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John's Wisconsin 70.3
This was my first of two A races this summer. The other will be Superiorman in Duluth, MN in August. I've run a number of 70.3's over the last 9 or so years but this was the first in Madison. I have completed IMWI in 2010 and 2014 but they don't share the same bike/run course. I've always felt that my limiter for the half/full triathlons is nutrition so constantly tweaking the diet. This same weekend last year, the weather was brutal - I was running the Liberty half iron in MN and the temps were into the 90s on race day with some pretty brutal winds. Friends at Madison in 2017 had a similar experience. Weather reports were optimistic - low 70s and partly cloudy for this year.
This was the first time I've ever heard of a race shutting down the swim due to blue/green (cyanobacteria) algae but on Thursday, that's what was threatened. Fortunately, by Saturday it had cleared and we did a quick swim at the beach that morning. Otherwise, typical prep with reduced activity, carb loading and bike drop off.
Awake at 0400 for 1000cal of pancakes and syrup. Can't help but hear the thunderstorms and heavy rain outside the hotel. Arrive to race site and its absolutely pouring. Temps at 58 degrees. This was the first time I was in a hurry to put on wetsuit - only to find out the race was delayed 30 min due to lightning and poor visualization. This really was a miserable time. Nothing to do but stand, shivering, in your wetsuit for nearly an hour while the rain poured down. I did get in a gel and bottle of GE so starting with about 1300 cal.
Swim was reasonable - going out into the wind so waves were a little more challenging and swallowed a bit of the lake. Sighting was pretty good. For this one, I only breathed to the right (thinking more O2) but I noticed that I was having a harder time maintaining a straight path. I've had better times so either I'm faster with bilateral breathing or just wasn't as well trained this time. Not my best swim time but 9th in division so I was happy. Fortunately, the rain was gone by the time I exited and, other than a few drops on the bike, it didn't return.
Swim time: 34:35
T1 was a muddy mess, of course. Had to be a little cautious on the pavement but otherwise straightforward. 3:58
With the bike, I noticed a little GI distress early on. Probably due to water (or cyanobacteria
. So I just stuck with H20 for the first 10 miles or so. I had TT'd a 22 mile ride a few weeks earlier and determined an FTP of about 261 so I planned an IF of .80 - .83 for Madison. I have to assume the taper was at work here but trying to hold back at .80 was very difficult. That wattage seemed way too easy and after hitting some of the larger hills, I really had to concentrate on keeping the power down. This was a very technical and somewhat hilly course (just like the 140.6) so you can't always use the downhills to your advantage (esp. given the wet road conditions). My VI was 1.09 so I could have paced a little more evenly. Overall, I liked the course and found it to be fair to all the riders. No big packs and I saw marshals on at least 4 occasions.
Nutrition was 1.5 bottles of GE and two bottles of water. Four shot bloks. About 1100 cal and I did take in four salt tabs. With the low temps and no sun, I was plenty hydrated and voided three times. I did feel good without GI issues starting the run.
Bike time: 2:46:13
T2 was even more muddy by this point. 3:11
As always, started off too fast. It kills me how quickly your legs want to take you at the start of the run. With experience, I've learned this will absolutely destroy the latter part of the race if you don't learn to sustain a pre-planned pace. So within about a 1/4 mile, I've dialed it back to 8:15/mile and try to hold it there for the first three miles. The hills on the run are in the first 6-7 miles and they didn't feel too bad. Three cups of GE and three of water over those first 7 miles. GI irritation started around mile 8-9 but I've also started picking up the pace to 7:30 from the 7:45 I was going after mile 3. My fastest sustained pace was about 7:15 for a bit but by mile 12, the stomach was really getting wound up. No further intake after mile 7 but I didn't feel out of gas like I had at the end of Steelhead last year when I didn't take in anything (cal or H20) on the run. I'm happy with the run time and overall race time. Thankfully, the rain held off after the swim and I didn't see many injured participants out there.
Run time: 1:40:38
Final: 5:08:35
Lessons learned - nutrition seems to be working well such that up to about 400 cal/hr on the bike are tolerable and provided I don't take off too fast on the run, I can probably get a few cups of diluted gatorade in early on. There are a few more tweaks I'd like to try on the bike (latex tubes and a lower front end). Keep working on bike fitness as that's where I generally place farthest back.
I would definitely do this race again. I realize that there's a number of rough roads on this course but I really didn't find it to be much different than what I ride back home. May consider it as a tune up to IMWI in 2019.
This was the first time I've ever heard of a race shutting down the swim due to blue/green (cyanobacteria) algae but on Thursday, that's what was threatened. Fortunately, by Saturday it had cleared and we did a quick swim at the beach that morning. Otherwise, typical prep with reduced activity, carb loading and bike drop off.
Awake at 0400 for 1000cal of pancakes and syrup. Can't help but hear the thunderstorms and heavy rain outside the hotel. Arrive to race site and its absolutely pouring. Temps at 58 degrees. This was the first time I was in a hurry to put on wetsuit - only to find out the race was delayed 30 min due to lightning and poor visualization. This really was a miserable time. Nothing to do but stand, shivering, in your wetsuit for nearly an hour while the rain poured down. I did get in a gel and bottle of GE so starting with about 1300 cal.
Swim was reasonable - going out into the wind so waves were a little more challenging and swallowed a bit of the lake. Sighting was pretty good. For this one, I only breathed to the right (thinking more O2) but I noticed that I was having a harder time maintaining a straight path. I've had better times so either I'm faster with bilateral breathing or just wasn't as well trained this time. Not my best swim time but 9th in division so I was happy. Fortunately, the rain was gone by the time I exited and, other than a few drops on the bike, it didn't return.
Swim time: 34:35
T1 was a muddy mess, of course. Had to be a little cautious on the pavement but otherwise straightforward. 3:58
With the bike, I noticed a little GI distress early on. Probably due to water (or cyanobacteria
. So I just stuck with H20 for the first 10 miles or so. I had TT'd a 22 mile ride a few weeks earlier and determined an FTP of about 261 so I planned an IF of .80 - .83 for Madison. I have to assume the taper was at work here but trying to hold back at .80 was very difficult. That wattage seemed way too easy and after hitting some of the larger hills, I really had to concentrate on keeping the power down. This was a very technical and somewhat hilly course (just like the 140.6) so you can't always use the downhills to your advantage (esp. given the wet road conditions). My VI was 1.09 so I could have paced a little more evenly. Overall, I liked the course and found it to be fair to all the riders. No big packs and I saw marshals on at least 4 occasions. Nutrition was 1.5 bottles of GE and two bottles of water. Four shot bloks. About 1100 cal and I did take in four salt tabs. With the low temps and no sun, I was plenty hydrated and voided three times. I did feel good without GI issues starting the run.
Bike time: 2:46:13
T2 was even more muddy by this point. 3:11
As always, started off too fast. It kills me how quickly your legs want to take you at the start of the run. With experience, I've learned this will absolutely destroy the latter part of the race if you don't learn to sustain a pre-planned pace. So within about a 1/4 mile, I've dialed it back to 8:15/mile and try to hold it there for the first three miles. The hills on the run are in the first 6-7 miles and they didn't feel too bad. Three cups of GE and three of water over those first 7 miles. GI irritation started around mile 8-9 but I've also started picking up the pace to 7:30 from the 7:45 I was going after mile 3. My fastest sustained pace was about 7:15 for a bit but by mile 12, the stomach was really getting wound up. No further intake after mile 7 but I didn't feel out of gas like I had at the end of Steelhead last year when I didn't take in anything (cal or H20) on the run. I'm happy with the run time and overall race time. Thankfully, the rain held off after the swim and I didn't see many injured participants out there.
Run time: 1:40:38
Final: 5:08:35
Lessons learned - nutrition seems to be working well such that up to about 400 cal/hr on the bike are tolerable and provided I don't take off too fast on the run, I can probably get a few cups of diluted gatorade in early on. There are a few more tweaks I'd like to try on the bike (latex tubes and a lower front end). Keep working on bike fitness as that's where I generally place farthest back.
I would definitely do this race again. I realize that there's a number of rough roads on this course but I really didn't find it to be much different than what I ride back home. May consider it as a tune up to IMWI in 2019.
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Worth practicing before Superiorman in your training to see if those changes are feasible!
~ Coach P