Ironman 70.3 Raleigh - Triathlon


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Raleigh, North Carolina
United States
World Triathlon Corporation
87F / 31C
Sunny
Total Time = 4h 46m 56s
Overall Rank = 57/2345
Age Group = M 35-39
Age Group Rank = 10/216
Pre-race routine:

Ate 5 hard cooked eggs, banana and two teas. Shaved up to the knees.Left hotel at 4.50 to walk to shuttles. Ate peanut butter/chocolate chip bonk breaker on bus and drank a liquid power bar.
Event warmup:

Swam about 150 yards of drills. Flatted front tire in transition but got it squared away. After setting up T1 -- had about an hour to kill. Stretched and waited.
Swim
  • 29m 2s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 22s / 100 yards
Comments:

I think this was the strongest leg and my worst performance of the three legs. I didn't feel slow or thick in any way; had good feel for the water, but the time was off. First time ever swimming a race without a wetsuit which may have contributed about a minute to 90 seconds - but even still, I should have been done in about 27 minutes. I swam strong off the front line and somehow was next to the one guy who was both as fast as me and crazy bad at navigation. He bonked into me at least 3-4 times. This was only the beginning. This was probably the most full contact OWS I've ever done.
What would you do differently?:

Swim a whole bunch faster. Not sure really why my time was off.
Transition 1
  • 03m 2s
Comments:

I ran hard through the whole thing. Only thing that was slow was putting on arm sleeves. Still, I was about a minute slower than some of the better times.
What would you do differently?:

figure out how to do sleeves onto wet arms.
Bike
  • 2h 23m 19s
  • 56 miles
  • 23.43 mile/hr
Comments:

I pushed hard right from the start line. I didn't go to the red line but right up to it thinking that I could hold it. I did. Although around mile 45 I started to have creeping doubt that I had destroyed the chance of a solid run.
What would you do differently?:

I held aero up all the hills. I hit all my nutrition. I entirely screwed up four attempts at grabbing a bottle at a station -- it was water and I only planned to cool myself. The problem I realized later that I was going to fast.

I forgot to take the salt tablets -- and it worked out -- but it could have been a bad error.

Often cadence was above 95 -- I'd find myself up at 105 and shifting twice to get to the right gear.

Very strong ride -- very happy with it.
Transition 2
  • 03m 15s
Comments:

It was a big transition area. But like T1, I ran the whole way and don't know why my time was so high. Really need to examine this to engineer a better time.

Average heartrate in T2 was 113.
What would you do differently?:

Don't spray sunglasses/face with the spray sunscreen.
Run
  • 1h 48m 18s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 08m 19s  min/mile
Comments:

I was 3rd in AG and fell to 10th during the run. The two loops around the museum were mentally the hardest.

Lots of ice down the shirt.

I pissed myself while walking the aid station near mile 8. Good: Kept moving forward. Bad: It filled my left shoe more than at Lake Placid when I pissed essentially standing still and it ramped off my knee and ankle band. Once I got the piss started, I should have resumed running. That may have let it spray back like when riding.

A guy in my age group ran up on me coming back on Hillsborough. The splits show where. We ran together for about 3 miles and he dropped me at the final aid station when he ran through it and I made the mistake of stopping for ice/water. He put about 20 yards on me and I could not shut him down. He finished about 50 yards ahead.
What would you do differently?:

Push earlier. For the first four miles I picked people off by chasing down people down who were about 50 yards ahead. Around Meradith College I entered into a "just hold this pace" attitude and it shows...because the splits went up on the hills and I stopped stalking people down. I needed to lean into the competition more. I'm not unhappy with the run -- it was a half marathon PR -- but I think I had about another 90 seconds to 3 minutes that I left on the course midway.

I wish I would have seen the kids in the finish shoot. Evidentially, I ran right passed them and was staring at the arch.
Post race
Warm down:

Sat down nearly immediately and didn't get up for 10 minutes. Talked to all the kids and the Roarks and Tony/Mary Ann. Went and drank three waters, ate banana and couple orange slice for 20 minutes.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Transitions. Swim kept me from getting to my absurdly fast goal time of 4:44:59.

Event comments:

Outstanding execution of the race. The Fayetteville Street was marquee. The crowd and volunteers were world class and it was an inaugural race. The point to point bike segment was additional -- but not overwhelming -- logistical challenge. The pros who turned out were also clearly impressed. May be some complaints that the bike course wasn't hard enough but I think the back end rollers were enough of a challenge especially if you didn't mind your pace. The hills midway through the run were all fair game and though hard, reasonable. However, they were not as advertised on the maps etc. and therefore caught everyone by surprise. (Two loops?)

To my great surprise, I finished well enough to earn a roll-down slot to Las Vegas for the championships. For that reason alone, I may have rose colored glasses about the race but I've been to nearly 20 races and this really was an excellent combination of venue, competition, course and the people.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2012-08-31 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:29:02 | 2112 yards | 01m 22s / 100yards
Age Group: 2/216
Overall: 26/2345
Performance: Average
Suit: 2XU race kit -- no wetsuit
Course: Triangle with 6 markers going out, 8 across and 5 coming back into a boat ramp.
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 76F / 24C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Good
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 03:02
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
02:23:19 | 56 miles | 23.43 mile/hr
Age Group: 9/216
Overall: 0/2345
Performance: Good
Average HR 137. 26 mi 26 mi 1:05:18 1:37:22 23.89 mi/h 56 mi 30 mi 1:18:01 2:55:23 23.07 mi/h Total 56.0 mi 2:23:19 2:55:23 23.44 mi/h
Wind: Some
Course: 28 miles of smooth, flat countryside. Then the rollers started. I never left the big ring and used every gear on the cassette and several times was pedaling through the smallest ring on the cassette.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 95
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 03:15
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
01:48:18 | 13.1 miles | 08m 19s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/216
Overall: 0/2345
Performance: Good
1 – 6:34 and 146 2-3 – 15:31 and 150 4 – 8:29 and 148 5 – 8:21 and 146 6 – 8:20 and 146 7 – 9:14 and 141 (this was the first big downhill/uphill) 8 – 9:12 and 141 (this was the first loop around museum) 9-10 – 18:18 and 141 11 – 8:09 and 143 (this is where I started running shoulder to shoulder with a guy in my age group) 12 – 7:42 and 146 13.1 – 8:25 and 147 Split Name Distance Split Time Race Time Pace Div. Rank Overall Rank Gender Rank 4.1 mi 4.1 mi 33:15 3:31:53 8:06/mi 6.5 mi 2.4 mi 19:13 3:51:06 8:00/mi 7.5 mi 1 mi 9:09 4:00:15 9:09/mi 9.6 mi 2.1 mi 18:12 4:18:27 8:40/mi 13.1 mi 3.5 mi 28:29 4:46:56 8:08/mi Total 13.1 mi 1:48:18 4:46:56 8:16/mi 10 57 49
Course: Out and back from downtown to art museum with a short 500 meter loop at Meradith College and a 1 mile loop done twice at museum. The trail from Meradith to the museum and around the loop was hilly -- more than I expected. Hillsborough was fine -- exposed and hot.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5