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Ironman 70.3 Syracuse - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Syracuse, New York
United States
Total Time = 5h 09m 57s
Overall Rank = 320/2000
Age Group = 45-49
Age Group Rank = 24/200
Pre-race routine:

Number of contestants is an estimate. Will correct when actual values available

Got there way too early (4:30am), although people arriving a bit later got nailed in traffic, to the point they had to delay the start of the race.

There are soooooo many things to think of in set up. I think that's 1/2 race stress and it's worst as the race is longer.

Event warmup:

Nothing. It was raining and miserable so I spent time in the car trying to catch up on sleep.

Nervous. I wanted to finish. Lots of pressure so I just tried to stay calm and focus.

I wanted to pace this properly and have three solid segments. I have a tendency to go out too hard on the swim. I was paranoid about burning out on the first climb and not having anything left on the run. So pacing was really important.
Swim
  • 34m 7s
  • 1931 meters
  • 01m 46s / 100 meters
Comments:

The first 600m or so were good. Very relaxed, good sighting.

I had set my watch to vibrate every 11min, which was the point I hoped to reach the first buoy. When it vibrated I figured I was ahead of pace. Of course I started to push which is stupid. Reason prevailed and I backed off

After the first buoy, water become choppier and the with the weather it was hard to see the bouys. Last 600m I zig-zagged a lot

I was in the absolute last wave, (20th) so ended up catching many earlier waves. There were so many slower swimmers, I just went to the outside and swam close to the kayaks. More relaxed but lost some time

The water was cold. A bit of a shocker getting in


Towards the end of the swim, I started to cramp in the calves which ended up worrying me all race.

I did more long swims in practice this summer and I think that helped a lot

What would you do differently?:

Porbably try and find a good set of feet to draft off, mostly to avoid bad sighting. But I am happy with the swim.
Transition 1
  • 04m 1s
Comments:

They had wetsuit strippers which was very cool

It was a long run in T1. I went easy I wanted to get the HR down because I knew the first part of the bike would be rough.

I hesitated to put on a shirts/weater because it was borderline cold (15c). I regretted not putting on on during the bike. It was chilly coming down some hills.
What would you do differently?:

I was expecting a good 5 minutes in T1 so was happy.
Bike
  • 2h 47m
  • 90.12 kms
  • 32.38 km/hr
Comments:

Lots of hills for the first 18km (11) miles. I remember checking average speed at half way at it was 30km/h. 2nd half was over 34. 400m of climbing in less than 20km is a rough way to start a ride after the swim.

I did try to stick to my HR and wattage targets.The idea was to pace the bike which I think I accomplished. I came off the bike feeling good.

My chain dropped twice so That was some lost time there and nervousness when shifting to the small chainring, which there was plenty off.

The idea was to pace the bike and try and have a good run, which I think was accomplished, but the tightening calve really worried me.

Nutrition on the bike: total 9 cliff blocks = 72g carbs = 288calories. 1 every 15 minutes, starting at 45min after the climbs. 2 bottles of water

What would you do differently?:

Maybe push a target wattage slightly higher. Probably not worth it on a hilly couse like this but would have been on the flats. I could not do more watts going down without different gearing. Going up I was pushing large numbers so wouldn't want more. But now I know what my normalized power could be and still run a decent run

I did not stay as aero as I wanted. Not worth it on the climbs and I am a big chicken coming down hills, with more time on the brakes than in aero. I need to be less chicken going down hills. 54km/h and I am very nervous. maybe because of that spill I took earlier in the season

Transition 2
  • 02m 33s
Comments:

Came off bike, measured BG (6.5), all was good. The legs felt relatively ok.
What would you do differently?:

not much
Run
  • 1h 42m 16s
  • 21.08 kms
  • 04m 51s  min/km
Comments:

I just wanted to flnish, so I said I would not look at pace, just watch my HR and go by feeling.

During the race my calves were cramping very slightly and this scared me, worrying me they would completely cramp up on the run. I managed it by pace, and never had to walk. I had to intentionally drop pace a bit to keep the HR in check. I lost a lot of running time this summer due to injury caused my tight hamstrings and calves. This is a weekness that I have to address.


With 2 miles to go, I knew there was a chance to break 5:10h, but I was on the verge of breaking down my form, so focused on the form. But with 1 mile to go slowly started to pick up the pace. And just squeeked under 5:10

I was happy with the run, I just focused on form and HR. I ran with a fuel belt, sipped 2oz every 2nd mile so never slowed down or walked which was good for me.

Nutrition : 2oz gatorade every 2nd miles = 10oz = 16g carbs = 64 calories

I had much watch taking split on miles and the corresponding (m/km pace)

1) 7:42 (4:49) 2) 7:26 (4:39) 3) 7:24 (4:48) 4) 7;32 (4:43) 5) 7:43 (4:50) 6) 7:44 (4:51) 7) 7:50 (4:54) 8) 7:59 (4:59) 9) 8:10 (5:06) 10) 8:01 (5:01) 11) 8:04 (5:03) 12) 7:54 (4:56) 13) 7:35 (4:44)

4:28 pace for the last 250m.

Mile 9 was the slowest and probably the point I was losing concentration. I am happy with the pace of the last mile, it shows I still had something in me despite the 5 gruelling hours

I remember trying to not focus on my HR, pace....stare at my feet. I tried to look at the crowd (who were amazing). I have a tendency to get in a transe. too intense, too focused. The chalk writings on the ground were very inspirational.
What would you do differently?:

not much
Post race
Warm down:

Waited for a friend

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Nothing really limited. The hills were hard and the dropped chains didn't help but it's a race up to my capabilities and don't feal I left a lot on the table.

My age group being the last to start, there were not a lot of people who would pass me expect the fast bikers that I passed on the swim. But there were not tons of those. But given I started close to 2000th and finished 324th, I passed a lot of people...so I spent my day looking at butts :-) Passing did not slow me down much but it is tough at times. People do not hold their right as much as they should.


Total race nutrition = 352 calories. I am glad to see I don't need a high number of calories since I can't take them on. BG at end 6.7

A very good learning experience. I wanted a balanced race and I think I got it. I ened up 24th overral 18th swim, 27th bike, 24 run, which is pretty balanced.

I think I should still focus on the bike and get my run time closer to my stand alone 1/2marathin. I do not have enough bike base. My FTP would indicate I should bike at a higher pace, but I don't think I could do a good run if I did. I need to log many more bike miles since I only have 18months of cylcing background





Event comments:

Very well organized race. It's a first time they hold it and I am sure it will be very popular.




Last updated: 2010-05-20 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:34:07 | 1931 meters | 01m 46s / 100meters
Age Group: 18/200
Overall: 0/2000
Performance: Good
Suit: Orca Sonar
Course: Out, across and back. Clockwise.
Start type: Run Plus:
Water temp: 62F / 17C Current:
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 04:01
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
02:47:00 | 90.12 kms | 32.38 km/hr
Age Group: 27/200
Overall: 0/2000
Performance: Good
tried keeping the HR under 140 and averaged 138. Hard to do with some of the hills
Wind: Little
Course: First 11 miles/18km, about 400m/1200 feet of climbing. Brutal after the swim.
Road: Smooth Wet Cadence: 90
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Bad Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 02:33
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
01:42:16 | 21.08 kms | 04m 51s  min/km
Age Group: 24/200
Overall: 0/2000
Performance: Good
Tried keeping HR around 152ish, but it kept creeping and ended up average 153.
Course: It's published as a net downhill which it is, but the downhill is all at the beginning. It would have been nice for a little at the end :-)
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
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] 4

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2010-09-20 5:28 AM

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Extreme Veteran
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Subject: Ironman 70.3 Syracuse


2010-09-20 2:36 PM
in reply to: #3107354

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Veteran
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Sunny Binghamton
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Syracuse
great work on Sunday!
2010-09-21 10:11 AM
in reply to: #3107354

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Coach
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Boston, MA
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Syracuse
Solid work Marc! Congrats on a great race and yes, you can do better
2010-09-21 10:18 AM
in reply to: #3109665

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Elite
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Quebec, Canada
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Syracuse
Grats on your race!
2010-09-23 8:29 AM
in reply to: #3107354

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Pro
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The Land of Ice and Snow
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Syracuse
Marc you are a total ANIMAL!!
And I mean that in the nicest possible way.
Congrats on a fantastic race.
You are Kona bound some day my friend.............. 
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