Sabra Gonzalez Chatt 70.3 Race Report
Chattanooga 70.3 Race Report
This was my third time for Chatt 70.3 I just love this city and love the race and the wonderful volunteers that make it all possible!
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
| Swim | 26:20 | 15:43* | 22:06 |
| T1 | 4:07 | 3:40 | 3:14 |
| Bike | 3:05:40 | 2:50:16 | 2:53:04 |
| T2 | 3:18 | 3:06 | 3:11 |
| Run | 2:04:54 | 1:53:12 | 1:34:40 |
| 5:44:19 | 5:05:57 | 5:07:25 |
Friday, my friend Lane and I drove up, got lunch, checked into hotel and checked into the race. It was a leisurely and enjoyable day. Met up with another local Atlanta friend, Matt, for dinner.
Saturday – Woke up to watch the wedding! I did about a 3 mile run around the course with a few pickups. It was already warm at 9am and I knew the next day would be the same. I made sure that I was drinking GE and salting food in preparation for Sunday. I drove the bike course just for peace of mind. Ate lunch then dropped off bike. Headed back to our room for an early dinner. Then it was time for relaxing, tri tats and getting breakfast and bottles ready for race day.
Sunday – Race Day!
Actually slept great and woke up at 4:07. Got coffee, dressed and started to eat. I managed a salted jelly GF sandwich, an applesauce cup and a banana. Nerves were setting in making it hard to eat. Thought about drinking a protein smoothie, but nothing new on race day!
Headed to set up transition around 5am, saw @Jeff Horn Jeff and we spoke briefly, then back to room to drop off pump and get wet suit, and make one last pit stop. Hopped on the shuttle bus to swim start. Met @Mike Roberts and @Emily Brinkley! YAY! They were so nice!!
Swim – 22:06
Ate 2 Clif blocks before swim start and drank about 16 oz GE leading to start. Started midpack of the sub 27 group. Passed a fair amount of people and finally settled in past the red turn buoy. I actually found some feet off a guy and swam behind him for a few minutes then he took off. Found a few more here and there and made a beeline for the swim exit. Found the wet suit strippers and then off on the long run to my bike.
T1:3:14
Bike – 2:53:14, IF .90, Avg Pwr 152, NP 159 VI 1.05
https://www.strava.com/activities/1585587337
Well, here they come.
Stay in my box and just do what I need to do. Got out of town and began nutrition
plan. I think that went fine. Around mile 17 the first peloton passed me up
a hill and I dropped my chain or so I thought. Had to pull over and check
things, but just seemed to have my gearing jacked up so back on the road
without issue.
Next up was the hill on Andrews. I got into my gears a little too soon, but the climb wasn’t as bad as I remembered. Got over the hill and it was time to make up for the first part. Kept up on the nutrition and it was starting to get warm. At the next aid stations I grabbed water and threw it over me to cool off. Yes, this time I DIDN’T MISS! Got passed by two more large pelotons.
Got to Chickamauga and was hoping a large crowd was there to boost my spirits, but there was no one out!! I think everyone was still at church? Made that left turn after town to begin the long climb out. Uneventful, but my legs were starting to feel it. Is this over yet?? Can I run now? Got through the big descent, tried to go on the bike but couldn’t. I knew the worst was behind me and it was a steady push back to T2.
T2 – 3:11 I ran past my transition spot as some girl had hung her wet suit over my number! WTH?! And also included a pit stop to the port a potty.
Run 1:45:41
https://www.strava.com/activities/1584751954
Finally, I made it the run.
Because I don’t use the triathlon mode on my 920xt (just swim and run) I’m
usually in the dark of my cumulative time. I had my friend Matt call it out to
me when I ran past him in T2. 3:22 was what he shouted at me. After some counting on my fingers and realizing
my brain just does not do athletic math very well in a race, it finally came to
me that if I could go about a 1:45, I'd be right where I wanted.
I knew I wanted to push the run. @Paul Curtin said in a comment on my race plan thread that with my avg HR in the 160s on my long runs I could handle pushing it a little sooner than usual. My first three miles were to try to keep it under 160. Mile 4 was where I began to really focus. I made sure I grabbed ice where I could and alternated water/coke and at one point I grabbed a Red Bull. YUCK! I held on pretty good until about mile 10/11 where I had to go up Battery hill for the second time. Just hold on, get to the first bridge and there’s a nice downhill to home. It was really getting hot! (After the race, I realized that I should have tried to take in a couple of Clif Blocks in the early miles. I think that was part of my problem around mile 10 as well.)
I ran across blue bridge for the second time and gave whatever was left to get me home. I hit my run goal time, overall time and ended up finishing 10th in my AG! 5:07:25. I felt overheated and nauseous after I stopped. I must have dumped 3-4 bottles of water over me then sat in medical with ice on my head for about 15 minutes until I finally felt better.
Takeaways:
1) Swim was fine. No wetsuit choking issues this time. I did a lot more arm swings and jumping around before getting in the water.
2) Bike - keep working here. Still needs improvement. Try to go on the bike and work on a flying mount/dismount.
3) Run - even if I don't want to eat, I need to try to get something in me the first couple of miles.
Thanks for reading!
Sabra
Comments