2010 Racine 70.3 Race Report
Sorry, but here is another long one (and this is the edited version).
Below I go into my report congrats to Bill McKee for finishing his first 70.3. It was a tough day out there with a downpour and heat and humidity. Also, I saw two other EN kits on course but don’t know who they were.
My biggest lesson learned this weekend is to reflect on my race and keep my mouth shut for 24 hours. Yesterday as soon as Theresa and Jim Hansen were congratulating me, I was already making negative comments about what went wrong. I really don’t do this to complain, it is how I analyze my race and learn. Often it comes accross the wrong way though and I want to avoid that.
I share this for two reasons: First, I truly appreciate everyone that supports me and I couldn’t do this without you. Please don’t take anything I do or say right after a race seriously. I’m usually a very relaxed person that doesn’t get worked up, but for some reason racing gets me fired up. I’m working on this but it still takes me a little bit to cool off. Second, I know my race reports can be critical and not come across as intended, and I hope they are not taken too negatively.
So, now that it is 24 hours later, all things considered I had a GREAT race especially after my 2 months of racing or training camps every week and 5 days after the most cycling I have ever done in one period.
Swim - 31:20 – 9th in AG
Yes, me, the guy that swam 37 something in Kansas dropped 6 minutes from my swim time in a year. Thank You John Fitzpatrick! I’ve beat myself up in the pool for 5 years playing wall tag for hours on end and improved very little. However, after a number of private lessons, video analysis and LOTS of drill work to refine my technique I’m finally swimming much better. Also, this was my 5th time at Racine and the swim course was a good bit longer this time than ever before, with the buoys further from shore and the exit south past transition. FWIW, Craig Alexander swam 24:59 and my watch had the swim at 1.23 miles, so I’m pretty sure this was the most accurate swim I have ever seen at Racine.
T1 – 2:14
Could have been faster, but I was too busy looking around and in shock at how all the other bikes were still in T1. It’s a look harder to find your bike when you get out of the water up front. I’ve never had this issue before 
Bike – 2:16:38 – 3rd AG
Tired legs or fresh legs I'm disappointed with this. Last year my FTP was 15 watts lower and I went 2:13. Sure I did the aqua bike and didn’t have to run after, but I did a 6 mile run anyway and felt great, plus I did 2:30 with FTP intervals the day before last year. Either way, the first 30 minutes felt fine, I was constantly holding myself back but slowly passing people. In fact entire ride I was only passed by one person, who I really wanted to chase but I let him go and did my race as I knew he was a stronger cyclist. After that first 30 minutes I went to kick it up a bit but my legs disagreed. I would get the watts up for a few minutes and then slip right back down. The next hour was pretty uneventful, as in I think I saw one person told, and my power was just flat. With about 30 minutes left I caught a few of the female pros and just having other people around gave me enough energy to rally a little bit and finish up without fading anymore. I honestly think I saw less than 10 people on the bike (other than people going the opposite direction).
My nutrition was dead on, drank it as planned, full bottle of water from each aid station and had to pee, so all I can think of is my legs were not recovered from the BBW last weekend.
The numbers:
Lap 1 (2:16:48.08):
Duration: 2:16:41
Work: 1722 kJ
TSS: 129.9 (intensity factor 0.757) <--- I know my FTP is accurate based on multiple tests, charts, and the fact that I had a higher IF for a 5 hour ride last week.</em>
Norm Power: 213
VI: 1.02 <-- flat course <img alt="" src="http://members.endurancenation.us/DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/wink.gif" />
Duration: 2:16:41
Work: 1722 kJ
TSS: 129.9 (intensity factor 0.757) <--- I know my FTP is accurate based on multiple tests, charts, and the fact that I had a higher IF for a 5 hour ride last week.</em>
Norm Power: 213
VI: 1.02 <-- flat course <img alt="" src="http://members.endurancenation.us/DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/wink.gif" />
Pw:HR: 0.88%
Pa:HR: 1.28%
Distance: 55.476 mi
Elevation Gain: 404 ft
Elevation Loss: 368 ft
Grade: 0.0 % (27 ft)
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 515 210 watts
Heart Rate: 160 190 171 bpm
Cadence: 29 126 90 rpm <--- I did listen to P's advice<br />
Speed: 0 34.3 24.2 mph
Pace 1:45 0:00 2:29 min/mi
Altitude: 601 795 722 ft
Crank Torque: 0 643 200 lb-in
Pa:HR: 1.28%
Distance: 55.476 mi
Elevation Gain: 404 ft
Elevation Loss: 368 ft
Grade: 0.0 % (27 ft)
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 515 210 watts
Heart Rate: 160 190 171 bpm
Cadence: 29 126 90 rpm <--- I did listen to P's advice<br />
Speed: 0 34.3 24.2 mph
Pace 1:45 0:00 2:29 min/mi
Altitude: 601 795 722 ft
Crank Torque: 0 643 200 lb-in
T2 - 0:59
Not much eventful happened here, shoes went on and out I ran.
Run – 1:27:38 – 4th AG
Ouch, my worse 13.1 run in 2 years and a more than 12 minutes slower than I ran in an open HM in May. I even went 2 minutes faster at Clearwater when I was jogging. I don’t know what the deal was, my legs felt ok and PE was fine, they just had zero kick. At first I was pretty pissed off with myself, but after thinking about for a day or so I’ve relaxed and figured a few things out:
· I found out the heat index was over 90 and I was in the sun almost the entire run
· Only one person in the race went under 1:20 (Crowie @ 1:15)
· The fastest in my AG was 1:24
· Again, I hate to make excuses for a choice I made, but maybe the BBW last weekend was not the best idea
· It could have been so much worse because…. For the third time in my life now I got a horrible side stitch during the run. This time I was determined to beat this, I slowed down, focused on breathing and other techniques to release it and didn’t start running again until it was gone. As it started to easy up, I continued to go slow and get in water and gel, while keeping pressure on it. It worked and within about a mile I was back to jogging and by 2 miles later I was starting to pick up the pace.
In hindsight, I am actually glad I got the side stitch as I have tried my hardest to get during brick workouts or race simulations and I just can’t emulate it outside of a race. At least now I know I can deal with it and get rid of it during a race. Sure it would have be nice to run faster and not have been in pain, but I needed that to happen so I could overcome it and still have a good race.
BTW, this was another negative split (45:00/42:38) – thank you side stitch 
Entire workout (180 bpm):
Duration: 1:28:09
Work: n/a
rTSS: 119.8 (0.857)
NGP: 6:39 (242.2 m/min)
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: 1.57%
Distance: 13.096 mi
Elevation Gain: 213 ft
Elevation Loss: 201 ft
Grade: 0.0 % (6 ft)
Min Max Avg
Heart Rate: 158 193 180 bpm
Cadence: 44 96 92 rpm
Speed: 0 17.6 8.9 mph
Pace 3:25 0:00 6:45 min/mi
Altitude: 590 665 625 ft
Duration: 1:28:09
Work: n/a
rTSS: 119.8 (0.857)
NGP: 6:39 (242.2 m/min)
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: 1.57%
Distance: 13.096 mi
Elevation Gain: 213 ft
Elevation Loss: 201 ft
Grade: 0.0 % (6 ft)
Min Max Avg
Heart Rate: 158 193 180 bpm
Cadence: 44 96 92 rpm
Speed: 0 17.6 8.9 mph
Pace 3:25 0:00 6:45 min/mi
Altitude: 590 665 625 ft
Total - 4:18:49 - 3rd in Age Group, 19th Overall, 9th AGer
I really felt I should have gone under 4:15 (and could have gone under 4:10) at this race, but it is what it is. On the positive side, my AG was stacked again and I still placed well. There are some fast guys around and I just need to keep working hard to keep up. Also, I was only 30 minutes behind Crowie and in the entire race I was only passed by one person.
The good:
· My swim – the lessons and focus on form and drills is really working. I was only 6:30 behind the fastest swimmers of the day. Thank You Ftiz!
· Side Stitch – ok this one is good and bad. The good, I got the same side stitch as IMWI and High Cliff but this time I got rid of it and was able to starting running again. The Bad – I got the side stitch again.
· Bike – All of the short races this year have turned me into Ricky Racer recently. Until this race I have not been passed on the bike and it was hard, but when one guy went by me at this race, I just let him go. It was hard to do, but the right decision as he was a stronger rider
· Heat - I really didn't notice how hot it was. Maybe following Al's heat acclmation advice is starting to work, or maybe it was just because I was running so slow.
· I had a bad day but was still only 30 minutes behind Crowie, and within 5 minutes of my next goal (qualify for a pro card)
Things I can improve:
· Bike pacing – I have to get the first 30 minutes easy thing right. I’ve done this in IM, but for HIM I just can’t do it. I leave T1 and am just going to hard. This time I really was only a few watts over my target, but when you look at the full ride it was my peak 30’ since I fell apart later.
· Bike cadence – I held 90 for the race, but in training I’ve been slipping closer to 80. I will focus on getting this up in training
· Run cadence – I’m consistently at 94 in training off the bike and over 95 open, but I struggle to keep cadence up in races.
· BBW right before a race – again, my own thick headed stupidity here. Not sure why I ever thought crushing myself 5 days in a row, then racing 5 days later would be a good idea. Riding with Coach Rich sounded like and was fun, so was the 3 loops of IMWI the next day, and hill repeats on HHH the following, but not the best time to do this.
· Recovery – I really suck at this one (even worse than I used to suck at swimming). Once again I can count the number of days I have taken off this year on one hand. I actually was up at 4AM the morning after the race and REALLY wanted to go out for a run but I forced myself to stay in bed and stare at the ceiling instead.
· The side stitch – so now I know I can deal with it but I still need to figure out the root cause and get rid of it all together. Last year at Kansas I had my best HIM run and no side stitch at all. My nutrition is identical and my bike fit is almost the exact same was well, plus I went harder on the bike at Kansas… go figure. It was also hot and sunny there as well. I’m really going to work on emulating this in training by making my bricks and race like as possible, no more 5 minute transitions in training, bike to run in 1 minute from now on. I’m also going to get better at using my race day nutrition more in training.
This game got a lot harder this year. The last 6 years have been pretty easy. I got faster in training and went to races and raced faster. The faster I went the more motivated I was to go even faster. It was easy train hard and race hard and nothing else mattered. Well that game is slowly coming to an end and now my fitness gains are getting smaller and smaller. The decisions I make on how a train, recovery, and execute on race day are now the difference setting a PR verses a subpar performance. Sure I’m going to keep working on getting faster but it is unlikely I will pick up another 50 watts at FTP next year and therefore I now I have to really get into the details and work for improvement in every part of my training and racing.
Up Next
TRAINING (what I do best) – 12 weeks of no racing, no camps, just training for Kona. I had a ton of fun messing around for the last 2 months but I’m definitely ready to go back to structured training. I’m still approaching Kona as a fun experience and not going to race, but I’m going to show up as fit as I can be.
Sorry for all the words… here are some pictures: http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=645...5319388749
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Comments
Kickass swim. That is a very impressive improvement. Do you have one of those cool Zoot wetsuits that make you look like Batman?
As for the rest it sounds about right after killing yourself the week before.
Thanks Guys, hopefully you made it through the whole thing without falling asleep.
@ChrisG - I do have a batman suit from last year but it is a little big, and instead of sending me the same one in a smaller size, the guys at Zoot gave me a Synergy for this year and promised me a new Oracle for next year. I haven't seen of the the production ones, but the test ones were cool. Also, the one guy that left me on the bike was Mike Lavery on a speed concept who went on to ride a 2:14 and beat me by 3 minutes.
Hey Matt, thanks for the detailed race report, enjoyed reading it. Especially since IMWI rally, I can put a name with an actual person
I was relieved to hear they lengthened the swim course! The last couple of years it has been so short. I always enjoyed it more when it was out further. Your swim rocked!!! Good job! So, was the bike course the same? How were the roads...still bumpy? Oh and the run, was it still two loops to the lighthouse and back? Sorry to hear it was so hot....Racine is notorious for hot humid weather. We have been spoiled the last couple of years, not as hot. So, except for the swim course, what changes if any did WTC make to the race? How was the swag?
Awesome job Matt considering a BBW before. My legs would have been toast to do a HIM this soon, so I think your bike and run still were pretty impressive considering. My big shocker is your great improvement in the swim. You nailed it and deserved every bit of it considering all your hard work.
Keep on inspiring us all.
I love your race reports, Matt. Congratulations! Fitz truly is one of the best coaches out there. Period. I see a sub-1:00 IM swim in your future!!!
Abigail is so super-cute too.
That list of goals? Looks great. All clear and do-able. And I like that you are remembering to not be so hard on yourself post race. No need to send you copies of books on cautionary tales of perfectionist chefs yet. ;-)
HUGE gains on the swim---Wow! It really drives home that adult swimming is improved by technique (vs. fitness).
Thanks again everyone!
@Kathy, I was pretty discouraged by WTC buying Racine, but overall it really was run much better.
Differenes:
Similiar to past years
If I need a CW spot or branded race on my schedule I will definitely go back. Plus it is still significantly cheaper than door country for me becuase I don' t need lodging and can drive up race morning.
Thats all I can think of for now.
Great report - read every bit. That swim improvement is pretty stunning. Very interesting observation/analysis of decreasing gains in fitness even as you continue to crush it. Do you think there was a lot of drafting in this race in the AG gen pop?
Psyched to follow your race and prep for Kona. Thanks!
Thanks Matt for answering all my questions about the race. Really glad to hear the swim ended up being 1.2 and not freezing!! That is always a plus in my book. I agree with you on the bike course being called "rolling hills"....has seemed relatively flat to me, especially compared to IMWI and even Liberty Tri in Minneapolis has more hills than Racine. I am pumped that the swag is better.....never liked the tshirt HFP gave us...was always too big and the design was very bling
I have actually never worn mine...gave them to my boys over the years. I will prolly do this race again...but next year thinking about Door County. I have family in Racine, so the accomodations are free as is the food....so it is a very inexpensive weekend of racing. Again thanks for the detailed report, loved reading it! Take care
Matt - awesome race, sorry I missed it, could not rally the kids to make the trip in the heat (but we don't want to watch papa race, ouch!). Hope to see you again soon. Will you be at IM-Moo by chance, for the sheer fun of it??
Great!! And you're a nut, you know, but that's why we love you! See you soon!