Lake Stevens 70.03 Race Report

Summary:

This was my first half IM distance, and a “training race” for Ironman Canada at the end of August. Soo, no taper – I logged 18 training hours this week (that’s my disclaimer :-). I had mixed feelings going into the race…my legs were flat from sprint and hill repeats I just started doing this week and I was afraid of a bad showing, particularly given fast twitch isn’t my expertise. Even though I wasn’t officially racing, I didn’t want everyone and their grandmothers passing me. My primary goal was to make sure I got under a 2 hr. run.

Pre-Race:

For breakfast, I ate 600 calories – bread, honey, fat-free cookies and coffee . Then I slept as long as I could in the car, even when we got to the race event. I wasn’t really in the mood to race for some reason. I found it hard to get psyched for this even – it was a lot of work logistic-wise, and tied up most of my Saturday with the pre-race mtg, getting the bike cleaned up, errands for more gel, etc…. when I just could be logging more hours with normal training.

Swim: 38:03

Ouch. I was pretty upset at this time. I did 1:11 at Ironman Arizona, so what the heck happened? It wasn’t even a mass start. I was off course quite a bit, doing some big “zig zags”, but am still scratching my head over this one.. My swim has always been puzzling to me – sometimes I think I’m fast when I’m terribly slow and vice verse. I’m one of this people that started swimming late in life and does not have a intuitive feel for the water. I think in part the poor showing might have been the 2.4 mile swim on Friday, but it shouldn’t have had that much of an impact. Regardless, I didn’t see the cable under water that strung the buoys together that I found out about after the race. Apparently quite a few people just followed the cable – it was like following a line in the pool – dang I coulda used that!!

Bike: 2:54

The plan: AeT +10-15 beats for the first loop, then AeT + 20 beats for the second loop. Didn’t quite pan out that way. My ave. HR for the first loop was at AeT – 18.7 mph. I just started out too conservatively. I was worried about the legs being too tired from the week’s workouts, BUT when I cranked it up the 2^nd loop, I realized I had plenty of power and energy. 2^nd loop was still not hard enough though – ave. hr was 158, or 3 beats above AeT. Ave. mph: 19.0

Nutrition: I drank 1.5 bottles of Carb-Pro with eLoad and a bottle of water per station (although one of the bottles dropped out of my back bottle cage). I was also planning on taking 3 thermolytes an hour on the bike. This didn’t work out – I ended up only taking three the entire time because it upset my stomach. I even made sure to take lots of water and a gel prior to taking the thermolytes to no avail.

However, The bike course was great – a fun course with lots of rolling hills. I am proud that I didn’t brake on the descents on the 2^nd loop. I get skittish going downhill so this was a big milestone for me…clocking 42 mph on the last descent. I also have big bruise on my thumb from holding the bars too tight!!

Run: 1:54

The first two miles were sllooowww. I just didn’t feel good. It took a while to shake my hamstring injury to stretch out, and I had some serious cramping. I slogged through the first mile

to the sanicans…and again to the 2^nd mile. From here on out, I just made sure to take water at every station. I sipped on gel from time to time when my stomach could take it. Once I felt human (mile 3), I picked up the pace. Before I knew it, it was mile 6 and I realized, holy cow – I’m HALF way through already! I cranked it in, pushing hard up the hills. I was surprised at how stong I felt, and really think I could have pushed it harder if I had done a 13 mile run before. By mile 10 I was doing a lot better and even took another thermolyte. It still put my stomach in knots, but it was tolerable. In retrospect I held back more than I should have, as I was anticipating some sort of bonk, but I never came close to this. The finish felt great – kicked it in and passed lots of guys along that last mile.

Bottom line: I feel more confident in my run and encouraged by potential upside here between now and IMCA. Conversely, I need to focus on improving swim form and navigation (I think, but I’m curious to Jill and our swim coach, Scott’s, perspective on this) and more importantly, practicing a solid nutrition plan between now and the end of August. Major kudos to Jill for posting 3^rd in her AG with no major taper – she’s a machine and came screaming by me on mile 2 – holy cow! And serious congrats to my fellow AG teammates Tina and Jess for a job well done – they both did very well!!

This website is dedicated to the sport of triathlon, particularly in the Pacific Northwest. Jill Fry is a triathlon coach and an athlete who competes in triathlons ranging from Sprint Distance to Ironman. Jill and many of her athletes and friends have also formed a team, Team JFT². Information on Jill's coaching services can be found under Coaching Services & Info. On this site you will also find a large number of personal race reports, as well as event reports, with many event-specific photos.