Chris Dodd's White Mountain Tri 70.3 2014 Race Report

This was strictly a 'B' race, I wanted to use it for learning, testing and hard training.  My goals on this race were to get off the bike with something left in my legs, finish feeling decent and not impact the IMLP training camp too much.  I had a knee pain crop up while biking a week prior to this race so that was on my mind a bit.  I didn't really notice it during the race until about mile 50 on the bike, I put a knee brace on for the run for a little extra support.

Last year I did this race and cooked my legs on the bike making for a very long 1/2 marathon with a lot of walking.

Swim: 37:59

Bike: 3:29

Run: 2:28

OA: 6:49

Swim - The swim felt great, water was warmer than last year and I got off to a good start positioning myself a little off to the side and had nice open water.  Basically I just enjoyed the swim and tried to keep focus on my form.

 T1 - A 2 part transition.  Get the wetsuit off and into a T1a bag, put on sneakers and run about 1/3 mile uphill to T1.  I think everything about this race is uphill.

Bike - The bike course was modified from the previous year.  Last year there were two steep climbs with one billed as a KOM time segment.  They changed the course a bit this year, removing the short steep climbs and replacing them with a longer 2 mile KOM timed segment.  The total elevation gain was a little more on the new course.  My experience on this course last year played a big role in buying a power meter.  I made a concerted effort to maintain a target IF throughout the course after reviewing the data I feel I did a decent job.  I also ignored the KOM entirely and just rode it at my target level.  Road conditions were rough, there was an 11 mile segment of the out & back that had a lot of frost heaves, cracks and potholes.  Many launched bottle including my spare water.  That made it difficult to stay in aero and I also realized I neglected my hydration and nutrition a bit in that section.  There was also a long section between porto-johns, since I haven't chosen to pee on my bike yet that was a bit uncomfortable..  All in all I would have like to have been faster on the bike but considering how I felt getting off the bike compared to last year I was pleased.  Didn't drink enough perform on the ride, didn't eat any cliff blocks and ate one cliff bar.  I need to focus on the nutrition better.

T2 - slow.  Haven't put speedlaces in my new shoes yet so that was one slow down.  Race belt and fuelbelt, a little too much.  I like having the fuel belt but may skip that in the future.  Someone was also in need of salttabs so I took a little time to get my bike tabs out for a volunteer to pass along to the other competitor.

Run - The run course was also changed this year, a bit more undulating hills and a couple of steep hills added.  Total elevation gain was increased from last year here as well.  Legs felt good leaving T2, especially when compared to last year.  I kept my pace in check and took water at each aid station, coke at one and ate a few cliff blocks.  Started really feeling the fatigue around mile 5 & when I got to the mile 6 aid station I got abdominal cramps after drinking.  Still felt OK even though my pace was slower than I wanted.  Took another salt tab just in case and a gel before the mile 8 aid station.  The cramps continued after each aid station but were not severe enough to stop.  The second to last hill at mile 11 really started to put the hurt on, from there until the end is was a slow slog and I was leapfrogging with another runner most of the way.  Luckily it was one of his team members cheering for him to pass me that pushed me to drive a little harder at the end and hold him off the the last 1/4 mile.  The cramps turned out to be just gas; I'm wondering if that was partly due to the coke which was still pretty fizzy when I drank it at the aid station.

Overall I can't say I'm happy with the time but I am satisfied with the fact that I was able to keep jogging(couldn't call it a run) and I was passing people on both the bike and run course.  I knew a couple of the runners I passed and they have a lot of races under their belts so I wasn't the only one hurting out there.

I still need to work on being consistent with my nutrition, I think that will definitely help.