Ironman 70.3 Hawaii Race Report
Ironman 70.3 Hawaii
Pre-race plan: The swim is what it is. The price of admission. It was my first open water ocean swim in competition and first in competition with no wetsuit. I felt good in my practice swims so I wasn’t really concerned. My FTP is 235. Plan was for first half hour at ~ 180 NP and remainder of race at about 190 (80% IF). Nutrition with three 24-ounce bottles of Infinit suplemented with a little water (total of about 750 calories, 180 grams of carbs, and 2 grams of sodium). Also planned to use a few thermolyte capsules which I have never needed before with my Infinit but I was just too worried about not getting enough sodium, even with electrolytes maxed in Infinit formula. Run plan based on VDot of 46 so first 3 miles at 8:15 with next 7 miles at 7:45 then whatever I had left. Goal was to finish with sub-8 average pace. Nutrition plan to use the course.
Pre-race routine:
Usual bagel & cream cheese with coffee. Drank a bottle of Infinit before swim. Got there early and made sure Crystal was good to go.
Event warmup:
No time for a warm up.
Swim – 40:46
This swim sucked. I started deep water in this mass start hoping to get out toward the front and swim my race. Didn’t happen. Full contact swim for the entire time. Could not get on anyone’s feet that didn’t want to stop every 100 yards. Nowhere to go on either side. Too many turns with too many people hugging buoys but once I was in the melee I could not get out to the outside. Then I lost track of the buoys and almost missed one. Went way the wrong direction then had to backtrack. Too many mistakes to count. Oh well.
T1 – 4:58
I was anticipating more help in the changing tent. I was on my own. I spent a lot of time putting on sunscreen. And it was long runs in and long runs out of transition. Need to work on this over the summer.
Bike – 2:48:22 (194 NP, IF .824, VI 1.05, TSS 188.9)
Power-Tap #1:
Duration: 2:16:11 (2:16:38)
Work: 1509 kJ
TSS: 152.8 (intensity factor 0.822)
Norm Power: 193
VI: 1.05
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 47.005 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 430 185 watts
Cadence: 1 167 89 rpm
Speed: 0 37.3 20.3 mph
Pace 1:36 0:00 2:58 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 686 156 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 773 176 lb-in
Entire workout (185 watts):
Duration: 2:47:52 (2:48:19)
Work: 1866 kJ
TSS: 188.9 (intensity factor 0.824)
Norm Power: 194
VI: 1.05
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 57.32 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 430 185 watts
Cadence: 1 167 87 rpm
Speed: 0 37.3 20.0 mph
Pace 1:36 0:00 2:60 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 686 159 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 773 180 lb-in
I was extremely pleased with my bike. This is a tough course and I don't train on hills so preparation was difficult. I ended up doing a lot of interval work which really paid off. There really is almost no true flat part of this course as a lot of you know. Other than a dropped chain at the turn toward Hawi, it was a perfect bike. I burned a few extra matches but thought I would end up being OK. It was. Drank every last drop of my Infinit which I have never successfully accomplished in a race.
T2 – 2:22
Again spent too much time putting on sunblock. Otherwise went fine. I went without socks today and tried to otherwise keep it simple.
Run – 1:42:21
Nailed this perfectly to plan. Planned to walk a few steps at each aid station and drink Gatorade +/- water and ice in the hat. It was really hot but this seemed to work well. First 3 miles 8:18, next 7.5 miles 7:09, last 2.6 miles 9:07. Average pace for whole run 7:48 (a PR).
This race was awesome. For someone who will probably never qualify for Kona, it was great racing here. Sure, it’s just the bike course that both share, but the island conditions apply everywhere. I’m so glad I came.
Thank you very much Coaches. I couldn’t have nailed this race without your training and guidance. Now on to long course nationals and IMAZ where I plan to execute EN style again.
0
Comments
Terry - Wow, those are amazing bike/run splits in those conditions. Mission accomplished, it seems. I'm waiting to here about how our other racers did there.
P
Great job! Congrats and enjoy your well-earned and much deserved rest!
Dude, you mentioned the bike course being tough but how about that run course?? For me that's has to be one of the more challenging HIM run courses I have ever done.
Thanks, Chris
The amount of contact during the swim was incredible. I have done multiple races and this was probably the worse. The choppiness of the waves also made conditions on the swim suck more. One of the paddle guys came up to me at the end of the race and commented that he even thought the choppiness was bad, and he said he spent a considerable amount of time pushing a lot of people back on course.
I love the bike course but you have to respect the winds and heat. My level of respect is at a new level. The cross winds just sneak up out of nowwhere and the headwinds can slow you to a crawl (even downhill). Luckily, the only crosswinds encountered were that last 3 miles up to Hawi. I loved the bike course.
The run was HOT, HUMID, and tough. When I ran, I ran well (for me) and was doing 7:15 min/mile pace or so. I had to walk each aid station so I could keep fluids down and pour them all over me. Also, I kept my hat filled with ice. I believe all this really helped me. Finished with 1:42:xx run and felt really good at the end. Tough, tough run course. Not a lot of flat and I HATED the grassy parts.
Finished in 5:22:15. I took a CLearwater spot for my AG (40-44) but it was a roll down so not sure if I deserved it or not (but I'm excited).
Allan Couch
ps, Terry I'm sorry about partially trying to hijack your thread. I really intended to offer congrats to YOU and just kept on typing.
I thought I would add a few pics to this report.
@Chris - great job! It was a tough run course but Silverman was much tougher.
@Allen - also great job! Congrats on the Clearwater spot. I wasn't at the spot distribution but the guy that finished after me got one so I guess I would have been in the same boat. IMAZ is the week after so I probably wouldn't have taken it anyway, but it sure would have been tempting.
Congrats to all the other EN finishers!