First and foremost, this race was a huge success on multiple levels for me. I’ll save you the time of reading this report and tell you in simple terms why I was successful in my opinion with the race. Dawn English! My ironman coach! I went from doing a half 1 year ago, training on my own, to shaving off 46 minutes based on Dawn’s guidance!
I have been consistently training for triathlons for 15 months up to this point with multiple races in between. This race was part of my Ironman Cozumel training so I didn’t have anything specific in my training plan geared towards a 70.3.
I treat race week pretty serious with my training, mental focus, and nutrition.
This race was on a Sunday so I back planed off of that with my carb load, and here is a basic summary of my macronutrients.
Basic Nutrition Pre Race
Thursday Oct 18
Carbohydrates 5g
Fats 167g
Proteins 145 g
Total Kcals 2056
Friday
Carbohydrates 642g
Fats 61g
Proteins 88 g
Total Kcals 3420
Saturday
Carbohydrates 637g
Fats 63g
Proteins 82 g
Total Kcals 3443
Sunday Morning
Sports drink before the race
Bagel once I woke up
Gu with caffeine 45 minutes prior to swim
Logistics the day prior to the race
I stayed with a good friend on Mill Ave, walking distance from the start, which made everything so nice and easy! I even used the Lime scooters to get around the area to conserve my legs. Packet pickup and bike drop off was very smooth and simple. I was a little thrown off by my race bags at first, because I had always been used to receiving multiple gear bags. I honestly didn’t research the course all that much and was unsure of the transition areas, but come to find out, all transitions happened in the same area so I did not receive any gear bags except for a morning clothes bag.
I ran through rehearsals by running in the transition area from the swim to the bike as well as from the bike to the run, so I felt comfortable where my bike was located and also testing which route I wanted to take in and out. This really paid off for me because I know during a race, my mind doesn’t function the same so I added some muscle memory. I made the bonehead mistake of trying something new with my water bottle holders, which added unnecessary stress, but it paid off. I left my bike in the transition area and brought all of the rest of my gear the morning of.
I had an anticipated a race start time of 0635 so I woke up at 0500 and took a scooter to the transition area and was there by 0530. I had plenty of time to set all of my bike and run gear out, and go over how I was going to transition into it. My biggest change from the last few triathlons I ran was a complete minimization of transition gear. I wasted too much food, and extra gear on my last race so I really kept it simple for this one.
What I initially was wearing on my body
Timing chip
Speed suit
Goggles around my neck
Watch
Pre race gear
Swim cap
Vaseline
Wetsuit
Water bottle with sports drink
Gu with caffeine
Morning Clothes bag
Extra goggles
Cell Phone
Bike gear
Water bottles with sports drink X2
Bike computer
Socks
Shoes
Helmet
Towel
Chamois cream
Run gear
Extra socks (If needed but I did not use)
Shoes
Hat
Glasses
race belt with bib
Gu gels with caffeine X4
The Swim
I started the swim in the 35-minute group and felt fine the entire swim. My strategy was to go out conservatively then go 70% after turn one and 80% after turn two. I have been nursing a reoccurring shoulder injury for the last couple of months and didn’t really swim all that much about 45 days leading into this race. The water temperature was 70 degrees Fahrenheit, so I had on my wetsuit. I didn’t have issues with the swim other than not swimming very fast.
T1
The transition from the swim to the bike was long in distance. It took me a good 3-4 minutes to run from the swim exit to get to my bike. Once I got to my bike, I threw on my gear and was out relatively quickly. I did stop on the way out to have a volunteer put sunscreen on my back.
The bike
The plan was to do the first half of the ride at 132 bpm with a cadence of 80 rpms, then the second half at 138 bpm with a cadence of 80 rpms. I stuck to the plan almost to a T and I am glad I did because it paid off on the run. I cut out all solid food for the bike and went straight fluid. I drank close to 9 bottles of Gatorade Endurance while I was on the bike and I peed once. The bike course was three loops with a lot of turns, which was not ideal but not horrible either.
T2
Easy day. I racked my bike, dropped my helmet, and shoes, threw on my hat, glasses, bib, and running shoes, and I was out around 2 minutes.
The run
The run is always my favorite part. The course was a 2 and a half loop course. The temperature was pretty warm but I was not affected, based on all my training being done in Texas. I had just watched the Ironman World Championships the prior weekend and was blown away at Patrick Lange’s performance and aid station use, so I used him as a model when I hit the aid stations. Every aid station I hit I grabed ice and threw it down my suit, I grabbed Gatoraide Endurance, I threw water on my face, at least one cup, and I grabbed a red bull if my body told me too. I consumed two Gu’s with caffeine at some point as well. I saw a girl cramping up prior to even hitting the first aid station so I stopped and gave her some of my Base salts.
I stuck to a speed pace and not a HR pace on the run portion. I started the first three miles at an 8:30 pace then descended the pace to 8:15 down to 8:00 until mile 10. Ahhh…..mile 10! I have been waiting for this for a long time. I am held back at times in my training in order to hit specific goals and metrics so I have felt like a caged animal, a slave to the data, so at mile 10, I stopped looking at my watch and just ran! It was fun, challenging, and I felt free.
Post race
I hit some carbs for glucose replacement then went to the Normatec’s. I had lots of beer and great Tempe food all afternoon and evening. I wanted to fully indulge because I knew it was back to training with proper nutrition on Monday.
This was a pretty brief down and dirty of how I performed. Ironman Cozumel is in less than 30 days and that report will have much greater detail.
