2017 70.3 Santa Rosa Race Report for Dan Molina
Ironman Santa Rosa 70.3 (Vineman) Race Report
Race Date: May 13, 2017
Race Day Stats:
Total Time: 5:18:12
Division Rank: 49
Gender Rank: 348
Overall Rank: 410
Swim Time: 44:49 (2:19/100 m pace)
Division Rank: 162
Gender Rank: 998
Overall Rank: 1277
Bike Time: 2:30:26 (22.34 mi/h pace)
Division Rank: 15
Gender Rank: 130
Overall Rank: 143
Run Time: 1:51:57 (8:32/mi pace)
Division Rank: 73
Gender Rank: 474
Overall Rank: 600
Transitions
T1: Swim to Bike: 07:57
T2: Bike to Run: 03:03
Race Day Goals
Goal: Good showing at a new 70.3 venue for me.
IM Santa Rosa 70.3 is the rebranded former Vineman race in northern California wine country. Ironman purchased the race and this is the first year of IM officially running the race. In talking to locals, much of the Vineman team (20+ years running the race) stayed on as consultants for the transition. It seemed like the community was really behind the race even though the IM Corporation took over this local favorite. With IM taking over, the course has also changed from past years, and it sounds like this may have made for a better race day experience, but that’s just my speculation because I never raced the original Vineman. Another big part of this race was scouting the course and venue to possibly compete in the full distance version of this race in 2018. Santa Rosa and the entire Sonoma Valley are incredibly picturesque and simply beautiful, and that’s before you start drinking the wine. The bike course allows you to take in all of the beautiful scenery, even as you’re trying to push 300 plus watts. The bike course is essentially one long downhill from Lake Sonoma and sets itself up for some bike leg PR’s. The roads range from perfect new asphalt to some small stretches of crappy surfaces. Overall 95% of the surfaces are good to excellent. The swim is in a reservoir with no current at Lake Sonoma. There was a race day course change due to possible gusty winds (that never came), that moved the direction of the swim course into a protected “cove”. The clarity was about 3 feet, and had a blue-green tint to it. The run course is a trail course near the town square. It is a combination of paved trail and hard packed dirt run trail. The best part was the extensive shade covering about 80% of the run portion. The run support was great throughout the run. So that’s the good. The negatives to consider, are not really that bad. First, this is a point to point race, so there are some logistics to consider that go with that. You get shuttled from the town square to the swim start on race day about 50 miles away. Prior to that, you’ll need to figure out how to get you bike to T1 for check in on the day before the race. Other than that, some locals reported that it can get warm in late July when they hold the full distance version of IM Santa Rosa (like upper 90’s warm). We didn’t have that problem, race day morning with it being 44 degrees F.
Goal: Finish under 5 hours.
This didn’t happen for a couple of reasons. I have a PR of 4:55 achieved at Redman 2015 and a sub-5 half would have been nice if it would have happened. I was about 10 pounds above my ideal race weight which probably hurt my cause more than anything, but my bike fitness was also a little lower than winter 2016 (current FTP 282, but this has probably trended down a little lower over that past 6 weeks...winter 2016 FTP 308). The other component that makes a sub-5 half a little more difficult at Santa Rosa is the lengthy transition times that affects everyone equally, but still cuts into the PR effort. I pride myself in taking advantage of any “free time” available on the course, and usually this means transition, but not this time (especially T1).
Goal: No injuries.
None. Always great news!
The Swim
Target Swim Time: 40:00
Actual Swim Time: 44:49 (2:19/100 m pace)
Weather, Conditions, Notes:
Before getting into the swim, I wanted to provide some background on some of the race logistics leading up to the swim. Remember, this is a point to point race. With a 6:30 AM race start for Age Groupers, shuttles began leaving Santa Rosa town square at 4:00 AM, taking athletes 50 miles to the Lake Sonoma swim start. We ended up getting on one of the first shuttles (school buses) and 20 minutes into the drive, the headlights went out. Since it was dark and we’re travelling on the 101, headlights were essential. The bus pulled over and we waited another 30 minutes for another bus to pick us up. This caused rushing to get everything set up at T1, checking my bike from overnight and going to the potty.
Morning temperatures were much colder than I had expected, in the mid 40’s. There were concerns for gusty winds, which led to a change in the setup of the swim course, but these winds only peaked to 8 mph (laughable to Okies). The cold temps led me to put on my wetsuit as soon as possible, not only for warmth, but because I was running short on time due to the shuttle situation. The water temperature was 62 F, and felt warmer due to the cold air temps. This also felt warmer than Lake Arcadia (home town lake), which had been my lead up OWS training waters. Lake Sonoma is a reservoir with no current and any waves are determined by the wind. The clarity was about 3 feet. Overall the swim set up was excellent and well supported. Minimal spectators though, because this part of the course was difficult to access for non-athletes. The self-seeded rolling start was in place and worked well. It did seem we were waiting quite a bit though. The Pros were already getting out of the water before I was anywhere near to getting into the water myself. I lined up with the 40-43 minute group. After 44 minutes of relatively uneventful swimming came the most painful part of the race, T1.
Transition T1
T1: Swim to Bike: 07:57
Note:
This is the longest time I’ve spent in T1 ever, even longer than my first event ever. The reason for this is a steep climb out of the swim exit, up a boat ramp to the bike. The overall distance is about 500 yards, but there is minimal carpeting and the paved surface is ridged for boat ramp traction and incredibly painful. Remember, this is coming from someone who runs in sandals. This really sucked and was soooo painful. Next time I would recommend going rouge and placing some old shoes or sandals near the swim exit or somewhere along the ramp and slip into them. You can thank me later. Also the mid 40’s F air temperature was a little bit of a shock coming out of the water. I made a last second move to race in a cycling jacket and gloves, instead of just the sleeved tri-kit with arm warmers. It took a little longer to get into these things, but well worth it during the bike.
Bike
Target Bike Time: 2:30:00
Actual Bike Time: 2:30:26 (22.34 mi/h pace)
Weather, Conditions, Notes:
With the cold air temps and the wind chill from being on the bike, the cycling jacket and gloves had me feeling really good about things. Overall the bike course is pretty much one long decent from Lake Sonoma to Santa Rosa, with some small climbs mixed in. The most technical part of the course was the initial decent from Lake Sonoma, which had several sweeping turns. They actually created a “No Aero Position” zone for part of the decent. There was a subtle tail wind for most of the ride, which was a nice touch. I will also add here that this has to be one of the most beautiful rides I have ever done.
My plan called to ride at 225 Watts for the first 20 minutes and 250 Watts for the remainder of the ride. Looking at my post-race numbers I had a Normal Power of 229 Watts (Variability Index 1.05), which was just a tad lower than what I was aiming form, but consistent with the reality of my bike fitness coming into the race. One issue that I always have on the bike, is because I am so late coming out of the water, I have to maneuver around so many slower bikers, which impacts my momentum at times. I was happy with my bike. One of EN’s mantras always keeps me in check…ride the bike you should, not the bike you could.
The Run
Target Run Time: 1:45:00
Actual Run Time: 1:51:57 (8:32/mi pace)
Weather, Conditions, Notes:
Temperatures in the low 60’s, with occasional breezes. This was a 2 loop course, with the first loop being 8 miles and the second 5 miles. The course is a combination of paved surface (40%) and hard packed running trail (60%). The trail portion of the run is very scenic along the river, with plenty of shade overhead from the tree canopy. Most people love the hard packed running trail, but to me it just mean pebbles finding their way into my Luna sandals (yes, I run in Luna sandals and have done so for the past 5 years) and just being a pain in the ass. Most of the pebbles worked themselves out of the sandals, but sometimes I would have to shake them out at an aid station. My pace goals were 9 min/mi for first 3 miles, 8:30 for miles 4 to 9, and 8:00 for miles 10 to finish. I came close to this, but ended up being a little short of goal.
Overall Impressions:
I was pleased with my performance for my first big race of the season.
My fitness, specifically my race weight, could have been better for this race.
Santa Rosa is a beautiful race venue.
I would strongly consider doing IM Santa Rosa full in 2018, and hopefully it was again be an EN featured race.
I appreciate all the encouragement from the EN Family and all family and friends.
Comments
@Tom running up that boat ramp was the most miserable part of that entire race.