Steelhead 70.3 Race Report

it’s been a while since i have done a full on race report and even longer one for a triathlon.  i had a lot of thoughts leading up to the race and some very loose goals.  more than anything i wanted to see if i would enjoy getting back into multisport training and racing.  the simple answer is yes.

i decided to sign up for Steelhead at the beginning of june and that gave me 2 months to get ready.  at that point i had been running for 2 months after taking 6 months totally off from anything other than riding.  i still had not done any swim training since before xterra worlds in 2008 so jumping into a 70.3 was maybe not the smartest thing but i went for it anyway.

I had 2 months to get ready and broke it up into 2, 4 week blocks (2 x 3 on/1 recovery/race).  In the past two months my training has been going great.  i logged a bunch of long rides with beth, my run was coming around (especially off the bike, and i focused on strength and endurance in the pool.

Having some good friends also played a BIG role in getting me ready for the race.  ian hooked me with a killer loaner TT bike… and orbea ora… SICK.  sonja hooked both me and beth up with some killer ZIPP race wheels!   then hux worked with my and beth on our swimming.  i have been working on some of my flaws that he pointed out and I am still not fast but i think i am getting faster and definitely getting more efficient.  and as always gordon got the bike dialed and ready to race…. never a question!

Race Goals.

i had some pretty simple goals for this race.  my first and only 70.3 (california) i had ever raced back in 2007 and was a complete nightmare.  it was the first race of my second season and was way longer than anything i had tackled previously.  i put in some really solid training for that race and was defintely ready for the distance.  the race did not go as planned and mentally i was not the “racer” i am today.  i let stupid  things get to me… being cold, dropping my nutrition, blowing up on the run and ended the day pretty bummed and way slower than what i had wanted.

fast forward to this year.  with the way my training was going my goals were simple.

1. have fun. just enjoy the whole day of racing with beth and not let anything i couldn’t control get in the way of that.

2. race.  i wanted to see if could actually feel like i was racing for the entire distance instead of just get through it.

3. swim steady.  i had no time to really work on speed so in my training i focused on endurance so that i would not expend to much energy in the swim… “staying inside the box”.

4. ride hard.  i wanted to go all in on the bike with no regard for pacing or saving anything for the run.

5. run fast.  my goals was to break 1:20 off a hard ride, but with the way my training was going i wasn’t sure that was going to be possible.  after the break from running 6 min/pace still felt really fast and most of my good runs off the bike were around 6:20.  so it was going to be a tough one, especially if i really did go all in on the bike.

the week leading up to the race was super mellow.  i finished up some stuff at work and we headed out of san diego on wednesday afternoon for chicago to stay with my brother and sister-in-laws, Dan & Erica.  chicago was rad.  i got in some mellow riding along lake michigan with Dan in the days leading up to the race and was feeling really good and ready to race.

on friday we drove the 2 hours to benton harbor and got the full-on hookup homestay! one of erica’s frieds had an epic house right on lake michigan only 10 minutes from the race.  everything race check-in wise went well and we make a killer dinner and got to bed early.

pre-race:

I slept ok and was up at 4am without an alarm feeling good.  the forecast was for rain and thunderstorms so I checked the weather and sure enough rain was on the way… and a lot of it!  as i started loading out bikes onto the car it started to rain.  when got to the race and parked it was dark and still raining.  we wrapped ourselves in trashbags on rode the 1 mile to tranistion.  both of us and all our gear was soaked.  there was absolutely nothing we could do except laugh and deal with it.

setting up transition in the rain was a bit rough.  i was soaked, everything was soaked, and i was getting cold.  the pro’s started at 7am, beth at 732, and i didn’t go off until 821.  eventhough i had a long wait i just put my wetsuit on.  i figured it would help me stay warm and it was still raining and my clothes were soaked.  i got all my gear ready and into a trash bag, found beth, ran into caroline, and we walked the 1.2 miles down to the swim start… and we finally got a break from the rain…

it was a long walk… beth and caroline ended up having to jog to the start but i had plenty time and just kept walking… and getting hungry.  actually i was STARVING!  i didn’t plan things right.  i had breakfast at 430 which was over 4 hours before my race, and because we didn’t have our transition bags (wouldn’t fit in bike box) and were using small, borrowed, standard backpacks i only brought the necessities… and no extra food.  i know that since i was cold and shivering, had to walk 1+ mile to the start and hadn’t eating in hours i was wasn’t getting off to the start i wanted.  i still had plenty of time once i got to the swim and i just sat in the water to stay warm… it was way warmer than the air.

I watched beth start and i was still starving and trying to bum some food off people but nobody had anything to spare. then they were announcing the the next wave to start and the guy stading beside me started to panic because it was his wave.  i turned and watched him open up a snickers marathon bar, take a bite, drop it in the sand, and run to transition.  my lucky day!  it may seem gross, but i picked the bar, broke of the part he bit off, rinsed the sand off it in the lake, and crammed it in my mouth.  just what i needed.  a few minutes later i was warming up for the swim and ready to go.

the race.

swim.

I was in one of the last waves and the 2nd of of 2 waves of 30-34.  it was a beach start and after a little run we were swimming out to the first bouy. it was a quick right turn and then it was a mile straight of buoys every couple of hundred yards before the final right turn into the shore.  it was a pretty mellow start.  the really fast guys went off the front quickly and i settled into the second pack, which didn’t last too long.  some guys hammered, some guys blew up, and i ended up swimming solo for most of the 1.2 miles.  in my head i kept it simple.  i just “stayed in the box” and swam buoy to buoy and gradually increased my effort.  I am pretty sure i negative split the swim and am pretty stoked with my time give my lack of swimming.

swim time: 30:21

bike.

this is where things got weird.  coming out of the water i had no idea how fast i swam.  there were no clocks anywhere and i wasn’t wearing a watch.  i threw on my wet helmet and shoes and got to work.  immediately my garmin on my bike kept losing reception and going into autopause mode… annoying.  this lasted the entire ride so i never knew how long i had been on the bike and or how far i was into the race except for mile markers every 10-15 miles on the course.  so i was just riding hard and passing tons of guys… and no one would come with me.  i thought this was kind of weird.  I am not super strong on the road, especially when it comes to TT style efforts but i wasn’t hodling back either.  i just tried to stay as aero as possible and keep the hammer down.  i was feeling great, nutrtion was working, and the time was flying by.  i knew i was having a good ride but still had no idea of how long i had been on the bike until i caught Joe around mile 50 who started in the wave before me (7 minutes before). he told me he was on sub 2:20 pace.  this kind of blew me a way.  i thought on a good day i could ride around 2:25 but i was on pace to go sub 2:20.  so we hammered and on and worked the last 6 miles together, legally.  just using each other for motivation.  i rolled into the t2 really stoked and ready to get to work.

bike: 2:15:19 (24.83 mph)

run.

i still had no idea where i was in the race or what my overall time was.  no clue.  nobody had age group body marking done in the morninig because of the rain and that coupled with the wave starts made it kind of a free for all. i was just racing myself to see how fast i could go.  i was hoping that with a good run i could finish in the low 4:20′s.

i got on the run course and immediatley started pushing it.  i had my garmin and the plan was to run 6 minute miles for as long as possible, hopefully until mile 10, and then see what i was made of in the last 5k.  the run course was quite a bit harder than i expected.  a lot of rollers, a couple of steep climbs and some twisty trail/path sections throughout the whirlpool campus.  i was feeling good and hitting almost every mile right on pace.  i lost a little on some of the climbs but was hanging on and i knew if i kept it up there was a chance to break 1:20.  nutrition was spot on and my energy level NEVER faded.  i got to mile 10 at 1:00:22.  just 22 seconds of 6 min pace…. i was ready to nail it.  for the final 3 miles i picked it up a bit and finished strong!

run: 1:18:45 (6 min/mile)

total time: 4:08:28

1st AG 30-34

3rd Amateur

17th overall

as slater would say… “i crushed my own dreams” out there.  when i finished the race beth was right there and i still had no idea of my overall time or place.  i was thinking that i was right around 4:20.  when they posted the results and i saw my time of 4:08 and that i won my AG… i was completely blown away… sub 4:10… really?

i couldn’t be happier with the race and am still kind of in shock.  the run was what i was shooting for, the swim is what it is, but i can’t believe the bike.  i had the fasted time in my AG and nobody rode with me or passed my until i got up to joe and mile 50.  not what i expected.

the whole race experience was awesome.  beth had another awesome race with a new 70.3 PR even with yard saling on the bike… and i am stoked for James Cotter taking his first pro win at a 70.3!  huge!  a good guy and a well deserved result.

i think i am really going to like the 70.3 distance.  i felt like i was “racing” all day and loved it.  the only problem is i have kind of set the bar pretty high for myself… time to step up my game!

post race good times!

brother-in-law dan and some damn good canned IPA.  Ska Brewing Modus Hoperandi

beth loves a post race belgian beer!

post race party crew