Florida 70.3 Race Report - 5/21/2006

Background

2006 Season Goals - IM Canada sub 10.30

PR IM - IM FL - 11.11 - 11/2001
PR 1/2 IM - Firm Man - 4.34 - 9/2004

Build Races

FL 70.3 - 5/2006
Tupper Lake - 6/2006

Signed up for Florida to give an indication of early fitness. Decided to spend the week in Disney with family and make a tri vacation. Felt better than ever through April, finishing 7th over all in a small local early season duathlon. May became crazy and I had to fly to Dallas the week before we left for Disney. Then, because I shipped my bike to FL and my schedule, I spent virtually no time on bike or in pool for 2 weeks leading up to race. I've also been fighting a leg injury for about a month. I can run, but it has effected the quality of my workouts. Not an ideal build but I have had a good winter of training.

Booked travel through IM affiliated travel agent.

I enjoy destination triathlons because of the buzz that captures a town. For those who have been to St Croix or done the IM in Lake Placid, you know what I mean. Triathletes everywhere, new bikes, great anticipation. Looking out the hotel window in Lake Placid leading up to IM and seeing the swimmers out on the course early in the morning adds to the excitement of the race. You just can't wait to get to the water yourself. Also, its great to run into old friends out on the course, etc.

Orlando is a big place and Disney is a huge resort. In the week leading up to the race I saw two triathletes outside of registration. I never ran into anyone on the roads running or biking and as a matter of fact the roads were down right treacherous. Small two lane roads, with no shoulder and buses passing in both directions about every two minutes. Most locals and many others stayed outside the park and drove in to register and again to race. It just lacked that destination feel. For that reason, I probably will never return to this venue.

Lessons - My wife reminded me again that we really should extend the vacation on the back end and not the front end because I'm a pain in the a** leading up to a race. Logistics were a big problem and I was always thinking about getting in a few workouts to ease the nerves. Also, 4 days of park hopping is not what your legs need leading up to a 1/2 IM. Next time come in 3 days early and stay later.

Race Morning

17 waves, 4 minutes apart. I'm assigned Wave 14, 51 minutes after the start of the race. I think GREAT, an extra hour of sleep. Nope, instructions say transition has to be cleared at 5.45 (turned out to be 6.30) and I am reminded that it will be much hotter by the time I hit the run - prediction are for the mid 90s. Bummer...

I get to the site with much less trouble than I planned. I took a cab that got me right to the transition area. Problem is, its 4.45. Good thing I had some time, because I had a pre race flat. But, the bad new was that I basically stood around for almost 3 hours. No place to sit with 2300 athletes and their families and lots of bugs. Add that to the Park Hopping and my legs didn't feel very snappy!!

Swim

God bless the VASA. I've said it before and I'll say it again - BEST triathlon tool after putting aero bars on my road bike. My best 1/2 IM swim ever is 28.30 with a wet suit, salt water, and a following current. Water Temp today in the mid 80s, so no wet suits. I've put 5000 yds in the pool since August of 2005. My VASA work has been spotty but at least once per week. I jumped off the gun and was surprised that I basically continued to have clean water until catching the back of the previous wave.

I know the wisdom of putting the slower people first, but I always feel sorry for those slow women swimmers who are probably terrified enough without having the next 5 waves of testonerone swim over them!!

Lots of weaving through the crowd - 2300 people is a lot of people - I probably swam 1.4 miles.

Bottom Line - 32.48 - 279 overall - almost top 10% on 5000 yds!! If you don't own a VASA and you have a family or find it difficult to get to the pool - BUY ONE!!

Transition

Lake Placid like - loooong run to transition - 3.54 min

Bike

I thought about holding back, but Al said in the days leading up to the race - race your strength. That's what I did. I let it all out....as much as possible. The roads were ridiculously crowded and many times I had to soft pedal and wait for an opening in the crowd. 1 mile in, I lose my only water bottle. I haven't had a sip yet!! Oh, Oh....I don't stop because I have my bottle of SE and HEED. In the end, I think it was a mistake. First stop wasn't until about mile 17 and I was about 40 min into the bike and very thirsty. The SE doesn't really quench your thirst.

I then got passed by 3 very good riders and we formed a non drafting pack basically that basically let testosterone refuse to let anyone ride away and we started really moving. Until Mile 35ish - another water bottle gone. (For those who have followed my story, I was experimenting with water bottles because new aerobottles made me abandon my aero bottle). This time I had to stop, turn around and retrieve it. There goes my carrots and maybe a minute. Picked up another group but it wasn't the same. My best races are when I get one or two guys and you are constantly passing or being passed.

In the end - 2.24.36 my best 1/2 split. 66th best bike split - off bike 96th overall.

Quick transition (2.05) - leave around 3.01 and I think I might have a shot at 4.30 and 4.40 if all goes wrong. Nice Plan - My wife always says thats my problem - "you had a plan." She usually tells me that when she sees my frustration of moving a family in one direction when an equally willed, but not rational, 18 month old wants to go in another direction.

Run

I love the 1/2 IM distance. Its not the survival test of an IM, which is as much science project as a race, and its not the every second count all out red line of an Olympic Race. It has the best elements of both. Its still a race but you have to be smart as well as fast. Transitions are still important. My biggest mistake was deciding I didn't need socks. I've raced the 1/2 IM distance without them with success many times but this is the 2nd time I've paid a price. My experience now tells me that at this distance (for me) its worth the extra 20 seconds putting on the socks. I think I might have picked up some sore feet in my fairly new bike shoes in the heat because my feet started bothering me at mile 1 on the run. I stopped several times to adjust my shoes, even taking them off. I thought maybe the insoles had gotten bunched up. In the end I wondered the whole time if I would have to stop. I made it, but a long way from 4.30.

That wasn't the only factor...The heat was brutal. 96 degrees while I was on the run. I was dehyrated from the bike. But after 2 miles of pouring ice on my head and drinking lots I felt ok. but I was chugging around 8.45s. No speed demon. I could have run faster without the foot problems but I really think I do have to experiment with holding back a little on the bike and being more fresh for the run.

The run was 3 loops. 2300 people on 3 loops is mayhem. Again, just like the swim and bike is was a weave. In destination races the town usually turns out volunteers for support. No "town of Disney." So, voluteers appeared to be 60-70% kids who were tired and incapable of handling such a big crowd. I waited for water many times. On my 3rd loop they started running out of sponges and ice. I felt terrible for the folks that finished well after me.

In the end 1.55.12 - 384th run

4.58.34 - 179th overall. I was disappointed with the overall finish but feel like I have a lot to build on. This wasn't an A race, next stop Tupper Lake. That race will be a success if I put a strong run in and finish in the Top 20. I need to be more consistant on the VASA and keep working on run strength.

After Thoughts

I never really realize how dehydrated I get. I thought I did a great job of getting fluids down but when I think about how much fluid I've downed since the race and how little I have peed says otherwise. Need to hydrate much earlier and more often.