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Ironman 70.3 Buffalo Springs Lake - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Lubbock, Texas
United States
BSLT Triathlon/World Triathlon Corporation
88F / 31C
Sunny
Total Time = 6h 23m 14s
Overall Rank = 403/664
Age Group = 45-49
Age Group Rank = 51/73
Pre-race routine:

I woke up early and ate a big breakfast in my hotel room. Muffins, fruit, oatmeal, ClifBar, etc. Had everything packed and in the truck except my clothes and shoes. Drove, parked, unloaded, and headed to T area. It was early and not much of a line for body marking. Set up my stuff. I left my shoes off my bike because the mount area looked really short and narrow before you started a climb with a left turn. After asking my neighbor he agreed and said no one does a flying mount here and everyone wears their shoes from T1 to mount. He also pointed out how rough the asphalt was, he was correct! I ate some crackers and drank water while I waited. Probably peed 5-6 during the 1.5 hour wait to start. I was a little worried!
Event warmup:

I did some stretching, easy stretching. That was about it. I just don't see the need for me to take of running right before a race. I've done that, I've not done that, I can't tell any difference.
Swim
  • 33m 35s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 35s / 100 yards
Comments:

This was a good swim for me. Sighting was right on when I could finally see the buoys and trusted the crowd in front until then. LOTS of people stopping and swimming crisscross in the first 1000 yards. I bet I ran into 6-7 people before the 500 mark some of which I had to stop. But that can't be helped, do what you can!
The helpers were great at grabbing you and helping us out of the water on the boat ramp. I didn't stop to have my suit stripped but I noticed while running into T1 that someone had unzipped my suit coming out. That was nice!

Stroke: 32/100y which was good. Pool swims were around 28-30. 3,160 total strokes.

What I did for the first time and really liked it is to set my Garmin to alarm and auto lap every 500 yards. A) It gave me an idea of how far I've gone and have to go. B) I can break down the data later. Although it's open water and a little skewed.

Garmin Connect has this data. But here's the short of it in 500y intervals:
1) AvgPace: 1:23; AvgCadance: 35 ~ yep, swinging arms
2) AvgPace: 1:26; AvgCadance: 31 ~ settling the stroke down
3) AvgPace: 1:39; AvgCadance: 31 ~ typical 1200y lull that I didn't fight through well
4) AvgPace: 1:12; AvgCadance: 31 ~ realized it and kicked it in gear w/o sacrificing stroke. 1:12 seems unrealistic for me...
5) AvgPace: 1:16; AvgCadance: 28 ~ crowd thinned out, stroke improved. 1:16 seems unrealistic for me...

What would you do differently?:

Nothing really. I sighted too much at first but mainly because of running into people got me gun shy. My stroke was horrid for the first 500-1000 yards then finally got it under control.
Transition 1
  • 03m 25s
Comments:

There's wasn't much room exiting T1, mounting, and starting a climb with a left turn. No one jumped on bike or ran barefoot to mount line.
I was a little slow here. Took off suit at bike and started getting ready. I also pre decided to put on my socks and wear my gloves on the bike. I've had to grow skin back on my knuckles and ankle before and have no plan of doing that again. If it takes some time then so be it.

A funny note here I'll address later. My endurance tabs I left in T1, well because I was swimming, to pick up for my ride.

Edit: I forgot a funny! Remember to check your cycling shoes and make sure your cleat covers are not ON before you try to mount!!! Good thing it wasn't a flying mount!!!
What would you do differently?:

Practice T1 a little more. Although it went well.
Bike
  • 3h 10m 39s
  • 56 miles
  • 17.62 mile/hr
Comments:

After I got on my bike I realized that I left my endurance tabs in T1. I did not remember gettings them at all. This freaked me out!! Now all I have is Hammer Perpetuem that I've trained with but this was my first race to use it. I started asking for gels at the aid stations. At the second station I picked one up and sucked it down. I put the trash in my "dedicated trash pocket" and guess what? My tabs!! I didn't forget them. Now I'm a little over an hour into the ride and popping my first tabs. This worried me but I was relieved and hoped not all was lost in the nutrition plan.

Unfortunately it was. I started feeling slight cramps in my quads in the last 10 miles or so. I was taking 3 pills each time instead of two trying to catch up.

I finished the bike great and was VERY happy with my ride. We had a wind pick up from the west during the ride which we had to ride back in. I was holding 18.2 mph average until then. I was only riding 15-16 mph into the wind and struggling to do that. I knew I had gone too hard.

One of the hills down into the canyon I got going a little too fast and crossed the center line. Thank God there was only one guy climbing up and gave me room. There wasn't anyone around me at that time and I was having to judge the descents alone. It was a long hill and only got a little wild at the bottom but it could have been a disaster if a big group was climbing up.
What would you do differently?:

* Start my nutrition in T1. This will insure I have my tabs and any gels or other stuff I might need.
* If I do this ride again I might switch to even a bigger bike cassette. This was an 11-28 and I probably could have used a 32 or 34, maybe even more!! I was mashing WAY hard to get up these hills. I think this affected me later on. Read on.
Transition 2
  • 05m 55s
Comments:

Again, no room to jump off your bike. You rode up, stopped, unclipped, and jogged into T2.
I wish race companies would make the bike rack bars a little higher. I had to fight to get my bike seat under the bar to rack it. Next time I might just rack the handle bars but I didn't think of that until later.
Already had my socks on :)
I stopped right before the exit and cleaned out my shoe. It felt like I had sand and rocks in it.
Really had to pee (which seemed to take forever) coming out of T2 so I knew my hydration was good. Just didn't know about my nutrition.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing really. I carried a water bottle with me which I tossed in the trash later on. Not sure I'll do that anymore.
Run
  • 2h 29m 38s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 11m 25s  min/mile
Comments:

I came out of T2 feeling okay. I guess the sand and grit in my shoe was really in my sock. I did some wiggling of the toes and moved it around where it was comfortable. I averaged right at a 8:55 m/m pace for the first 24 minutes then I bonked. My hamstrings were cramping bad (which I've some some trouble with lately and kind of expected) but my quads were joining in. I had to stop running try to walk it off. The rest of the race was a walk/run effort. I was zapped and very disappointed. To train that long and hard and blow it was discouraging to me. I smiled and talked a little with others who were in the walk/run boat but deep inside I felt gut punched. To run a 2:30 half marathon was horrid for me. My slowest was my first 70.3 and it was 2 hrs.
I continued to drink water, take tabs, and gels as planned.
What would you do differently?:

* Go back to what has previously worked with my nutrition. Gels every 30 minutes, salt/end tabs, one or two solid food bars, gatorade, and water.
* Keep myself in better check on the bike effort.
Post race
Warm down:

I ate the recovery fruit/food they had, drank some, and went into T area. First time I've not had to wait for the T area to open. That was an upside I guess.
Walked my bike and gear up the big hill to the parking area. I drank a Recoverite there and ate some crackers. At the hotel (after a shower) I put on my recovery pants, ate a clifbar and a pb&h sandwich. I had another recoverite drink an hour after the first. I took a two hour nap. During my nap I woke up running a fever and took a few ibuprofen.
The banquet was at 6pm and got there around 5:30. They were already serving food which was my main reason for going. Feeling MUCH better I ate and decided to bug out before all the boring stuff started about people I don't know. I drove around and bought a six pack of Shiner beer and medium Pizza Hut pizza and headed for the hotel hot tub.
Surprisingly I'm not really that sore compared to how my run went.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Bonk on the run due to two things:
Mashing the pedal effort it took to climb those hills was huge and possibly the root cause. I should have noted it and dialed back on the flats.
Nutrition never felt spot on. I was over an hour late with my endurance/salt tabs and not sure if Perpetuem is all it claims to be.

I didn't pee again until I was back at the hotel, flag that my hydration might have suffered on the walk...

Event comments:

This was my first time at bslt and it held the promise of being a tough course. I would like another shot at this one!!

Full data:
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/818968093



Profile Album


Last updated: 2015-01-19 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:33:35 | 2112 yards | 01m 35s / 100yards
Age Group: 16/73
Overall: 142/664
Performance: Good
Suit: sleeveless
Course: Beach start with a right turn at first and all the others left turn, kind of a triangle layout. Yellow buoys on corners and orange in between. I wish they would have had two orange in between the yellows because I just had to follow the crowd until I could finally see it. Come out on other side of T area on boat ramp. They had the flat carpet stuff down with is wonderful for my tender feet.
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 74F / 24C Current:
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 03:25
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed:
Biking
03:10:39 | 56 miles | 17.62 mile/hr
Age Group: 53/73
Overall: 385/664
Performance: Good
I didn't do much here as far as lapping or extra info. A slight mistake was setting up my data screens on my Garmin. I need to leave Time on my main screen with HR, Cadence, and Pace so I can watch when to fuel. I had replaced it with AvgPace. ~ Ave HR Zone: 2.3 ~ Ave Cadance: 88 RPM
Wind: Some
Course: Out and back with a couple branches off. This course was mostly flat except for six big climbs in and out of canyons. I went a too hard in the flats. Even with the big hills I was quickly averaging 18-19 mph. I felt good but later in the ride I started to tire. Just under 1972' elevation gain in 6 climbs. See comments:
Road:  Dry Cadence: 88
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Too hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 05:55
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Below average
Racking bike Below average
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
02:29:38 | 13.1 miles | 11m 25s  min/mile
Age Group: 57/73
Overall: 457/664
Performance: Bad
Ave HRZ: 1.4 ~ you'll see why in a minute. The rest of my data doesn't really matter at this point.
Course: Rolling hills (small) with one big freaking hill you have to climb twice. I didn't see anyone run it from bottom to top. I would like to have a shot at this again someday. I set my Garmin to auto lap at 4.6 miles with the plan of running a negative split. 4.6 miles @ 9:00 m/m 4.6 miles @ 8:30-8:45 m/m 3.9 miles @ something under that...target 8:00 m/m
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Below average
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race? No
Evaluation
Course challenge Too hard
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Below average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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