Kansas 70.3 Race Report
This was my first HIM. I didn’t really know what to expect. I really just wanted to execute well and follow the EN race strategy. I am still really new to triathlon and have only done sprint tri’s up to this point. I was excited to try my hand at this distance. My brother-in-law was also doing this race. He is the one that got me into triathlon and motivated me to get back into shape. So this race has been on my calendar since last October. I had just run my first half marathon in September which was my last mental hurdle to see if I should even attempt this race. I was part of the beginner Oct OS last fall which was invaluable for me and my fitness.
My wife and I drove down from Nebraska on Saturday morning. We checked into the hotel and then went out to the race site. Check in was easy. No lines when I was there. I left my bike and then we headed back to the hotel to hang out with my sister and brother-in-law and their girls. We left our kids at home with my mom. That evening we all went out for an early dinner and then I went to bed around 8:30. I didn’t have much trouble getting to sleep after the morning drive and all the walking around the race site.
The next morning I drank most of a Naked Juice around 1am. My stomach was already a little uneasy because of nerves. I got up at 4:30 and left the hotel around 5. I tried to eat some of a PB&J sandwich but my stomach wasn’t having it. Sipped on some sports drink also. I was able to take 3 granola bars after I had my transitions all set up and while waiting for my swim wave to start.
SWIM: Goal= 49min or less. My race rehearsals were always around 49min. Actual= 46:42. I am surprised my time was even this fast. It was a very choppy swim. Seemed like a lot of waves which got bigger the further away I got from the start. I got pretty nauseated and really thought I was going to throw up but thankfully never did. I was grateful to be in a wetsuit so I never worried or panicked with the waves. I just tried to keep my form and keep moving forward. I was glad to be done with the swim and I think it took a little more out of me than I wanted.
T1= 4:55 Slow but I was still fighting some nausea and dizziness.
BIKE: Goal= Little over 3 hr. Actual= 3:14:20 17.29 mph I wanted to go at 78% of FTP. I am a big guy (205 lbs) and I knew the course would be hilly. I was also worried about my run so I didn’t want to push it too hard on the bike. The bike went about as well as it could have for me. I have never done a bottle exchange so that slowed me down a little. The ride seemed to go fast because I really tried to focus on staying steady and hitting my watts. I think I probably rode a little under my expected watts but I haven’t downloaded my file yet. I had a compact crank and 27-12 cassette and some of the hills were still too steep to keep my watts low. But for the most part this setup worked really well for me.
T2= 3:15 I took time to put on socks.
RUN: Goal= Around 2hrs. Actual= 2:45:12 The run started out close to what I wanted. I tried to run 9:15 for the first 3 miles then wanted to go to 8:45. It became very clear in the first 5 miles that this wasn’t going to happen. I have been fighting some left knee pain for a few months. I can usually gut it out on my long training runs and then recover in a couple of days. This time though, I wasn’t able to run through the pain. I walked most of the 2nd half of the race. This was disappointing to me. Especially, when I could see all the EN people doing so well.
TOTAL TIME: 6:54:24
Overall this was a good experience. It was good to get the first HIM out of the way and learn how it feels to go this distance. Just 18 months ago, I didn’t own a bike, never ran a race, and hadn’t swam since I was a kid. So even though there is a lot of room for improvement I am pleased to have finished this race. I know I will not be competitive in the races I enter but I have found triathlon keeps me motivated to stay in shape and stay healthy. I started this as a way to lose weight and be healthy for my wife and kids and I think that has been a success.
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Comments
You have put your finger on a really important point which is putting triathlon into context. Like you, up until recently (24 months in my case) I had zero experience in running, racing or anything remotely physically active. At this point I'm training for my first HIM and starting to get really wrapped up in power, pace, and time goals. But every so often I'll step back and realize that the magic of this path has been to motivate me to work out almost every day and get into shape and feel a lot better about mysellf (dropping 70lb in 2 years will do that). Reading your report and how you have defined the experience as successful re-grounds me once again as to what is important. If my first HIM goes badly next month time-wise, pace-wide, power-wise, etc, I'll probably end up writing a race report that is quite negative and communicates great disappointment. But that won't be right, and I'll have to come back to this one to remember that the journey is really what has represented success.
Cheers,
Matt
I second P on figuring out the knee pain. While it's ok to gut out dull pain while running you eventually want to figure out the cause and not build up a problem. I have had some severe knee issues in the past and it's definitely something you don't want to ignore (I lost about 2 years to injury which was awful). Definitely post in the injury forum. Some things to consider and include: are you getting the pain only during brick runs or during regular long runs too? Does it hit at a certain mileage where perhaps your form is breaking down? What kind of runner are you- fore, mid, heel striker? What's your run cadence? Was your training consistent in ramping up miles or was there a period of quicker ramp up which could aggravate it? Are you stretching and rolling out after running (better to do this a few times daily)? Obviously body comp is somewhat of an issue, but I'd be surprised if it was the only cause of the problem. Post in the injury forum with some info so we can help out! Or at least send you in the right direction hopefully
Way to put it into perspective. Hope your knee feels better
I am pretty comfortable with my bike fit now. I have been working with Todd and I think my bike is pretty dialed in now.
Keep it up - you'll really enjoy it..!