Clark Mitchell Steelhead 70.3 Race Report
Steelhead 70.3 Race Report
Quick Background
This was my fourth 70.3 and second this season. If you’re interested, you can read my Syracuse 70.3 race report here. I felt strong after Syracuse and training between the two races went really well. I worked through most of the getting faster plan, so my focus was intensity as opposed to duration. Coming in I had high hopes for this race
I slept in Saturday morning, so it was close to 11:00 by the time I got to the village. I quickly checked in, scouted transition, bought some last minute items (including the VIP Fan experience for my IronMate) and got out of dodge.
The rest of the afternoon went to driving most of the bike course, getting some lunch and then driving to Kalamazoo to visit Bell’s Brewery for dinner and beers.
Raceday
Sunday morning went as planned. The VIP Fan experience thing paid dividends immediately as I flashed the VIP pass and was waved into the Jean Klock Park parking lot, which is about 100 yards from transition. Transition setup was quick but somewhat concerning since the lanes were really narrow and the guy beside me had his stuff setup on both sides of the rack - seriously, helmet on the handlebars and shoes under the back wheel.
I was out of transition by 6:30 which gave me an hour to kill before my 7:36 start.
SWIM
This was my first beach start so that was interesting. Thanks to the team for recommending that I start swimming as soon as possible versus trying to walk or run.
The swim is a clockwise triangle where the second leg runs directly parallel to the beach. I found sighting on the way out to be really easy. Sighting in the “parallel to the beach” section was a little more difficult for me, but I was still doing well.
At this point I was starting to get passed by the faster swimmers from the wave behind me. About half way across this stretch someone from a later wave passed me and then he seemed to take a sharp right hand turn. He was making good time so I figured I was disoriented and I adjusted along with his turn. But it seemed like he kept turning, so much so that I finally had to stop and check. Sure enough, when I popped my head up he was swimming straight back towards the beach, shit. I took a second, found the next marker and restarted.
When I hit the second turn I was still feeling pretty good. I made the turn and for some reason I could not find the next marker. I followed the crowd for a while and looked again, but I still was having trouble getting oriented. Finally I looked further to my left and realized that I was inside the markers. I adjusted course and started off again. In the end, I had trouble sighting the entire third leg. I’m not sure why, but I just could not find the markers. Finally I got close enough to shore that I could sight off of the swim-out arch and that helped.
I swam until the water was so shallow I really could not swim anymore and then I stood up and started run/walking into transition.
Goal time: Under 45 minutes was the rough plan.
Actual time: 43:20
T1
I mostly speed walked my way up the sand path to T1, working my way out of my wetsuit while I walked. I looked around for the strippers, but there were none to be found!?!? so i started off towards my bike at a nice shuffle pace. Once at my bike, I stomped and stepped my way out of the wetsuit, finished my other changing, grabbed my bike and headed out.
Goal time: Under 4:00
Actual time: 5:07
Clearly I need to study the Mike Roberts school of transition as he was in T1 for less than 3 minutes and that’s significantly better than me.
BIKE
To say that I was looking forward to this bike would be an understatement. I’ve been trying to break the 20 mph milestone in a 70.3 and I figured I would have a real chance on this course.
The first 5 miles included me messing with my shoes, a couple of sharp turns, an uphill and the fact that my heart rate was still pretty high, so I was surprised when Garmin beeped 16:XX. Wow, that went by fast. That was my wakeup call, time to pay attention and start racing.
I slowly increased my power output and my second split was 12:40! Wow, where did that come from? I stayed steady on the power and the sub 15 minute splits continued.
Miles, Time, Avg HR, Npower
05 - 16:02, 157, 179
10 - 12:40, 154, 192
15 - 13:29, 153, 195
20 - 14:02, 154, 197
25 - 13:51, 156, 199
30 - 14:03, 152, 196
35 - 13:13, 151, 196
40 - 14:15, 153, 190
45 - 13:40, 151, 200
50 - 14:31, 148, 193
55 - 13:28, 149, 189
Overall I really liked the bike course. Some of the roads were bad and it was a little crowded but I found the course to be fast and fair.
Nutrition
1 bonk breaker
1 gel
9 scoops of SDM
1 salt tab
Goal Time: 2:45
Actual Time: 2:36:08
Previous best bike split 2:49, so this was a 13 minute bike PR!
T2
The bike in route was basically a sidewalk, so it was pretty tight and I had to pay attention. Actually, I ended up hitting the dismount line with both shoes unbuckled but only my right foot free, so I had to swing a leg over and come to a complete stop in order to free my left foot from my shoe. Whoops.
Other than that, T2 went pretty smooth.
Goal time: Under 3:00
Actual time: 2:56
I’m happy with this time. Still room for incremental improvement but at least I’m in the right ballpark.
RUN
I started with a plan: target +30” per mile for 3 miles, then target for 7 then all out for 3. I was pretty successful against that plan but the plan did not account for the elevation changes on the course and the fact that I think I ran myself out of gas. By the time mile 13 rolled around, I was hanging on for dear life. I guess that describes a good run.
I did have some GI issues on this run. Not really bad, but worse than anything I’ve previously experienced. Not sure if that’s a result of my pre race meal planning or my on-course nutrition choices. Regardless, it’s something to think about as I start prep for IMAZ. One other note, I carried a handheld bottle on the run and I filled that bottle with gatorade at the aid stations. This seemed like a good idea, but it turns out that shaken gatorade gets all frothy and is much worse than plain old gatorade.
Mile, Split, Avg HR
1, 8:26, 151
2, 8:30, 149
3, 8:15, 149
4, 8:18, 151
5, 8:03, 155
6, 8:26, 154,
7, 7:55,153
8, 7:56, 154
9, 8:09, 154
10, 8:01, 156
11, 8:32, 154
12, 8:06, 154
13, 8:21, 154
Nutrition
1 gel
40 oz gatorade?
2 salt tabs
Goal time: 1:45
Actual time: 1:47:37
Previous best run split: 1:54, so this was a 6 minute run PR.
OVERALL
Goal time: 5:15 - 5:25
Actual time: 5:15:08
Previous best overall 5:35:27 so this was a 20 minute PR.
This race was a huge success for me. The fast bike split was satisfying, but I’m really happy that I was able to follow the bike PR with a run PR as well. That tells me my bike pacing is getting better and that I’m still running well enough off of the bike.
I do, however, have lots of questions to ask and answer about nutrition and about run pacing. I was hoping to get into the 7’s for the final few miles and I was not able to get that done. Also, I struggled with some GI issues on this run. For the wicked smart group members, are you following the calorie and pacing guidelines from the wiki or have you evolved into something different? I don’t like giving up so much time at the start of the run (30 sec / mile) in an effort to have something left later on. Also, I’m having real trouble consuming the recommended number of calories on the bike and run. It was not an issue for me this time around but I’m interested in what others have to say and what they have experienced. For the HIM distance, I’m running at a Z3 pace, so I should still be burning fat vs. sugar, yet I’m replacing calories with straight sugar and at numbers equal to my expected burn rate. Is this really necessary?
Comments
Great report, and congratulations on your race, looks like you executed everything according to your plan. With exception of following the swimmer. I'll let some of the smarter members comment on the nutrition, I have enough problems with that myself.
Hey Clark,
It was great running into you and your wife. Nice breakthrough performance! Transition is nothing more than reducing the moving parts (for this race, T1 should have been nothing but 1) toss goggles, 2) wet suit from waist past ankles, 3) helmet buckled, 4) grab bike and run), practice it mentally, then execute on race day with controlled purpose (right on the edge of rushing). Free seconds/minutes to be had.
As for GI issues, I see a couple of likely culprits. First, you didn't mention breakfast - the when and the what. Second, a Bonk Breaker bar on the bike? No way would I ever do that in a HIM. Look at your HR on the bike - 150's. That would be fine if we were in our teens and our max HR were in the 200's. But that was decades ago. You were running your motor at a very high level; very difficult for your stomach to process that bar (it most likely didn't process it). I'll eat a bar early in an IM bike, but that's with a 110 HR. Third, 9 scoops of SDM, which I assume is Skratch? If so, that's probably 720 calories. Add 260 from the bar and 100 from the gel, and you consumed 1,080 calories on a 2.5 hr ride, or 432 per hour. For me, that's too high for an IM and way too much for me in a HIM. I try to keep my intake around 300/hr, and almost all of that is liquid (2-3 gels at most). But I suspect the big thing was that bar. Of course, I'm no nutritionist, but had I eaten a bar last weekend on the bike, I wouldn't have been surprised at all to find myself doubled over somewhere on the run course.
The other thing is those first couple of miles on the run. This has always been where I've screwed up HIMs. You had a nice run, but I don't like that 8:26 in the first mile. That first mile ended with a really good climb, which should have added a good 30 seconds or more to that mile. I did mine in 9:30, which was a bit too conservative. But, in hindsight, I'd rather have erred on the conservative side. And that slow start allowed me to average sub-7:00 for the last 2 miles. It's hard to pull back on the reigns right out of T2, but I suspect that first mile contributed to a little of the struggle later in the race.
Of course, there's always room for us to improve and there's no such thing as a perfect race. Despite a few hiccups, you really had a nice race and should feel really good about your fitness and execution heading into IMAZ.
Mike
EXACTLY CORECT!! I am probably at the extreme end of low calories during an HIM...typically a gel before the swim, 2-3 gels on the bike and MAYBE one gel on the run. That ends up being about 100 cal/hour. Combined with a ~500 cal breakfast and a big lunch the day before and it is sufficient for me. I'm working hard enough for the whole race that I can't process too many calories. Clearly the IM distance is a TOTALLY different beast.
As to Mike point on HR, remember that your HR for various zones is a very personal thing. My 150's is not your 150's is not Mike's 150's. I will run a half marathon at 180 and a full marathon at 170 which some people say is crazy high but for me is just "what it is". I rode Steelhead last year with my bike split HR at 149 avg. I plan to do an ironman bike split with an average HR of ~140. I suspect this is strongly influenced by genetics...for example, my dad is in M7074 and runs z4 mile repeats with his HR in the 180's. The important thing is that you know what HR you should expect to see at various power output levels in various heat/humidity conditions. If you have a good mental picture of what all those numbers ought to be then you will know when something isn't right (HR decoupling for example).
In any case, great race and great to see a breakthrough performance. You will be in great shape for your IM no doubt!
Fantastic race and results! Enjoyed reading the report as well.
I done far more HIMs than IMs, and I agree with Tim and Mike on the calorie count vs. the effort level. Nevertheless, looks like you keep dialing it in and getting both faster and smarter with each race. Just keep doing that and you will be sub 5 soon on the right day.
Good luck at IMAZ, I look forward to tracking and watching CM!
SS
All great stuff here. Clark, are your bike and run HRs typically very close to each other like they were here? Typically, we see run HRs 10% or more higher than the bike for the same general level of effort (my run HR is typically 20~ beats higher on the run compared to the bike for same general level of effort). We're about the same age and our run HRs look very similar. Thus, when I saw 150s for the bike (I have to push 250 watts to hit 150 HR), I just assumed you were really putting some effort into that ride - which, if true, would certainly make processing big calories that much more difficult.
My pre-race routine was pretty normal, so I don't think that was the issue. I think you all are spot on regarding too many calories. My nutrition planning was based on a ride closer to 3 hours and not 2.5, so that was a contributing factor. I also agree that my first mile on the run was way too fast. I was trying to keep things in check but I didn't account for that hill.
@Mike - Your heart rate question is another thing that's been on my mind. My training HR for 200 watts is closer to 130 not 150. I've seen higher bike heart rates for my last few races including IMAZ last year, so I was not surprised by that number coming out of T1 but I was a little surprised that it didn't come down further than it did during the ride. I'm not sure if I need to try and bring it back down during the ride or just not worry about it. I felt fine during the ride, like I was putting out effort at ~130 HR but my actual was ~150. I think I'm going to try and do more swim / bike brick work this time around to see if that makes any difference.
Thanks again everyone.
Clark
Bike/Run/Race PR and sub-5 in sight - fantastic job!