Amica Ironman 70.3 Race Report
Amica Ironman 70.3 Race Report
Providence, Rhode Island
July 12, 2009
To say that I had six weeks to train for this race is not entirely accurate. I did train for New Orleans 70.3 and had a 5 week hiatus before I decided to register for Providence. So, for 6 weeks, I ramped up the mileage and focused on outdoor riding and running – which I had not done for New Orleans. Race weekend arrived and I felt prepared, ready to tackle the hills, and I was completely healthy!
Jason, Elise and I dropped the dogs at my sister’s house then headed straight to Providence. We made decent time and I could have squeezed in packet pick up, as we arrived into town 10 minutes before closing. I decided to wait until morning, planning to arrive early to beat the crowd and get an early bike drop time. We checked into our hotel, and walked ALL OVER searching for a place to eat. Finally, we discovered not one, but two great restaurants within 100 yards of the hotel. So we ate at one, and made plans for the other one for the next night. At least we got to see some of the town.
Saturday started bright and early. We dressed, had breakfast at the hotel, then walked to the expo for packet pick up, athlete briefing, and beach parking assignment. The clasp of my Florida 70.3 finishers’ hat snapped, so I broke my rule of purchasing event clothing before completing the event and bought a hat. I thought I would receive a new finisher’s hat after New Orleans, but I think you just get it with NA Sports events so I held out hope for this race but really needed a new one. Anyway, I also bought a few extra gels and an aero net bag so I could put an extra nutrition bottle in front of my aerodrink since my little bike frame is too small to accommodate 2 bottle cages. Then we left the expo and went back to the hotel to load up the car and drop my bike at T2 and run gear at T1. I said goodbye to my running shoes for the next 24 hours. The ride to the beach was congested but, thankfully, uneventful. Jason thought we missed a turn because “it sure did seem like a long ride to the start”. I had to laugh. After a second he realized what he just said as I reminded him that it’s about 56 miles or so! I racked lil blu and then we were back on the road.
Saturday evening we had quite an experience trying to get to and from Mass services. Finally we made it to our restaurant just a little late for our 6:30 reservation. Karis came to town to volunteer and visit and she held our table for us. It was a wonderful dinner at a sushi & steak place. I had lobster bisque (since traveling 70 miles the next day I figured I could splurge on the calories) then salmon and mashed potatoes. While it’s not my traditional Chinese pre-race dinner, it was Asian influence and perfectly salty enough. Back at the hotel, we visited with Karis a little more and then we all decided it was time to go to bed.
RACE DAY!!!!
The alarm went off at 3:30 and I stumbled to the bathroom to put on my contacts and prep for the day. Since all my stuff was already in bags, I just had to get dressed. I think I got ready in record time then went downstairs to meet Karis. Jason and the baby stayed in bed and we had plans to meet up at T2 and the finish. Just after 4 AM, Karis and I got on the road to the start. We hit a little race traffic, but still arrived around 5. She went off to start volunteering and I got body marked and dropped my transition bag at my bike. So strange to have a clean transition. Nothing was on the ground. This would add considerable time but it was a new experience. I pumped my tires, borrowed some bodyglide for my neck and ankles, and applied chamois butter everywhere else. After I was satisfied that I could do nothing more in transition, I grabbed my wetsuit and got in the potty line – where I put my wetsuit on up to my waist. Finished there, I headed to the beach to get in the water and acclimate to the cold. I’m so glad I did! I floated and focused on my breathing then swam out a bit and back. The buoys were all over the place, which would eventually delay the start by 20 minutes. The water was unusually rough for the protected cove where we were to swim so the RD made it an option. No way was I going to skip this swim! I met some girls in my wave and we chatted on the beach. Then with the delay, I went to the bath house for another potty break. Good thing. Headed back to the swim start and realized that I forgot to eat my power bar! Bah. I had peanut butter with a special K bar on the car ride down and hoped that would stay with me until I got on the bike.
Finally it was time to corral, then line up at waters’ edge, then take off! I started swimming cautiously, careful not to go out too fast. I side stroked for a bit to get my bearings and get away from the congestion, then fell into a nice rhythm swimming freestyle. I was wearing a rash guard to protect the back of my arms, which were burned raw in New Orleans from rubbing the wetsuit. The water was choppy but not impossible. I decided to just breathe on my left side, facing the buoys, and away from the waves. I sighted the buoys pretty easily on the way out and felt good and strong, focusing on my pull, thankful that I could feel my lats working. Eventually I rounded the first turn and headed to the big orange buoy. This was the longest part of the swim for me. That buoy never seemed to get closer and I kept aiming too far left of it. After what seemed like an eternity, I reached it and turned in for the shore. I felt a hot spot at the base of my skull and fidgeted with my wetsuit a bit. I think now that it was the seam of my rash guard. However, the backs of my arms were not stinging so the rash guard was working. We had a little push from the waves but again, I was going too far to the left. A few times had to stop to find where the heck I was heading, but eventually got on track. I’d sight off the swimmers who were passing me like I was out for a pleasure float. Finally I was at the shore, stood up and ran up the beach, unzipping and pulling down my wetsuit. I reached the strippers and they yanked it off without a problem, got up and ran to get ready to ride. Swim time - ~ 48 minutes.
The start of the bike was fast and flat along the ocean. I thought that this would be great if it kept up. I knew there were hills in the middle of the course, but I underestimated just how many hills. My training has been consistent, riding up into Adirondack Park, then back down. Average 2400 foot elevation gain on my 56 mile loop. I thought this would have less. I was wrong. So I rode fast where I could, climbed slow and steady where I needed, and refused to stop. I had 2 bottles of my infinit nutrition blend and worked my way through both. I supplemented with gels at the start of the bike, then every 45 minutes to hour. I peed wherever I could relax enough to go, refusing to get off the bike. I had a time goal and my swim put it in reach. At 20 miles I was right on target. Then the hills came. My legs were strong but I climb slowly. I was behind my time goal at the 28 mile mark – if I continued this way I would finish in 3:30 instead of 3:15. I dug in and continued on the course. The weather was perfect! Overcast and cool. There were a few steep climbs, with the worst coming at mile 46, then a fast descent back into town. I had heard of the rough streets and there was no exaggeration. The turns and potholes made it hard to get speed up in the final miles but the course was well marked. Finally, I climbed the last hill and headed into T2. My bike disappointed me but I felt good, where as in the past this course would have worn me out and left me for toast on the run. When I later checked my garmin results, it reported over 3000 feet of elevation gain! Holy smokes. Bike time - ~3:28:00 avg pace 16.1.
Apparently I had to pee and my body would not take no for an answer. I ran into transition, racked my bike, and basically started to pee all over myself. So I sat down to at least get it in the grass rather than into my running shoes. I put on my shoes and visor, then ran out of transition. My goal for this run was to actually RUN and finish in 2:45. If I could push it I could still make my time goal to break 7 hours but it would be close. My first half mile was way too fast, so I dialed it down then hit “the hill” for the first time. I had heard about the hill. I underestimated the hill. I ran the hill at a blistering 16 minute/mile pace. The sun came out just in time for my run and I could feel the heat. It wasn’t unbearable but would have been better if the clouds had remained. The run course was two out/back loops. Huge hill, followed by a nice descent, then a long slow incline to the 3.2 mile turnaround, then a long slow descent then back up to the top of big crazy hill, crazy descent, then back up hill to the turn around and finish. The run course had about 2000 feet of climbing and that too is more than I expected. I hit the turn around at 1:18 – 4 minutes ahead of where I wanted to be. Good thing because my second time up crazy hill, I walked it to save my legs. As soon as I got to the top though, I started jogging again. I walked through water stops but ran the rest until mile 10. At mile 10 I decided to start intervals. .1 mile walk, .25 mile run. Then I did the math. I was a little behind to break 7 hours but I was right on track to hit my run goal. I gave myself a mental knock upside the head and had the conversation with myself… “What are you doing?? You can totally run the last 2.5 miles you idiot. Get moving!” Which I did. I started chanting “up the hill, down the hill, up the hill, down the hill, up the hill, finish”. The volunteers thought I was crazy. As I finished a hill sequence I’d change my chant “up the hill, down the hill, up the hill, finish”. And that’s what I did. Up the hill, down the hill, up the hill, down the crazy hill, then long uphill to the finish. I could not sprint into the finish, but I did continue to jog. I saw Jason, Elise, and Karis and waved and smiled as I headed into the chute. Checked my watch for my run time – 2:44:00 – just made my goal.
Overall race time 7:07:12. Disappointed to not break 7 hours but very happy with my effort. I’ve finished hilly half irons in the past and NEVER came close to this time. The hills always exhausted me and my runs would suffer. This time, the hills did not beat me! I smashed my time in New Orleans by 35 minutes – and that was a flat course. 7 hours…. I’m coming to get you!
Previous Half Ironman Results:
Rock & Roll Man – Macon GA 2005
Swim – 38:30
T1 – 2:09
Bike – 3:30:31
T2 – 1:35
Run – 3:05:41
Total – 7:16:16
MusselMan – Geneva, NY 2006
Swim – 1:07:48
T1 – 3:17
Bike – 3:39:11
T2 – 3:19
Run – 3:21:39
Total – 8:15:14
Florida 70.3 – Orlando, FL 2007
Swim – 1:00:20
T1 – 3:49
Bike – 3:15:51
T2 – 2:32
Run – 2:41:21
Total – 7:03:50
New Orleans 70.3 – New Orleans, LA 2009
Swim – 57:47
T1 – 4:12
Bike – 3:27:16
T2 – 6:13
Run – 3:05:54
Total – 7:41:20
Providence, Rhode Island
July 12, 2009
To say that I had six weeks to train for this race is not entirely accurate. I did train for New Orleans 70.3 and had a 5 week hiatus before I decided to register for Providence. So, for 6 weeks, I ramped up the mileage and focused on outdoor riding and running – which I had not done for New Orleans. Race weekend arrived and I felt prepared, ready to tackle the hills, and I was completely healthy!
Jason, Elise and I dropped the dogs at my sister’s house then headed straight to Providence. We made decent time and I could have squeezed in packet pick up, as we arrived into town 10 minutes before closing. I decided to wait until morning, planning to arrive early to beat the crowd and get an early bike drop time. We checked into our hotel, and walked ALL OVER searching for a place to eat. Finally, we discovered not one, but two great restaurants within 100 yards of the hotel. So we ate at one, and made plans for the other one for the next night. At least we got to see some of the town.
Saturday started bright and early. We dressed, had breakfast at the hotel, then walked to the expo for packet pick up, athlete briefing, and beach parking assignment. The clasp of my Florida 70.3 finishers’ hat snapped, so I broke my rule of purchasing event clothing before completing the event and bought a hat. I thought I would receive a new finisher’s hat after New Orleans, but I think you just get it with NA Sports events so I held out hope for this race but really needed a new one. Anyway, I also bought a few extra gels and an aero net bag so I could put an extra nutrition bottle in front of my aerodrink since my little bike frame is too small to accommodate 2 bottle cages. Then we left the expo and went back to the hotel to load up the car and drop my bike at T2 and run gear at T1. I said goodbye to my running shoes for the next 24 hours. The ride to the beach was congested but, thankfully, uneventful. Jason thought we missed a turn because “it sure did seem like a long ride to the start”. I had to laugh. After a second he realized what he just said as I reminded him that it’s about 56 miles or so! I racked lil blu and then we were back on the road.
Saturday evening we had quite an experience trying to get to and from Mass services. Finally we made it to our restaurant just a little late for our 6:30 reservation. Karis came to town to volunteer and visit and she held our table for us. It was a wonderful dinner at a sushi & steak place. I had lobster bisque (since traveling 70 miles the next day I figured I could splurge on the calories) then salmon and mashed potatoes. While it’s not my traditional Chinese pre-race dinner, it was Asian influence and perfectly salty enough. Back at the hotel, we visited with Karis a little more and then we all decided it was time to go to bed.
RACE DAY!!!!
The alarm went off at 3:30 and I stumbled to the bathroom to put on my contacts and prep for the day. Since all my stuff was already in bags, I just had to get dressed. I think I got ready in record time then went downstairs to meet Karis. Jason and the baby stayed in bed and we had plans to meet up at T2 and the finish. Just after 4 AM, Karis and I got on the road to the start. We hit a little race traffic, but still arrived around 5. She went off to start volunteering and I got body marked and dropped my transition bag at my bike. So strange to have a clean transition. Nothing was on the ground. This would add considerable time but it was a new experience. I pumped my tires, borrowed some bodyglide for my neck and ankles, and applied chamois butter everywhere else. After I was satisfied that I could do nothing more in transition, I grabbed my wetsuit and got in the potty line – where I put my wetsuit on up to my waist. Finished there, I headed to the beach to get in the water and acclimate to the cold. I’m so glad I did! I floated and focused on my breathing then swam out a bit and back. The buoys were all over the place, which would eventually delay the start by 20 minutes. The water was unusually rough for the protected cove where we were to swim so the RD made it an option. No way was I going to skip this swim! I met some girls in my wave and we chatted on the beach. Then with the delay, I went to the bath house for another potty break. Good thing. Headed back to the swim start and realized that I forgot to eat my power bar! Bah. I had peanut butter with a special K bar on the car ride down and hoped that would stay with me until I got on the bike.
Finally it was time to corral, then line up at waters’ edge, then take off! I started swimming cautiously, careful not to go out too fast. I side stroked for a bit to get my bearings and get away from the congestion, then fell into a nice rhythm swimming freestyle. I was wearing a rash guard to protect the back of my arms, which were burned raw in New Orleans from rubbing the wetsuit. The water was choppy but not impossible. I decided to just breathe on my left side, facing the buoys, and away from the waves. I sighted the buoys pretty easily on the way out and felt good and strong, focusing on my pull, thankful that I could feel my lats working. Eventually I rounded the first turn and headed to the big orange buoy. This was the longest part of the swim for me. That buoy never seemed to get closer and I kept aiming too far left of it. After what seemed like an eternity, I reached it and turned in for the shore. I felt a hot spot at the base of my skull and fidgeted with my wetsuit a bit. I think now that it was the seam of my rash guard. However, the backs of my arms were not stinging so the rash guard was working. We had a little push from the waves but again, I was going too far to the left. A few times had to stop to find where the heck I was heading, but eventually got on track. I’d sight off the swimmers who were passing me like I was out for a pleasure float. Finally I was at the shore, stood up and ran up the beach, unzipping and pulling down my wetsuit. I reached the strippers and they yanked it off without a problem, got up and ran to get ready to ride. Swim time - ~ 48 minutes.
The start of the bike was fast and flat along the ocean. I thought that this would be great if it kept up. I knew there were hills in the middle of the course, but I underestimated just how many hills. My training has been consistent, riding up into Adirondack Park, then back down. Average 2400 foot elevation gain on my 56 mile loop. I thought this would have less. I was wrong. So I rode fast where I could, climbed slow and steady where I needed, and refused to stop. I had 2 bottles of my infinit nutrition blend and worked my way through both. I supplemented with gels at the start of the bike, then every 45 minutes to hour. I peed wherever I could relax enough to go, refusing to get off the bike. I had a time goal and my swim put it in reach. At 20 miles I was right on target. Then the hills came. My legs were strong but I climb slowly. I was behind my time goal at the 28 mile mark – if I continued this way I would finish in 3:30 instead of 3:15. I dug in and continued on the course. The weather was perfect! Overcast and cool. There were a few steep climbs, with the worst coming at mile 46, then a fast descent back into town. I had heard of the rough streets and there was no exaggeration. The turns and potholes made it hard to get speed up in the final miles but the course was well marked. Finally, I climbed the last hill and headed into T2. My bike disappointed me but I felt good, where as in the past this course would have worn me out and left me for toast on the run. When I later checked my garmin results, it reported over 3000 feet of elevation gain! Holy smokes. Bike time - ~3:28:00 avg pace 16.1.
Apparently I had to pee and my body would not take no for an answer. I ran into transition, racked my bike, and basically started to pee all over myself. So I sat down to at least get it in the grass rather than into my running shoes. I put on my shoes and visor, then ran out of transition. My goal for this run was to actually RUN and finish in 2:45. If I could push it I could still make my time goal to break 7 hours but it would be close. My first half mile was way too fast, so I dialed it down then hit “the hill” for the first time. I had heard about the hill. I underestimated the hill. I ran the hill at a blistering 16 minute/mile pace. The sun came out just in time for my run and I could feel the heat. It wasn’t unbearable but would have been better if the clouds had remained. The run course was two out/back loops. Huge hill, followed by a nice descent, then a long slow incline to the 3.2 mile turnaround, then a long slow descent then back up to the top of big crazy hill, crazy descent, then back up hill to the turn around and finish. The run course had about 2000 feet of climbing and that too is more than I expected. I hit the turn around at 1:18 – 4 minutes ahead of where I wanted to be. Good thing because my second time up crazy hill, I walked it to save my legs. As soon as I got to the top though, I started jogging again. I walked through water stops but ran the rest until mile 10. At mile 10 I decided to start intervals. .1 mile walk, .25 mile run. Then I did the math. I was a little behind to break 7 hours but I was right on track to hit my run goal. I gave myself a mental knock upside the head and had the conversation with myself… “What are you doing?? You can totally run the last 2.5 miles you idiot. Get moving!” Which I did. I started chanting “up the hill, down the hill, up the hill, down the hill, up the hill, finish”. The volunteers thought I was crazy. As I finished a hill sequence I’d change my chant “up the hill, down the hill, up the hill, finish”. And that’s what I did. Up the hill, down the hill, up the hill, down the crazy hill, then long uphill to the finish. I could not sprint into the finish, but I did continue to jog. I saw Jason, Elise, and Karis and waved and smiled as I headed into the chute. Checked my watch for my run time – 2:44:00 – just made my goal.
Overall race time 7:07:12. Disappointed to not break 7 hours but very happy with my effort. I’ve finished hilly half irons in the past and NEVER came close to this time. The hills always exhausted me and my runs would suffer. This time, the hills did not beat me! I smashed my time in New Orleans by 35 minutes – and that was a flat course. 7 hours…. I’m coming to get you!
Previous Half Ironman Results:
Rock & Roll Man – Macon GA 2005
Swim – 38:30
T1 – 2:09
Bike – 3:30:31
T2 – 1:35
Run – 3:05:41
Total – 7:16:16
MusselMan – Geneva, NY 2006
Swim – 1:07:48
T1 – 3:17
Bike – 3:39:11
T2 – 3:19
Run – 3:21:39
Total – 8:15:14
Florida 70.3 – Orlando, FL 2007
Swim – 1:00:20
T1 – 3:49
Bike – 3:15:51
T2 – 2:32
Run – 2:41:21
Total – 7:03:50
New Orleans 70.3 – New Orleans, LA 2009
Swim – 57:47
T1 – 4:12
Bike – 3:27:16
T2 – 6:13
Run – 3:05:54
Total – 7:41:20
Comments