Tim Sullivan's 703. CDA Race Report
70.3 Race report
Intro:
Last year, I completed the 2016 CDA 70.3 as my first triathlon ever. For that first triathlon, my goals were to finish the 70.3 and enjoy myself doing it. I was using the first 70.3 last year as a barometer as to whether I wanted to invest the time into training for an IM. My effort level for that race was a long slow training day effort (about 2 hours slower than this race). Nothing was hard.
I did enjoy myselft so I started training a little harder starting in September, 2016 (on my own) and then joined EN around December when I was hunting for a training plan. After training the EN way, I completed IM Texas in April in 11:31 ran the entire marathone and enjoyed myself in the process. I figured it was better to enjoy myself than to push too hard and have a miserable experience my first IM.
Now on to the current race. This is my fifth triathlon (2nd 70.3, 1 IM, a sprint and an Oly).
Goals – Try to push myself more in this race.
Arrival:
My family spends about a month up in the NW in the summer to avoid the Texas heat. We arrived Tuesday evening and got settled in. I did some runs, a swim or two, and a bike ride before the Sunday race.
Overall:
IRONMAN® 70.3 Coeur d'Alene 2017
Tim Sullivan
M50-54 - USA
Div. Gen. Ovr. Swim Bike Run Overall
30/115 288 395 41:46 02:47:04 01:52:49 05:31:1
Weather: Weather for the race was good. Lake was smooth (for CDA), little wind, and heat didnt come until latter part of the run.
Swim:
https://www.strava.com/activities/1054108235
Finished in 41.46 with a pace of about 1:52/100yds. For this race, I was happy to see that I had 800 yards of swimming below about 1:45 and 300 yards in the 1:30s. For this swim, I stayed about 20 yards to the right of the buoys so that I would be somewhat out of the crowd. I don’t mind the contact as much as I did last year but it still does slow me down a bunch when I get hit. Since last year, I have learned to bilaterally breathe which I think has helped me swim MUCH straighter. As a result, I do not have to worry about being off course as much. I do not spend much time sighting and usually just keep my head down for as long as I can.
Overall, I am satisfied with that time for this race, but really want to improve my time so I am at least in the top third by next year. For this race, that would have been about a 39:54 for my age group. I think I can get there by following the EN plan and a few more lessons to make sure I stay on track. I wasnt exhausted when I was swimming in the 1:30s and 1:40s so hopefully it wont be a stretch to get there.
T1 : 5:16 – Everything was smooth until I got calf cramps when my wetsuit got stripped off me. Luckily they weren’t bad and only delayed me by a little. I didn’t get any calf cramps for the full IM but I did get a calf cramp last year while swimming at 70.3.
Does cold water contribute to cramps?
Bike
https://www.strava.com/activities/1054100505
Finished in 02:47:04. I moved from 845th overall to 298th overall during the bike. A goal for the bike was to push the bike more than I did for IM Texas. I was somewhat successful doing this but still probably held back too much. I think part of the reason I hold back is that I am not sure what to expect when I get to the run. I have a better idea now, so hopefully that will help me push to an appropriate level (for this race I think an extra 10% as IF was .72).
During the ride, I felt like I climbed with decent power (not quite as much as I hoped for) but thought that I couldn’t get the watts up high enough on the descents. My VI turned out to be 1.05 so I guess it wasn’t as bad as I thought. I do need to work on pushing the downhill more if I increase my watts for climbing. I found it hard to maintain or be near or above 200 watts on those downhills.
Hydration was good. Only drank Gatorade Endurance.
T2: 4:23 – not sure why this was slow. I did stop to pee and get some sunscreen on.
Run:
https://www.strava.com/activities/1054116432
Finished in 1:52:49 (8:36/mile which is 10 seconds faster than my TRP pace and 30 seconds slower than my Z2 pace). I lost about 100 spots overall during the run, but gained one spot in my age group. Goal was to keep my HR up and effort up. Started off a little fast but slowed down after 1/3 of a mile or so. I was never at a comfortable pace but I was never unbearably uncomfortable. For me a comfortable pace is 145HR or less and anything above 160 becomes uncomfortable. I ended up with an average HR of 154 with only a couple small drop offs. Is Z2 pace the end pace I should be shooting for during a 70.3?
I did walk a few steps at each aid station to get some Gatorade and ice. I started to drink coke and red bull at about mile 8. The ice really helped during this race as the temperature was continually climbing. When I started the race it was in the 50s and when I finished the run it was in the upper 80s. I was very happy that I was fast enough to finish before it got into the upper 90s. A lot of people commented on the ice bag.
One thing that did surprise me was the amount of people slowing down during the second lap as well as the number of people on the side of the road dealing with cramps. I expected this during the IM, but I would have figured that most people would still be running hard during a half IM.
I did find it beneficial to try to use my current watts from my Stryd to keep me pushing. I find it easier to use the watts number as compared to pace due to the changes in elevation. I pick that value during the race based on my HR and perceived exertion.
Conclusions:
1) Need to continue training and building my engine. I am just at the start of this process, so I am going to just keep working. In the short amount of time I’ve been with EN, I have already learned that Work Works!
2) Need to learn how to operate the engine for various race distances.
2.1) Need to continue to learn how miserable I can be in a 70.3 (or an IM) and still perform. I don’t have this problem in 10K races as I know it’s ending soon!
3) Keep trying to get faster in transitions
Thanks everyone for your support and comments! I really appreciate all of the encouragement and words of advice I have already received.
Comments
You swim looks good. You asked: Does cold water contribute to cramps? for me it absolutely does; my calves cramp up in cold water even if I'm kicking a lot; hopefully we find a solution to that
On the bike your power dropped starting at lap 8, right at the first downhill section. (Lap 11 power seems rather low considering it was mostly uphill; perhaps you coasted at the top?) I know from seeing your Zwift races that you have strong power; perhaps consider some downhill power work to help smooth out the variance on hilly courses
The run is always a box of chocolates, and I think you did great given the rising temps. Strava says most of it was in Zone 3 HR, which is right where you should be if you're pushing. The only way to get used to the feeling of 160+ bpm is to work through some short intervals, so assuming your listed HR zones are fairly accurate, try doing some short sets that push your HR into Zone 4
the things I noted when reading your report are
1) your HR doesnt seem to increase even if the temp was going up, were you already redlining since the start ? If not, maybe do some hilly interval work might help
2) T2 - do you use the go-bag/race saver bag which you can use on the run to carry ice
3) as for the cramps, I used to have them when I wasnt kicking at all during the swim but read somewhere that kicking hard the last 100M or run out of the water could help, I tried and it worked 3/3
Keep going ! hope to chase you on Zwift soon
Really interesting to read about the integration of the Stryd meter and smart to walk aid stations. Passing a bunch of folks on the back half of the run? Welcome to EN Ninja status! :-)
A couple of thoughts:
1 - You have great self awareness. As I have personally witnessed you turn yourself inside out, we KNOW you can suffer. It is smart to be conservative, but learning just how much to suffer so you are still nailing the back half of the run is an art. I appreciate your balance of respect for the distance and willing to find the edge. You have enough data points to start really learning to turn the screws.
2 - Ice and the ice bag. Did you have a "Race Saver" bag, or were you just holding it or dumping it into your kit? Regardless, the more ice the better. And did the residents of CDA represent with hoses to run through, etc? If your feet can take it (blisters, etc.) don't underestimate the value of getting REALLY wet and using those 8yo's entertainment to your benefit. I raced in 108F at CDA's IM 2015 and swear getting really wet as much as I could is what got me on the podium.
3 - Did you have a hard time maintaining your watts on the descents due to gearing, sketchiness, traffic, ___? Most certainly adjust your gearing if you could have comfortably been pushing down hill. You can ninja Pac Man a ton of folks by just staying on the gas over the crest (key) and then keeping in there on the descent.
AWESOME stuff - Look forward to following your future adventures in racing!
@Al Truscott - Your comment about "start to think about "racing" rather than just "participating" is definitely true for me. I have "started to think about racing" and made an attempt to race the CDA but still held back more than I should have. I think its the fear of the unknown. At any rate, now that I have a baseline for the IM and the half IM, I think I have a better understanding of what is going to happen. I'm sure as I start to push more, I will not always be successful, but you never know until you try! I've got to trust the fact that "I can handle it"
@Paul Curtin - CDA is the only place I have had calf cramps - last year I got cramps during the swim (worse) and this year after the swim. I don't kick much so I will try what @Francis Picard says to kick hard the last 100m. (2) During the bike, I did have one period of drop off in power (went off into la la land
@Francis Picard - I started the run in what I would call an uncomfortable state but not a terrible state. I wanted to finish the last three or so miles in that terrible state of a 170+ HR but at the time thought to myself (Do I really want to suffer that much
@Brian Hagan - We do enjoy the NW in the Summer! we lived here for about 8 years in the early 2000s. I will definitely keep pushing so I am racing and not just participating.
@Jenn Edwards - the learning how much I can suffer and still keep going is definitely an art. In Zwift I know the pain will stop in an hour or two so - so I just keep telling myself one more minute
One question I have regarding the swim, is:
Is it ok to swim hard with little kicking (to save legs) and be tired coming out of the water, or will that wipe you out for later efforts? My guess is that you all will say swim at 85% but not sure. It really would be nice to come out of the water in the top third rather than having to pass so many people on the bike.
Thanks everyone!
I cannot really add more to the expertise above.
Quotes to remember:
- You miss 100% of the shots you don't take -- Michael Jordan
- You never know your limits until you go past them.
- Winners succeed by doing what others won't, not what they can't.
Gotta be willing to fail to achieve your best. As you say, it's an art. There are no rules or equations which will guarantee success when you are *racing*. Just learning that your body is probably more powerful than you think it is, and finding out how to get your head out of its way.