IM 70.3 Steelhead 8/18/2011 race report -- Thomas Idzikowski
Well, for a first "half" it felt more like a third without the swim. On the other hand, the bike and run went well.
The whole morning was a bit of a mess due to the cancelled swim and all of the rumor and miscommunication which went with it. Additionally, the night before transition was completely windswept due to a sudden storm off of lake Michigan. Bikes, racks, timing mats, everything was in disarray. I had to clean sand out of my chain for 10 minutes in the morning. Along with that my adrenaline was a bit high since I didn't know what to expect. I felt the only sane thing to do was to just lay down on my towel and rest before the start.
BIKE 2:44:49 (7min PR) My IF was 0.747 and VI 1.06
Luckily(?), they decided to start the bike in bib order - mine was #1030. So, it was hurry up and wait for about 80 minutes - I finally got started around 8:30AM. At least the winds had calmed down from 15-25mph when the pros started out. I spent the first half hour trying to conserve energy per my execution strategy. The passing rules made that a little more difficult than I thought it would be since I had to make fast passes several times. I watched my average speed and normal watts on the CycleOps for the whole race. Overall, the first hour was uneventful and compared to my race rehearsal ride on the course, I felt completely on top of my power. My average speed was above what I expected (19.4mph) within the first 40 minutes. The latter part of the ride I spent between 176-212 watts with some short spikes to pass at anywhere from 270-425 watts. At an hours to go, I wasn't sure of what I could do on the run, so I played it consevatively and took advantage of the hills to coast as much as possible. I ended up with an average speed of 20.7mph for 57 miles and I didn't feel overcooked in the least.
T2 3:59
This was completely due my putting on my cycling jacket due to the winds and temperatures earlier in the day. I won't do that again unless bad weather is assured. 2:30 wasted.
RUN 1:59:26 (10min PR)
The run started off well and according to plan. I went slow (9:26/mi) for the first 30 minutes and kept right on trucking. Took a bathroom break at mile three. I got a brief glimpse of my upcoming leg cramp while there - the right quad threatened to spasm, but quickly went away as I resumed the run. Considering I evened out at 9:07/mi for the run, everything went well. I never slowed down expect for a minute of cramping at mile 9, but the I never slowed down, in fact the last mile I was down to 8:20/mi which is where I wanted to be on average. So, I think hydration and salt came into play for the second half of my run. My lungs wanted to speed up, but my legs wanted to cramp. I will have to take that into consideration for next year.
Overall, a good first HIM experience. Nothing to write home about speed wise, but I have to say the taper worked perfectly for me.
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