April 2, 2016.
Ironman 70.3 California – Oceanside.
My third trip around this course.
My sixth 70.3.
Last year was probably my least productive since getting
into cycling, then triathlon. After a
mechanical cost me an hour and twenty minutes at this race, I did the Chula
Vista Challenge, when weather made both days duathlons. That was all I raced, all year. The late summer, fall, and early winter were
challenging. Very busy at work, and my
dad’s dementia requiring a lot of my time.
I continued to train, but the volume was way done, and the quality was
way down. I also put on some weight.
Around mid-November I had my dad in assisted living, and I
started to get ready. First up was the
Carlsbad marathon in January. No way I
would be ready for that, so I dropped to the half marathon. I completed that, in a not so great
2:45. But, a fairly hilly course, and
2:45 should equal a half marathon of right around 3:00 for a 70.3.
my bike was slower than it had been, but I was starting to
see some breakout workouts. My FTP went
up seven watts on my last test. And I
had a couple of rides were the intervals were strong. What I could see was the endurance was
lacking. I would be strong for 30-40-50
miles, but then crack and really slow down.
I set what I thought were realistic expectations of about a
seven hour 70.3.
I arrived in Oceanside about 4:45. Pulled into the parking lot and watching a
freight train pass. It was chilly out,
so I put on a sweatshirt and a windbreaker, gathered my gear and headed to
transition. I saw my friend Andrea who
was volunteering at the start of the bike handing out water, and SugarMagnolia
who was volunteering at swim exit.
Photo courtesy of Sugarmagnolia
Set up transition, chatted with a few folks, and soon it was
time to put on the wetsuit. The
announcer said the water temperature was 62.2 degrees. Not bad, that temp usually means it feels
cold to me at first, then I’m okay. Time
seemed to fly by and soon we were on the boat ramp, next to go in. As we were waiting the pro men were exiting
the swim. Impressive a line up of nine
all about 22-23 minutes for a 1.2 mile swim.
Damn.
Next we entered the water a short swim to the actual start
which was now three minutes away. That
water does not feel like 62, or 62.2, it feels like 66-67. Very pleasant.
And the horn sounds, we are off. A bit crowded, more than I remember for this
race. And choppy. This is in a harbor, that by my experience is
usually nice and calm. I got into a
pretty good groove, and just kept swimming.
The hard part was the sun was coming up, and sighting was a bear at
times. Out of the water, my friend
shouted out to me, and I was wobbly! I
kicked the last 100 like I should to get some circulation into the legs but
wow. After a couple of minutes I was able
to start trotting in transition. The
transition here is long, and on hard concrete/asphalt. With my tender feet, I never run well on it,
and wind up walking most of the way around.
At my spot in transition, the wetsuit comes off, bike jersey
on, helmet on, cycling shoes on. Grab
the bike, and go. Ahhhh bike time. Nothing like bike time.
Out of transition and we roll around the harbor then head
onto Camp Pendleton. To get to Camp
Pendleton is a short steep hill. Up and
over, and on base. I use this area to
get my breathing regulated, get comfortable, then go aero and get to race
effort.
About three miles in, I felt like my power was very
low. My legs were like jelly. Usually at this point in a race with the
adrenaline, I have to hold myself back some.
I was really concerned at this point.
At times it was better, but I definitely did not have my A
game. I think my nutrition was
good. My Friday food was normal, soup
and salad for lunch, pasta for dinner, didn’t overdue it. Bagel and hard boiled egg for breakfast. On the bike, I used Spiz which I’ve been
working with for about six weeks now and it has done well. I felt like I was well fueled, just no
power. It really showed on the
hills. While I would never be confused
with a skinny guy in polka-dots, I was really struggling on the hills today. But where I could really see it was the
flats. I can normally put out a good
pace on the flats, and I was a good 1.5-2 MPH slower than I should be.
Finally done with the bike, 30 minutes slower than three
years ago, while it felt harder. I didn’t
have a power meter then, but the feel was definitely easier three years ago
while being faster.
Back in transition, bike racked, shoes changed, helmet off,
hat on, and away we go. My strategy was
a 30-45 run-walk ratio. I had trained to
this the last few weeks and it was working well on tired legs. It didn’t take long though and I didn’t think
I would be able to maintain this. At
this point I really didn’t feel very good.
Mile one felt like mile 10-11 usually feels. This run is going to be a slog! And it was.
Mile two through six were just a death march. As I hit the aid stations, I didn’t feel like
I needed much, so I just tried a little
of this, or a little of that to see if something would get me feeling
better. I realized I felt really tired,
so I grabbed some Red Bull. I started to
feel a little better. Not great, but a
little. I was able to go to a 30-90
run-walk, which beat the almost all walk I was doing. I saw my friends, they hung out just after
mile 6, and again about mile 8. It was
nice, and a bit of a boost. Then the
hardest part, going away from the finish until the turnaround at mile
10.5. Here I was back to feeling pretty
cruddy. I final boost with the last turn
around knowing now every step was toward the finish line. I tried real hard to run for at least 30
seconds every two minutes. Knowing at
this point it would be my worst time in a 70.3, and my worst half marathon
ever, I just decided to enjoy the beautiful day, the ocean, and the
atmosphere. Soon I was in the finishing
chute and 70.3 number six was in the books.
Disappointed in the overall time, the bike time, and the half marathon time. But as my friend Leo, who is on deployment in Afghanistan recently said, perspective. I get to do this, it beats the couch, and lots of people cannot or will not do it.
Nice of my friend Andrea to hang out. I’m not much to talk to after a race, and
this was worse than normal. I was
fried. She asked if I needed to go to
medical, so whatever happened, something was off, she could see it. But, I still finished, and will get back on
the horse and start getting ready for IMAZ in November.
Analyzing the data today, my Normalized Power on the bike
was 77% of FTP, I was shooting for 80-85% so that should not have killed my
run, but it felt like I was on the rivet the whole day. I took in enough calories. Just one of those days.
Gear
Swim: X-terra Forza wetsuit, Tyr Rx goggles, Tyr lycra swim
cap under race issued cap
Bike: Specialized Transition Comp/Williams 58-85
wheels/50-34 crankset/11-28 cassette/X-Lab hydration set up/Adamo saddle.
Run: Hoka One One Bondi 4 shoes
Nutrition: Spiz, 900 calorie bottle on the bike, water. Spiz 250 calorie bottle on the run/shot
blocks/water/Red Bull.
