Scott Schneider 2018 Oceanside 70.3 Race Report
I have been training with EN since last November and am going to be making my second attempt at a full in about a month at IM Santa Rosa. (First attempt resulted in a DNF at mile 11 of the run at IMCDA in 2016) I woke up one morning four years ago and decided I wanted to switch from being a gym rat to a long course endurance athlete. I hadn't swam more than four laps in a pool without stopping and didn't own a bike. It has been an interesting journey, and I continue to learn a lot. Yesterday, I finished my third Oceanside 70.3 including a 14-minute PR. Here’s how it went….
My wife and I use this race as our weekend getaway – no kids! Normally we stay in a local hotel, but this year we went with an Airbnb right by the pier. Checked in on Friday afternoon. (I’m not sure what they could do to fix the logistics, but the distance between race check-in/finish line and transition is a massive PIA.) After signing my life away at registration, we had to walk a mile to transition to check in my bike. Then walked a mile back to the expo. So much for staying off my feet! Had a light dinner of salmon and brown rice, went through all my gear for the millionth time, then off to bed.
Race morning – alarm went off at 0400. I had a Powerbar (230cal), Strawberry/Banana Naked Juice (250cal) and coffee. I then began sipping on Gatorade as we made our way to the shuttle.
Got to transition and began setting up my gear. I was literally in the far back corner of transition, about the worst spot you could be. But it was easy to find:) I got my gear all set up and had a few minutes to watch Frodeno and Sanders getting their bikes ready. Coolest part of triathlon! SWIM (45:24): The swim was originally supposed to be a surf entry, but at the last minute they switched it back to all harbor due to safety concerns, which was fine by me. The swim was a rolling start, so I seeded myself in with the 45:00 crowd. Took forever to finally get in the water. Sweet Jesus it was cold! I settled in to the swim at a comfortable pace. There was very little contact other than at the turns. The sun was starting to come up at the turnaround, and sighting was tough on the swim back. I exited the water at 45:24 which was exactly the same as last year – down to the second! This is the first year they had wetsuit strippers, which was nice. On to T1. T1 – 11:32. My hands were totally numb and it made doing anything difficult. Two minutes slower than last year.
BIKE (3:32) –
This was my first-time racing with a power meter. My pacing goals were based on
the half-ironman race execution guide and my current FTP (247). I took Coach
P’s advice and was primarily watching my average NP with auto-lap every 5
miles. It was hard to keep my power down on some of the hills, but I ended up
leaving the bike feeling pretty good. Since joining EN, I have been spending a
lot of time learning from everyone in the forums. Based on what I read, I added
an Aerojacket disc cover to my back wheel and purchased a Hed 3 trispoke front
wheel off Craigslist. It felt fast and, more importantly, looked cool. But
there were a few times where a strong crosswind gave me a white-knuckle ride!
Nutrition was Infinit Speed with one scoop of CarboPro per bottle (I had three)
giving me about 330cal. I added two Salt Stick capsules per hour, which was
about 800mg of sodium/hour. I sweat a lot, and leg cramps are my nemesis. I
drank a little bit of water at the aid stations to top me off, and finished the
bike feeling like my nutrition/hydration was pretty solid
Time: 3:32
Ave Power: 169w
NP: 201w
IF: 1.006
TSS: 351.5
If my math is right, VI of 1.18?
My bike last year was 3:36, so no real change. I held back a
few times when my power was creeping up, but I reminded myself that I needed to
save it for the run. On to T2.
T2- 5:08. Last year was 6:51, so big improvement.
RUN (2:29) – 
This was where the wheels came off a bit. The guide said,
based on my numbers, I should hold a 9:30 pace the first 3 miles then bump it
up to 9:00 for the remainder. I know this is slow for some of you speed demons,
but I’m 6’04/225, and that is fast for me. Anyways - wasn’t happening. I was
keeping it close to TRP for the first loop, but by the time loop 2 started, I
started having some GI issues and was fatiguing. I had decided to go with the
on-course nutrition for the run so I didn’t have to carry anything, which was
probably not a good idea. My stomach doesn’t seem to like GE, so I for Santa
Rosa I will be switching to a custom Infinit run formula. I ended up with a 10:59
average pace with an average HR of 144bpm. That’s still the fastest half
marathon I have ever run, even without a swim and bike beforehand. I was
disappointed I couldn’t even come close to the goal paces in the HIM execution
guide, but a PR is a PR.
Still plenty of room for improvement. I continue to get
faster every year, which is a good thing. I still wonder if I will have enough
fitness built up to finish Santa Rosa in 33 days, but I guess there’s only one
way to find out….
Thanks for reading.
Comments
You should get on the GroupMe for Santa Rosa. I'm not doing the race but will be there.