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Chris Oubre's IM 70.3 New Orleans Race Report
Total time: 5:37:52
AG: 35-39
My sixth IM branded event. 2nd with EN
This was my second HIM in as many weeks. I races IM70.3 TX the weekend before.
This morning started out off. I didn't give myself enough time to drive to transition. There was lots of traffic getting to transition. I was rushed and missed applying sunscreen. I also forgot to check that my brakes weren't rubbing on my bike. Other than that setup went well
The Swim
Expectation: 40 min, Actual: 44:31
The new swim start configuration allowed 6 people at a time to jump in the water. The water was 68 deg and absolutely perfect! I had no problems just getting to work. I immediately felt the fatigue in my left shoulder from last weeks HIM in Galveston.
I kept my focus on form and swam very straight. My total distance was 1.26 miles. So not bad for me. Beware of some chop as you near each of the turn buoys.
Wins: no stress and minimal sighting mistakes.
Opportunities: more swim fitness needed. Better form. Nothing from an execution standpoint that pops out at me. I swim a 38 in a pool. Not sure why with a wetsuit I'm 6 mi. slower.
T1
Expectation: 3:30 Actual: 3:38
I eliminated as many moving parts as possible. I have no idea how to go faster. I ran the whole time.
The Bike:
Target: 182 NP Actual: 165 NP
Goal: Pee less :-D
Time: 2:52:33
Nutrition: 5.5 bottle of Perform, 5 Power Gels, 2 Salt Caps
I knew right away that I wouldn't hit 182. My legs held a lot of fatigue from last week. I cruised my first 20 min right at my target 156 NP. I then tried to hit 182. I knew that I could, but my body warned me. The bike ride felt like work so I ratcheted down my target until I found what I felt my legs should be doing. That was 165 NP.
The wind was nasty. It was a head wind going out and coming back the wind shift to a head wind after 10 miles. At time the cross wind was so bad it was turning my head as it pushed against my aero helmet.
Here are some highlights of the race course.
1) the admin part at the front is short. You can quickly get up to speed.
Lots of bridges. At times I was going 9 mph up and 35 mph down.
2) there are some short sections of really bad roads near the turn around. Get out of aero and watch for other peoples' bottles. Be ready to pull over and grab your nutrition bottle should your cage decide to eject it. I wouldn't recommend eating here.
I experienced near disaster on the way back. I noticed that my left heal started to bump against the bike as I pedaled. At first it was just occasionally. I thought I was just getting sloppy. As the ride went on o started hitting the bike more and more. I looked down and OMG something was coming out of my bottom bracket. I safely slowed down and pulled off the road. I used my thumb to rescrew whatever it was coming out of my bottom bracket. If that screw would have falling out at speed I would have never found it. I also used that stop to check my brakes as well.
The two modifications I made was to take a salt cap every hour. That+ the heat really helped cut down on the peeing. The other modification was to increase the time between my laps. That helped me to better hit my NP targets.
Opportunities:
I need to develop a better bike pre-use inspection.
T2
Expectation: 2 Actual: 2:44
I change my socks due to on the bike restroom stops. Not sure how to make this faster.
The Run
Goal: Negative Split achieved!! (5:58)
Target Race Pace: 7:48 min/mile + aid station stops
Actual Time/ Pace: 1:54:26 (8:44 min/mile)
Nutrition: ~2 bottle of perform, 3 PowerGels and one SaltCap
This run was hot. I grabbed every water and ice cup I could and bathed myself. I immediately change my target pace for the first 3 miles from 8:18 to 8:30. After mile 3 I tried to drop the pace down but I was slowing down. I kept telling myself, "Don't try to make anything happen." At mile 4 I met my wife. She rubbed sunscreen on me but the damage was already done.
I slowed to the point that my run + 30 aid station steps put me at a 9:00 min/mile pace. I looked at people's calves for my age group but I let everyone pass me that wanted to. At mile 8~9 my stomach stopes accepting gel. So I took tiny sips instead of big gulps.
Then at mile 10 I turned on the race. My body told me to wait till mile 11 or 12 but I said no way. Then a race angle in the form of Chris from Ohio, racer 558, appeared. He pulled up to me and said. "Let's do 8s." I said, "Let's do it." Then he pushed the pace to 7:45. Then he dropped it down to 7-7:20. He never let me go. He squeezed out and amazing amount of energy from me.
As a result I negative split by 5:58!!! That might have meant I didn't push hard enough but with the back to back races and the heat I took the "safe" route and low balled the first 10 miles.
Race Course Tips:
You start with big bridge! Easy to blow yourself up on mile 1!
Learnings:
1) I will always have my wife ready with sunscreen. That helped.
2) I will practice moving to a sip strategy for fueling the later parts of my runs.
3) I'll try to find a race buddy for the end of my races.
Thanks for reading.
AG: 35-39
My sixth IM branded event. 2nd with EN
This was my second HIM in as many weeks. I races IM70.3 TX the weekend before.
This morning started out off. I didn't give myself enough time to drive to transition. There was lots of traffic getting to transition. I was rushed and missed applying sunscreen. I also forgot to check that my brakes weren't rubbing on my bike. Other than that setup went well
The Swim
Expectation: 40 min, Actual: 44:31
The new swim start configuration allowed 6 people at a time to jump in the water. The water was 68 deg and absolutely perfect! I had no problems just getting to work. I immediately felt the fatigue in my left shoulder from last weeks HIM in Galveston.
I kept my focus on form and swam very straight. My total distance was 1.26 miles. So not bad for me. Beware of some chop as you near each of the turn buoys.
Wins: no stress and minimal sighting mistakes.
Opportunities: more swim fitness needed. Better form. Nothing from an execution standpoint that pops out at me. I swim a 38 in a pool. Not sure why with a wetsuit I'm 6 mi. slower.
T1
Expectation: 3:30 Actual: 3:38
I eliminated as many moving parts as possible. I have no idea how to go faster. I ran the whole time.
The Bike:
Target: 182 NP Actual: 165 NP
Goal: Pee less :-D
Time: 2:52:33
Nutrition: 5.5 bottle of Perform, 5 Power Gels, 2 Salt Caps
I knew right away that I wouldn't hit 182. My legs held a lot of fatigue from last week. I cruised my first 20 min right at my target 156 NP. I then tried to hit 182. I knew that I could, but my body warned me. The bike ride felt like work so I ratcheted down my target until I found what I felt my legs should be doing. That was 165 NP.
The wind was nasty. It was a head wind going out and coming back the wind shift to a head wind after 10 miles. At time the cross wind was so bad it was turning my head as it pushed against my aero helmet.
Here are some highlights of the race course.
1) the admin part at the front is short. You can quickly get up to speed.
Lots of bridges. At times I was going 9 mph up and 35 mph down.
2) there are some short sections of really bad roads near the turn around. Get out of aero and watch for other peoples' bottles. Be ready to pull over and grab your nutrition bottle should your cage decide to eject it. I wouldn't recommend eating here.
I experienced near disaster on the way back. I noticed that my left heal started to bump against the bike as I pedaled. At first it was just occasionally. I thought I was just getting sloppy. As the ride went on o started hitting the bike more and more. I looked down and OMG something was coming out of my bottom bracket. I safely slowed down and pulled off the road. I used my thumb to rescrew whatever it was coming out of my bottom bracket. If that screw would have falling out at speed I would have never found it. I also used that stop to check my brakes as well.
The two modifications I made was to take a salt cap every hour. That+ the heat really helped cut down on the peeing. The other modification was to increase the time between my laps. That helped me to better hit my NP targets.
Opportunities:
I need to develop a better bike pre-use inspection.
T2
Expectation: 2 Actual: 2:44
I change my socks due to on the bike restroom stops. Not sure how to make this faster.
The Run
Goal: Negative Split achieved!! (5:58)
Target Race Pace: 7:48 min/mile + aid station stops
Actual Time/ Pace: 1:54:26 (8:44 min/mile)
Nutrition: ~2 bottle of perform, 3 PowerGels and one SaltCap
This run was hot. I grabbed every water and ice cup I could and bathed myself. I immediately change my target pace for the first 3 miles from 8:18 to 8:30. After mile 3 I tried to drop the pace down but I was slowing down. I kept telling myself, "Don't try to make anything happen." At mile 4 I met my wife. She rubbed sunscreen on me but the damage was already done.
I slowed to the point that my run + 30 aid station steps put me at a 9:00 min/mile pace. I looked at people's calves for my age group but I let everyone pass me that wanted to. At mile 8~9 my stomach stopes accepting gel. So I took tiny sips instead of big gulps.
Then at mile 10 I turned on the race. My body told me to wait till mile 11 or 12 but I said no way. Then a race angle in the form of Chris from Ohio, racer 558, appeared. He pulled up to me and said. "Let's do 8s." I said, "Let's do it." Then he pushed the pace to 7:45. Then he dropped it down to 7-7:20. He never let me go. He squeezed out and amazing amount of energy from me.
As a result I negative split by 5:58!!! That might have meant I didn't push hard enough but with the back to back races and the heat I took the "safe" route and low balled the first 10 miles.
Race Course Tips:
You start with big bridge! Easy to blow yourself up on mile 1!
Learnings:
1) I will always have my wife ready with sunscreen. That helped.
2) I will practice moving to a sip strategy for fueling the later parts of my runs.
3) I'll try to find a race buddy for the end of my races.
Thanks for reading.
0
Comments
Just getting around to reading forums. Great report! Thanks