For some reason people were very tentative about lining up toward the front. I looked behind me and there was probably 10ft of clear water between me and the person behind me. When the gun went off I had a notion about trying to hang with the guys in the front of my wave. I had probably been swimming maybe 1 minute when I glanced up to sight and I could see them WAY ahead of me. Any notion I had about catching a draft from them was gone at that point. I just kept swimming my swim when I noticed someone ahead of me and to the side. I maneuvered my way closer to them and I was able to position myself in their wake. This person was may just a touch slower than I would have liked because every so often I would touch his toes. I decided to stay here because the speed was comfortable and after doing a couple checks, I could tell that he was swimming straight, probably much straighter than I would have swam without him. I continued to draft all the way to the first turn buoy until I lost him in that melee. There were lots of people from previous waves treading water and breast stroking. I tried to find another person to follow, but things had spread out and I kept running into people from previous waves. I just kept swimming and the rest of the swim progressed uneventfully. I eventually felt my hand touch the bottom and I stood up, checked my watch and saw 33:56. Not bad for me. I crossed the timing mat at 34:14. A 4 second PR. I would have liked to have been faster, but a 34 minute HIM swimmer is where I am at this point. It’s 3minutes better than last year and if I can keep improving I’ll get my swim to a point where it is no longer a limiter.
Bike – 2:16:49
This bike course is very fast with lots of rollers, but not any major climbs. When I raced here in 2014 I felt I had a good bike, but lost focus for a bit about half way through. My goal here was to be on the gas from the very beginning and really push the effort level with absolutely no lapse in concentration. I pushed from the very beginning try to keep around or slightly above 85% IF. I was not very concerned about riding particularly steady because any hills were very short and not steep. Instead I focused more on controlling the damage on the hills and not spending any more time above FTP than I needed to. Normally I start with perform in my x-labs torpedo and live off the course from there. For this race I decided to use my x-labs, but ride with a 2nd bottle of perform on my down tube as a way to eliminate stopping at 2 or possibly all 3 aid stations. This strategy worked well because the morning was not particularly warm and because my bike split was relatively short. I felt well hydrated throughout, but I was a little nervous because despite feeling well I did not pee on the bike and normally I’m a big time bike pee’er. Overall I’m happy with my bike split. I don’t feel I left much out on the course. Looking at the results I had the 3rd fastest bike split in my age group.
|
|
2014 |
2015 |
|
FTP |
255 |
265 |
|
IF |
0.828 |
0.889 |
|
NP |
211 |
236 |
|
Avg. Power |
202 |
230 |
|
VI |
1.044 |
1.026 |
|
Split Time |
2:24:36 |
2:16:49 |
Run – 1:26:13
Based on my training I felt like I could run somewhere around a 1:26-1:28 half marathon so I knew that meant averaging about 6:45 pace per mile. The run course changed from last years 2 loops around the reservoir to 2, 6.6 mile out and backs. My plan was to run the first out around 6:50 pace and after the turnaround drop down to 6:45’s. The first out was a little tough and what I didn’t realize was that it is very slight net uphill out to the turnaround. Once I flipped it, it was much easier to hit my target paces and my effort level went down even though my pace was right on track at 6:45, give or take. I knew then all I needed to do was set it on cruise control and tick off the miles. I didn’t walk the aid stations, opting instead to grab what I need and slow down just enough so that I was actually able to drink it and not wear it. I stuck with Gatorade and tried to dump water on my head and body as often as possible. On the run things really started to heat up and water and ice were key. There was lots of great support from my local tri-club and others as I started my second out and back. My plan was to keep it in check until the final turnaround and then try to drop my pace as much as possible those last 3 miles. I saw a lot of people I knew on those last 3 miles and I heard a number of shout outs, but I was focused and didn’t have, nor could I spare, the energy to respond. After the 2nd out and back I made the right hand turn to the finish line and finished the race with a 4:22:29.
For sure this was my most complete race. I swam to the best of my current swim ability and I feel like I threw down super solid bike and run splits. I finished first in M45-49 and 31st overall. I checked M40-44 and saw that my time would put me in first place in that age group as well. I think the best compliment came from one of my friends when she said my races are starting to get boring. After thinking about it, that’s exactly what I want. No drama, no excitement – just go out and execute and let the race come to you. When I think about it, I’m still blown away with this result. Given my training and familiarity with the course I knew I had the potential to have a great day, but this was totally beyond expectations. Special thanks to my on course EN teammates – It was a pleasure to meet each of you and share the course with you. Also, I would not be here without all the support from the rest of the EN team especially everyone on Strava. So many days between last October and now, when I wasn't thrilled about the workout of the day or felt like I couldn’t finish those last 5 minutes on the trainer at Z4. Knowing that there were so many others out there putting in the time and fighting the fight, gave me plenty of motivation and inspiration to keep going. Thank you everyone! After a couple days rest, I feel good and I’m now 100% laser focused on IM Boulder for these next 6 weeks. Thanks for reading!
Comments
Mark, your Race Report was almost as terrific as your Race. Glad to be your EN teammate. Thanks for the inspiration!
P.S. Great swim. I saw the enormous effort and focus you put in. You can get to 30-31 in a year. Easy. Just need to identify the true limiters and knock them out.
Now know that all eyes are on your for IM Boulder!!!
I really enjoyed tri-geeking out with you over dinner. You had a lot of good advice, which I'll try to heed when I start up tri training again in the outseason. But the most impressive thing (besides you ability to down beers after winning your AG) was your humor and humility. You're a great ambassador for the athletes are the pointy end of the field.
Like I mentioned the other day of FB, it will be cool to see if you BQ at IM Boulder. For 45, the cutoff is 3:25. Definitely in your wheelhouse on the right day. Of course, with your run you could BQ any time you want with an easy jog in an open marathon.
I look forward to sharing the course with you again!
Again...fantastic result....take the time to enjoy it.
"Based on my performance at St. George, how my training has progressed, and my performance here last year, I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t have big expectations for myself coming into this race. That made this race about seeing if I had the physical and mental resolve to pull out a peak performance when all signs were pointing in that direction. "
And that's not as easy as it sounds - performing to your own, let alone others', expectations is a big challenge.
"...my races are starting to get boring. After thinking about it, that’s exactly what I want. No drama, no excitement – just go out and execute and let the race come to you. When I think about it, I’m still blown away with this result. "
It's a good place to build from. (apart from improving your swim) your next challenge will be coming from having to learn how to race against others. You now know you have the speed and the pacing skills to win. Next step: putting those strengths to the test when confronted with someone equally gifted, who's equally motivated to win, to take that Kona slot away from you.
@Bob - Same here...Thank you!
@Mike - I should be the one thanking you! You are one of the most generous people on the team, always willing to share your insight or provide a little encouragement. A lot of what i did over the last 6 months to improve my swim came directly from your feedback, and for that i am very grateful! No, i'm not there yet, but i'm in it for the long haul and i'm willing to put in the work to get to where i want to be.
@Bruce - Thanks, man! I hear ya about staying healthy. That's more than half the battle just getting to the starting line feeling good!
@Matt - Thank for amping up the pressure for IM Boulder!
Actually, i put plenty of pressure on myself! I hear on the bike/run combo, but just once i'd love to know what it's like to race from the front vs. having to claw and scratch my way back after coming out of the swim MOP.
@Gabe - It was a great weekend all around and i enjoyed spending a few hours together talking shop. I sure my wife would say thank you so see wasn't the one who had to hear it. Best of luck on your run focus over the summer. You sound very comfortable in your decision to focus on running and because of that i think you made the right choice. Thanks again for your kind words and i'll try to not disappoint on August 2nd.
@David - Thank you
@ Don - Thank you
@Dawn - Thank you! Too bad you couldn't make it. Maybe next year!
@Tim - Thanks a lot, Tim! Coming from someone who is as dominate as you are, your words mean a lot for my confidence heading into Boulder. Thanks!
@ED - It should be fun! Look forward to meeting in a few weeks!
@Al - Thanks, Al! Man, you are always so very insightful. I totally agree and I have been spending time everyday focusing on and visualizing how i will handle the day when things fail to perfectly fall into place. Not that i'm planning for something to go wrong, but i'm really trying to up my mental game to get that extra 1% for the exact situation you describe. You never know if that 10hour day could come down to hand full of seconds and that's what i'm trying to prepare for heading into Boulder.
Congratulations Mark!! that race was AMAZING!!
Really proud to be in the same team!
Excellent, just excellent!