Mark M's CDA 70.3 race report
Goal from race plan: Overall goal, execute well, learn the course, don’t do anything stupid to jeopardize getting to the IM start line in August.
We got to CDA at 6:45 on Friday evening after sitting in a traffic jam that added almost 2 hours to the trip. We went straight to athlete sign in and it worked out perfectly. It was 15 minutes before they closed and there was no line! We got checked in, walked across the street and had dinner then went to the B&B.
Saturday morning we slept in and had a great breakfast. We drove out the highway 95 portion of the bike ride. Long gradual hills and sweeping descents, nice, but we didn’t realize how they would set up the course until Sunday. The reality was much better than we could have imagined. We went to the athlete briefing at 11:00 and then went for a bike ride. We rode the first part of the bike route to Higgins Point and then back on the run course. We checked the bikes in and then went and had lunch. After that we went to the store and picked up food for dinner and then went back to the B&B.
Feet up, read, eat, chill on the deck, soak in the hot tub, and then went to bed.
Alarm was set for 3:30 but I woke up at 3:20 and got up and started getting dressed. I had half a bagel, muesli with almond milk, and coffee for breakfast. We left the B&B at 4:30 and got to the transition area at 4:50. Kissed Susan goodbye in case I didn’t see her again before the start, or at least that was the excuse. Got marked, went to the restroom, set everything up. Saw Susan again and said goodbye and good luck again and headed down to the beach. I got in a short warm up swim and then lined up behind the 30-35 minute sign. The rolling swim started at 6:15 but I was very much ready to go when the pro men started at 6:00. That’s good because the IM does start at 6:00 for the age groupers.
They made us go into the chute in single file and the swim start was not crowded at all. I hit the water and took off fast to catch some bubbles. The water was choppy from the light wind and I swallowed some water because of it. The water was 60 degrees F and it caused me to lose my breath so I had to head to the side and tread water for long enough to have a conversation with a support person in a kayak who was asking if I needed to hold on to her kayak. I got back to it but the chop and the swells were enough to keep me from getting into a really good rhythm but I got it done in 38 minutes and 20th in my AG out of the water.
It was a 0.3 mile run to T1 and I stripped down to my waist as I ran. I got to my bike and stripped of the wetsuit, stuffed half a Clif Bar into my mouth, put on my shoes and socks, helmet and sunglasses, grabbed the bike and ran to the mount line. T1 time 6:31.
I mounted and started to drink as soon as I got up the first little hill and into the downtown area. I ate and drank my way through town while trying to stay out of trouble. After I got out of the downtown area I got aero and started to settle in. People were zipping past me but I let them go. The way out to Higgins Pt. was uneventful and I got to test out my gearing on the first steep hill. I did spike my watts a little into the low 200’s (gear 4 was 185) so I backed off and climbed a low cadence. I hit the turn around and headed back into town. As I started climbing I took out a Clif Bar and dropped it. Luckily I still had a gel and parts of another Clif Bar but it did set my nutrition back a little.
The first aid station was in town before heading out to highway 95 and I grabbed some water but I forgot to grab some food. I had Skratch labs drink in my BTA bottle and enough concentrate for 4 more bottles. After the no pass zone I got down to work. My 2nd gear was 168 and I was looking at holding things between 160 and 168 for the most part. That part of the bike course is sweet. The highway is mostly 4 lanes wide and they put the traffic on one side in two lanes and gave the other 2 lanes to the bikes. The only place it got crowded is when the road went down to three lanes and they had to squeeze the bikes into 1 lane and the shoulder. I chugged along on the uphills, shifted as I hit the crest, and kept pedaling over and down the hill. I passed most of the people who had passed me on the way up because a lot of them stopped pedaling and were just coasting down. There were very few places where I got going fast enough that I was spinning out. The gearing on the P3 is very advantageous for that. The curves were gentle enough and the sight distance good enough that I didn’t have to brake unless someone was blocking me. That did happen a few times but not very much.
The ride was pretty uneventful but I realized about half way in that I hadn’t been keeping up with my nutrition or my hydration, so I doubled down on that for the trip back into town. (it was in the 50’s at the start of the ride and that lulled me into complacency I think). I had a bottle of Skratch concentrate left at the end of the bike though I did drink some Gatorade along the way. I finally had to pee at about mile 46. Bike stats 2:58, NP 164, VI 1.04, AG placing 11. TP file http://tpks.ws/eTL2D
I left the shoes on the bike when I dismounted and ran into T2. Racked the bike, took off my shoes, put on my running shoes, off with the helmet, grabbed my go bag and ran. T2 time 2:53.
I put on my number belt, hat, and cool wings as I ran. I took off on the run not knowing what to expect because of the troubles I’ve been having with my hamstring. My quads felt like they were on the verge of cramping but my hamstring felt fine. I looked down at my Garmin and I was hitting a 8:25 pace and my goal for the first 3 miles was a 9:00 minute pace, so I backed off a bit. There as an aid station shortly after the run start so I walked through that, grabbed water and ate two shot blocks. I asked for ice but they didn’t have any yet so I poured some water over my head and back and started running. It was hard to keep my pace down to 9:00 but the aid stations were so close together and I walked through them so it all averaged out. I ate a margarita shot block at most aid stations, drank some Gatorade and water, and had two gels over the course of the run. I also took 3 Salt Stick tabs over the course of the run.
As I said earlier my quads were on the verge of cramping almost the entire run. I think that is because of the new bike fitting is just a little different than the Felt. I noticed the same thing after the first long ride I did with it. The intensity wasn’t much different from rides I’d done on the Felt but my quads were definitely feeling it. I was able to manage that by staying in the TRP pace range and not pushing too hard uphill or down. The only time my hamstring started to speak to me was twice when I violated that rule so I backed off quickly.
There was never a time during the run that was really easy. Mentally I was on guard for any signs that my hamstring was tightening up. I was also actively monitoring my quads, applying ice where needed, eating and drinking and pushing forward. The longest run that I had done in recent memory was 7 miles and only 45.1 miles total in the 28 days leading up to the race. It was very much a mental test. There were a lot of times I wanted to just walk but I only allowed myself to walk through the rest stops. No use in setting up bad habits when I have a full on the same course in 8 weeks. I got to mile 11+ and there was band there and they were playing “Born to Run” which is on my physical and mental playlist. It was perfect. I started singing, “sprung from cages on highway 9, chrome wheel fuel injected (a lady beside me started singing too) and steppin out over the line, H-Oh, baby this town rips the bones from your back, it’s a death trap, it’s a suicide rap. We gotta get out while were young, cause “champs” (I like champs better than tramps at that point of the race) like us, baby we were born to run…” it felt great and it gave me such a boost. I picked up my pace and headed home.
I got to back to the park and hit the last little hill up to Sherman street. The crowd was great. I raised my arms and they all started cheering me on. I took it all in and thought about 8 weeks further on in life when I plan on being there again. I ran down the chute and finished in 5:43:59. 6/67 in my AG and 560/2391 overall. Not bad given that I went into the race with a 66.5 CTL. Now I have to work on getting that a little bit higher for the IM.
Run stats, 1:57:06, 9:02 min/mile, AHR 142. TP run file http://tpks.ws/laegd
Observations and conclusions:
My heart rate was higher than it normally is during the bike or a run of this length but that was probably because of two things, the heat and the lack of training. When I did the Orewa half marathon in April my heart rate was in the 150’s starting pretty early in the race. I kept an eye on it but my RPE and breathing didn’t feel that extreme so I kept going. At the end of the day my AHR for that race was 154 which previously had been my functional threshold HR but I ended up holding that for an hour and 44 minutes. The same thing was true on Sunday. The HR didn’t reflect what I was feeling or my breathing. I’ll have to see how that changes as I get more training volume into my body.
Don’t taunt other athletes: There was an athlete in my age group that kept passing me on the uphills and looking at me and chanting, “those wheels are getting heavy, heavy. Do you feel the wheels getting heavy?” I just smiled and looked at my power meter. I would always pass him on the downhills as he was sitting up and coasting. He was about 2-3 minutes ahead of me at the turn around at mile 35 and I didn’t see him again on the downhills so I thought he was way ahead of me. However, he passed me again on the last long climb. He didn’t say anything that time but the triathlon gods must have gotten to him somewhere along the way since I had gotten in front of him. I passed him on the downhill and didn’t see him again until the first lap of the run. I had hit the turn around and was heading back up the hill when I saw him coming down to the lake. I didn’t see him after that. Unfortunately I didn’t think to get his number to see where he finished, but I know he didn’t finish in the top 5.
Just don’t stop. I’m in this for the long run and as long as I keep moving I’ll be a winner in life.
We got to CDA at 6:45 on Friday evening after sitting in a traffic jam that added almost 2 hours to the trip. We went straight to athlete sign in and it worked out perfectly. It was 15 minutes before they closed and there was no line! We got checked in, walked across the street and had dinner then went to the B&B.
Saturday morning we slept in and had a great breakfast. We drove out the highway 95 portion of the bike ride. Long gradual hills and sweeping descents, nice, but we didn’t realize how they would set up the course until Sunday. The reality was much better than we could have imagined. We went to the athlete briefing at 11:00 and then went for a bike ride. We rode the first part of the bike route to Higgins Point and then back on the run course. We checked the bikes in and then went and had lunch. After that we went to the store and picked up food for dinner and then went back to the B&B.
Feet up, read, eat, chill on the deck, soak in the hot tub, and then went to bed.
Alarm was set for 3:30 but I woke up at 3:20 and got up and started getting dressed. I had half a bagel, muesli with almond milk, and coffee for breakfast. We left the B&B at 4:30 and got to the transition area at 4:50. Kissed Susan goodbye in case I didn’t see her again before the start, or at least that was the excuse. Got marked, went to the restroom, set everything up. Saw Susan again and said goodbye and good luck again and headed down to the beach. I got in a short warm up swim and then lined up behind the 30-35 minute sign. The rolling swim started at 6:15 but I was very much ready to go when the pro men started at 6:00. That’s good because the IM does start at 6:00 for the age groupers.
They made us go into the chute in single file and the swim start was not crowded at all. I hit the water and took off fast to catch some bubbles. The water was choppy from the light wind and I swallowed some water because of it. The water was 60 degrees F and it caused me to lose my breath so I had to head to the side and tread water for long enough to have a conversation with a support person in a kayak who was asking if I needed to hold on to her kayak. I got back to it but the chop and the swells were enough to keep me from getting into a really good rhythm but I got it done in 38 minutes and 20th in my AG out of the water.
It was a 0.3 mile run to T1 and I stripped down to my waist as I ran. I got to my bike and stripped of the wetsuit, stuffed half a Clif Bar into my mouth, put on my shoes and socks, helmet and sunglasses, grabbed the bike and ran to the mount line. T1 time 6:31.
I mounted and started to drink as soon as I got up the first little hill and into the downtown area. I ate and drank my way through town while trying to stay out of trouble. After I got out of the downtown area I got aero and started to settle in. People were zipping past me but I let them go. The way out to Higgins Pt. was uneventful and I got to test out my gearing on the first steep hill. I did spike my watts a little into the low 200’s (gear 4 was 185) so I backed off and climbed a low cadence. I hit the turn around and headed back into town. As I started climbing I took out a Clif Bar and dropped it. Luckily I still had a gel and parts of another Clif Bar but it did set my nutrition back a little.
The first aid station was in town before heading out to highway 95 and I grabbed some water but I forgot to grab some food. I had Skratch labs drink in my BTA bottle and enough concentrate for 4 more bottles. After the no pass zone I got down to work. My 2nd gear was 168 and I was looking at holding things between 160 and 168 for the most part. That part of the bike course is sweet. The highway is mostly 4 lanes wide and they put the traffic on one side in two lanes and gave the other 2 lanes to the bikes. The only place it got crowded is when the road went down to three lanes and they had to squeeze the bikes into 1 lane and the shoulder. I chugged along on the uphills, shifted as I hit the crest, and kept pedaling over and down the hill. I passed most of the people who had passed me on the way up because a lot of them stopped pedaling and were just coasting down. There were very few places where I got going fast enough that I was spinning out. The gearing on the P3 is very advantageous for that. The curves were gentle enough and the sight distance good enough that I didn’t have to brake unless someone was blocking me. That did happen a few times but not very much.
The ride was pretty uneventful but I realized about half way in that I hadn’t been keeping up with my nutrition or my hydration, so I doubled down on that for the trip back into town. (it was in the 50’s at the start of the ride and that lulled me into complacency I think). I had a bottle of Skratch concentrate left at the end of the bike though I did drink some Gatorade along the way. I finally had to pee at about mile 46. Bike stats 2:58, NP 164, VI 1.04, AG placing 11. TP file http://tpks.ws/eTL2D
I left the shoes on the bike when I dismounted and ran into T2. Racked the bike, took off my shoes, put on my running shoes, off with the helmet, grabbed my go bag and ran. T2 time 2:53.
I put on my number belt, hat, and cool wings as I ran. I took off on the run not knowing what to expect because of the troubles I’ve been having with my hamstring. My quads felt like they were on the verge of cramping but my hamstring felt fine. I looked down at my Garmin and I was hitting a 8:25 pace and my goal for the first 3 miles was a 9:00 minute pace, so I backed off a bit. There as an aid station shortly after the run start so I walked through that, grabbed water and ate two shot blocks. I asked for ice but they didn’t have any yet so I poured some water over my head and back and started running. It was hard to keep my pace down to 9:00 but the aid stations were so close together and I walked through them so it all averaged out. I ate a margarita shot block at most aid stations, drank some Gatorade and water, and had two gels over the course of the run. I also took 3 Salt Stick tabs over the course of the run.
As I said earlier my quads were on the verge of cramping almost the entire run. I think that is because of the new bike fitting is just a little different than the Felt. I noticed the same thing after the first long ride I did with it. The intensity wasn’t much different from rides I’d done on the Felt but my quads were definitely feeling it. I was able to manage that by staying in the TRP pace range and not pushing too hard uphill or down. The only time my hamstring started to speak to me was twice when I violated that rule so I backed off quickly.
There was never a time during the run that was really easy. Mentally I was on guard for any signs that my hamstring was tightening up. I was also actively monitoring my quads, applying ice where needed, eating and drinking and pushing forward. The longest run that I had done in recent memory was 7 miles and only 45.1 miles total in the 28 days leading up to the race. It was very much a mental test. There were a lot of times I wanted to just walk but I only allowed myself to walk through the rest stops. No use in setting up bad habits when I have a full on the same course in 8 weeks. I got to mile 11+ and there was band there and they were playing “Born to Run” which is on my physical and mental playlist. It was perfect. I started singing, “sprung from cages on highway 9, chrome wheel fuel injected (a lady beside me started singing too) and steppin out over the line, H-Oh, baby this town rips the bones from your back, it’s a death trap, it’s a suicide rap. We gotta get out while were young, cause “champs” (I like champs better than tramps at that point of the race) like us, baby we were born to run…” it felt great and it gave me such a boost. I picked up my pace and headed home.
I got to back to the park and hit the last little hill up to Sherman street. The crowd was great. I raised my arms and they all started cheering me on. I took it all in and thought about 8 weeks further on in life when I plan on being there again. I ran down the chute and finished in 5:43:59. 6/67 in my AG and 560/2391 overall. Not bad given that I went into the race with a 66.5 CTL. Now I have to work on getting that a little bit higher for the IM.
Run stats, 1:57:06, 9:02 min/mile, AHR 142. TP run file http://tpks.ws/laegd
Observations and conclusions:
My heart rate was higher than it normally is during the bike or a run of this length but that was probably because of two things, the heat and the lack of training. When I did the Orewa half marathon in April my heart rate was in the 150’s starting pretty early in the race. I kept an eye on it but my RPE and breathing didn’t feel that extreme so I kept going. At the end of the day my AHR for that race was 154 which previously had been my functional threshold HR but I ended up holding that for an hour and 44 minutes. The same thing was true on Sunday. The HR didn’t reflect what I was feeling or my breathing. I’ll have to see how that changes as I get more training volume into my body.
Don’t taunt other athletes: There was an athlete in my age group that kept passing me on the uphills and looking at me and chanting, “those wheels are getting heavy, heavy. Do you feel the wheels getting heavy?” I just smiled and looked at my power meter. I would always pass him on the downhills as he was sitting up and coasting. He was about 2-3 minutes ahead of me at the turn around at mile 35 and I didn’t see him again on the downhills so I thought he was way ahead of me. However, he passed me again on the last long climb. He didn’t say anything that time but the triathlon gods must have gotten to him somewhere along the way since I had gotten in front of him. I passed him on the downhill and didn’t see him again until the first lap of the run. I had hit the turn around and was heading back up the hill when I saw him coming down to the lake. I didn’t see him after that. Unfortunately I didn’t think to get his number to see where he finished, but I know he didn’t finish in the top 5.
Just don’t stop. I’m in this for the long run and as long as I keep moving I’ll be a winner in life.
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Comments
Nobody like The Boss to give a lift to your day, especially with 20 minutes to go, and feeling like a little walk would do you good.