EB's Return to triathlon -- IM Chattanooga 70.3 Race Report
General thoughts: I felt like I was all over the place before this race. I had no idea where my power numbers were at, barely knew if my legs would show up in the run, and maybe jumped in the pool a total of 8 times before race day. I had a killer new TT bike from Uptown Cycles that I spent most of the OutSeason on in my laundry room attempting to ride Zwift. Although my bike fitness was good from two cycling camps, I had never ridden the TT bike outside. You know the whole “don’t try anything new on race day” saying? Well, let’s just say I blew that up because I had no other choice. New bike with a new hydration bladder in the downtube. New race kit. New helmet. New power meter (demo of the Garmin Vectors.)
What I did have in my corner was a bit of race day experience which ended up saving my day. I knew the course from before which I felt was an advantage. My only goal for the day was to run 13.1 under 2 hours… and even that was a big “IF” my legs were going to show up. Not only did they show up, I was able to bring in a PR for this distance, my first attempt back after hip surgery. This is my 5th 70.3 race.
OFFICIAL TIME: 5:24:00 -- 16th AG Finish -- 1 min PR from a 70.3 in 2014
SWIM: 28:40 goal 35:00
That's me standing there like an idiot thinking those folks were wetsuit strippers. I had yet to cross the timing mat for my swim chip finish.
I knew I had an advantage with the swim in the beloved Tennessee River current, but because I really never had the chance to train in the water, I had no clue where I would end up. I am so very happy Ironman has implemented self-seeded times for swims now. I chose to go with the 25-30 min athletes in hopes I wouldn’t get in the way. Jumped in and started counting strokes. We had about 200 yards to swim against the current before turning and letting the river do its thing. After the first 100 yards, I noticed I was swimming in a decent line. Surprisingly enough, I was able to hold this for the majority of the swim. Only once did I get a bit too far to the inside of the last red buoy where I probably lost a bit of time. 1, 2, 3, 4 bridges later, I was swimming to the exit. Upon exiting the water, I noticed a line of volunteers just standing there… which to me meant wetsuit strippers. They obviously weren’t and I wasted a good minute taking my own wetsuit off before realizing I hadn’t even crossed the timing mat for my chip time. Still, for the amount of training I was able to get in, I was stunned by the result. Thank you Tennessee River Authority for making me look speedy!
T1: 3:59:00
The swim exit was pretty far from transition, and I was set up at the very end of the second row. Lots of running after the swim and to the bike start. Easy transition to bike shoes and helmet.
Dude totally photobombing me trying to look Zoolander bike fierce. WTH?
BIKE: 2:52:17 goal 3:30
Again, I knew I had fitness after the two insane weeks of climbing camps, but I had no idea what my numbers were. After fellow teammate and friend Dave Campbell looked at my data, it looked like my FTP was somewhere in the 180s so I guessed it was around 188 and chose to ride with an intensity factor of 0.77%. This was not only the first time on this bike for longer than 6 miles, it was the first time using the new Garmin Vectors as my power source. After leaving transition, I immediately noticed my power wasn’t registering. As I was messing with it, climbing out of the small incline to the HWY, I must have cross-chained not paying attention and dropped my chain to the outside. I took this opportunity to stop my Garmin, reset it to TRAINING mode (instead of race mode it was in) where the power immediately showed up, and then jumped off to fix my chain. This was a 'no expectation' race for me so I didn’t freak out for the few minutes this took to fix. Once I hit start, we were cooking with the good sauce.
I felt fortunate enough to know the portions of the 56-mile course. I knew I had to get a bottle of Gatorade down before the first rest stop. I carried an additional water bottle in a cage up front on the off chance my new Shiv hydration bladder in my bike chose not to play nice. Lucky enough, it did, and I was able to kill both bottles before the first aid station. I split my ride up into 4X14 mile splits, with focused power zones for each one, didn’t surge the hills and tried to kill it on the descents. Power numbers were a bit jumpy and I’m thinking it might have been the discrepancy in my pedal strokes -- right side is still a bit wonky from surgery. When I couldn’t focus on a number, I simply watched my IF, not letting it go above .78.
My plan was to eat a Gu at mile 40. At 37, I thought I was smart and put the Gu in my back pocket of my kit. 2 minutes after doing this it flew out. Thankfully, I packed two. After mile 40 in Chickamauga, I went for my backup Gu. Wouldn’t you know it, I tear the top off and the whole thing goes flying out of my hand. Ok, onto plan B! After the climb and massive decent to the final aid station, I roll up screaming “I need a Gu, I need a Gu!” Volunteers are the absolute BEST EVER! Guy comes running and gets it in my hand before I had to clip out of my bike.
Yes. I pee’d on my bike. Twice.
It was a great feeling riding back into town after that. Felt super strong bringing it home. Hated all of the railroad tracks. I lost my pod with my extra tubes on the last set of tracks into town. Felt like $100 just flying off into the road.
Rolled into T2 feeling good -- but by then, the heat had shown up. It was 90 something degrees out.
T2: 2:15:00 Jogged alllllllllll the way to the other end of the transition to my place. Racked the bike, shoes, belt, hat, salt, GO.
Again, I felt a bit of an advantage with knowing the run course. I knew where I could surge, I knew where the hills were and what was behind them. And all I had to do was do that twice. Considering this was my first brick in oh…. 2.5 years, I was happy to feel the heavy legs again. I for sure thought I was pulling around 9:30 splits by the first little turnaround. Looked at my numbers and saw 8:20s…. Whoa. Immediately told myself to slow that junk down. Heart Rate wasn’t crazy so I was still ok. Focused the first loop on keeping my heart rate in the low 140’s and just took whatever splits that showed up. The run had more pitchy hills than I remember. Loads of short, steep inclines that I just slowed my stride up, only focused on heart rate. Allowed myself to pick it up on the descents and the flats. Ate and salted myself early and often. Switched all aid stations salt/water, Gatorade Endurance. I had two Gu’s on me for mile 6 and one in case of emergency. Ended up needing it at mile 5 and then again at mile 10… Once I hit mile 11, I turned my watch around, pulled my head up, and went to work. The hill up to the pedestrian bridge past the last aid station, followed by the first half of that bridge is soul crushing. It’s just enough of an incline that makes you want to scream, spiking your heart rate and lactic acid in your legs. Once you get to the middle of it, it’s all downhill to the finish line. I knew this and tried to embrace the suck to the finish.
And then I crossed the finish to greet my college bud, Frankie who gave me my medal and officially welcomed me back to the sport.
I had the best day on that course and cannot wait to do it again next year. It was the perfect ending to a very long recovery back. Although I’m still not quite ready to commit to another 140.6, I know it’s not far off.
Comments
you too, brother!!! Sounds like you had a great day as well -- we need to get you drinking an peeing on that bike!
I just checked, and Raleigh is still open. Looking forward to racing with you again in 12 days.
@Mike Roberts hang on, let me talk to Jay. I did sign up for Augusta. Thanks for counting all throes guys I chicked 😂
Really, starting with a zippy swim and ending with a successful run, sandwiching a bike leg you'd build on the hills of Mallorca and the Blue Ridge, you called on your race experience and savvy to get that PR.