First up is Charles at the Kansas 70.3:
Kansas 70.3 proved to be another hot venue for a race. In the days leading up to the race temperatures hit the mid-high 90s with heat indexes above 100. Luckily it "cooled" off to mid 80s on race day. The hot weather also pushed the water temp. to 81 the night before the race, meaning it would likely not be a wetsuit legal race. However, when I arrived on race morning we were told the water had been measured at 77.5 (.5 degrees below the limit) at 4 am. I wasn't sure if that was really all that great though since my wave didn't go off until 7:30 when it was likely the temp would be well above the limit and very uncomfortable. I would say that this unfortunately effected my swim performance quite a bit. Since I was used to swimming in 57 degree water and this lake was close to 80 I began to have issues about 400m in. My plan was to go out very hard to keep up with the swim leaders, but unfortunately I lost them as I had to navigate around the slower swimmers falling back. As I neared the mid point of the swim I felt like my body was suffocating in the suit and from this point I really felt like I had bombed the swim. My breathing was not controlled, I felt very labored holding any steady pace, plus the feet that I was drafting off of kept zig zagging and not swimming a straight line. So eventually I had to abandon him and sight solo to the finish while navigating around the other waves. Considering that I have never been under 30 minutes for a HIM swim I was shocked to see 28:47 when I got out, a p.r.! This is just a testament to all the hard work I have done in the pool, the great structure from Ben and the mental toughness to swim through trouble.
After some dizziness in the transition I set out on the rolling bike course to rehydrate, take some fuel in and set an even pace. There were many hills on the course, but none of them were particularly steep. So I planed to keep my watts under 300 no matter what and aim to avg 245. Of course there were many people out of the saddle cranking it up the hills hard passing me, but I would continually pass these people on the downhill and flats. The overall time split on my bike was hindered a bit due to an oil spill around mile 40 where everyone (except the pros) had to dismount and walk a short distance, remount and get back up to speed. Otherwise the bike was uneventful. Some of the hills were even gentle enough to hold 18-20 mph going up them. It was not a particularly demanding course, but one that consistently has you changing gears. Overall I would say this was the smartest HIM bike leg I have ever ridden. I conserved quite a bit on the hills and had enough energy to progressively get faster over each 40 minutes block of the race so that by the time we were re-entering the park I had but a major gap on all the guys I had been yo-yo-ing with up and down the hills. Still, if I was disappointed a little bit with any portion of this race it would be the bike split. I thought I could have been quite a bit faster than 2:28 and my avg. watts were only 232. I can only attribute this to a lot of spinning out on the downhills and perhaps a little too much conservation. But like I said I am still happy that I rode smarter rather than harder and had fresh legs for the run.
By the time the run came it was 80 degrees and climbing. My plan was to go out at 7:15 pace for the first 3 miles and then see how I felt from there. After hopping off the bike 7:15 pace felt incredibly easy, my heart rate dropped too ~150 (recovery pace) and I was completely relaxed. Again quite a few people passed me here, but I wanted to race smart and build into the run so that hopefully I would catch them towards the end. After the 3rd mile and a short steep uphill I let the legs open up a bit and started hitting 6:40 pace. It was a two loop run course with very little shade, but good aid at every mile. As I approached the 2nd loop I was passed by an age grouper and I decided he would be the perfect pace setter. He really set a solid pace and it was nice to not have to think about pace and just follow him. As the run continued I felt stronger and stronger, I decided that the last two miles I might actually be able to drop a couple of 6:15s. So I sat on my pacer and simply waited. Looking at my watch and considering the way that I felt, I thought that 1:25 would be a real possibility. Unfortunately, as I neared the last 2 miles my side began to cramp up a bit along with my shoulder and calf. Right about mile 11 I had a full on stitch and the heat was really beating down. So I stopped at one of the aid stations completely and consumed as much liquid as I could get my hands on. From that point on I was able to push it out, but it was a weakened pace. I know my legs still had a good kick in them, but the heat really effected me aerobically. I was only able to take shallow short breaths for the last mile due to the wicked side stitch and just missed going sub 1:27 on a really fast run course.
Still, it was a great all around effort and result. I would say that this was by far the smartest HIM I've have ever completed and a p.r. of 2 minutes and change. As long as I keep making progress, continue to train hard and race smart things should be really coming together in the next few months. Big thanks to Ben for the great coaching and advice for optimal pace setting along with all the Vo2 crowd for the great support on soggy training days in Seattle. Next big race will be Lake Stevens 70.3 in August!
Next up is my race report from Honu 70.3:
Woke up nice and early at 4 am and was surprisingly relaxed enough to get down some toast, some cereal, and a second round of toast before heading out to the swim start. Mixed a bottle of Gu Brew to sip on for the morning, as well as a 500 cal bottle of the 2X sodium flavor for the bike.
Hanging out at Hapuna Beach pre-raceBefore the swim start did the double check of the bike. Got my bottles on, tires pumped up, laid out my gear and found a cool/quiet place to relax for a while before squeezing on my Sayonara and doing my warmup. Warmup was pretty short. Hopped in for somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes with a short hard tempo interval at the end before lining up for the start.
With the 1600 person mass start and only about .25 mile to the first turn buoy, I knew it’d pay to go out a bit hard and ensure I got into the group I wanted to be in. I expected a lot of contact and a brutal first corner, but was pleasantly surprised to have a very uneventful swim to the first turn, and only be 3 wide at the buoy. I had hoped at this point to settle in a bit and catch a draft, but we turned into the wind for a good portion of the swim and the chop was obnoxious. There wasn't a pack of people to knock it down, and you really couldn’t go easy at all without taking in a ton of water. About the .75 mi mark of the swim though we were back near shore and the water was much calmer so I relaxed and eased in the last stretch. Got out of the water and ran up the beach hitting the mat with a 29:00 split which was right on where I wanted/expected to be.
Run up to T1 was long and had a steep uphill, but once I got to my bike I made quick work of the transition and headed out.
The first .5 mi out of Hapuna Beach Park was uphill and into the wind. After getting my feet in my shoes my eyes were glued to my power meter making sure I wasn’t doing anything TOO stupid right out of the gate. Got out on the Queen K and started getting into my tempo. Picked off quite a few people in the 4 miles to the first turn around, and was pleased to see that I was near the front of the race. After about 15 minutes I was able to feel out the tempo pretty well and was settled into a fairly consistent group of guys. Had a sip of my Gu Brew every 15 minutes or so, and took in basically as much water as I comfortably could to stay hydrated.
At 45 minutes into the ride I dropped my chain and was forced to stop to get it back on. Not too much of a delay, but a bit frustrating to watch 4-5 guys stream past and to have to try and build momentum again on a draggin uphill.
Winds were fairly calm, a slight headwind on the way out to Kawaihae, and again near Hawi. On the final climb to the turn I intently watched my power meter as the group I had been mixed in with slowly pulled away from me. I wasn’t worried as I knew exactly what I needed to do, and based on the way I had been yo-yoing with the group I knew once we made the turn and hit the downhill with a tailwind I’d make all that time back and more. Hit the turn and grabbed a bit of course nutrition to supplement my bottle of Gu Brew and started the return trip to Mauna Lani. Sure enough I overhauled the entire group I’d watched ride away up the climb within the first 2-3 miles after the turn. Most of the rest of the ride was solo and uneventful. Bit of a headwind from Kawaihae to Mana Lani which I think slowed the times a little bit, but still I’m pretty happy with my 2:30:17 bike split, especially after looking at the data and seeing that I averaged 248 watts with an Xpower of 255. A little over my target of 250, but I was very comfortable and confident in the pace I'd set.
T2 went fairly smooth, in and out in 1:22 although heading out on the run I was extremely annoyed that there were NO sun screeners. Seriously, who puts on a race in Hawaii and doesn’t have sunscreen headed out onto the run? Needless to say this redhead ended up with a sunburn. It wasn’t TOO bad, but my race numbers will definitely be visible on my arms until it fades…
Heading out on the run I felt really good, but looking at my Garmin showed me that my HR was WAY too high, up in the mid 160’s. Probably didn't help that I saw a group of family and friends right out of the gate and of course had to look good for the camera. I battled the first mile to get HR down to my goal of 155 bpm. I was struggling with my HR monitor strap and discomfort immediately, but forced myself to keep it on until I got my HR stable where it needed to be about 1.5 miles in, then I dropped the strap to my waist and went on feel. Not ideal for sure, but it was either that or side stitches and I figured option one was probably the best chance of success.
Run course in Honu just isn’t fair. I mean the twists and turns of the cart paths combined with the ups and downs, not to mention the super soft grass fairway running that makes up a good portion of the course. It was impossible to find a rhythm for the first 2.5 miles, but luckily the run hit the road for a 3 mile stretch at that point where I was able to settle in. I had hoped that somewhere in this stretch I'd find a comfort zone and be able to build pace, but really I ended up just playing defence the entire time. My track record in heat isn't very good, so I decided early that the right way to race was to not overextend at all in the first half of the run, and make sure I wasn't going to come apart.
As I cruised through the aid stations I basically did anything I could to keep cool. Ice in the shorts, sponges/water over the head, as much water as I could drink and usually a sip of soda as well for good measure. It’s hard to say if I went a bit overboard with the hydration, as my stomach was sloshing around for the majority of the run. At the same time though I needed as much fluid as I could manage to stay hydrated and of course you have to get in calories as well. Not having much experience racing in that type of heat/humidity I just did the best I could and by the end of the run I felt like I'd learned the things that worked for me and a few things that worked against me so next time I'll be smarter.
Felt pretty good up through about 8 miles. there were some brutally steep (however short) climbs around mile 8 that really got the heartrate going and it was tough to manage with the heat. My legs however were in great shape and felt strong, I was just being cooked under that sun.
Once I hit the final turn around just after mile 10 I knew I was good to go. I was on the home stretch and I would see some familiar faces coming back that would give me that mental boost you need to close strong. Sure enough I saw Teresa Nelson looking strong, Chris Whyte was also out there running well. Kelly Fillnow (a fellow TYR athlete I met pre-race) was crushing it on the run.
After turning back onto the golf course it was amazingly lonely. No spectators and the closest person in front of me was barely in view. Behind me was Bree Wee running me down and no one else that I could see. Bree caught me at about mile 12 and we ran a couple minutes together exchanging the usual “nice job”. at about .5 miles to go she turned and said to me, “c’mon, lets finish this” and then took off. I had nothing left so I just yelled, “you’re too fast for me.”
Crossed the line with a run time of 1:37:09 for a total time of 4:40:24 for a bit over a 7 minute PR. I felt absolutely trashed for about 10 minutes, but once I got some fluids and food into my stomach things started to come around quickly. Definitely the toughest half ironman I’ve ever done, and aside from the sunscreen thing it was one of the best run events around too. The course is beautiful with a great vibe from all the spectators and the resort staff. Hopefully I’ll get to come out and race it again.
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