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Derrek's Eagleman 70.3 Race Report

Eagleman 70.3 Race Report, Jun 2017

This was my 6th half iron distance triathlon and 2nd Eagleman.  As typical for Eagleman 70.3, it’s timed to occur on the first hottest day of the year.  Overall, it was a good day.  Short version: The swim and bike went very well and as planned, the run….well, I was plagued with muscle cramps and happy to be able to run.    

My goals were to squeak under 5:00 with a sub 36:00 min swim, sub 2:40 bike and sub 1:40 run

Results: 5:17 with a 36:05 swim, 2:40 bike and 1:53 run for 17/144 Age Group

Pre-race was uneventful and went as planned.  Pancake breakfast Saturday morning, 1.5 hr drive to the race, smooth check in, attended the athlete briefing, perused the small expo, sampled the NormaTec Compression boots for 15 mins, dropped bike off, checked into hotel, took a nap, ate dinner (chicken Florentine), then organized my gear, and in bed by 9:30. 

Race morning, I had a good night’s sleep and woke up at 3:30, had oatmeal, banana, a GU strudel, and GE at 4:00, out of the hotel by 4:30.  Arrived Transition area by 5:30.  Very smooth, relaxed process in TA.  No lines, no rushing and even the porta potty lines moved quickly.  I met fellow EN teammate, Patti T. and a few other friends racing (I also saw EN teammate Bill C. and his wife on the run course).  At 6:45 I donned my wet suit, took a PowerBar Gel/water and did a 10 min warm up swim.

Swim: 

The Good: Fastest swim ever by ~5 mins (that wasn’t assisted by a downriver current).  Water temp was 73 degrees and I wore a full sleeve wetsuit.  Unlike its reputation, Chop Tank River was calm (winds were around 5-6 MPH).  I started the swim wide to the right of the buoys and in the second row.  This turned out to be a good strategy as I had very little contact and the 3-4 swimming abreast in front of me kept me from going out too fast.  I took it easy for about 500 yds to fully warm up.  Around this point it thinned out and I increased my pace. I was able to sight every 8 to 10 strokes due to the relatively calm conditions and no crowding. With the work I’ve put into my swimming since Feb, I’m very happy with my result.  It was really cool to have the ability/swim fitness to go faster in order to get around or get away from other swimmers and then settle back into my pace.  I was right at my goal time but still have more work to do.  Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/1032314804

The Bike:                          

The Good: Again, right at my goal.  All went as planned and RPE felt easier than my race rehearsal ride, which was done on the race course.  The Bad: I had a brief moment when I thought my day was going to end.  A rider had some type of mechanical issue, stopped and dismounted his bike in the middle of the bike lane (side of the highway) and was looking over his bike.  I adjusted to go around him as there was plenty of room on the inside and passing on the left would have forced me out onto the highway with traffic.  Without looking he proceeds to walk his bike to the right side of the road.  My yelling caught his attention too late.  I was too close and going too fast to maneuver and pass on the left side.  I braked hard but couldn’t stop in time and almost locked up my brakes.  My only option was to veer off onto the grass shoulder and that’s when me crashing flashed through my mind. Luckily, the shoulder was all grass in solid soil on a slight slope.  I was able to coast onto the grass for several yards and smoothly come back on the pavement. After a quick assessment my bike/tires, I counted my blessings and kept moving.  My power plan was to stay between 195 and 215 N. watts after the first 20 mins.  My N. power was 194 watts, .75 IF and 1.01 VI. Nutrition was 24 oz of GE/hr, one gel/hr and one salt cap per hr.  I also drank half a bottle of water at each aid station.  I biked exactly what I expected, which was on par with my two my race rehearsals.  Strava (last 50 miles): https://www.strava.com/activities/1032137419

The Run:

The Bad and The Ugly: I ran as fast as my quad muscle cramps would let me…very frustrating underperforming your strongest discipline, but glad I was able to endure the pain, kept the cramps from getting worse and managed a run that was slow to me but still in the top 12 in my AG.  Before the end of mile 1, my quads and hamstrings locked up bringing me to a dead stop.  Couldn’t walk and when I stretched my quads, my hamstrings would cramp and vice versa.  It took a few minutes to work out the cramps.  The next 4-5 miles went ok while focusing on Z1 pace and watching my HR.  I stopped at every aid station and took in 2-3 cups of water and GE.  I kept ice in my Race Saver bag, which I placed under my trucker cap.  The melting ice would trickle down my face/neck keeping me cool…it worked great. In mile 4, I tried increasing pace to TRP and the quads gradually started cramping again but were manageable with walking the aid stations.  By mile 7, I had constant cramping and walking did not help. Actually, running felt better than walking. It wasn’t sever cramping to where I couldn’t move, it was just painful and I had to slow the pace to stop it from getting worse.  My goal, which I accomplished, became to not walk between aid stations and be able to run down the finish chute.  After much thought on why I had my worse-ever muscle cramps, I figured it out (IMO but I’m open to other thoughts).  Initially I thought I went too hard on the bike, but comparing my stats to my two race rehearsals my NP/IF/VI were all about the same and TSS was lower.  Then, when I had the first urge to use the bathroom, it was 5 hours after my race ended.  I was dehydrated. I typically pee once during the bike or just before the run, but I didn’t pee from ~6:30 (pre-race) to 5:30 pm!  Wow, not sure how that happened other than I wasn’t acclimated to 90 degree temps.  Saturday/Sunday were the first hottest days of the year and all my training was in 60-70 degree temps.  I’m not sure how to solve this for early summer races other than doing some long rides/runs on the trainer/treadmill without turning on the fans.  Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/1032315499

Nonetheless, I did the best I could and I’m happy with my results. Thanks for reading.

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Comments

  • Re: camel bladder. Been there, done that at IMC. Don't know your size, but on a hot day, 24oz of GE on the bike seems low. After IMC I practiced keeping down 1.5L per hour- tougher to do than I thought. Aside from peeing up a storm at IMaZ, I felt way better
  • I  enjoyed reading your report but sorry to hear about the cramps.  I can only imagine how hard that is to keep moving.  Nice work to finish ad strong as you did. 
  • Very nice race! I thought you looked strong on the run, and I would not have known you were fighting cramps. Excellent job pushing through them. It was my 5th Eagleman and you are absolutely correct, it is always on the first hottest day of the year. I am considering moving to New Orleans for a few months before the race to acclimate to racing in heat and humidity. 
  • edited June 15, 2017 7:19PM
    Great Race Report Derrek! Hope to see you back at swimming and maybe one day you'll invite me on a ride with you lol.
  • @Derrek Sanks those early season races are always tough for me too because the weather is so crazy leading up to the event. Most of my warmer workouts are on the trainer at 75-80 degrees with a small fan in the garage. Im sure this race will always be a reminder of the importance of pre-race and race day hydration, getting ahead early.
    Way to tough it out on the run. 
  • Derrek, That was a great race and a great report. The PR Swim is awesome. That is a goal of mine as well. I think a good swim really sets you up well to execute the rest of the day. Your escape from bike catastrophe was amazing. People really lose their positional awareness during the long courses and do the totally unexpected. Great reaction.  Sorry to hear about your cramping on the run. You really persevered through a tough situation and achieved a great results. 
  • Hello Derrek -- overall it was a great race, congrats!  Swim and bike were awesome, run was superb given the cramping

    I agree with Doug: your total fluid volume was low.  You and I are of similar height and weight; I need two bottles per hour for a 70.3 bike; I usually do one water and one GE, and then gels and salt.  Perhaps more salt would have helped too; maybe some with breakfast and/or before the race starts

    The good news is you'll be totally used to the heat for Louisville; although it's not likely to be hot so then the issue becomes potential over-hydration

    (Check your Strava swim link: it's for some guy named Sebastian Nordgren)
  • Thanks for the comments/feedback everyone! 


    @William Crawford - I talked with Kathy in TA after the race; congrats to both of you and glad to hear all is well.

    @Paul Curtin - Swim link corrected.  I agree with you and @Doug Sutherland on more hydration/hour.  It will take practice to force down more fluids.  There were times I was burping up GE and even felt bloated at times.  I also think it will help to drink every 15 mins instead of every 20 mins.   


  • HI Derrek,

    Thanks for sharing.  Great information to apply or think about.  Congrats on a terrific race!

  • @Derrek Sanks
    5:17 on a hot day is called "Winning"!

    I love the way you put some stretch goals out there for this race and pushed yourself through them.

    Does a sub 1:40 run for you translate into a Z1, Z2, Z3 pace?

    SS
  • @Shaughn Simmons, I just saw this (my e-mail notifications don't work). Thanks for the comments! A 1:40 half marathon is 7-8 seconds faster than my TRP.  My Z2 pace is ~7:10 and TRP is 7:45. I did a half distance tri last weekend and ran a 1:37, which included a 2-3 min potty stop. 
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