2017 Syracuse 70.3 Race Report
EN Tri club win!
What a race. Every race seems like it’s the worse, but this one was truly brutal! Temps were in the low 90‘s. Up until now I’ve done 1 long run in 80+ temps... But the real killer was the wind.
I was pretty nervous all week thinking about how to manage this race knowing it was going to be hot, but I don’t think anyone was ready for the wind.
Times were slow across the board. Only 16 participants broke 5:00. All of my times seemed super slow and it was mentally hard to stay positive.
The swim actually went well for me. I felt really good the whole way. However the wind kicked up white caps in little Jamesville reservoir so after the far buoy turn it was rough going directly into the wind and waves. I passed a lot of struggling swimmers from the previous waves and thought I was going to have a good swim time and was frustrated to see 36:00 for my time. However I was 5th in my AG and I think given the conditions it was solid.
The bike was the real nightmare. Overall this is a slow course even in good conditions - about 3200 in elevation change - but it was super hard for this race. The wind was significant 15 - 20 with 30 MPH gusts. If it wasn’t blowing directly at you (making it feel like another hill) it was blowing you sideways making for some hairy descents that necessitated easing up quite a bit. I never really knew how to handle the pacing with the heat and planning for the run. I also had a bunch of stupid things happen - my aero bottle went flying off in the first mile (had to turn around and get it) and I dropped my chain going up a small hill - probably cost me a minuet or so.
Aid station execution was a mess. I decided to go with one aero bottle and one cage (should have done 2 cages...) Then I had to decide to either grab water for cooling or Gatorade for drinking to put in my one open cage. I went with the water and I think it was the right choice. It really helped keep me cooler on the ride. The problem was grabbing a water bottle, fiddling with it to get it in the cage and then grabbing a Gatorade and filling my aero bottle. I always ran out of runway and had to chuck the bottle before I had it fully filled - I needed about 50 more yards each time. I ended up drinking maybe 3.5 bottles on a good 5+ bottle day. I have to get that down better. Looking at my data I had an IF of .72. I was planning on something closer to .82 but I just kept thinking I can’t blow up on the bike or the run will be over. I came in 2 in my AG 2:56 and about 7 minuets behind first (Bery Lewis - #5 in the US) and about 3:00 ahead of third. So again the numbers looked poor but for the race and the day, I’l take it.
The run of was of course bad, but the new course is now easier and I actually didn’t think the run was all that hard other then the blessed heat! I start to max out at about a HR of160 and I would run until I hit 157 and then walk to bring it down. The first loop I could come close to going aide station to aide station. Second loop it got down to only a few minuets before I had to walk. This was the most walking I have ever done in race. With about 2 miles to go I stopped sweating - not a good sign - I tried to drink as much as I could stomach and managed to get it done. I finished 2nd in my AG with a 1:47
A couple of ice cold waters over my head at the finish and a shower they had going got me back to normal pretty quickly so in a way I think the hydration was OKish. I probably was under what I should have had (this if probably my #1 thing to work on) but given the difficulty of the day I felt pretty good after.
My goal was to finish 2nd (I knew 1st was out of the question) and qualify for 70.3 Champs. Mission accomplished!
Jeff Wisot on the left, me in the EN shirt
Comments
I was one of the last one's on the course. Someone yelled out Go EN! driving by on the run course on my 2nd loop, was that you? Starting in 2nd to last wave didn't help. I was prepping for the heat just like last year, but didn't expect the wind, which killed me in the swim and almost blew me off my bike on descents. Might need to re-think the 808 front unless course is flat. Headwind was like riding a hill the whole way. Hoping for better conditions at IMLP.
I'm glad I had BTA + 3 cages on the bike. 1 water bottle just for spraying myself to keep cool, only problem it was so windy there were limited times to get out of aero.
See you at Placid!
as for the cages & hydration issue, my answer in this BTA thread may help you. It's just an n of one of how this guy handles it.