Rich Stanbaugh - Raleigh 70.3 - 2014

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Rich Stanbaugh Raleigh 70.3 Race Report

 

The Early Season

Raleigh 70.3 was my second Ironman event this year planned Raleigh as a B race leading to IMMT. IMLC on March 30 was my first race (report here).  My training was 95% indoors for that event due to the incredibly sucky winter we had in Michigan. I had a lot of trouble with heat, hydration and nutrition and completely blew up on the bike in that race.

 

Training

I had a difficult time mentally recovering from the blow up at IMLC. I had worked hard to get there, and honestly, I felt like I let myself down with poor execution. I had an extended recovery period, training was sparse in April. During May, I loaded the Get Faster Plan, but really didn’t start successfully focusing until mid may. My run volume has been extremely due to a nagging ankle injury (seems to have finally healed) and, my run fitness has suffered.  Summary: Extended recovery / undisciplined training executed on a strong based built for IMLC.

 

Goals

- Have fun 

- Enjoy the company / support my wife (Anna Stanbaugh) and friend (Kevin Pierce) during their first Ironman 70.3

- Meet some of the EN Team

- Correct nutrition / execution mistakes from IMLC

- Push myself hard and try not to stop

 

Pre-Race

Slept as long as possible, big carb breakfast, athlete briefing, EN team lunch, checked bike in (deflated tires), came back to hotel and lounged around hydrating, munching Honey Stingers & Power Bars, staying off feet, had a nonvolatile dinner, read in bed until 10:30ish and slept until 3:00 am. Ate about 800 calories of apple sauce, Banana, Power Bar and Red Bull, took run bag to T2 and caught first bus to T1. I really like getting there early while the bathrooms are empty/clean, there is time to react to any last minute issue and there aren’t 1,000 other people in line with the same issue. Setup bike (nutrition on, hydration filled, tires pumped, Garmin on, power meter calibrated, gears on big chain ring / easy starting gear, shoes, socks, jersey, HRM, helmet and glasses laid out. Everything else gone (I would camp in transition if there was a tent – so I eliminate everything that is tempting).

 

Race Plan

Swim: Sight early & often, stay horizontal, swim with cadence/temp of 1.15. I had noticed that on the final leg, the buoys were not straight, they curved outwards making the path longer than if I swam directly to the finishing buoy. Also, the current was pushing from right to left as I looked at the course, so on the final leg my plan was to sight at the exit ramp and swim inside the buoys.

Bike: Drink 1-2 bottles of perform (depending on temp), 1ish packets of Powerbar Gu (I had these in a soft flask mixed with water, so I sipped them as needed), and one Saltstick+ per hour. This would give me about 300+ calories and 1,000 mg of sodium per hour. FTP is about 240. First 15-20’ at about 180w, remainder at about IF=84% / 200watts (I expected to ride between 2:30 & 2:45).

Run: I mentioned that my run fitness is suffering. Plan was to start around 9:00, then run somewhere around 8:30 average pace.

 

The Swim

I liked the 4:00 intervals. I started inside and caught some folks from the group ahead as we neared the first turn. It was really crowded at the turn buoy. I did a “buoy turn” and was inside the crowd swimming in two strokes. This is a nifty maneuver that saves time at the corners. Somehow I drifted a little oblong the back stretch and got caught in the crowd. I’m not very skilled at maneuvering in / over / around other swimmers and this cost me time. Hit the second turn, and other “buoy turn” and headed directly towards the dock as planned. Current was pushing me now and I made up a little time. Swim finished in 38:21 (PR). Still not fast, but improving (average cadence on target at 1.154 seconds per stroke).

 

T1

Out of the water and the wet suit very fast (ran past crowd to the last strippers who were not busy). In the shoes, jersey, helmet and running… then walking behind some guy as he meandered along with his bike… I had bad luck on bike position and this cost me. T1 in 3:50.

 

Bike

Tried to maintain discipline on the climb out of the lake, got onto the bridge and just wanted to go fast! I found the first 40 miles to be a lot of fun (apart from the pain of pushing) and the last 16 miles to be challenging (and more painful). There was a point in the first half where I was struggling for energy - but then the nutrition kicked in and I felt strong. I am feeling very positive about the soft gel flask with water mixed it. Very easy to get the right sized sip and very quick response. Watered down is more pallet able to me.

 

The head wind steadily increased throughout the ride, as did the temperature. Overall, I felt very good about my ride 2:47:54. I was a little exuberant (NP 207watt / IF 0.864 / TSS 208) - but my VI was very strong on this course at 1.033). Less than 5 minutes of zero cadence, and those on corners and downhills at ≥ 32 mph. Also – heart rate was very steady at about 161 (LT is about 170) throughout the ride. I wasn't excited about the climb into T2 - fortunately I had noticed while scouting that the grade wasn't as steep on the left side as on the right side of the road, so I stayed left as much as possible and kept spinning my legs out as I had for the last couple miles.

 

Avg Power:	201 W
Max Power:	552 W
Max Avg Power (20 min):	222 W
Left/Right Balance:	50/50 %
Normalized Power (NP):	207 W
Intensity Factor (IF):	0.864
Training Stress Score (TSS):	207.5
FTP Setting:	240 W

 

Split	Time	Distance	Elevation Gain	Avg Speed	Max Speed	Avg HR	Max HR	Avg Cadence	P Norm	Max Power	Avg Temp
1	16:16.6	5	253	18.4	32.1	161	166	85	205	474	65.8
2	13:47.8	5	79	21.7	31	158	162	87	199	375	68.8
3	13:24.4	5	144	22.4	37	157	163	86	198	460	67
4	13:48.3	5	151	21.7	29.7	155	160	86	209	552	67.5
5	14:38.2	5	243	20.5	30.7	157	162	86	215	420	68
6	13:11.6	5	115	22.7	33.3	158	163	85	218	404	68.5
7	16:55.1	5	341	17.7	29.3	161	165	84	221	438	71.7
8	14:31.4	5	246	20.7	37.2	159	163	87	207	462	72.4
9	14:58.4	5	348	20	38.9	159	165	83	215	424	76.5
10	16:20.5	5	367	18.4	38	159	163	82	203	410	75.5
11	15:33.2	5	253	19.3	38.3	157	162	84	189	353	74.4
12	03:54.5	1.07	108	16.4	33.4	158	164	82	193	332	76.7
Summary	47:19.9	56.07	2,648	20.1	38.9	158	166	85	207	552	70.8

 

 

T2

I was very happy with my 2:47 which included a porta-john stop that was nearly a minute long.

 

Run

This is where I fell apart. The cumulative effect of poor run fitness combined with temperatures well above what we’ve had in Michigan and an exuberant bike ride added up to a very tough run for me. I was fed up with the run within the first mile. It hurt. I hurt. I was hot. It was a long uphill run to the turn, then it felt like a long uphill run back. I’ve read reports about the downhill part, but I must have blocked it. I walked way too many steps in the aid stations. I walked up a portion of a couple of the hills. I saw a guy on the course that I desperately wanted to beat and that provided some motivation. I ended up with 2:01 (9:14 per mile) and about 10 minutes longer than I’d hoped for. The heat added to that for sure. My HR was a little low on the run – averaging about 161 with a max of 170 before a walk. I didn’t have the energy / fitness to push it harder on that day.

 

Afterwards

I finished with 5:33:52 (PR) - not bad for a B-race (yes – I finished 2:00 ahead of the guy that gave me the motivation :-)

 

After a quick shower, I waited at the finish line for Anna, Kevin and as many friends as I could find. I probably knew 20+ people at this race, so it was a lot of fun. I’m incredibly happy and proud of what Anna accomplished, mostly I am happy that she had fun so that she will want to do it again! Both her and Kevin worked extremely hard over the last four months getting ready for this race and they were both very successful.

 

On to IMMT!