IM 70.3 Vichy Race Report
Race Report Abbey Bonner
IM Vichy (70.3) – 26th August 2017
|
|
Swim |
T1 |
Bike |
T2 |
Run |
TOTAL |
|
2016 Result |
00:40:00 |
00:04:21 |
03:09:36 |
00:04:41 |
02:04:57 |
06:03:35 |
|
2017 pre-race Target |
00:35:00 |
00:03:00 |
03:10:00 |
00:03:00 |
02:00:00 |
05:51:00 |
|
2017Actual |
00:38:32
|
00:04:15
|
03:03:55 |
00:03:25 |
01:56:22 |
05:46:29 |
About the Race
IRONMAN 70.3 Vichy is based in Vichy, Central France. The triathlon consists of:
1. 1.2 mile River Swim
2. 56-mile Flat Bike
3. 13.2 mile Run
· This was my “A” Race of the Year, and my 4th 70.3 Triathlon race.
· This is my first year training and racing as an EN Member.
· This was my first race using a bike power meter and a TT bike (started use in January 2017)
· I couldn’t run train due to foot injury from 1st April – 17th May, which was a blow, but compensated for this with extra bike training
· I participated in this race last year
· My target times were based on my training/race rehearsal times and also last year’s results.
· My main goal was to get under the 6 hour mark which would be a PB.
Race Day: Pre-Race Preparation
I arrived at T1 early to inflate my tyres, load my bike up with nutrition and hand my street wear bag in.
It was announced on the tannoy that the water was 25.1°C so no wetsuit allowed. This was expected, last year was non-wetsuit as well.
The Swim
The swim is 1 x lap course, going up one side of a large river and coming back down the middle of the river.
I placed myself in the 31-33 minutes swim corral and waited for the start. It took about 10 minutes to get to the start, where I jumped in the river with 2 other competitors at the sound of a “beep”.
The water felt very warm, I swam as quickly as I could to get away from the jetty and was surrounded by swimmers for the first 500 metres. I did my best not to panic and go with the flow. Swimmers did not really spread out during the whole swim, but luckily everyone was respectful, so it was non-eventful (in a good way).
The swim was slower than I hoped; I found this to be the case last year and a lot of other participants experienced the same. I don’t think it is long, so I wonder if there is a current that affects the time?, also, some people have suggested because it is in fresh water but, personally, I think that’s a load of baloney.
66th female out of the water …a good start.
T1
T1 was good, no wet-suit to take off which helped make it quick. I bumped into someone on my way out of the changing tent which knocked the lens out of my sunglasses, but I was able to fix it before I reached my bike.
I grabbed my bike and ran to the mount line.
Bike
I jump on my bike, take a gel and work on getting my heart rate down to 150. It is surprisingly high (171), so I take it nice and easy making sure I don’t go over 75% IF.
It takes 15 minutes to get my heart rate down to 150. I then aim for 79-80% IF.
It’s harder than I expect to reach my target IF. I don’t normally have a problem, I wondered at the time if I was having a bad legs day; but did not allow myself to even entertain that. This race is too important to me. However this feeling didn’t really go away throughout the whole bike leg. I had to really work to keep my IF up at the 79-80% mark. Post data analysis shows my overall IF was 80.1% …which is perfect. In hindsight, I think I found it hard to maintain this IF because the bike course was so flat...it is surprisingly hard to maintain power on a flat course because there is no rest, you have to constantly work at it.
I had no major dramas on the bike course, and no stomach or gear issues.
A referee at the first aid station told me to go to the penalty box, which I briefly did (in confusion), and then carried on because I had not been given a penalty out on the course. She was blowing her whistle at me as I was riding away, but I was sure I hadn’t received a penalty so I carried on. This was a good decision, because it turned out that I didn’t receive a penalty. After talking to other competitors, I now know that when you are given a penalty, the referees make it very clear so there is no doubt.
I got annoyed with “unfair” play by other competitors. A couple of people tried to draft off me, but luckily they backed off or overtook after I gave them a good long stare. I also had competitors resisting being overtaken (not within the rules). I even had one person stand-up on their pedals and put an effort in when I tried to overtake him. I decided not to get involved in his “ego-fest” and backed off. Sigh….
201st female off the bike (I lost a lot of places but this was to be expected, the bike is my weakest discipline, but is improving year-on-year).
T2
I dismounted the bike and executed T2 as fast as I could…no issues. I did it the EN way, and had all my bits and pieces in a small grab-bag, which I took on the course with me, and emptied the contents in my pockets on the run.
The Run
The run was hot 28°C. I had trained for this by wearing my Winter Training Clothing during my Sumer training sessions. This actually worked and the heat did not negatively affect me!
I stuck to my HR-based plan: (aiming for 9 minute miles overall average)
· 0-3 miles @ 150 HR BPM
· 4-10 miles smooth & steady 150-160 HR BPM
· 10-13.1 miles go for it
At the 10 mile mark I didn’t think I could push myself harder, but I saw Karl (my husband) at the side-lines. He said I was on target to get in under 6 hours and shouted at me to “Go as hard as you can!”.
That was the boost I needed and I picked up my pace running as fast as I could. That last 3 miles was so hard, I was audibly grunting, leaving nothing on the course. But it was working and it felt like I was overtaking everyone!
As I ran over the red carpet at the finish I didn’t care about my photo, it was all about my time. I pushed hard all the way to the end, peaking at 172 bpms(high zone 4).
113th female on the run
Summary
I exceed my expectations and I was thrilled with my overall time of 05:46:29. I knocked 17 minutes off of my overall time last year! 
Overall position was 121st female out of 408.
Using a Power Meter on the bike helped me a lot, with bike pacing and I’d recommend a Power meter to anyone doing 70.3’s or longer. I completed my first century ride in June, and the power meter was invaluable for this.
I didn’t see instant speed gains when I started using my TT Bike like a lot of other people seem to, so I was a bit despondent about my new bike in the lead up to this race, however combined with the EN training, and the power meter; I do think it contributed to knocking off 6 minutes off last year’s bike time…and it looks cool!
I think I did well on the run considering I couldn’t run for a month and a half in April/May. I am hopeful that my run will significantly improve if I can get through 2017/18 injury free.
I put everything into this race. My training through the whole year was all for this race so I had a lot riding on it. I improved in all areas, and thank EN for this. Work Does Work, and the EN execution plan is invaluable.
Comments
Nice run, particularly given your run issues in the year.