Race Report: IM 70.3 Superfrog

First Ironman sponsored 70.3 race! Quite the spectacle to do one! Race was pretty tough with some really unique parts! But I had a solid day, everything went well and I PRed in a HUGE way!!!

Race details:
Coronado, California
Swim: 1.2 mi - open water, ocean, 2 loops, 100m run on sand
Bike: 56 mi - road, 4 loops on hwy 75, fairly flat
Run: 13.1 mi - run, 3 loops, 2.5 miles on beach for each loop, 1 mile on loose gravel for each loop

Course Recorded Finish: 5:50:33

Garmin Splits:



AG Finish: 29/81 (top 35% at a big event!!! WOAH!!!)
OV Finish: 234/717 (top 32% at a big event!!! WOAH!!!)
AG Race Factor: 1.37
OV Race Factor: 1.32

Race Analysis:
Transitions:


My transition times were a little bit slower than normal for this race. But being a 70.3 distance, I wasn't really in a huge rush to get on the move. I called the 100m run a "transition" on Garmin. That was a pretty 1.5 min slow trudge thru soft sand with the wetsuit on. As for the legit transitions, I was focusing on taking my salt, getting the gear off/on and just getting mentally ready. I also slowed myself down by peeing in a portapotty in T2. Haha. But the only improvement here might be learning the Flying Dutchman, or whatever it's called when you already have your shoes on the bike and then just get on and clip in while riding. I'm not that intense to give that dangerous move a go...

NOTE: My Garmin transitions are off from my race official transitions. T1 is off because I forgot to hit the lap button until I was well into the bike. T2 is off because I hit lap after I peed LOL

Swim:

The swim was actually brutal for me this go around. As I mentioned above, there was a 100m run in between the two 0.6mi laps. But what made this swim difficult was the huge waves that were breaking whenever you were trying to go out and come in and you had to do that twice!!! One crappy thing that happened was on lap 1 on my swim in, a big wave caught me from behind and threw me down into the sandbar. I proceed to get a bunch of water in my left goggle socket and had to start walking earlier than I wanted to. So that kinda sucked...

The waves also made it real hard to also get your bearings toward the buoy as they only 2 setup and no intermediate ones. So I was doing A LOT of sighting to try and find the right direction. But ya, this swim was slightly more troublesome than Malibu (as evidenced by my 2:27 pace vs. Malibu's 2:06 pace). But this type of swim was great practice for Florida!

Bike:

The bike here was great and probably my best split of the day! It's not even close to fair to compare this bike to Wildflower Long Course, but I beat that time by an hour! Again, Wildflower has terrain and hills and Nasty Grade. This was about as flat as a pancake and many loops over. You can't even make out any elevation in the Garmin chart, but there was a slight incline and decline as well as a REALLY SHORT bridge.

But the bike was great. I stayed in aero for a lot of it and did a great job of energy, hydration and nutrition management. Not once did I have the urge to cramp. The only troublesome parts of the bike were 1) almost losing my aero bottle getting out of the base and 2) trying to eat and swerving on my last loop. But otherwise, this was a great bike split for me!

Judging by my IM recorded splits, I came slow out the gate, pushed it REALLY hard, sat back and then threw down towards the last loop. The funny thing is that's EXACTLY how I felt. I started really fast and realized this and felt it and kind of settled into a groove on laps 2 and 3. Then feeling fresh, I hit lap 4 a little bit harder before slowing down to spin the legs out for the run.

As for nutrition and hydration, I was able to survive on CarboPro, Gatorade, Water and SaltStick+Caffeine. This is huge and will be good for the ultra distance. In all, I had the following:

2 scoops CarboPro (200 cals)

1 tablet Nuun

1 scoop Gatorade Powder

1 scoop Xtend BCAA

3 bottles on course Gatorade

4 bottles on course Water

6 pills SaltStick+Caffeine

And basically all I did was sip the liquids very frequently through my aero bottle. I also timed it so that I took a SaltStick pill every 30 minutes. I pretty much did it like clockwork, but waited an extra couple minutes if I was near a turn or a sprint or something.

Run:

The run was where the struggle bus happened. So as mentioned, I totally had to pee and decided that I should listen to Ian and "just go to the bathroom if you have to go. Don't hold it." So I immediately left transition and hit the potty right outside it. As evidenced by my time differences, it took about a minute, possibly less.

But the Superfrog run starts with 2.5 miles of beach sand running. They claim it's "hard sand" but it definitely doesn't feel hard and running in sand is still running in sand. It sucked. But apparently this course has been around for quite some time to train the Navy recruits for Kona and part of that training was to make it tough and intense, but also practical. In combat, there's a high chance of water/beach fighting if you're in the Navy so naturally you should be able to run on the beach. Go figure...

Anyway, the beach run was REALLY a shock to the muscles right away. Most runs are tough initially because you just biked for such a long time, but this one was immensely brutal. I think I walked for really short stretches just because I was scared of cramping and could feel it. Getting to mile 1 and to the first aid station was clutch though. Getting some water and Gatorade to wash down my SaltStick pill was clutch!

And then after the beach run, you go along some paved road for about a mile before you hit the gravel run. This run used to be around something called "The Elephant Cage" which was a giant circular cage that held training stuff. Unfortunately the cage was taken down and there really wasn't much to see. But the part of the course you ran on was loose gravel and that made it very difficult to get any kind of speed. Plus, your legs feel even more like jello after the sand then this gravel. It was rough to say the least.

But you do all that and some more paved-isn running for 3 loops. And by the end, I was just glad to storm down that chute, see the clock at 5:53 and then ease up and enjoy the finish!

Run nutrition was kind of a blur. I know I took water and Gatorade at every aid station. I ate a Gu and 1/4 of a banana at the 2nd aid station. I also pounded SaltStick pills like they were candy for the run. I could really feel the cramping coming on so I would take LOTS of it and I was lucky to avoid the cramps!

All in all, I had a great race and while there were some struggles, I had a wonderful experience doing my first Ironman sponsored race. I hope to do some more in the future! But I honestly probably wouldn't do this one again just because of the beach run... Haha

Prerace Meals

Pre Race and Race site



Race Shots from Mom and Dad

Post Race

Post Race Meal

Pledge Week 11: Counting Down the Days

Times eaten fast food this week = 0
Total pledge amount this week = $35 (7 days * $5)
Total pledge amount to date = $395 ($250 contributed this week)
Funds raised to date = $2150

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This past week was another solid week for the diet. No fast food was had. No alcohol was consumed. Snacks generally kept to a minimum. Meals were generally healthy, but there were 1 or 2 questionable choices. Workouts were also generally solid minus the lack of respect for the distance on Tuesday...

(Photo credit: http://memegenerator.net/instance2/2080142)

The minions are kind of in right now and I really wanna dress up as one for Halloween...

Anyway, having good weeks are gonna be key for the final push to IM FL. There are officially 6 weeks left not including this weekend!!! Oh boy... Let's see how I stack up:

Race Distances:
Sprint - CHECK (multiple times over)
Olympic - CHECK (a few times over, but definitely Malibu this past weekend covers it)
70.3 - tentative CHECK (done one, Superfrog this weekend will be the full check)

Training Distances:
Swim - 3800 yds - CHECK (plus Pier-to-Pier swim confidence check)
Bike - 50 miles - FAIL
Run - 22 miles - On Track

So as you can see from above, I'm on track to checkoff all the race distance checkpoints you could consider after this weekend. And remarkably, it'll be back-to-back-to-back checks, something I was warned not to do and told I was crazy for doing...

From a swim standpoint, I'm supremely confident. I know I can get the full distance for the IM. IM FL is also similar to many other IM events where you swim half, run out then swim the other half. That in and of itself should hopefully also give me some confidence. And trying that type of swim this weekend will really help as well!

Gonna jump to the run as it's my second highest level of confidence. While I may struggle here and there, I am on track to get the distance. I haven't done a 20+ miler in about 3 weeks, but I wanted to be fresh for the series of upcoming races. Additionally, the training plan I had didn't say to get that much distance but rather just to run for 1-2 hours for my long runs. So I've been working harder than the plan and this slight dip should be good rest/recovery for the final push to LB Marathon which will be the big check mark for the run!

The bike I list last because it is the one I am the most afraid of, which is funny because I have constantly joked that if I can just stay upright, I can roll to the finish line. But having never done more than 56 miles and having never come close to 112 miles, I'm full of fright! Some of my fears were eased after racing Malibu. I got a solid 25 miles in, felt great for the run, stayed in aero and generally had a middle of the pack respectable time for the bike. Hopefully I can keep those good vibes going this weekend and up my confidence level. And I am the benefactor of a recently purchased set of Zipp Firecrest wheels! So hopefully that'll really get me going! I'll incorporate them with my race report since they're getting installed at this writing!

So there it is. Counting down now. The final push is here. Hoping for good vibes, solid health, great gains and doing the distance!

(Photo credit: http://www.goptions.com/final-countdown/)

RESPECT THE DISTANCE!!!

Anyone who's done an endurance race (half or full marathon, half or full ironman, century, ultra marathon, etc) will tell you that a common phrase the race organizers repeat during their pre-race speech is that each athlete should "Respect the Distance."

(Photo credit: http://www.fuelrunning.com/quotes/2011/09/23/respect-the-distance-or-the-distance-wont-respect-you-itll-eat-you-up-spit-you-out-and-make-you-beg-for-mercy/)

The caption above sums it up perfectly (and I like the picture the blogger chose as well). But yes, if you don't respect it, it will own you and you will beg for it to all be over!!!

And this is exactly how I felt this morning...

(Photo credit: http://www.brightonelephant.co.uk/#!The-Beauty-of-Goodbyes-–-When-TV-shows-won’t-let-a-Series-End/cjds/557992dd0cf293eac80b099e)

I seriously failed this morning. And where it all began:
1) I decided to lay in bed an extra half hour because "it should only take me 2 hours"
2) I've done more than this, I don't need water
3) Let's try to go a different route
4) Oh and yes the lack of respect again... "it should only take me 2 hours"

Yeah... FAIL!!!

Most of the slights weren't a big deal. Taking more than 2 hours and going a different route really didn't mean all that much. I have a flexible work schedule (at least right now) so time wasn't an issue. But the real issue was being naive and thinking that I don't need any water. That really hurt. And what I realized as I was suffering was that my normal route along the beach has water fountains which I pass multiple times and typically use on the backend of my runs. And my new neighborhood route (which is typically my 10k Thursday run) doesn't have any water fountains because it's through the neighborhood!

But yes, as I suffered through the final 6 miles and really struggled to finish those last 2 miles, I really honed on the mental game that is endurance sports. Respect the distance, it's a marathon not a sprint and be prepared! The good news is that I still got my half marathon run in and I should have enough time to fully recover my body for the half ironman this weekend. But boy will I definitely be respecting that race!!!

Race Report: Malibu International Triathlon

Fun, huge race and had a great day and quite a few PRs!!!

Race details:
Malibu, California
Swim: 0.93 mi - open water, ocean
Bike: 24.85 mi - road, unique course from Zuma beach to Big Rock along PCH aka Hwy 1
Run: 6.3 mi - run along the Malibu strand and parking lots

Course Recorded Finish: 2:47:25

Garmin Splits:


AG Finish: 18/61
OV Finish: 279/985
AG Race Factor: 1.41
OV Race Factor: 1.38

Race Analysis:
Transitions:
This race, I was back to being on point with my transitions. Both were in the 2 min range, but that's about right for me for this distance. I know that T1 was a little bit slower than normal due to wearing a wetsuit. I also recall that T2 was quite a bit slower since I had a sizable distance to run in my bike shoes to the bike racks. I thought to myself as I ran, "you should probably have taken your shoes off." Oh well. Thoughts for the next race...

Swim:

Upon finishing, I totally thought I had a great swim. 33 minutes was not a PR for me for this distance. Surprisingly enough, my Wildflower swim (in my Lava Pants HAHA) is currently my PR for this distance. It's pretty hilarious to think about.

Anyway, back to the swim, I also noticed that my age group swim split winner swam it in about 20 min. I also then found out that I was decently far down on my swim split. That's pretty strange for me. I'm curious if I didn't take it fast enough or if this race just had a large demographic of ex-swimmers or generally strong swimmers.

Another mental note is that I zigzagged a little bit too much. Came in too much towards the first buoy and then went a little too far out after the second buoy. Started course correcting a little bit better as the swim went on. There were some waves, but nothing major. Same with the current. All in all, a good swim split.

Bike:

The bike was probably my most impressive and obvious improvement to-date! It was a 40km PR by about 7 min. But not only that, it was a PR because everything just looks good. Despite the rolling hills, my speed and cadence generally stayed constant (with the exception of a few downhills). And most impressively, my heart rate started off pretty high, it came WAYYYYYYY down as the bike portion went on. That's not a trend I normally see, so I was stoked! The only real bummer on the bike is that Henry passed me just after the turnaround (I wanna say near mile 16), but otherwise a great bike split!

It's often good to note nutrition on race reports. On the bike, I surprisingly didn't eat anything. I'll qualify that by saying I had a Salt Stick + Caffeine pill right before the bike and I hate 3 water bottles worth of liquids: 1) water + Nuun 2) water + Gatorade + Xtend BCAA 3) water. Outside of these things, I didn't do any other calories and didn't take any bottles from the volunteers. So that's really a good thing to know about my own nutrition!

Run:

The run was another great part of this race. Keeping my pacing and nutrition on point for the bike allowed me to really have great energy and pace for the run. In fact, I was able to have just enough left in the tank to overtake Henry and speed down the finishing chute! Oh and it was a PR by about 3 minutes as well! :D

Just like the bike, I did a lot of good things on the run. First, I started off a little bit slower than where I thought I could end. Coming out the gate too strong for any split is never a good thing, so I avoid that. I also never really pushed the pace until I really needed to and you can see that in the HR plot. I stayed pretty consistent until I made up my mind (around the 4 mile mark) that I was going to chase Henry down. Then you'll see my HR climb pretty steadily until the end. But the great pacing and energy management allowed me to basically build the entire run and finish really strong!

Nutrition wise, here I didn't really eat or take in anything either. On the course, they had Herbalife electrolytes and water. So I took both at every aid station except the last one (so 4 out of 5 stations). I said no to the last one in order to not lose any time chasing Henry down, which I did in the final mile.

All in all, I had a good race, I paced myself really well and pushed it the right amounts! I was even able to save some face by passing Henry en route to the finish line! ;)

Silly race pics below:

Pre Race and Race site

Post Race and Silly Photos

Post Race Meal (Border Grill tacos and Churro Tots hooked up by LATC)