Ross Randolph Ironman Langkawi 70.3 (Malaysia) Race Report
Swim: 29:04
Bike: 2:39
Run: 1:36
T1: 3:28
T2: 1:24
Overall: 4:49:55 (6th place AG)
Ironman Langkawi (Malaysia) is one of the few Ironman events in which there is a 70.3 and a full IM on the same day in the same venue. Earlier this year my wife (KQ in 2016 and in pursuit of her 2nd trip to the Big Island) was looking for a late-season race in an exotic locale with hopes of qualifying for 2019 World Championship. We’ve never been to Malaysia, Grandma was available to watch the kids, passports renewed … boom, we’re in! It should be stated that my primary purpose for being there was to be the Sherpa, driver, entertainment coordinator and whatever else my wife needed; so my race success was less about how I was doing and more about her result. In other words, her success = my success. (Looking at the competition and her training, we knew she had a good chance at another KQ. But as everyone who races Ironman knows – ANYTHING can happen on race day.) Why is this important for my race report? It seems strange, but was part of the mental prep & execution. And also is my “WHY” for this race.
I didn’t have super high expectations. This was intended to be a fun, “race-cation” (which it was) – but I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to test a hot weather racing strategy. My two prior 70.3’s this year were in much cooler weather & lower humidity (Santa Rosa 70.3 & Santa Cruz 70.3). It was a year of mixed results. After a disappointing Santa Rosa race (bike mechanicals and cancelled swim), I had my best-ever IM 70.3 performance in Santa Cruz with a Top 10 AG finish. I was curious how lessons learned earlier in the year could be applied to Langkawi.
RACE PREP & PLAN
I’ve been following the Bike-Focused IM 70.3 plan for most of the summer and early fall. I’m a good swimmer, good runner, need some work on the bike. (After Santa Cruz in September, I jumped back into the plan about 8 weeks out.) My goal was not so much to gain fitness as not to lose it. Also, I have a history of running injury and I really wanted to go into this race healthy. Based on my training numbers (HR trends, pace @ RPE), I felt that I hadn’t lost any fitness. I also avoided the injury bug by limiting my run mileage & intensity, especially in the 2-3 weeks leading up to the race (from 40 miles per week to 20 miles or less). I was feeling pretty confident going into race day.
My swim fitness is decent and is probably the strongest discipline for me. The weeks leading up to the race had me wondering if I should or should not go with a swimskin. I procrastinated too long to get a proper one through the EN discount (sorry, Roka!). So, of course, I did what you shouldn’t do and splurged on the newest Blue Seventy model that was featured at the race expo. (Sadly, no ROKA to be found in Langkawi.) I did get a chance to do a couple of practice swims before race day. If I didn’t go swimskin, I would have swam without a top so as not to have the drag. My big fear was jellyfish as there had been reports of them in the area and I did see one woman getting treated after a practice swim. I don't like jellyfish. Yep, I’m going with the swim skin.
My nutrition plan was essentially the same as colder weather races but I upped the fluids knowing it would be hot (80-90 deg F) and humid (90% or more). Over the 8 weeks preparing for Langkawi, we had some unseasonably warm weekend afternoons in Northern California so I was able to ride the trainer in the garage to simulate the heat (but not the humidity). I felt pretty comfortable based on those experiments and a sweat test that I would need approx. 3 bottles per hour fueling (2 bottles/hour worked well for the cooler weather races). When given the option, I much prefer the on-course nutrition than having to carry it onboard. The challenge of an international race is that they don’t have the same options as a race closer to home. For this race in Asia, instead of Gatorade Endurance they used 100Plus Isotonic. I’ve used 100Plus before (but not while training) and I didn’t want to take the chance – and also I didn’t do the caloric conversions to account for differences in formulation. So I made the decision to carry all my nutrition for the bike on board. It worked but I didn't do enough experimentation in training. For the race, I have a fluid container on my front that I usually drop bottles straight in. For a 56-mile bike, that's up to 6 bottles or more. For race day I prepared a few baggies of GE powder that I dumped into the fluid container and added on-course water. It was messy but worked ok. I also had one bottle worth of GE in a smaller flask that I made concentrated. That worked a lot better and will do that in the future if needed. For the run, I stuck to the plan that’s worked for me in the past which is water (I carry flasks) and a Hammer gel every 4 miles (approx. 30 minutes). After 10 miles, the plan is to enjoy some Cola at the aid station, pop a caffeinated gel if needed and hammer it to the finish line. I brought salt tabs but didn't use them the whole race (had them on the bike); surprisingly there must have been enough salt in the GE.
The only other thing I’ll mention is that we were lucky to have about a week before the race to acclimate. We spent about 4 days in Singapore doing some sightseeing and light training to get accustomed to the tropical heat & humidity and adjust to the time difference. That time was well-spent as we arrived to the island of Langkawi in better spirits, although still in shock at the reality check from how high the heartrate gets with very little exertion in those conditions. (I was hitting 140 bpm rolling the bike boxes to the taxi!)
I must also tell you that if you ever do Ironman Malaysia or Langkawi 70.3 and you like to stay off the beaten path and enjoy adventure, you must stay at Limasan Padi. We found it on booking.com as we like to have our own kitchen, independence from the hotel scene, etc. We loved it; the owners are fantastic. Super nice couple and he is a former competitive cyclist. Also, if you can manage it, rent a scooter. So much easier and better to get around the island versus a car.
View from the front gate of Limasan Padi looking over the rice fields across the road:
RACE EXECUTION
Race day forecast was the same as every day the week before the race and every day the week after the race. Hot, humid, near 100% chance of thunderstorms.
SWIM
The format of the race is that the 70.3 starts around 7:00 a.m. with the 140.6 starting about an hour later. This meant that I had to be out of transition about an hour before my wife did. We rode our scooter to the start of the swim and as we dodged the long line of cars looking for parking, we were happy with our choice of transportation. (The swim start is about 10 miles from T2 and T2 is another 2-3 miles from the finish line … another reason why scooters are preferred!)
The swim is a triangular course but each leg is different. The first leg is about 400 meters, then 700 meters and the swim back to shore is 800 meters. Like most Ironman events, it was a rolling start. Swimmers left about 5 at a time in 5 second intervals. I was on the far right (more coincidence than strategic placement) but was a good move for 2 reasons. First, I got to give Crowie a high five as I entered the water. (Craig Alexander was there as ambassador, not to race.) Second, it placed me right on the line to the first buoy. There was a little scrum in the beginning with my group, but I’m a pretty strong swimmer and was able to get some separation. I had a fairly clean line for the first 400 meters before the 1st turn. I was concerned about getting too hot on the swim. I was using a swimskin and had my sleeved EN kit on underneath. It helped for me to concentrate on smooth, fluid arm movement and sighting every 10-20 strokes. I found some bubbles to chase about halfway to the 2nd buoy and they took me until about 250 yards from the exit. I could tell that my HR was higher than normal when I came out of the water and knew I’d need to get that under control on the bike. Luckily, I had only one loop for the swim. My wife would be going back to start her 2nd loop later.
It was a clean transition, meaning our T1 bags were hung up on hooks and we had to put everything from the swim in the bag before heading to our bike. I like this type of transition, but I’m not very good at it and don’t practice it much. Will put that on the list in the future as I screwed up the sequence and wasted precious time trying to get my race shoes & helmet out of the bag. Slow is smooth & smooth is fast. I was neither … need to work on that. I could have been 15 seconds faster in T1.
LINK TO GARMIN SWIM FILE: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/3166161363
BIKE
The bike route is essentially a tour of the island. Probably not unlike Cozumel or similar destinations with limited roadways. The 70.3 is a single loop; 140.6 does a double loop. One of the cool things I discovered is related to the eagle which is the mascot of the Ironman Malaysia race. There are a lot of them on Langkawi. And, as was pointed out during the briefing, the shape of the bike course actually looks like an eagle! There are other animals associated with the IM Malaysia bike course – monkeys. There is an actual monkey zone where they tell you not to toss empty gels … and they suggest you don’t stop. The monkeys can be aggressive and if you smile at them (i.e., show your teeth) they can really make for a memorable race – in all the wrong ways.
Fortunately, I had no interaction with monkeys. At least not the ones with long tails. About 20 miles into the bike it started to rain. There is a steep incline in the first 15-20 miles with a turnaround followed by a steep descent (about 2,000 feet of climbing for the 70.3). On the way up the hill, I heard shouts and the sound of bikes & bodies crashing. It was probably about 20 feet behind me. When I turned I saw a large pack that had formed, someone caught a tire and the whole pack went down. On my way back I witnessed quite a bit of carnage – one fellow who I would see later on the run determined to finish was really torn up from his shoulder all the way down through the top of his leg. His kit was absolutely shredded. It was a wake up call for all of us and afterward everyone minded their distance and attacked the descent with appropriate care.
After that the bike was uneventful; there was a thunderstorm around mile 45 which brought some cooler temp and some relief. Other than that, it was staying aero and monitoring HR and power. I’ve made significant improvements in my bike this year. This is the first year I’ve trained & raced with power and it’s made a huge difference. I’ve gone from a 3+ hour bike for 56 miles to 2:30-2:45. I’m very happy with that result and looking forward to see what a proper bike focused OS does for the 2019 season.
I only wished I could have biked about 15 seconds faster!
LINK TO GARMIN BIKE FILE: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/3166952434
RUN
My biggest fears going into the race, especially with the heat & humidity, was how the run would go. In general, the way my races have gone are usually I'm one of the first out of the water (indeed, I was first out of the water for my age group in Langkawi), I fall back on the bike as a ton of faster dudes pass me (yep, I was passed by 11 guys in my age group and fell to 12th place starting the run), and then I pass as many people as I can over 13.1 miles.
I was happy with how I was feeling coming off the bike. I executed the nutrition plan I wanted – 2.5 bottles GE per hour, 1 Clif shot every 20 mins – and felt as hydrated as I was supposed to be starting the run. In Langkawi, they pride themselves on their air-conditioned T2. (They claim it is the only one in the world, but that in fact would be incorrect as IM Wisconsin can make the same claim!) Regardless, it felt great and it was tempting to spend more time in T2 to have the respite before heading back out onto the surface of the sun.
It usually takes me about ½ to 1 mile for my legs to wake up from the bike and start to really run. My plan was to watch my HR and focus on leg turnover. I didn’t plan to walk the aid stations unless I felt I absolutely had to but was sure to get cold water at each one (not so much to drink but to cool). I had no idea where I was in placement, but a few minutes out of T2 I heard some quick footfalls behind me and was soon overtaken by a guy in a red-and-white candy cane kit. I was pretty sure he was in my AG but I let him go. Because the course is very flat and has long open stretches, I could see him ahead of me for the first few miles. He probably put about 200 yards on me in the first mile and I wasn’t keen on chasing this early. But luckily his top reminded me of “Where’s Waldo” and so every once in a while I would peek to see where he was up ahead. Surprisingly, after the initial gap was created between us it didn’t seem to be getting bigger. Game on!
The Ironman Malaysia & Langkawi 70.3 share the same run course. The marathon is 2.5 full loops that take you all the way back to the air conditioned airport hangar in T2 whereas the 70.3 does 1.5 loops but the turnaround is before you get back to T2. Knowing this, I pretended that the first ½ loop didn’t really count and that the real race started when you pass the finish line chute and go back for the full loop. This helped break up the race mentally for me. That, and I did think about Sara (my wife) and how she was doing. My goal was to do my best in my race but be fresh enough (i.e., not in medical tent) afterward to go cheer her on and feed her intel so she knew what she needed to do to punch her ticket to Kona.
Surprisingly, the 200 yard gap that Waldo had on me was slowly closing. I wasn’t running much faster, although my splits were not as even as I would have liked them to be. When I was within 50 yards, I knew if I really wanted to push the pace and my limits I could have a go, but curiosity trumped competitiveness. As I pulled up alongside, I avoided the race tactic of waiting to blow by him and instead gave him the complimentary “nice job” and then asked where he was from. He said he was from France and was upset that he had to serve a 5-minute penalty in T2 for drafting. (Thus explains his fresh legs on the start of the run. He finished the bike about 5 minutes before I did.) We went back and forth, confirmed we were in the same age group, he said he thought we were definitely top 10 but he said there was several in our age group that had passed him on the bike.
At this point we had passed mile 10 and I missed my opportunity to grab my cola that I look forward to … I had been so chatty that we were approaching mile 12 and the aid station. Figuring it was my last chance to get Coke which was my plan, I slowed to get some & walked a few steps. He didn’t stop and all of a sudden we were back to 15-20 yards apart. At this point, if I knew what I know now I would have made a different decision. I did start to chase but not too aggressive as I could tell he was also picking up the pace to finish strong.
The last ½ mile of the course you turn from pavement onto beachfront. It’s an absolutely gorgeous finishing area, right along the beach, but an absolutely horrible surface to try to run on – especially if you’re trying to sprint & generate a strong finishing kick. Luckily, there was a final aid station about 200 yards from the finish line (it’s there because it’s the start of the next loop of the run course). To my shock, candycane man stopped for a drink! I tried to take advantage but no sooner had I passed him that he was right alongside me. I’ve got a pretty good finishing kick but Waldo kicked harder and literally left me in his dust … or rather, sand. He deserved the "win." (But, since we all start at different times with the rolling start, you don't really know your placement until after the race.)
Later on as I looked back over the results, I was surprised at my splits and my placement. I did much better than I thought I would. I was first out of the water for my age group (first time that’s happened for me), I biked a 2:39 (one of the best bike splits and was very happy considering the conditions), and ran past half the field that passed me on the bike to finish the run with a sub 7:30 pace for half marathon. I was very happy with a 6th place finish, my highest ever!
But then, I looked to see what I needed to have done to have gotten Top 5. And there he was, my candycane man – finishing 15 seconds ahead of me … in 5th place.
GARMIN RUN FILE: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/3166162046
Post-Script
As you may remember, my real purpose was to be there for my better half who was competing in the full Ironman. Well, as I was finishing my race Sara was still on the 2nd loop of the bike course. That gave me time to get cleaned up, fueled and even attend the 70.3 awards ceremony and miss the 70.3 World rolldown by 1 slot (doh!). Sara had a great race; she was leading her age group wire-to-wire but was only up about 2 minutes to start the run with some talented runners almost literally on her heels. I gave her the intel she needed and she dug deep to create distance and time which got her on the podium and enabled her to punch her ticket to Kona. So proud of her!
Comments
@Ross Randolph Awesome race report! I've thought about doing this race at some point, and your RR provides a lot of great info for someone in that position. I'm amazed at your great race while actually being there to support your wife's awesome performance.
This is a great race report. It has it all...local color, in-race intrigue, family success. The good news for you is you've still got considerable room for improvement on the bike, as shown by what you've been able to do the past year with power. Some winter time Zwift racing and you can be sub-2:30 for sure, also flirting with a sub-10 hour ironman if you want to give that a go.
Fun race report ! Way to go @Ross Randolph . Your run execution is awesome. I'm in awe of those that can put the hammer down in the last few miles. Isn't it interesting how racing can change without Intel on where we are placing? What if someone had told you Waldo was in striking distance? :)
Huge Congrats to your wife. Will you be at Santa Rosa in July?
What a great race report. Congratulations to the power couple. This report makes me want to look into this venue. My wife and I also both race and the 70.3/140.6 option is always attractive. Huge improvements on the bike for you. Makes one wonder what's possible! thanks for the report.