Rob Tune's DIY Tri 70.3 Race Report
Intro: After a full year of basically non-stop training, I finally figured I had to race virtually if I wanted to get any competition in this year! My plan was to race in spring and potentially move up to Full-Distance IM, but that will come soon enough. This race was about proving to myself that my first (Augusta 70.3 last year) was a fluke, and I could improve! By the way, I covered distances required by a 70.3 or the DIY Tri (whichever was greater).
Overall: I was pretty nervous about doing a IM distance race by myself, without any pageantry or fanfare… or other people. Though I had my doubts, this was a pretty awesome experience! The family got involved, and I was able to race-prep from a comfortable environment, which was awesome! Here were my main themes:
Execution Was On-Point – I may have thought that I executed Augusta well, but I didn’t. There were a number of things I didn’t do, a number of things that I needed to learn the hard way. Well, I spent the last 11 months getting familiar with those things! In the end, I did everything the way I wanted to and my results reflected!
Things Are Going to Happen – Pretty much the only thing that threw me off was a bad flat tire incident. I was about 60% through my ride when it happened. First, I noticed my inner tube was the wrong size (After I had already gotten it on), then my CO2 valve blew up because I hadn’t opened my presta valve enough. I started to panic. I stopped panicking. I figured out a solution. I got back on the ride with a smile on my face. Doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it was huge for me. This is the kind of thing that debilitates me, because I am a planner, and I need to be in control.
Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast – Did I freak out trying to make up for lost time with the flat tire? Did I push my run too hard, too early? Did I rush through transitions? No, no and no. The reality is this wasn’t my A race, so I was focused on different things (having fun with my kids), having everything I needed for the next leg. I slowed down, and really enjoyed myself. I also didn’t forget anything, or force my heart rate to spike because I was in such a hurry.
Here are my splits
Weather: Not sure I could have asked for a nicer day. Day started in the high 50’s, spent most of my time in the 60’s, finished up low 70’s. Scarcely a cloud in the sky! Slight wind out of the East, North East which gave me headwinds through more than half of my bike, but those are the ropes!
Injury: No real injuries to worry about this go-around. But, I will note that my lower back was super sore for the 2-3 days leading into the race. I started taking some Advil and applying heat pads… in the end, I didn’t notice it was sore while racing, which was great. No issues here!
Saturday: Spent the majority of the day legs-up at my family’s lake house. Didn’t do much but drink fluids and eat. Tried to stay out of the direct sun, so I wouldn’t get too tired. Once we got home around 6pm, I got in my pajamas, laid out my gear, made breakfast and watched TV until I passed out around 10pm (was super happy about this)!
Race Day AM: Woke up at 3:30am. Immediately ate: Coffee, Oatmeal and a whole wheat bagel. Then started sports drink. After puttering for a little while (organizing transition gear, giving wife instructions, loading bottles… etc) I started my drive to the swim. Had tons of time to warm up, get in the water, take pictures, eat a Cliff Bar… etc. Did I mention that I pooped? My stomach was in super good shape, and I was ready to do my business and focus on the day. Easy peasy.
Swim: I’m still not a fast swimmer. But I did EXACTLY what I wanted to. I started at 7am on the dot, slow and methodically focused on my form and cadence to avoid over-heating. I naturally started to pull up the pace as I settled into the swim. Only had to dodge a couple of fisherman, so there weren’t any real distractions. There were even a couple of times I could feel my form starting to suffer, and I could hear the words I read earlier (up your cadence until it starts to affect your form). So I backed off, and focused on form. The weeks before the race, I had experimented with cadence and it’s impact on my pace, and I knew that I am not there yet as a swimmer, so to slow down and do it with good form was a good choice for me! Did I mention that I peed? Twice (once while swimming, which still warps my brain thinking that I can do that).
T1: Look, if I don’t have to race in a tri-suit, I’m not going to. If I don’t have to whip off my wetsuit and fly through transition, I’m not going to. I know I can go faster than this. But this is what worked for my solo DIY Tri (in the parking lot of a public lake).
Bike: Now’s when things get serious. I can’t let my heart rate spike too much. I have to race my race. Again, I did EXACTLY that (on a macro scale…). Started out around 75% FTP for 30 minutes. Felt nice and easy and smooth. Unfortunately, I had to attack the largest hill of the day during that warm-up. My watts jumped up, how could they not??? But it wasn’t too bad, and it took FOREVER. After that, it was power management, cadence management, constantly checking my heart rate and drinking fluids!
Plan was to drink bottles (~24oz) of Gatorade Endurance. I made it through 5.5. So, by now you already know that the weather was glorious, maybe I didn’t need to drink as much as I did… but I did anyway. I had to pee 2 times on the bike and once huge one at the end. I probably could have scaled back, but I would rather be overhydrated than under. My stomach was also in pretty good order. Barely burping anything up, and felt pretty good.
Spent a lot of time checking on my cadence and my heart rate. That was my gut check to ensure that I wasn’t getting out of line anywhere. It also helped me out when I transitioned to the run.
T2: My T2 time looks atrocious because it includes the time I was down for the flat tire (about 15 minutes). I wasn’t rushing, but I also wasn’t wasting time. Snapped a few pics with the kiddos. Changed into my running gear and was off.
Run: This is what it’s all about, No Such Thing as a Good Bike Split Followed by a Poor Run!!! I’m amazed at how much I am able to accomplish in a half marathon after running so unbelievably slow the first three miles. I stuck with the execution plan and slowly started picking up pace. Similar to the race rehearsal, I hit my stride around mile 7-8 and started to pick up speed more. Finally, somewhere around mile 9-10, I started to have the smallest feeling that I was approaching The Line. I thought about it for about 3 strides, and I honestly said, Nope and kept going. Ended up driving my pace harder and faster and that held throughout the rest of the race.
Here’s another thing. I hate stopping. Stopping sucks. When I stop, I have a hard time re-starting. I’m like this in a number of aspects in life. But especially in running. This makes aid stations a miserable experience for me. It’s also why I typically have not been well hydrated or fueled during my runs. I bought a Camelback hydration vest, filled it with Gatorade Endurance, and tested it during a race rehearsal. It made all the difference in the world.
The plan was to drink about 48oz of Gatorade Endurance on the run and eat 1 pack of Scratch Chews. In the end, I drank about 30 ounces. Didn’t need more, probably because I was well fueled before the run.
Takeaways: Here’s what I learned
· After an optimistic outlook following my first 70.3, and then a dreadfully long time without any racing… I was thrilled to see my progress! None of that progress happens without a solid race plan, and the 4 Keys. I’m a believer, trust the system, and I WILL keep improving.
· I actually enjoyed the virtual racing more than I thought I would! It was fun to race on my home turf. It was fun to have my family there (kinda hard to do normally). I wasn’t nearly as bored as I thought I was going to be. And, my internal competitiveness drove me hard. Honestly, it was easier to execute without having all the distractions around me. I need to remember this the next time I’m racing in public.
· Nutrition. Nutrition. Nutrition. I can now see the difference between Augusta and what it SHOULD feel like to race with proper hydration and fuel.
Comments
Dude, you killed it. So happy for you. Congratulations.
Great race and race report @Rob Tune. With normal transitions that would have been a 5h35 - 5h45 race. Your run especially was very strong and a DIY time trial is much harder than a real race. Congratulations on the strong performance and the progress you noted. Yes nutrition is absolutely key and when it is in place things become easier (or maybe just less painful :-)
@Rob Tune Great race report and fantastic DIY Tri! It's clear you've learned a lot from the team and took the lessons to heart. I think you'll be amazed at your continued improvement in your next public race, but remember and execute on the principles you mentioned in your report. I look forward to following your progress!