Ochsner Ironman 70.3 New Orleans - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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New Orleans, Louisiana
United States
Premier Event Management
Total Time = 6h 09m 58s
Overall Rank = 896/1655
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 145/229
Pre-race routine:

Typical pre-race routine. The alarms were set for 4am. Got up and had the usual pre-race breakfast, made sure I had what I needed, and caught the shuttle to transition area.

Set up transition and spent some time with Steve, Courtney, Nora, and Ric before the race.
Event warmup:

About 30 minutes before my start time I got the wetsuit on, spent some time in the water, and gathered in the start coral.

This was time spent alone. I was reminding myself that the day was about it being an "A" race while also trying to learn about Louisville. Essentially, I want to learn how to race smart. My plan was to swim comfortably hard, use the bike to set up the run, and while on the run find the line at which I don't want to push and then see how far beyond that line I could get.
Swim
  • 36m 47s
  • 1829 meters
  • 02m 01s / 100 meters
Comments:

I felt good while I was out there. I didn't get caught up in the mess of people at the start and felt as though I got to the first turn buoy pretty quickly. While in big crowds I was taking short choppy strokes but when I had room I was stretching out and taking long easy strokes and feeling good.

This was probably the best I've ever done sighting and staying on course. Even after the turn around at about the half way point when pretty much the entire group went off course. I was confident that I was headed in the correct direction and stuck to my course.

Coming out of the water I saw my time and was surprised and dissappointed that it wasn't a better time but I've sinced changed my thinking. I heard a lot of talk about it being a tough swim and I felt good. My overall swim rank was 347 out of 1655 men, I'll consider that a good swim.
What would you do differently?:

Draft. I kept looking for some feet to follow but never really found the right ones.
Transition 1
  • 02m 38s
Comments:

Very average transition. Nothing really bad, nothing really good.
Bike
  • 2h 50m 56s
  • 56 miles
  • 19.66 mile/hr
Comments:

My bike plan was to set up my run. I didn't want to overcook the bike at the expense of the run but I also didn't want to go slow either. I thought a 3 hour bike would be the correct pace.

I settled into a comfortable race pace, pushing just a bit extra into the headwinds. The winds were pretty strong, even pushing harder into the wind my speed would jump a good 3-4 mph as soon as I turned out of the wind.

After 28 miles I was 1 minute ahead of my pace to finish around 3 hours. I felt great and decided to dial it up some. I biked the second half 8 minutes faster than the first half. Some of that was due to having the wind at my back, much of it was deliberately picking up the pace. Even picking up the pace I was certain that I wasn't over cooking the bike. I eased up the last 2-3 miles. Mostly to just spin the legs more before the run but also b/c the roads were very rough and I didn't want a flat w/in 2 miles of transition.

Speaking of flats, the roads were very rough in areas. I've never seen so many flats on a race course. Nor have I seen so much ejected equipment...water bottles, aero bottles, nutrition, tubes, CO2 cartrides. A lot of stuff was being ejected off bikes.
Transition 2
  • 02m 36s
Comments:

Not a bad transition. A bit slow but it was b/c I took the time to apply sunblock.
Run
  • 2h 37m 2s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 11m 59s  min/mile
Comments:

Leaving Transition: I felt incredibly fresh and was genuinely looking forward to the run. I was certain that I had a sub 6 hour HIM wrapped up. All I had to do was average 11 minute miles.

My plan was to run smart for as long as I could and then fight the urge to let up whenever it hit. Part of running smart was to incorporate a 1 minute walk at each aid station, essentially 1 per mile but I really wanted to find that line and go as far past as I could, this part of the day was all about mental preparation for Louisville.

Miles 1-3: Easy and effortess running right around 10 minute miles (including the 1 minute walks at aid stations). No doubt in my mind that I was breaking 6 hours.

Miles 4-5: My left IT band started to bother me. I have not had even a twinge from that IT band in almost 2 years. I won't say it hurt but it was VERY uncomfortable. My head tried to convince me that I needed to walk so that I'd be ok for Louisville. I decided that for the sake of Louisville I'd be better off learning how to race while uncomfortable. As a concession to myself, I added about 10-15 seconds of stretching at some of the aid stations. I was still doing right around or just under 11 min/miles.

Miles 6-8: I think this is the part of the race where I learned to most about myself. I really wanted to take more and longer walk breaks. It was clear at this point that something was wrong with my nutrition, I was getting more and more fatigued, and my IT band was getting worse. I walked more than my plan but not by much, I was still being pretty disciplined about the run. My pace was slowing to right around or just over 12 min/miles. Sub 6 was slipping away.

Miles 9-10: DONE! Wow, did it all come crashing down on me. My IT band hurt but it didn't matter b/c I don't think I could have run much more even if it was fine. Worse, I was starting to have spurts of feeling dizzy and off balance as well as shortness of breath and feeling like I couldn't get any air. It felt like an asthma attack. I did a lot of walking these two miles. Sub 6 was gone.

Miles 11-13: After two miles of much more walking than running I decided that it was time to suck it up and see how much running I could do the last 5k. I started run walk intervals increasing the length of run from 1 minute to 5 minutes while keeping the walk interval at 1 min. Even with the longer run intervals my splits were very slow.
What would you do differently?:

I had a nutrition problem but I'm not all that sure what it was. I'll have to figure that out.

Run is my weakness. This race proved it. I came to the race prepared and I biked smart. None of it mattered, the run fell apart.
Post race
Warm down:

A bit of a blur, talking with Kristen then Courtney and Kraig. The dizzyness continued as did the shortness of breath. Went to the medical tent for an IV and to be covered in ice bags. By the end of the first bag of fluids I felt back to normal. They wanted to give me another bag but i wanted to get back to the post race festivities.

Continued to hydrate and ate some post race food.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I pushed until I couldn't (or wouldn't) push any further and I PR'd by 27 minutes. I know there is room for improvement but I'm happy with this race.

Event comments:

This was a great race, probably the best run and most organized race I've done.




Last updated: 2009-12-07 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:36:47 | 1829 meters | 02m 01s / 100meters
Age Group: 0/229
Overall: 347/1655
Performance: Good
Suit: Wetsuit
Course:
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 73F / 23C Current: Medium
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Bad
Waves: Good Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 02:38
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
02:50:56 | 56 miles | 19.66 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/229
Overall: 772/1655
Performance: Good
Wind: Some
Course:
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Too much
T2
Time: 02:36
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
02:37:02 | 13.1 miles | 11m 59s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/229
Overall: 1381/1655
Performance:
Course:
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
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