Sabra Gonzalez Haines City 70.3 Race Report
Haines City 70.3 Race Report
This was my 5th HIM and 2nd with EN. It was great to meet everyone! We had such an awesome crew. I love meeting the people in person that you have been chatting with online and seeing @Bill Eckert from the 2017 Lou Crew! It’s such a unique experience and so glad to be a part of this team. And we won 1st place!! Whoot Whoot!
Race morning woke at 3:57am had coffee w/ sugar in the raw and Ripple pea protein creamer, GF jelly sandwich. Nerves were a little high so wasn’t super hungry. Later at a banana and a Honey Stinger Waffle about 30 min before swim. Sipped on watered down GE and drank about a full bottle of that.
Swim/ T1:
It was determined to be wetsuit legal race morning. Decided to wear the wetsuit over the swim skin. Started in the sub 27min group, knowing that I would not swim that, but neither did most people in that group. Swim was a time trial start with about 3 seconds between each swimmer. No stress involved there. (Well, knowing there were gators in the water did play in the back of your mind.) Started about mid pack of the front group and passed many people on the swim. Sighting was good since we weren’t all bunched up. The M course was challenging. I swam until my hand hit sand and stood up into muck. I sunk. I had a hard time getting out of the lake. Finally, I got under my feet and had to run in sand uphill to the transition area. The run from the swim to the bike rack was MUCH longer than I was expecting and it hurt my feet. Finally got to my bike and struggled with the wetsuit. I had to sit down to get it over my feet. Should have just worn the swim skin. Threw it in the bushes in disgust. Finally got my shoes on and helmet clipped, ran with bike to mount line. Off I go and then turned on bike computer.
Swim: 30:10 2nd AG
T1: 3:46
Bike
This is my absolute nemesis. I actually do like riding, I just really struggle here. Leading up to this race I did ZERO outside rides during the JOS/winter. All rides were on Zwift. Zwift has been a game changer, especially avoiding all the admin hours.
My goal was to keep watts at about 145 with no huge spikes. Got out of town and the first 5 “admin” miles went by quickly. It actually took about 25 minutes for my HR to settle down and when it did my HR was 150 over my usual 140. I had to just go with that. Maybe I’m still thinking Full IM? Started feed plan with strict adherence to about 250cal/hr. First hour/hour and a half were great. Avg 20+mph, Watts around 145, but I knew the party would soon be over with the hills. The hills came and I think I actually did OK here, keeping HR in check and not spiking the power. Rode the hills the EN way watching so many out of the saddle just powering up and over.
Things fell apart in the last 10 miles. It was net uphill back into town. The road surface was horrible, an annoying uphill grade and headwinds. I knew that if I went too hard here that would really screw up my run. I just watched the clock go by (not to mention the hundreds of people) and my goal time was gone with the wind. I thought for sure I would ride faster here than in Chattanooga, but that was not the case. I’ve come to expect getting passed by super star bike studs/studettes, but for some reason, this seemed worse than usual. It’s pretty frustrating.
As far as nutrition is concerned, I stayed pretty much on my plan. I did screw up the first aid station where I missed every single bottle of GE! What in the world? Luckily, I had an extra Untapped Maple syrup pack that’s 100 cals which I had to sub out for the GE calories. Had some Base salt and 2 shot blocks along with plain water to get me through that misstep. The next aid stations were back on track.
Bike: 2:56:56, Avg Pwr 141, NP 147, If .83, VI 1.04, 43rd AG
https://www.strava.com/activities/1497563037
T2: Uneventful. Took the time to use the port-o-potty that was next to my rack. I tried to go on the bike but just never seemed to have the right opportunity or coordination.
T2: 4:13
Run
Time to get to work and channel my inner Rinny and run em down. Legs felt good on the way out of T2 and was hoping my stomach wouldn’t bother me later on in the run. I ran strictly by HR of 150s for the first 4.5 miles. It was exciting running next to the Tri Clubs and had to keep my HR in check. Looking for Mariah was also motivational. Where would she be standing next? This was a 3 loop course with several hills each lap. I actually preferred this run course over the 2 loop course of Chatt 70.3.
I ran through aid station 1 and got a GE, my stomach churned, so no more of that. It was going to be a coke/water/Base salt day. My stomach never felt bloated like in the past and I didn’t stop to use bathroom! That alone was a big success! I got a little too excited in miles 5,8 and 9 and fell asleep at the wheel in miles 10/11 but I think they countered each other. I did miss a Coke at around aid station 10 so perhaps that was the problem. Overall, I was very pleased with the run. My PR in a stand-alone half is 1:43 that I ran March 10th.
Run 1:48:52 9th AG
https://www.strava.com/activities/1497297491
Overall 15th AG Final time 5:23:55
Final thoughts: Swim – Because I’m a strong swimmer, to wear a wetsuit or a swim skin? That is the question. I had a hard time breathing in the wet suit. It seemed to choke me and is impossible to get out of without wetsuit strippers. I had to sit down in T1 to get it off. Maybe only wear when the water temp is much colder. I think it was 75 or so. I wore my swim skin in the practice swim and was comfortable. Also, I feel like I need to “warmup” somehow. I don’t like to get in the water because I’ll get cold. (The lap pool was open race morning.) But going from 0 to 60 probably isn’t good either. I need to do better at a dryland warmup prior to the swim. Suggestions?
Bike: Clearly more work is needed here despite some improvements. Overall pleased with nutrition, but disappointed in the time.
Run: I think this was a well-executed run. HR was always in the forefront. I knew when to switch to Coke/Water/Salt to avoid stomach distress. I think what has also helped in this area is that I have significantly reduced dairy consumption to little to none, and reduced meat intake. I’m going to continue this plan going forward. Hopefully, I’ve found the answer to my GI issues.
Thanks for reading. I welcome any and all comments, especially, the bike. My next race is Chattanooga 70.3 in May. I hope to see some of you all there!
Sabra
Comments
Nice job with Run & Nutrition execution! ... and Bike too since you maybe rode what you should have for those last 10 miles to set-up your run.
I'm sure not being able to warm up didn't help with wet-suit comfort, but it sounds like the swim itself was okay/good/great(!). Skin may have been easier to remove, but wet suit should be more buoyant so quicker?
Congrats Sabra!
PS-1: I never thought about the gators so am glad you didn't mention that pre-swim!
PS-2: I also got stuck in the muck trying to exit!
A warm up before the swim, if you're not able to or want to get in the water, could look like a 10-15 min jog and doing a couple sets of arm strokes using stretch cords. This will activate your swim muscles and elevate your HR.
I think a wetsuit is always faster, if it fits right. Sounds like your's might be too small? Look at the ITU races, whenever it's wetsuit legal, they're wearing wetsuits, which means they swim faster in a wetsuit than a swim skin.
Again, well done and way to bring home 1st Tri Club!
Sounds like your bike was if nothing else smart and metered...in preparation for a killer run. Conditions may not have let your time goal be met, but when you can run like that off the bike I think bigger picture is perfect balance. Well done.
thanks for the pre-swim warmup. I'm going to try that for Chattanooga. And @Rory Gumina being more buoyant in the water does make sense. @Jeff Horn looking forward to seeing you in Chatt and @Dina Myers
great meeting you and racing with you this past weekend!