Redman Race Report (2105)
Redman 2015 70.3 Race Report (a/ka/ tardiest race report ever)
For this year's Redman in Oklahoma City on September 26, we had nearly perfect weather. Temperature at the start of the swim was 65 degrees, and at noon during the run was only 77 degrees. Wind was light at 6 mph from the north/northeast. This provided great conditions for the race and my new personal record of 5:47:34.
Oklahoma City had record rainfall in the spring, and Lake Hefner was full. This allowed the race organizers, who do a great job every year, to use the deep water course, which is a rectangle with two long legs running southwest to northwest. The water was calm. There is no current in the man-made lake. Sighting is difficult from the water because there are no tall landmarks around the lake. My swim was 42:41, which was slower than I had hoped, but okay for me overall.
T1 was 5:34. Some work to do on my T1 time in the future.
On the bike, I intended to stick to the EN race execution plan. In my last 70.3 - Kansas Legend (the old IM race course), I fell prey to over exuberance from riding with aero wheels for the first time, had trouble keeping my heart rate down on the hills, and overcooked my bike leading to a very difficult run. My average heart rate in Kansas was 145, and the line in the run for me was the timing mat exiting T2.
This time, I took the first 15-20 minutes and waited for my heart rate to come down to my target of 135. I watched others sprint ahead of me. I also watched one rider in front of me at the start nearly wreck trying to take in nutrition. The Redman course is flat with some rolling hills. It is mostly a north-south course. The Oklahoma winds could play havoc with pacing on this course. But on this day, the winds were light and from the north. This made the course fast, particularly on the return which is mostly southbound.
After I got my heart rate down to 135, my target, I rode steadily in the way out. It was an easy ride. The most difficult aspect was the packs of riders who rushed past me about three times. These packs were unconcerned about drafting penalties. I had not seen so many riders drafting in packs like this. It seemed to be a consequence of Redman being a qualifier for the ITU long distance championship in 2016. The race results showed a number of four minute penalties for drafting.
At the turn around, I decided to push my ride a bit on the flats and downhills. I did this while keeping my heart rate at 135. The light wind was from the north. It was not hot. Conditions were great. On the way back from the turn around, I started to pass other riders. With about four miles left, picked up the pace. I was within range of a 3:00 bike time, a personal goal. I was very familiar with this portion of the course coming back in on the dam around the lake as I ride that road three times a week. The push at the end ticked my heart rate up to 136. But this was a big improvement from Kansas. I got my sub-3 hour bike time with a 2:55 for the bike.
On the ride, I used other EN tips like stacking my hands in the middle of my aero bars, keeping my shoulders rounded, and staying in aero position. I learned a lot from Coach Rich’s race report podcasts of other Team EN members during the summer. I also used salt tablets for the first time, and took in a bit less nutrition on the bike at Redman because I felt too full at the start of the run in Kansas.
T2 was 3:13. Still work to do there. But I did use the zip lock bag trick. Socks and shoes on, grab the ziplock bag, and gone. The bag had my hat, run belt, and nutrition. I was running while putting on my belt and hat. The bag helped my transition.
The challenge at the start of the run for me typically is to keep the pace down. That was the case in this race too. I managed to keep my pace to Z2 plus 10-15 seconds. Not quite the pace in the race execution plan. The temp was great - below 80 degrees. After three miles, I picked up the pace and felt good. The run was a two loop pancake flat course. On the second loop, I could tell I had picked up time on the runners ahead of me that I knew. The ziplock bag was helping me greatly. I filled it with ice at each aid station, and carried it some but mostly out the bag on my upper back just under the top of my kit. I added ice in my arm coolers and in my shorts at each aid station too. Redman hands out a lot of sponges from ice chests. It was easy to stick the sponges in my arm coolers and under my hat to help stay cool. While it was not a hot day, the cooling of the ice and the sponges still helped me.
Miles 8 and 9 were a bit tougher. But I was still turning out good mile splits. At mile 10, I put my head down and picked up the pace. My last mile was my fastest mile. My splits for miles 2-13 were: 9:12; 9:15; 9:10; 9:10; 9:15; 9:11; 9:33; 9:27; 9:17; 9:17; 9:22; and 8:47 (I started my Garmin late on the run). Overall time on the run was 2:00:21. That was a great run time for me, and only 6 minutes off my PR for a half marathon.
Overall time was 5:47, a PR by over an hour. Improvement from Kansas was 1:04. I had a great race, thanks to the training and race execution tips I got from EN. I followed the race execution, keeping my bike under control to set up a good run. And now I get to bask in the glory throughout the out season.
Postscript: This week I learned that I got a roll down spot at the ITU Long Course World Championship in 2016, which will be held on the Redman course. Longer distance for me – 2.5 mile swim, 75 mile bike, 19 mile run. More work to do!
%20(580x640).jpg)
Comments
John - It will be fun to be on the course with you next year. I appreciate your comments on the training plan you plan to use. I have only started to think about that. Biggest mental challenge at the moment is the nearly 2.5 mile swim!