Challenge Peguera Mallorca(70.3) - Stung by a bee!
Race Report Abbey Bonner
Challenge Peguera-Mallorca (70.3) - 14th October 2017
|
|
Swim |
T1 |
Bike |
T2 |
Run |
Total |
|
Target |
00:34:00 |
00:04:00 |
03:50:00 |
00:03:00 |
02:00:00 |
06:31:00 |
|
Actual |
00:35:07 |
00:04:23 |
03:33:43 |
00:02:34 |
02:03:58 |
06:19:47 |
About the Race
Challenge Peguera-Mallorca is based in Peguera, South Mallorca.
1. 1.2 mile Sea Swim
2. 56-mile Hilly Bike (4080 ft.)
3. 13.2 mile Run
· This was my 5th 70.3 Triathlon race.
· It was my 2nd 70.3 race of the season, categorized as my “B” Race. My “A” Race was 70.3 Vichy which was earlier on the year
· This is my first year training and racing as an EN Member.
· My run target times were based on training times.
· The swim and bike targets came from Race Rehearsals.
· The transition targets were based on my best transition times in previous 70.3 races.
Race Day: Pre-Race Preparation
Preparation went well. This race didn’t start until 9 am so no early start required which was great! Karl, my husband was competing as well, so we both had breakfast at the hotel, and then got a lift to T1.
I loaded up my bike with bottles and nutrition. I needed to borrow a track pump, and (lucky me) ended up using Yvonne Van Vlerkens! I spent longer than I should have done trying to pump up my front tyre (being an unfamiliar pump), so Yvonne pumped up my back tyre for me, wished me luck and then went on her way. How nice is that?! ….I love this sport! J
Karl and I waited in a beachside café until it was time to put our wetsuits on, we then had a quick dip in the sea and I said Goodbye and Good Luck to Karl (he started 15 minutes before me in his Age Group).
I did a bit of stretching and then placed myself in my corral for the start.
Swim
It was a wet-suit swim. The swim began with a mass start split by Age Groups from the beach.
This was 1 lap, an out and back course, turning around 3 x buoys at the far-end of the swim course. I placed myself mid-pack at the start, ran into the water and swam as hard as I could to get a good position in the swim. The water was blue, warm and crystal clear. It was difficult not to get distracted by the fish swimming underneath us! This was the calmest, most polite and orderly race swim I have experienced so far.
Sighting was difficult because the buoys were small, however, I had pre-empted this and aimed for an anchored boat that was just passed the buoys.
This worked, and think I swam the most direct route I could. We caught up with the slower Age Group competitors who started before us, but they didn’t get in my way. On the way back to the beach I swam on the toes of someone else. It felt very easy, but there was no one in front of her so I decided I would expend too much energy for little gain if I overtook her and “led” from the front.
As we got nearer to the beach the pack went off course a bit, so I stuck to my line and swam to the finish on my own. I was getting excited, I didn’t have a group in front of me, so I thought that I might be one of the first ladies to finish! Towards the finish, the pack came back in from the side and I came out of the water with a few women and men.
45th female out of the water (35:07)…a good start.
T1
We had to run up the beach to T1 through a designated “alley”. I was blocked by people walking to T1 which was frustrating.
Learning point: Next time I will be more vocal and tell people to get out of the way
Arrive in T1, emptied my bag on the floor and put my wetsuit in it.
I put on helmet and shoes, grabbed sunglasses and ran to the bike. A lens fell out of my sunglasses. This happened in my previous race so I recited to myself “Keep Moving forwards” and fixed it on the way to the bike, and luckily it didn’t cause any further issues.
Learning point: get some new cycling sunglasses!
I grabbed my bike and cautiously navigated through T1 avoiding the trip/slip hazards and pulled myself up a ramp that had been placed over some steps to get us from beach level to road level. (This was the worst part of my race experience – it took a lot of grit and determination to get me and my bike up there!).
I mounted my bike and off I went.
49th Female out of T1 (4:23)…lost 4 places, some improvement required.
Bike
The bike leg is hilly (4080 ft) so required discipline and adherence to the EN Rules. It consists of 2 x laps with 1 big up-hill at the 6 & 33 mile mark which rises for 5 miles. You go up this hill, turn-around and then come back down. The remainder of the course is then “rolling”.
The course starts with an uphill incline in the first few minutes, so I took it easy aiming for 70-75% FTP for the first 5 miles to get my heart rate down. At the time I thought I mastered this, and felt smug watching competitors stomping passed me, huffing and puffing on the bike. I thought “I’ll see you again on lap 2”.
Looking at my post-race stats my IF for the first 5 miles was too high 80%, but to be honest, if it was any lower I would have been going backwards!
Once the first 5 miles (23 mins), was over I took a drink and first feed and allowed myself to work within an IF of 79-83% as planned.
As I was near the bottom of the 5-mile climb, I heard “Abbey” from the other side of the road…Karl was coming back downhill so we waved and shouted encouragement at each other. This was great!
I fed every 20 minutes, sticking to my power levels. The atmosphere on the course was fantastic! No drafting issues and pleasant, communicative competitors who stayed on the correct side of the course and who would “shout out” when they were overtaking. The bike course was also beautiful! No stomach issues, legs felt good! I was loving it!....
On the 2nd time down the 5 mile hill, a bee hit my right quad and stung me. The bee was stuck to me, stinging me and I was screaming because it hurt Ouch!!!! I unclipped my leg, shaking it trying to get the bee off! (Other competitors looking at me as if I am a crazy person). I got the bee off and doused the sting with water to try and get the sting out.
Tried to decide what to do: stop or carry on? Carry On of course “keep moving forward!” I figured that there were enough Medics around should the situation get worse.
Actually, I think the bee helped me because it seemed to turn my “aggression” button on. No way was a bee going to get in the way!
I felt good, my IF was good, so I decided to dig in for the 21 miles left on the bike!
It was great, I started overtaking loads of people…they all looked knackered. Surely these were the guys who stomped up the hills on the first lap?!J
Around mile 45 I remembered I needed to pee before T2, so did the deed, which meant no stopping at T2 or on the run. I never considered doing this before, it sounds gross but it saves so much time! Thanks EN…a top tip!
The bike leg ended with no other issues. My final IF was 79.6% - on the lower side of my target range so perhaps I could have pushed it a little more?
95th female off the bike (3:33:43), I lost 46 places. No surprise as the bike leg is my weakest discipline; but it is improving each year.
T2
I dismounted at the dismount line, and then negotiated the dreaded ramp back to T2 – beach level – I was still in cycling shoes - again this was horrible.
Learning point: learn to leave shoes on the bike when dismounting bike.
I racked my bike, ran into the woman's tent, emptied bag, put helmet, glasses and cycling shoes in the bag; put on run shoes; grabbed my zip lock bag and ran. I don’t think I could have done it any quicker.
91st female out of T2 (2:34), gained 4 places!
Run
I dropped my zip-lock bag whilst putting my visor on – that was annoying, but inwardly recited “keep moving forward” and continued on my way. I was looking out for Karl, I saw him on my first lap of 4 (he was on his last).
My aim for the first 3 miles was to get my heart rate down from 160 to my target: 150bpm. I kept myself busy thinking of unicorns and fairies, trying to lower my pace and heart rate. This was hard because the run course was (slightly) rolling, but I got there by the 2-mile mark.
I tried to keep it around 150 from mile 2-3, and then between 150-160 bpm between miles 4-10.
This was hard, ideally I wanted 155bpm, but I found myself battling to keep it below 160bpm; and my pace was slow; nearer to 10-minute miles than the 9-minute miles, I was aiming for.
But I stuck to my plan. It was hot 28 °C which was the culprit. Also, my gps didn’t lock in properly on my Garmin, so the pace showing on my watch was erratic and obviously incorrect.
I started to let the negative thoughts in and to lose my “Racing head”. The run leg went along Peguera High Street, and I was distracted by Ice Cream shops and tantalizing aromas of Spanish food. It then took us along the beach front which was stiflingly hot, and I had an overwhelming need to jump in that beautiful clear blue sea again! I did not give in to temptation “just keep moving forward”, and I continued.
Mile 10 clicked over and I tried to “Go for it”. At the time it didn’t feel like I accelerated that much, but looking at my data post-race, my HR rose from 160bpm to 169 (z4) over these last 3 miles. Unfortunately, there was no significant difference to my pace per mile.
Overall I did the run in 2hr 3minutes, average 10-minute miles.
I am disappointed to be over the 2-hour mark. My attitude had something to do with it; and the heat… I lost my competitive mojo.
On the plus side I made up 6 places, final result 85th female out of 142.
12th out of 22 in my age group.
Overall Learning points:
1. T1: I will be more vocal and tell people to get out of the way
2. Get some new cycling sunglasses!
3. Learn to leave shoes on the bike when dismounting bike.
4. Next year I need a more aggressive motto to recite. During the run my “Keep Moving Forward” motto made me think what I was doing was acceptable as long as I didn’t stop. In theory this is good, but in reality this made a “plod” or “a quick look at an ice cream shop whilst passing” acceptable to me. I needed a different motto to give me some spark and focus.
5. Heat acclimatization. I did some great work on this for my A race at IM Vichy 70.3 (trained in my winter/rain clothing all summer). Challenge Peguera was 6 weeks after IM Vichy 70.3. In the training after Vichy, leading up to Peguera I couldn’t face training in my Winter clothing again and I hoped that heat acclimatization I had done for Vichy would carry over into Peguera. Unfortunately, it didn’t, and this was reflected in a slower run pace to HR ratio at Peguera. Average of 9:13minute miles at Vichy compared to 10-minute miles at Peguera (and Vichy was hotter).
Final Reflections:
This was my first Challenge branded event, and I found it very refreshing after competing 4 x 70.3 Ironman Events. Challenge was less commercial, the Goody Bag and Finishers T-Shirt was better, drafting wasn’t an issue, and they engraved our meals for free!
I will return to Peguera and do this race again. It was fantastic! Interestingly I found the bike course much more interesting and challenging than a flat course, and I have plenty to work on to improve my run.
IM Vichy 70.3 (my A Race) went really well and according to plan, which left me very satisfied at the time, but in hindsight, I didn’t take away any particular learning points from that race. However, Peguera has given me plenty of learning points and has re-invigorated my motivation to work hard in the Out-Season to see improvements next year!
This is my first year of being an EN Member. This has massively benefitted me, not only in my racing but in my training and my outlook towards triathlon. It is great to be part of a club full of like-minded people. Thanks, Team EN. And also a final special thanks to Karl my husband. He believes in me and…more importantly doesn’t accept any excuses!
Comments
Karl did it in 5 hours 13 minutes, which looks like it’ll be good enough to qualify him for the Great Britain Age Group Triathlon Team! Go Karl!
Congrats on a great race. Your description of Mallorca made me more excited to visit in April. That’s a lot of climbing over 56 miles. Unless your watts/kg is above 3, it'll be tough not to overcook portions of the bike. For example, if it takes 200 watts to get up a long hill and your FTP is 200, you’re burning matches you need for the run. If your FTP were 220, different story. And it just happens to be that EN is the best place to snag FTP gains.
As you’re working on getting stronger on the bike, take a look at bike fit. Your current fit isn’t very aero and, absent back issues, you can get a lot lower. Easiest way (for me) to slip out of my shoes while riding is hold a foot at top of the pedal stroke, reach down, unstrap, hold the heel of the shoe with my hand and slip foot out and rest it on top of the shoe while still holding the heel. Repaet on other side. Practice on the trainer. It’s easier than peeing or fighting a bee while riding.
You obviously love this sport and are getting to race in some cool places. Hope 2018 brings even more success.
Mike
It's good to join the club @Robert Sabo re: bee sting in a race. What a coincidence!...or is it quite common?! I also rode through a swarm of bees on a training ride this summer. I didn't see them until it was too late to avoid them so closed my eyes and shut my mouth. Somehow I came out the other side clean with no stings. It was my lucky day!
Thanks for the great advice Mike. Yeah, it's a very difficult balance to get the power right on a hilly bike so it doesn't impact the run. I've already signed up to do this 70.3 again next year so I shall experiment on my limits in training and see if I can execute better next year. I specifically focused on comfort instead of aero when I got this bike, but maybe my fit could be tweaked a little now; I'll look into it. Great advice about getting the shoes off. I will give that ago...starting on the trainer
You will have a fantastic time on the Mallorca camp in April. Nice beaches and coves for swims and the cycling is amazing and they are really set-up for it. The scenery is stunning
I suspect your FTP is higher than you think but you probably overcooked the bike. Holding .8IF for 3.5 hrs is really tough- and if true would have a negative impact on your run. If you haven't already, check out the 'racing with power' wiki entry:
http://members.endurancenation.us/Resources/Wiki/tabid/91/Default.aspx?topic=Racing+with+Power+Kit
Let me second Mike's comment about getting a bike fit. That's the first thing I thought when I saw your photo on the bike. It probably doesn't matter too much on a hilly course like Mallorca, but if you race on anything relatively flat, you are giving up a lot of time with such a relaxed position.
Best of luck in your 2018 season!