Clark Mitchell Syracuse 70.3 Race Report
In preparation for this, I hacked the out-season plan somewhat, adding in longer weekend rides some longer runs and a race rehearsal brick as well. I also added in the swim sessions, including several extra Wednesday swims.
I arrived in Syracuse feeling ready but with some questions lingering about my endurance. Syracuse was never intended to be an A race for me, so I was in the right place in my head and I was comfortable treating the day as more of a fitness test than a race. My A race this season is IMAZ, so regardless of what I learned on Sunday I knew I had plenty of time to react and adjust.
Syracuse is only my third HIM and from a course layout perspective, it's probably the most challenging. My most recent HIM was a very windy day at Cedar Point in 2013.
Just a few other demographic type details:
49 YO male
182 lbs (ugh, working on it)
220 FTP
Race morning was pretty uneventful. My swim wave started at 7:36 but transition still closed at 6:55 and I had heard horror stories about traffic, so I got up at 4:15, got breakfast and got on the road by about 4:30. I didn't hit any traffic and I was parked by 5:00 or maybe 5:15, so I set the alarm on my phone and went back to sleep in the car until ~6:15.
I woke up in a driving rain, so I hung in the car for as long as I could before I headed out to pump tires, add bottles and arrange my transition space. I think I went into transition at 6:45 and I was back out and in line for a porta john by 6:55.
Swim
I warmed up a little and then got back out of the water to join my group in line for the start. I'm not a big fan of the wave start, but I understand that the lake is really too small to support a mass start with that many people. I had no trouble finding a clear lane but the smaller group makes it harder to find feet and also other people to sight off. I did get kicked in the thumb and actually, it still hurts quite a bit today (Friday) as I'm typing this up. I expect it will be better soon.
Both of the turn buoys were clear and overall the swim was pretty uneventful. I was least prepared for the swim, having only been in the pool 6 or 7 times prior to the race, so I was pretty happy to come away with a 41:56 which is a PR for me. What can I say, I'm a slow swimmer.T1
Transition was a little slow but not too bad. I had some trouble with my bike jersey and there was quite a bit of distance to cover from the swim out to the bike mount. Goal time 4:00, actual time 6:08.
Bike
I was really excited about the bike. I've been doing a lot of climbing as part of the out-season plan and the rolling hills that everyone talks about at Syracuse totally sounded like home to me. My HR coming out of T1 was high - really high actually, so I soft pedaled for a while to try and bring it down, but that really didn't happen.
As best as I could, I kept a lid on my power output through the opening hills. My NP was higher than I would have liked but with those hills, there was no other choice. By mile 15 the biggest hills were behind me and I was able to settle back to my plan of ~180 NP. or ~0.8 IF.
Thanks to Doug's prerace ride and forum post I took the time to drive the course on Saturday and that was a smart move. I shifted early in several sections and skipped the whole "wrong gear" and "dropped chain" drama that many others endured.
Over the entire ride I consumed 5 gels and ~8 scoops of Skratch Labs SDM (~128oz) for a total of 1140 calories and 3130 mg of sodium.
Is it just me or where there too few aid stations on the ride? I anticipated this and adjusted accordingly and my ride confirmed my prerace suspicions. If I had tried to race only with on-course nutrition, I would have come up WAY short on hydration.Overall I worked a little harder than I wanted to but not so much so that I did any damage. Goal time anything under 3 hours, actual time 2:55:33.
NP - 192
IF - 0.87
TSS - 220
I'm guessing by the power data that my current FTP is quite a bit higher than my last test result. Guess I'll sort that out in a couple of weeks when I test again.
T2T2 was way slower than I wanted and I blame that on lack of practice. I got stuck in my tri top and it took forever to get that sorted out and then I tried to put my shoe on with a spare pair of socks inside. Stupid. Goal under 2:30, actual 3:04.
Run
As usual, your day always comes down to the run and even more so in my case as 1) I came in with questions about my endurance and 2) I rode harder than I planned. Not to worry though, it all worked out in the end.
My heart rate did continue to settle over the duration of the bike, so I was curious to see what would happen as I started running. Coming out of T2 it had settled nicely, which was encouraging so I set out at my planned pace. If you've not seen the Syracuse run course, it's really something. As in, I'd like to meet (and punch in the face) the person who set it up. It's filled with grass and mud and absurd hills, and then you get to do it all again!
What this really means is that it was hard to pace and it was hard to judge my overall effort. Some miles were fast and others slow so I just tried to stay cool and smart. I held back a little on the first "out" leg and then I bumped things up on the "back". I was conservative on the second "out" and then much more aggressive on the second "back". This plan worked for me as I managed to speed up quite a bit on that second "back" leg and I negative split both of the measured splits on the second lap.
Over the entire run I consumed 2 gels, 2 salt tabs, lots of gatorade and just a bit of coke.I also used the ziploc bag for ice tip that everyone has been discussing and that was really helpful.
Goal time was anything under 2 hours and I ran a 1:57:24
Overall goal time was anything under 6:00 and I went 5:44:05.
My best ever HIM is 5:35:27 so no PR today but given where I am in my season and the challenges I've overcome from a training perspective, I'm really happy with this result.
Comments
Nice race report. 1) Awesome comment on the run course. It's challenging...and then the hills start...really a course to run by HR. 2) Solid times to be proud of, this is not a course to PR. 12% grade on hills isn't particularly fast, nor on the run course being 90% uphill, and 1/3 cross country.
Great race! Especially in overcoming the abridged outseason and what sounded like a tough day at Syracuse.
I also read the 50k race report in your signature. I'm planning to do my first ultra this year, and enjoyed learning about your experience!
@gabe - that 50K was one of the hardest and most fun things I have ever done. It's a super small event, so no crowd energy to draw from, you have to find everything you need within yourself. In addition to the 50K, there is also a 70 mile version. If I can ever work out the scheduling, I'd like to give that a go, but 2016 is out, so maybe 2017? Too many events and too little time.
@Doug and Danielle - It was great seeing you both on the run course. Lot's of EN people out there, which was very motivating.