Noftsgers RR for Kansas 70.3
Overall result: 5:15:43
Logistical Note: Note we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express. This is on Iowa Street and just over 5 miles to the race venue. This is the second year we stayed here and had been great. The morning of the race they have coffee, bagels, banana's and more for you. Paid 99 dollars Friday and Saturday and Sunday they dropped the price to 65.00. Also the movie theather is 1000 feet from the hotel.
Arrived Friday and headed to the race venue. Training partner and I ran around 6 miles. We went one loop of the run and felt strong except for the nice blister I obtained. Easy fix with needle and duct tape. (stuff fixes all).
Packet pick up started at 1500 hours. This went very smooth.
Met a few of the EN folks at on the border at 1830 hours. Had a great time chatting and drinking a few cold ones.
Saturday was mandatory bike check in. The Hy-Vee kids tri was going on so we new the traffic was going to be hectic. Met a few friends at a micro brew had a great lunch and then headed out. Again bike check in went smooth and quick. Traffic in and out was okay.
Logistical Note: For some reason they cancelled the shuttle bus from the althete parking to T2 this year. The walk from the parking to T2 is about 3/4 of a mile. When you arrive the morning of the race it is pitch black and it is then a guess where you parked after the race. So try and pick out a landmark and remember it.
Saturday afternoon was my large last meal. Saturday night had a couple pieces of pieces and my last gatorade. In bed at 2100 hours and tossed and turned all freaking night as usual.
Sunday morning up at 0300. Ahhhhh Coffee, coffee, and more coffee. Breakfast was a banana and a bagel with PB and J.
Headed out to the race site and arrived at 0415. Actually got to park on the concrete and in the very first spot. Very easy to find. We were watching the weather d/t the fact there was storms all around and the wind was picking up.
Off to T2...about 3/4 mile walk. Layed out all the running stuff and nutrition for on the go. At this time they announced it was a wet suit legal race. Water temp was 74.8. Imagine that cause the day before we were told it was 80. No complaints here cause I was wearing a wet suit no matter what.
Logistical Note: Walk from t2 to t1 is around 1 mile.
Arrived in T1 and checked air in tires. Both needed about 40 psi. Then loaded up the nutrition and filled spedfill. Laid everything out and double checked. Then off to watch the pro's.
SWIM: Goal was 35 minutes. Last year it was at 41 min. (Actual time 41:08) After waiting 45 minutes after the pros went it was finally my turn. This is a water start. Off we went. At first the water seemed fine and it was warm. Started swimming and holy smokes I wasnt sure if I was swimming next to a wake boat or in an ocean but it was really rough. When attempting to get a breath I was getting smacked in the face by white caps. I told myself to relax and concentrate on my stroke. When sighting the buoys I had to laugh cause there were bodies freaking everywhere. Within the first 500 yards I seen the life guards throwing the saftey rings to people and the boats and bouys had several peeps clinging. I would like to know how many started the swim and didn't finish. The last 200 yards I could taste fuel in the water and was breathing it. This was not good. Exited the water feeling strong. T1 was smooth with no hiccups. Stuffed everything into the t1 bag. This way they would bring everything up to t2 for me and I would not have to make that trip down again. I was very happy with the time given the conditions. Even though I was a minute slower I knew in my head that I had to be stronger this year and if given a chance and the conditions were better I could have met my goal.
T1- 3:08
BIKE: Goal 2:50 (last year I was at 3:00) Actual Time: 2:43:36, 20.54 mph. The first 30 minutes I was going to relax as planned in training and get some nutrition in. First 30 min: IF was .80.
Bike: Ended up at IF .84, TSS 190, Pnorm 194, VI 1.04, and 88 RPM.
I felt awesome the entire bike except for around mile 35 I again got very light headed as I have been getting in my RR so I started taking in a little more Infinite and I was fine. Tried peeing on the bike by sitting and coasting, standing and concentrating and it just didnt work. So I ended up getting off the bike and letting loose in the ditch. It was pee or bladder explode. Ahhhh the relief. I am sure there is a penalty in that but others were doing it and I had to go.
The hills were fun to ride them this year with EN's philosphy and it was great to cheer on the others getting out of there seats and pushing it. I was the one yelling that a boy get out of that seat = and get up that hill.
T2 - 2:46 well not so smooth and my rack was right there. Went past my rack twice looking for it in all the excitement then had trouble racking it cause the bottle were catching. I then decided to throw on a pair of socks cause of the blisters I got Friday.
Run: Goal 1:45 (actual time 1:45:05, 8:01 pace per mile) Felt awesome on the run. First 3 miles were dialed in to an 8 minute pace. MP plus 30 sec. Had to make myself slow down. I knew from my RR this was in the books. My body really wanted to go faster. Miles 7-10 were to be at 7:24-7:30 but I just couldn't hold that pace. Last three were survival mode. I still laugh at the last 1200 yards I thought I was flying and look down at my watch and it told a different story!!
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/92199864
Finished the race by flashing the EN gangster sign and with the Blazeman roll. I was very happy with my execution and the 12 weeks leading up to this race.
Now taking a week off, getting a massage and preparing myself for the next 12 weeks leading up to IM Wisc.
Comments
It was great to meet you this weekend. Congrats on your race!
Nov 1st 2010 I started the Intermediate OS..... my first test with power I was at 170 watts and that was all I had. My last test I was at 231 and feeling strong.
@ Daniela-Also very nice to meet you and see you execute one heck of a race. I took in about 400 cals on the bike. Going to really hammer out the nutrition portion in all training sessions. Maybe add a solid in here and there.
By all accounts you had a fantastic race. I am with you on the swim, I must not have been looking out from the shore because I had no idea the water was that rough until we were already in the middle of it. Thank god it was wetsuit legal or they would have been fishing a lot more bodies out.
Anyway, that sounds like a very well executed race, your VI shows that you had good execution on the bike course, and your solid performance on the run indicates that you were plenty capable of riding at the higher end of the IF spectrum (0.84) or that you might have a few more bonus watts of FTP than you thought. Either way, great race.
Only constructive critcism I can offer is that as I recall, you were a little woozy after the race. Keep working on your nutrition for IMWI, I've found that you can 'fake' your way through an HIM's run nutrition a lot better than you can through an IM. IMHO, the first half of the HIM run really doesn't have much to do with your run nutrition, you're still riding out the decisions that you made with your bike nutrition. The second half of the run, the decisions you were making on the first half of the run really start to take effect, for better or worse. But, even if you sort of blew it you can still sometimes fight your way through the last few miles of a half.
With Ironman though, if you don't nail your hydration/nutrition on the first leg of the run, you can't fight your way through the next 16+ miles. You may or may not have actually had any problems with your run nutrition in this race, but figured I'd just throw this out there based on my experiences.
If you're in a wet-suit legal race, there's no excuse for not being fully "void" before the race, if you know what I mean. :-)
Get the liquids early in the morning...lots of liquids up to a couple hours before the race...and then be just a little stingy on the liquids after that...not starving yourself, but no need to drink and drink and drink. A couple hours should be enough time for the excess to work its way through the system. As others have alluded to, the Half is a different beast than the full IM. Do you really need to drink so much water on the bike that you fill your bladder?
I realize my position on this might be a little contrarian/controversial. I've run 5 HIM races. On one I had diarrhea, which is an entirely different issue, obviously, but other than that, I have never peed in any of them.
I realize arguing from self is entirely anecdotal, but it's just something to think about...and maybe not productive in terms of thinking about the IM.
I agree with WF, the time to focus on increasing hydration is after it warms up on the bike, and every mile on the run. I'm always surprised by how little fluid I need on the bike if its below about 70, and how much I need when its warmer. I'm also convinced we must absorb water thru the skin while swimming, accounting for some of the bladder build up.