Texas 70.3 Race Report
Been training for IMTX but took a training "break" on consecutive weekends to do the Kemah International Triathlon on April 3rd (2:26 finishing time) and the Texas 70.3 on April 10th.
Last year's Texas 70.3 was an unmitigated disaster. I went into it feeling sick and then made an idiotic nutrition mistake on a very warm day and paid for it dearly. Feel free to find the RR from the 2010 race here: http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=3038967
A little revenge was due this year. I had to treat the Texas 70.3 as a B race since IMTX was looming 6 weeks later (now five weeks). I had it in the back of my mind that I could go sub-5:00 in the right conditions. While the Galveston course is kind of "easy" on paper, the wind, heat and humidity take their toll. The wind was definitely not forecasted to play nice. Forecasts called for sustained 20 mph winds (with 30 mph gusts). The wind direction varied from forecast to forecast with the range from SSW to SSE. Humidity is always horrible on Galveston because a) it's SE Texas and b) it's an island. Temp forecasts were around 80 with a heat index in the upper-80's. Figured 5:10 would be my goal. I'd have to be right on with my swim and I'd really have to push it in that wind on the bike to give me any shot at 4:59. It just wasn't going to happen on this day.
Got to Galveston on Saturday afternoon. Had dinner with fellow EN'er David Scholl and his family. Our dog sitter bailed on us so my wife and son couldn't stay the night but they did drive down for the race on Sunday.
I woke up at 5:00 AM on race day. Had a protein shake and a Gatorade. Hit transition about 5:20 or so. Got body marked. Went to my designated spot and noticed all the morons in my rack had racked their bikes on the wrong side. My neighbor tells me I need to turn my bike around the other way. I told him I was right and the rest of them were wrong. The rule is, "The majority of your bike has to be on the side of your number sticker on the rack." Needless to say, I can't convince 20 people to move their bikes so I turned mine around and set up shop on the other side (more on that later).
My wave didn't start until 7:55 so I went back to the hotel to chill for 90 minutes or so. Wiped off the body markings as soon as I got back to my room. Ate two bowls of oatmeal, had some coffee, another Gatorade and checked the weather forecast on my BlackBerry. Looks like 20 mph winds from the SSW. That would mean a headwind/crosswind combo the first half of the bike and a tailwind/crosswind combo on the way back. Lubed and suncreened up and headed down to the beach. Took a gel about 20 minutes prior to the swim start.
Swim
The water was a little choppy due to the wind (but not nearly as bad as it was in 2010). I wanted to swim the 1.2 miles in 32 minutes. The swim felt okay but I came out of the water in 34 minutes.
T1
I'm not a fast transition guy. I'm getting better but I get scatterbrained in transition for some reason. I went to my side of the rack and at first I didn't see my bike. Then I saw my bike turned around the other direction with all my shit put around on the other side as well. The officials re-racked our bikes and moved our stuff to the side it was supposed to be on... the motherf*cking side I orginally had my stuff on that I had to move because of the other numbnuts in my rack. My neighbor was lucky he swam slower than me because I might have slapped him in the head had he been with me in T1. I think I'm always right about everything according to my wife but this time it was true. That gets me all discombobulated and probably costs me 45s to a minute extra. David Scholl, starting in the wave five minutes after mine, says hi to me on his way out of transition. Damn you really fast swimmers! T1 time was a pitiful 3:56.
Bike
Goal wattage was 225W and hoping to get about 22 mph out of that. Headwind and crosswind headed out were pretty tough and got worse the closer we got to the turn around. Passed David Scholl about mile 2 or so. Miles 20-28 were probably the toughest. NP for the first 28 miles was 230W. A little higher than the number I wanted but it was okay given the wind. Time for the first 28 was 1:25 at just a touch under 20 mph average.
I made the turnaround and instantly felt some wind at my back. Not an "I can do 30 mph" kind of tailwind but enough that I should be able to make up some time. NP was 217W on the return trip. Time for the second 28 was 1:09 at a little over 24 mph. Total ride numbers were NP of 224W, VI of 1.02, Speed of 21.8 mph, Cadence of 86 rpm and Time of 2:34. Took in about 700 cals of Infinit on the ride.
Lots of carnage on the bike course. A few accidents, a couple of which were really bad. I counted three ambulances with sirens on headed back to Galveston. Lots of flats. Apparently some assholes threw tacks all over the part of the course over the San Luis Pass. Idiots.
T2
Nothing bad, nothing great with a T2 time of 2:37. Bypassed the fine folks slathering on sunscreen, which in hindsight was a bad idea because I got burnt to a crisp on the run.
Run
The run is still my weak point but it's getting better. I averaged 7:40-something for the 10K at the Oly race the week before and wanted to run a 1:50 half-mary at the Texas 70.3 which was a 8:23/mile pace. Doable. The run is a 4 loop course around the Moody Gardens area and it's twisty. It was starting to get warm and it was very humid. Wind was still a factor on certain parts of the run course. First lap was done at a 8:14/mile pace. I then started to get really hot. Second lap was done at a 8:40/mile pace, third at a 8:55/mile pace... so I was fading. Alternated water, cola and Gatorade at the aid stations. My guts felt fine, my cardio felt good but my legs were just not going to run much faster. The heat and (more so) the humidity were wearing me out. Finished the last loop at a 8:47/mile pace. Total run time of 1:53 for a 8:39/mile pace.
Finish
Total time of 5:09. Good for 40th out of the 281 M40-44 guys that towed the line that day. I think I was 268th out of 1819 finishers, which included 60-something pros. So I was like 200th out of the mere mortals. Tremendous sunburn achieved! Temperature reached 82 with a heat index of 87 in Galveston that day. IMTX should be all kinds of fun at twice the distance and 10 degrees warmer. 
Looking forward to next year when I can treat the race like an A race.
Comments
Nice report and great results all things considered. I had a couple friends there and they also talked about the wind!!! Unfortunately one of my friends ended up in the ambulance - bike wreck near the turn around - he looked down @ his computer and didn't see the oversize road reflectors - ended up broken/dislocated shoulder & road rash - big disappointment as he had been working hard thru a Buffalo NY winter for this race.
Hope to see you @ Musselman - it will be my 1st HIM
Jeff
Sorry to hear about your friend. The bike course was really rough this year. That crosswind really wreaked havoc. I've never seen the course littered with so many bottles, flats, bikes and bodies. I hope your friend recovers nicely.
I'm looking forward to Musselman. Heard great things about the race. I almost signed up for it last year but did the Syracuse 70.3 instead. Switched that around this year. I grew up outside of Syracuse and I'm trying to make a point of doing a race up there each year. That way I can see family and my parents get an extra visit with the grandkid. I might do the Big George HIM at Lake George next year.
I think there's a handful of EN'ers doing Musselman this year. Maybe I'll start a group for us. I'm staying at the Holiday Inn in Waterloo/Seneca Falls.