Ironman 70.3 California - Oceanside

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.

For endurance events, I do recommend giving Spiz a try.  It's not available everywhere, but if your in San Diego, you can get it a Rev Endurance.

My (non) IM 70.3 California Oceanside Race Report

I would love to start this blog by telling you how I got to transition in the morning; set up, and headed out for a swim. 

I would love to write about a chilly but strong swim, and exiting with or near a PR swim, cruising through transition and onto the bike. 

I would love to write about a better bike than last year, which was pretty good by my standards, another cruise through transition and onto the run course 

And I would love to be gleeful as to a new PR run, showing all the extra emphasis I had put into my running was paying off. 

But, none of this happened.  In fact, I didn’t even start the race.  You see three weeks ago, as I headed out for my peak 12 mile run I had some bad luck. 

Just 500 yards or so in, my left foot landed on a rock and rolled.  I stumbled but maintained my balance.   After a couple of minutes I tried to run.  I went between ¼ and 1/3 of a mile.  Just when I thought I got lucky, a sharp shooting pain in my foot.  Of course I tried again and got about 6 strides before it happened again. 

By the time I got home, I had what looked like half a tennis ball on the top of my left foot. 

After a trip to the orthopedist, I was diagnosed with a non-displaced fracture of the cuboid bone.  You can see the x-rays here. 

So it’s an air-cast, and crutches.  The doctor cleared me to swim with a pull buoy and no walls, but that is about it. 

However, I still came out to the race.  You see I had more invested in this race than just myself. 

My friend Sugarmagnolia asked me to help her with her training.  So I became “coach.”  Now she has done several triathlons, and one 70.3 (Superfrog), but never with a defined training plan. 

So I created the skeleton of her plan, and sent her each week’s workouts one to two weeks out, so I could adjust the workouts based on progress, results, and her life needs.  She has a really busy life, see her blog. 

I also had another friend racing, Andrea, doing her first 70.3.  She prepared herself for the race, but I did give her an outline of a training plan.  And I met with her almost every Sunday morning for open water swims, or on rare occasion when we had rain, we swam at the pool. 

I can’t begin to tell you how much I wanted these two to have a great day, how much I wanted them to succeed.  How hard I was rooting for them. 

I met up with Sugar’s family, we saw her come in off the bike.  We applauded, yelled, and cheered.  Of course, I went into coach mode.  Make it a FAST transition.  Don’t get a manicure, GO!  (She did good, and before I knew it we saw her coming back out on the run) 

We saw her again around the half way mark of the run.  She said she didn’t want to do another loop.  I can’t print what I yelled out this time.; but most of you have heard the expression HTFU.  Magnify that!  Then, we saw her again.  Finishing.  Smiling.  Success! 

All the while I was using athlete tracker.  Andrea had gone through mile 26.4 on the bike strong.  But I was concerned as I didn’t see her come off the bike, and tracker didn’t show her in indicating I missed her.  And how does one miss a hot pink helmet? 

Right around the time Sugar was half way through the run, I got a text from Andrea that she pulled out at mile 45 of the bike with issues including dizziness that would have made riding 11 miles a risk.  She was in good spirits and came down and rooted for Sugar with us. 

Overall, I am very proud of both of them.  Knowing not just the training and effort that went into this, but all that was going on in their lives during the training and all the life challenges, they did great.  Their names are linked to their blogs.  Both will do race recaps as well, and they are good writers, so check them out!  I have a new respect for those that coach many athletes.  You really become invested in your athletes.  You feel their pain, anguish, and rejoice in their success.  It is harder than racing, because you have ZERO control on race day. 

Thank you Sugar, and Andrea for allowing me to assist you in this journey.  You guys are awesome. 

As for me, cheering is stressful and hard.  I really would rather be racing.  Hopeful that the foot gets better and I am on the start line at IMAZ in November.  With maybe a short one or two locally in the summer so I can toe the line and get the race juices flowing.

 

 

 

IM California 70.3 Oceanside

If you read my blog, know me, are a friend on Dailymile, Twitter, or Facebook you know my big event this year is Ironman Coeur D’Alene. (IMCdA)  That will be June 23^rd.  I needed to race before that, and I thought IM California 70.3-Oceanside would be ideal.  No travel, plenty of time to recover and not mess with the overall training, so I signed up last year when there were about 100 spots left. 

All of the sudden it was race week.  Early on in the week the weather forecast was a bit dicey.  Chance of rain and wind.  As the week progressed, the forecast improved; although as late as Thursday morning they were still predicting pretty good winds. 

I reminded myself that the weather was out of my control.  I train in all kinds of weather so I would be prepared.  I knew what I would bring, wear, and do if the weather was chilly, cold, rainy, or just plain crappy.  But I was very thankful that we had a day that was just about perfect for racing a triathlon. 

I had my alarm set for 3:20 AM for race morning.  I woke up at 3:18 after a darn good sleep.  How often does that happen?  I got dressed, loaded the van and headed north on I-5.  I got a good parking spot right near T2.   

With a 7:39 start it was too early to eat at home.  I brought my race morning breakfast with me, and ate in the van.  When I was done, I grabbed my run bag and walked over to T2.  I set up my spot, headed back to the van prepped my bike, grabbed my bike bag and morning dry bag and road the mile or so to T1 at the harbor.  I went down to the TCSD racks and set up.  I was pretty much done and ready with almost two hours before my start.  Of course we had to be out of transition when the pros started which was an hour before me! 

Wandering around I exited transition and ran into my friend who was volunteering with water at the T1 entrance.  We chatted, probably for five minutes longer than I should have.  I headed back to my spot, grabbed my wetsuit, and got ready.  As I was tugging and adjusting, I could faintly hear the national anthem.  I knew the pros were about ready to start.  I headed to the corral, found my wave and got into the queue. 

As we crept forward in bare feet on the rough and crumbly asphalt we saw the pros come in as they ran by headed into T1 right next to us.  Defending champion and eventual winner Andy Potts was first out of the water as usual, but I was surprised at how close another pack of four or five were to him.  And a big pack not too far behind that.  With the pros gone, it was a while before the first amateurs started coming through.  Very few of us swim 1.2 miles in 21-22 minutes!   But we would see some, and we kept moving forward as waves went off every three minutes.  Yellow Caps On-Deck!  Gulp, almost show time!

Yellow Caps in the WATER!   Three minutes to get to swim/warm up, get to the start.  Hey!  That water is cold!  I just swam in the bay.  The bay is warmer.  By the time we got into position I heard 30 SECONDS.  Nerves turn to focus.  Calm chaos churning inside.  10 SECONDS.  Okay the water isn’t so cold.  I’ve got this.  Then the unmistakable pitch of an air horn.  Splash, crash, and smash time!  The start of a triathlon;   basically a hockey game with the ice melted.  I was behind two guys who I thought would be faster than me.  Don’t ask me why, I didn’t know them, I was just kind of guessing.  As I kept slapping the guy on the rights foot, I figured it was time to go around.  The guy on the left was almost the same speed, so his foot got slapped too.  It wasn’t intentional guys; the water was too murky to see.  I found a seam and got by.   

Every so often I would come up on a swimmer, and go by.  This kept going on, and the next thing I knew I saw the red buoys.  The red buoys meant it was time to turn.  I was stunned how fast I was there.  But on my alternate breath I looked right and it was open ocean!  Turning for home, this is feeling good! 

The 45-49 year men were split into three waves.  I was in the final set with a name at the end of the alphabet.  I was passing a good amount of blue caps, the wave in front of me.  I was also passing a lot of women.  I didn’t have the cap colors memorized, but that meant I was passing people with at least a nine minute head start.  Wow, am I swimming that well?  I don’t feel like I’m over doing it.  Literally the boat ramp was there!  I was up and out of the water!  I stole a peak at my Garmin as I hit the lap timer.  34:XX  HOLY NO-WAY!  34 and change?  My previous best is 40:52 for the distance.   

Bike time! -I'm toward the back, TCSD kit

Pack the car and go home.  The day has been a success!  But wait, there’s more!  The bike is my favorite part.  Off with the wetsuit, on with the cycling shoes and helmet.  Trot out of T1, mount the bike.  My friend gives me a yell and I am off!  Exited out of the harbor, I’ve done this a whole lot of times, but then through the Del Mar gate, which is usually off-limits to cyclists.  A few turns on parts of the base I am not familiar with, and then behind a bank of stores a turn, I see what looked like a bad crash with at least three bikes and one rider down.  Hope everyone is okay, and we turn on to Vandergrift.  I know this road.   

The next part is on roads I train on, through Camp Pendleton, onto old Highway 101 which is now a dedicated bike path, through a state park, and up past San Onofre’s reactor and Trestles.  I have to tell you I was feeling GOOD!  Yes, as in an all-caps good.  Taking nutrition as needed, riding at 70.3 effort.  The bike course was a bit crowded in places, but overall everything was going well. 

We turn onto Cristianos, and once we get past El Camino Real, we are headed back onto Camp Pendleton.  Only now, this is an area we don’t get to go normally.  I have never ridden back here.  We go through the checkpoint onto base and there it is.  Hill number one:  Not long, maybe a half of a mile.  But oh so steep.  I mean steep.  I saw somewhere between 8-12 competitors walking their bikes up this gnarly little beast.  I will admit, I was grinding in my 36x28 wishing I had a few more gears.  Finally over the top, down a bit, some rollers then up again.  Hill number 2:  This one is a little longer, not as steep, but it hit double digits in gradient at the top.  A big swooping downhill with the race prohibiting passing for safety.  I started to catch the rider in front of me, so I backed off then saw the end of no passing zone sign, and let it rip!  Until Hill number 3.  I am having trouble remembering this one other than it went up, probably wasn’t too bad, but I was ready to stop going uphill.  Oh yeah, and somewhere around the start I dropped my chain.  I promise it was a good shift.  Not on a steep section, light on the pedals.  Needless to say I was furious!  Off the bike, get to the side of the road I got the chain back on quickly.  Apologies to anyone around me that heard me cuss my chain out.  I felt it needed a berating for dropping in a race.  Do I look like Andy Schleck?  Hey chain stay on the bike!  Okay, get over it, and get pedaling!  Up hill, up, up, up; finally over the top, and a great descent.  Not steep, just long at 2-4 percent.  Time to fly! 

Mile 50, at this point the course is mostly flat, a few rollers, we make the turns back toward Oceanside, off the base, past the harbor and to the pier.  I hear Go Tri Club, yeah Go Tri Club, but SLOW DOWN. Oh, there’s the dismount line.  Un-clip, stop, and off the bike, trotting to my rack. 3:02:03. the chain cost me a sub 3 hour bike.  Cuss the chain out all over again.  This time under my breath, nobody else knew the butt chewing I was giving that chain. 

Bike racked, cycling shoes off, helmet off, running hat on, running shoes on.  Sip of Diet Mountain Dew, a little bliss in transition.  Off I go.  Well, a quick duck into Spanky’s commode.  Off on the run course.  Okay, here’s the plan:  Run 1:30, walk :30.  Shooting for 11:30 per minute miles as the ultimate goal.  Honest goal is 12:00/mile. 

Holy cow the start of the run is congested!  I skipped my first two walk breaks only because I was afraid I’d get run over.  Finally I got in the groove and the run opened up a bit, well, there was the whole down the super steep ramp, and back up.

I'm not in this photo, but you can see how steep it is!

 

  After a bit, we were headed south and it was run time.  Two loop course.  I was feeling pretty good.  Notice not great, or an all-caps good.  But still pretty good coming off the bike.  The first 3 plus miles the 1:30/:30 was easy!  That is the goal.  If it’s easy at the start, it should be a challenge in the middle, and real hard, but doable at the end. 

Stay hydrated! I'm in the yellow hat

Getting into the neighborhoods was great.  People were out, cranking up the tunes, it had the atmosphere of a Rock and Roll half marathon!  Exchanged a whole bunch of “Go Tri Clubs” out there, and just keep going.  About halfway through the run walk split got tough.  The second trip on the steep inclines around the pier were a must walk even if it wasn’t time to walk.  I was able to keep the run/walk ratio most of the way.  It got to 1:15/:45 at times, but the biggest hit on my time was when I was running, the pace dropped.  Overall I was having a decent run by my standards.   

The enthusiasm on the run course was incredible.  Heading out of and into the pier area there was a number of groups.  These folks would call you out by name (our names were on our bibs) shout encouragement, ring cow bells.  It really helps to keep you going.  I am thankful I did not have my brains eaten by a zombie!  (Carlsbad HS tent) 

The "Cheer zone" pre-race
 

 

Hey is that the big FINISH inflatable ahead?  No more walk breaks!  We are running it in, fueled by the crowd.  My name is blasted over the public address system, and my third 70.3 is complete! 

Timing chip off, medal around my neck and I meander into the finishers area.  I am congratulated by a fellow tri-clubber, who said nice job and that I was funny out there.  I said thank you, but then as my brain started to work again I wondered what she meant by that.  Funny?  Funny how? (Joe Pesci voice)!  Seriously if it was you please tell me what was so funny, and if it was funny good, or funny tragic and I need to fix something! 
 

Official Stats for the race: 
 

Swim 34:24 –PR

T1 6:34 – It felt faster

Bike 3:02:03

T2 4:43 – Includes visit to Spanky’s

Run 2:37:25 – 70.3 PR (stand-alone half mary PR is 2:26)

Total 6:25:09 –PR 
 

Are you a fellow gear-nerd?  Here is my equipment.  I am not sponsored, sponsors like people that get on podiums!  But I do think about my gear.  If you have questions on anything I use, shoot me a note, I’ll give you my honest assessment both pluses and minuses. 

Swim – Blue Seventy Fusion Wetsuit,

              TYR Rx goggles

              Speedo silicone cap under my race-issued cap (for warmth) 

Bike  - Specialized Transition Comp

            Force mid-compact crankset 52-36

            11-28 cassette

            X-Lab torpedo and rear carrier

            Williams 58-85 carbon clinchers

            Specialized Expert Road Shoes

            Giro Aero helmet 

Run – Saucony Triumph 9 

Clothing – Tri Club San Diego tri-top

                  DeSoto 400 mile bib shorts

                  Throrlo socks! 

Fuel – Carbo Pro 700 calorie bottle on bike, 300 calorie bottle on run

            Fig Newtons (ate 2 on bike)

            Picked up one pack of chomps on run course 

Thanks for reading.  Back to training, I have this 140.6 thing coming up in June.  YIKES!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hodgepodge for 1000 please

As a long time Jeopardy! fan I thought the title was appropriate for this blog since it is not a focused race report, but a training update, and mini-reports on three events.

16 weeks until Iron Man Coeur D’ Alene.  Four weeks until IM California 70.3.  That explains the knot in the stomach.  It is getting close, and it’s getting real. 

Training is going pretty well.  As part of training I’ve done a few events since my last blog. 

I did the 15K San Diego Resolution run.  Since that distance was a bit more than that weeks training called for I took it easy, and was very happy with my overall result.  While far from fast, and still not comfortable with my running, it has improved greatly since taking the running clinic last November.  This was most evident yesterday.  My legs were trashed after a 75 mile bike with moderate hills, and a couple of intervals.  But I was able to do three miles at a pace I have not been able to hold for a 70.3, and did so easily.  I was not gassed at the end, and could have kept going.  This is real progress with running.  I’m doing transition runs twice a week.  There are good arguments both for and against frequent transition runs; but since I really struggled with the run on both of my 70.3s, I am focusing on them for this training sequence and this year’s races. 

I also did the Stagecoach Century.  This starts in Ocotillo, about 80 miles east of San Diego.  Roughly 6,000 feet of gain and it was a cold morning, about 36 degrees.  It never got much above 50, and I stayed in four layers the entire day, finally removing the balaclava 75 miles in.  I treated this as a base building ride, but wanted to give credit to Shadow Tour for putting on a quality event.  Not many cycling events offer chip timing and medals to the finishers; and more than enough aid stations.  With the amount of aid stations I would recommend this to a newbie century rider.  Well done, Shadow Tour. 

I also took part in USAT’s NCC Challenge.  This is a challenge for triathlon clubs around the country to stay active in the traditional off-season.  (There’s an off-season)?  Clubs have a roster of up to 75 participants logging miles.  The miles are weighted, so the efforts are close to even.  1 bike mile equals 1 mile, 1 swim mile equals 10 miles, and 1 run mile equals 3 miles.  I was on Tri Club San Diego’s Team 1, and we came in second out of all tri-clubs, falling well short of DC, but well ahead of all others.  Being on the leader board was fun for me, since I’m not fast and in a race I’m not even close to hitting a podium.  I also finished 12^th of all individuals in my age group, with just over 3,000 weighted miles.  Thanks to my fellow TCSDers with the Facebook posts, and Thao’s cheerleading keeping us going.  Next year we take DC down! 

Now the training gets serious.  Oceanside will be interesting as it is the first time I am doing a 70.3 where it is not my A race.  I don’t get a full taper going in, as the main focus is IMCdA training.  And after Oceanside, that training gets intense!  There will be lots of structure, and defined goals with each workout.   

A special thank you to my wife for putting up with my nuttiness, walking around sore, and falling asleep at 6:45 at night.  And a warning, it's going to get real crazy soon. 

I set up a Training Peaks account a few months ago, and recently went premium so I can use it to plan.  If you haven’t used TP before, and are interested in having good analytics of your training as well as a platform to plan all aspects I highly recommend it. 

That concludes the update.  The next blog should be a race report from Oceanside in about a month.  Until then a whole lot of swim, bike, run, eat, rest, and repeat!  Oh, and somewhere in there work and wifey time.