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| Finisher Bling! |
St George was the 4th Half Ironman Distance triathlon that that I've raced. It is considered one of if not the hardest 70.3 races on the circuit with lots of hills on the bike and the run. With that said, Wildflower Long Course to me felt tougher. It could be that I wasn't as well prepared for Wildflower as I was for this race. I decided trying a new training plan for this race and used Endurance Nation. The volume of the training plan was bit more than I was previously used to so my strength training suffered a bit because I didn't have the time to do both. Never-the-less I felt well prepared for the race and the info from Endurance Nation regarding race execution and planning was invaluable.
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| Our rental home in St. George. Just a block from T1! |
Planning started 5 months out when I rented a house on VRBO.COM close the finish line in St George. I then recruited 6 other Pasadena Triathlon Club (PTC) athletes to stay with me. Turned out to be a great idea. Having a kitchen and fellow athletes to hang out with during the down time was a great! We ended up also having the PTC after party there which was a bonus. The only negative thing that happened me leaving the party early to view the Mayweather\Pacquiao fight. What a disappointment!
Course Reconnaissance
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| Riding the run course. |
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| Cool group pick in Pioneer Park. Courtesy of Joe Wong |
Friday was admin day. We had to drive over to T1 and drop off our bikes. We decided to drive the back half of the bike course, have lunch, then drop the bikes at T1 and do a test swim. It ended up being a long day and by the time we got back we were pressed for time and had to find a place for dinner. Driving around aimlessly we decided on Chuck-A-Rama buffet. I know what you are thinking that a buffet is not a good pre-race meal but it actually was great! I got to pick out the exact protien and sides that I wanted and it was fresh and cheap for only $12. Much better than a saucy filled pasta dish before a race. Highly recommended if you are in St George. I would do it again in a heart beat for a pre-race meal. Got home and had a vodka and orange juice to relax and then hit the sack after watching a little sport center. I actually got 5+ hours of sleep and woke up at 3:45 fresh and ready to go.
Race Report
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| Pre-race selfie in T1. |
Here are some numbers from last 2 half iron distance races and my goal for this race. Note that at Wildflower I died on the run so I expected to do much better than that race.
| 2014 Wildflower | 2014 Vineman | GOAL SPLIT for IMSG | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swim | 46:42 | 45:34 | 46:00 |
| T1 | 10:39 | 04:35 | 6:00 |
| Bike | 3:27:15 | 2:47:28 | 3:00:00 |
| T2 | 04:19 | 04:10 | 4:00 |
| Run | 2:35:53 | 1:54:29 | 2:00:00 |
| Overall | 07:04:48 | 05:36:16 | 5:56:00 |
Swim
I anticipated a split time of 46:00. This was the time of my last race rehearsal swim in the pool. I've been putting a lot of time in the pool but haven't really been getting faster. I guess I need some professional help! IMSG was pretty well organized with port-a-potties right next to the staging coral so I was able to be fully empty before my wave started. We all got in the water and only had a minute or two to dog paddle warm up. We anticipated a cold swim but the water wasn't bad at all. I had brought some stretch cords to do on land warm ups but couldn't really find a place to attach them so I left them un-used. That was a probably a mistake because when I started the swim it felt like I couldn't get enough air to match my heart rate. I had to dog paddle at 300yds and 600yds to try and catch my breath and it wasn't until the first turn at the red buoy where my heart rate came down and I could start swimming comfortably. In the end the swim was rather uneventful and I think the dog paddle only cost me a few minutes but it was enough to make me feel like it was a FAIL.
Goal Swim Split 46:00
St George 47:07
T1
I was wobbly out of the water and it was a good trek up a ramp so I didn't run it as I wanted to make sure I didn't get any surprise cramps running up the ramp. The wetsuit strippers were great and had my suit off in seconds! I put on my helmet, shoes, sunglasses and stuffed my wetsuit in the collection bag and was on my way. They also had volunteer sunscreeners that were quick and made me feel well protected on the bike out.
Goal T1 Split 6:00
St George 5:59
Bike
The course was supposed to be tough and it didn't disappoint. I had planned to keep it at around 180-185 watts on the flats and around 220 max on the steeper climbs. I passed Glen and Joe somewhere in the first half and was feeling pretty good. I felt equally strong on the second half of the bike and had to hold back knowing the tough run ahead. The Snow Canyon climb at mile 40-45 really didn't bother me and was over with rather quickly. The descents were beautifully long and I took advantage of them as best I could. I spun out a lot on the downhills, enough to make me want to try a "Semi-Compact" crank to give me a 52 big ring instead of the 50. There was some talk among some club members in the weeks before the race that maybe even a road bike would be better for this race because of all the climbing. I'm glad I had my tri bike as I felt like I was flying by people on road bikes. I basically stuck to my power plan and I think I executed my bike plan to perfection as my goal was a sub 3 hour split. I think I might have not drank enough as I only finished a combined 1 bottle between my down tube bottle and my BTA bottle. I did drink 1/4 to 1/3 of each of the Gatorade bottles they handed out at the aid stations but didn't keep any of them. I had 3 gels on the bike and maybe 6 salt caps. I felt like peeing by the 2nd aid station but held it because the potties were too far from the road. I forgot to pee at the 3rd aid station but still made it to T2 without bursting.
NP:175 watts \ IF: 0.72 \ TSS:157 \ Avg Speed: 18.7mph
Goal Split 3:00:00
St George 2:58:45
T2
T2 was uneventful. I did fumble a bit to find my hat and get my Chilling Towel wet and around my neck. I started looking for an empty potty on the way out and saw Gregg leaving one. I yelled hi and grabbed his potty. I knew his wave started behind but knew he would pass me as he's a good swimmer. I had to pass him in the run and gap him by more than a few minutes to beat him but wasn't going to hold my breath. I took what seemed like a 5 minute pee and got started on the run.
Goal Split 04:00
St George 02:50
Run
Things started getting tough right from the start. The climbing start really hit me as I tried to find my legs after the bike. I started feeling very crampy. I knew the feeling would go away after a mile or two but it was very slow going and had to walk about 10-15 yards at one point to keep from locking up. I downed a couple of salt tabs without water and kept plugging along slowly and by the first aid station the legs started coming back but never felt 100%. The climbing got tough on Red Hill Parkway and it was time to work. It was hot and the cooling towl was a big help but I was still walking through every aid stations getting hydration. I saw Coach Rich flying down the decent as I was climbing around mile 3 and yelled a greeting. I got kind of mad because it seemed like there was an aid station missing between 4 and 6 miles leading into Pioneer Park. Looking back at the run course map it is indeed missing! I passed Gregg around there and tried to keep plugging along. Things started to become a blur in the heat. I remember seeing Steve Mackel and Gabe Peterson on their return leg and wanted to be where they were. The turn around seemed like it came rather quickly but I was deflated by the confusing loop-de-loops on the return leg. I really wanted to keep on track for a 2 hr half marathon but as I got to mile 10 it was apparent that it wasn't going to happen. I still tried to keep to the 3/7/3 strategy (3 miles easy/ 7 mile work/ 3 mile blitz) but I couldn't muster any thing resembling a burst the last 3 miles. I saw a guy in full fireman gear with air tank as well as some people just leaving to start the run during my last couple of miles and thought they wouldn't make it.
Goal Spit 2:00:00
St George 2:11:37
Summary
| Goal Split | 2015 IMSG | Goal Diff | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swim | 46:00 | 47:07 | +1:07 |
| T1 | 6:00 | 05:59 | -0:01 |
| Bike | 3:00:00 | 2:58:45 | -1:15 |
| T2 | 4:00 | 02:50 | -1:10 |
| Run | 2:00:00 | 2:11:37 | +11:37 |
| Overall | 5:56:00 | 06:06:18 | +10:18 |
Overall I wasn't too disappointed with my 6:06:18 performance even though I didn't go sub 6 hours. It was pretty tough conditions.
Things I learned:
- Do some kind of pre-swim warm-up to get the heart rate up.
- Cooling towels (Eduracool?) rule on a hot course.
- Run harder! - (Easy to say....)
- Have an aid station plan. (I drank way too much a couple of times and felt slooshy)
In the future I will do an Outdoor FTP test to make sure my power plan is correct. I had tested all indoors and was unsure if the power accuracy on my Wahoo Kickr matched the Powertap on my bike. I should have tested at least once on Chantry.
Post Race
The PTC after party was great. It was fun trading race stories over adult beverages. I'll link over to Joe's blog as he has it well documented there.
A few of us stopped in Vegas for the night before heading home but I have nothing to report about that because what happens in Vegas.....
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| Checking out the Exotic Car Race Track on the way home. |
