Mark's 2017 IM Puerto Rico 70.3 Race Report
IM Puerto Rico 70.3 Race Report
The evolution of my entry into this race was a twisted one to be sure. Last year at IM CDA, a certain persuasive Mariah Bridges floated the idea of doing an EN Chica only race at IM Puerto Rico. My wife took one look at her calendar and said, “That’s my spring break. I’m in!”, so going to Puerto Rico was set but I wasn’t going to do the race. Then I read some race reports and started thinking about doing the race too. When I was at Kona I told Mariah that I was thinking about doing it and she said that she just found out that it was the Pan American Team Championship race and I had to do it, so my fate was set. Since my A race is the Alaskaman Extreme Triathlon in July, this was a B- race for me.
I sat next to a triathlete from Puerto Rico on the plane to Kona and told her that I was thinking about doing the race and she said it was a good one but it was tough and hot, especially the run. Then when we were standing at baggage claim waiting to get our bikes another woman was talking to someone else about IMPR and she also said it was a hilly, tough, and hot run. The woman who sat next to me on the plane said, “See, I told you so.” I live in the Pacific Northwest which is not known for hot, humid conditions, in fact, that’s the reason we moved here from Arkansas was to escape heat and humidity so training for a hot and humid HIM in the winter here was going to be a challenge. However, I did grow up in Arkansas and spent almost half my life there a lot of which was outdoors so I do know how to handle heat and humidity (and luckily my body does too). But still, I usually do have a little bit of hot weather to get acclimated to the heat. Unfortunately, Western Washington had its coldest winter in 34 years this year. It was also very wet so training outdoors, i.e., long outdoor bike rides, wasn’t possible either. So I made lemonade and did my bike rides indoors, on a trainer, with the heat on, and just a small fan for cooling. I kept the door to the pain cave closed so that my own sweat and transpiration would up the humidity in the room and I drank a lot to simulate race conditions. (I drew the line at peeing on the bike though.)
The run training was mostly done outdoors. Since my AAA race is the Alaskaman, I started doing trail running this year and did a trail HM two weeks before IMPR that had 2300’ of elevation gain. I’ve also been doing stair stepper workouts where I climb 100+ floors, run two miles on the indoor track, and then do another 100+ floors at 90+ steps per minute. I often do that with a backpack with water to simulate the conditions for the Alaskaman. The rest of my running was done outdoors, but the indoor part on the stair stepper was usually very warm. In addition to that I did several sessions in the steam room and sauna at the gym. We also have a hot tub that I keep at 102-104 and I would do some longer sessions in there in the evening (oh the sacrifice we make for our sport).
Coach Rich had me do the December OS and at week 10 drop into the Advanced HIM for 5 weeks. The HIM plan didn’t end at week 20 but at week 15 which was a race rehearsal weekend. So I really didn’t have too many long rides in my legs. I wanted to do well to help the team, but really this was more of a vacation with a race in the middle so I wasn’t all that motivated to train specifically for this race. As a result I went into the race with a CTL of 67, (Don’t snicker, OK, you can snicker or even laugh if you want. I know that some of you haven’t seen a CTL that low in years.) I went into the race more lax than any race I’ve done in a long time. I didn’t do a race plan and I really didn’t even think about power or pace until the day before the race. I had to go online to look at my training plan to refresh my memory of what my power zones were (I guess that’s the downside of using Trainer Road). Given all of that I had no idea what to expect when I toed the start line, but I was committed to good execution and trusted that the competitive juices and a fitness base from years of training would pull me through.
Race Day
We drove into town and made our way to the transition area. Since this was the team championship race the team was racked together. Even though we had been there since Wednesday, this was the first time that we saw most of the team. Mariah herded us together for a team photo and then we made our way over to the swim start which was about a mile away. I was in the 6th wave (4th of the age group waves). The swim starts near the bridge over the lagoon, heads away from the bridge and then turns and goes back towards and under the bridge. There was a slight current pushing me towards the start line but someone told me that the waves that left in front of us would set up a counter current to pull us along on our way back. We started and almost immediately my goggle filled up with water on my right eye. That made sighting even more difficult than it usually is so after things settled down a little I flipped over on my back and emptied the goggle. Fortunately after that it formed a good seal and I didn’t have any more problems. I drafted when I could and occasionally the fast people from other waves would catch and pass me. I would get in behind them and look for any free speed I could find. I exited the water at 41:21 which was about what I thought it would be.
Figure 1 Swim venue taken from bridge
Transition is about 700 meters from the swim exit and I had put some shoes by the exit to wear. Unfortunately, there were spectators standing between me and the shoes so I had to push my way through them to get the shoes. Then there wasn’t a place to put them on without being in the way of other racers so I just held on to them and ran barefoot. I unzipped my swim skin as I was running and stripped it when I got to the bike. Put on my jersey with the help of a volunteer who also sprayed me down with another dose of sunscreen climbed into my shoes and grabbed the bike all the while chanting, “slow is smooth and smooth is fast”. As I mounted the bike I noticed that the BTA bottle rack was really loose. I’m not sure what happened but I had put it on in the hotel room and perhaps the straps expanded enough in the heat to make it loose. So I pulled off to the side and tightened them up as best as I could and then re-entered the fray. It had rained while we were swimming and so there were some slick spots on the road out as well as some speed bumps and it was narrow. When we got out on the streets there were wide zebra lines (cross walk markings) at the turns that I knew would be slick so I went over those really carefully. Made it through all of that without mishap so now it was time to get to work beginning with something to eat and drink.
The roads were all closed (which is a blessing given how people drive in PR) so once I was past the initial melee I could get aero and get to work. Except it wasn’t that easy. I quickly found out that people ride their bikes much like they drive. Some would be speeding past, jiving and juking, in between other riders, some would be riding slow and sitting up, and then there were the pace lines. Now I know that it’s difficult at the start of a large triathlon to avoid drafting, but when you see some folks one or two bike lengths apart all going more or less the same speed (and sometimes with the same kit), it’s hard to think they’re not drafting. Regardless, the pace lines made it hard to pass others at time because they basically took up the rest of the lane so I couldn’t get over to pass. So when I did get the opportunity to pass I took it and that meant I had to spike my watts and burn more matches than I would have liked. As the course opened up I was able to use folks to sling shot around them and do legal drafting.
Figure 2 Bike as depicted by Training Peaks
The course is out and back with a second loop on the last half so I got a chance to see a lot of people over and over again. The road was also very rough in places so it was like riding a bronco if you couldn’t get over to avoid those areas. My P3 handled most of it pretty well, but my BTA was having problems. Apparently I hadn’t gotten it tight enough at the beginning and it kept slipping off the back so I had to fuss with that a couple of times after going over the rough patches. I kept telling myself that it was slipping back because I was going so fast, you know those G forces from the accelerations. ;-P The wind was picking up as the race progressed and it was coming in from the SE so for most of the way back it was hitting me from head on to 2 o’clock. Nothing to do about it but to get as aero as possible and use other riders to sling shot off of as I moved my way up. The last couple of miles were uneventful since the field had thinned out considerably after I got off of the second loop. Rode into T2 and did a flying dismount and headed to the racks. Time to get down to business. Time 2:53, NP 160, VI 1.05, IF 0.69 (Here’s something for you tech geeks out there. I had two power meters on the bike, a powertap chainring and a powertap G3 hub. The chainring showed NP 160 and the hub showed NP 156. I don’t know if it’s just a difference due to accuracy/calibration or if it’s loss of power through the chain. I did wax the chain before the race but I didn’t apply the magic pixie dust like I do before an IM.)
I did do some prep work for this race starting last fall. I asked for a Desoto Skin Cooler Tri Top for Christmas and Santa brought me one. I’ve worn their arm coolers and boleros for years and really like them, but they don’t cover everything and often those places that aren’t covered get sunburned. These tops also have three pockets that run down the spine and I figured those might come in really handy to hold ice for the run. The pocket between the shoulder blades became crucial in my bid to defeat the heat.
The run is hilly and the hills start right away. In fact the
run has almost as much elevation gain as the bike. There is an artificial hill,
really a buried building, which you run over right outside of T2 then you start
climbing as you exit the park where there is a short and fairly steep hill. My strategy
was to walk the steeper hills and run the rest so I started walking when I hit
that first hill outside the park. Despite the power spikes on the bike my legs
felt good and I had to really watch myself for the first mile or so to keep my
pace in check. My heart rate was higher than normal, but my RPE was OK so I
decided to not watch the HR much and go by feel. First hill down time to run. I
did run except to take a walk break through the aid stations. I would fill up
my Race Saver bags whenever they had ice. I carried two bags with me. I’d put
one in the top pocket of my jersey and carry the other one in my hands. That
worked really well. The ice on my back melted slowly and I think the position
between my shoulder blades helped keep my core temp down. I used the other bag
to pour water over my head and arms and drink from. Later on in the race I
would rub my legs with it to cool them off. When the ice in the bag I was
carrying was gone I’d grab the bag that I had on my back because it usually
still had ice in it. I felt like a Ninja Warrior grabbing his sword from the
scabbard strapped on his back whenever I did that (hey, whatever it takes to
get me through).
After a while a steeper hill rose up in front of me.
Figure 3 The hill that Jeremy described as "a little bump"
This hill led up to the highest point of the run and most people walked it. I started walking about the time I hit the corner. It’s really not that long but it is steep. Once up to the top of the steep section the hill gets less steep and I would start to run again. After a brief flat section the descent begins to the Puerta De San Juan and the microwave. After you run through the Old San Juan Gate you make a right turn and head out along the wall of El Morro. As you can see from the picture below it’s a very tall stone wall and the heat radiates off it. Since it’s mid-day during the run the sun is right overhead so it can be pretty oppressive. I was doubly glad to have the race saver bag to drink from since there are no aid stations along this portion of the run. It’s about a ½ mile out to the turnaround or about a mile total, but you have to do it twice.
Figure 4 Especially in the last half of the run
Coming out of the microwave you pass through the gate again and head up a steep, cobblestone street, again it’s walk time. But it’s short and the rest of the grade is runnable to the aid station. After that it’s pretty much downhill to the turnaround/finish line. The only hills between El Morro and the finish line are hills I could run so there was no slowing down to walk. The second lap was pretty much like the first one but as always the RPE increased as I maintained the same pace. Once I climbed back to El Morro on the second lap I ran as fast as I could. I saw Susan at the aid station at El Morro and she was doing OK but she told me that she crashed on the bike right outside of T1 when someone clipped her as she was trying to get going. By this time a lot of people were walking or running slowly and I passed a lot of them. It was hard to know if people were on their first lap or their second lap.
Figure 5 This idyllic scene is called "the
microwave" because of the heat that radiates off the walls
I got down to the bottom of the hill and entered the park for the final time. The hill/buried building was waiting for me as a final test. I powered over it and into the finish chute. If I’ve run the race properly I don’t have anything left for a final sprint to the finish like a lot of people and this was no exception. I had passed a 30 something dude in the last mile and he passed me right at the end, but that’s OK because I had given it all that I had and besides, I was old enough to be his dad! Time 1:59:18 Pace 9:17
I walked over to the food tent and found Mariah there and she filled me in on the rest of the team. I asked her how I had done so she looked me up and said that I came in 5th in my AG. Not bad for an early season race. At any other WTC HIM it would have given me a podium spot but here they only went down to 3 place so no hardware except the finishers medal and hat. All in all it was a good race, now where’s the beer?
Figure 6 Run course penalty tent
Figure 7 Veni, vedi, vici. EN is the Pan American Division I Champion
Figure 8 Shrimp mofongo - post race recovery food
Comments
I hope this was a great start for 2017 for you.
MR