I am staying at the Disney World Resort French Quarter together with my old High School buddy from Denmark Mikkel Bondesen. By chance Mikkel saw I was participating in the 70.3 event half a year ago and decided he would give it go as well. Mikkel is one of most driven persons I know and he has spent nearly half a year training for the event, transforming himself from "couch potato" to a serious triathlete contender. He has averaged 18 hours of training a week and his physical appearance has changed considerably. In comparison I have averaged around 12 hours per week since around December last year, but with a base level of fitness.
At 4:30 am we leave for the race area in our respective rental car. Parking is at Magic Kingdom parking lot (Grumpy and Dopey sections) and buses provide transportation the rest of the way.
We set-up in transition and head down to the beach to see Pros start. This is no small event with around 2,000 competitors and with some decent Pro participation. The swim is 1.9 km and starts at Clementine Beach in Fort Wilderness and is pretty much out and back. It is a wave start with 3 minutes between each wave. There are 21 waves. The water is clear with a dark bottom giving it a tea like look. A bit depressing coming from Cayman with crystal clear waters. The 90 km bike course travels through western Orange County, with three aid stations spread fairly evenly on the course. There is local traffic sharing the roadway in few cases, but otherwise the course is well patrolled by local law enforcement. The 21.1 km run is a three-loop course on bike paths and grass trials (canal roads) of Fort Wilderness. Aid stations are provided approximately every mile. The total distance is covered is 70.3 miles (hence the name 70.3) or 113.1 km.
Being on US soil there are formalities to be observed before race start: a short prayer and of course the singing of the National Anthem. 6am, the cannon fires for the first time and the male Pros are off. 3 minutes later the women are in the water. After watching a few more waves Mikkel and I head away from the start and towards transition.
Mikkel wants to visit the port-a-john and we agree to meet in 20 minutes time. There is still an hour before my wave is scheduled to leave. I find fellow Cayman triathlete Marius Acker (in my age group) hanging around not far away. He is reluctant to get too close to the race start because of the onset of pre-race nerves. We talk a bit about the course and the day ahead. He encourages me to put the swim goggle strap under the swim cap, the idea obviously being to protect the goggles from being swept off by a stray hand. While it seems like the logical thing to do, I am not prepared to do it for this race. The cardinal rule of racing: never experiment on race day.
About 15 minutes before my wave start, final “good lucks” pass between Mikkel and I. Focusing on the day ahead I do some stretches before passing through the arches to the starting line. I see Simon Philips a fellow Cayman triathlete and we exchange a few words before it is time to get in line. Looking around I can’t see Marius, until out of the corner of my eye I catch him entering the start area. True to his word he has left his entry till the last minute. I ask him where he thinks a good spot for the start would be. He replies on the edge of the start area. I look around and decide on a place in the right hand section close to Marius. I give some thought to drafting Marius for the swim, but decide against it because he is a better swimmer and is easily going to drop me.
The Swim
The announcer gives us a 1 minute warning, 30 seconds, 10, and were off. I’m in the second line running behind this guy taking massive leaps in the water. He drives in and I do the same. Forgetting to close my mouth I swallow a mouthful of lake water, arghh…, I stand up again (it is still shallow), curse my stupidity for having an open mouth, take a few more steps and dive into the water again. This time my mouth is closed and I start swimming. I push pretty hard at the start, trying to stay on the tail of the swimmer in front of me. I feel uncomfortable, but this is expected, it usually takes me at least 10 minutes before I get into the rhythm. I negotiate my 
way round a few swimmers, and notably some that are already breast-stroking after less than 500m. About 800m into the swim I start running into some serious traffic. By this time I have already passed a lot of swimmers, but it just seems to get more and more congested. I’m nearing the first turnaround. We make the first 90 degree turn and head across the lake to the other side. Soon we will hit the second turn which will send us back towards the start. I’m loosing my patience with the swimmers in front of me and decide to take a more direct approach to overtaking. Anyone swimming slower is simply an obstacle to be avoided or negotiated as best as possible while continuing the forward momentum. Having tried to avoid swimmers by zig-zagging for most of the course, I now start to negotiate them more directly. It works. I am able to pass swimmers more easily. As a result I settle into a nice stroke which lasts until the end of the swim. My fingers hit the lake bottom and I stand up. The swim is over. I feel good. Visibility with my old Speedo goggles from Australia has been excellent all the way, no misting up at all.
Swim Time 33m39s
Overall 245/1995
Age Group 47/351
T1
Out of the water we’re running largely single profile towards our bikes. TJ Olivier a fellow triathlete from Cayman comes up beside me and we exchange a few words
. I reach my bike fairly quickly. First thing I do is turn on my Garmin which is mounted on the bike. I put on my cycle jersey and load it with two small water bottles and put on a pair of cycle shorts. I have decided that I would rather have the comfort of cycle shorts than suffer any discomfort with my swimming shorts with limited padding. I fit my new aero helmet and start running out of transition towards the timing mat which will record my T1. As I approach the exit a line builds up and we end up walking single file. This is incredibly annoying and I consider running past those in front of me. As I contemplate this move, some guy speeds passed me on the inside knocking down the athlete two places in front of me. This causes the line come to a standstill while the idiot who caused the mess manages to get away. Probably a good idea I didn’t try anything foolish like him, but I am frustrated by time it is taking to get out of T1.
Transition Time 3m50s
Race Status 37m29s
The Bike
We mount the bikes and I manage to slot my feet into the shoes fairly quickly. We ride carefully through the narrow paths until we hit the road. I am feeling good and turn my left wrist to check my speed. I realize that my Garmin is still on the bike and that I haven’t put it on my .jpg)
wrist as planned. There is no way that I can put in on now, so I leave it as is. It is actually not too a bad disposition, the only thing is that the display is on its head, but that doesn’t really matter. I am going a comfortable 37 km/h. I take a few sips of my water bottle and gradually settle into the ride. I few guys fly past me and I consider increasing my speed, but decide against it. The swim was a little slower than intended, but is really not of much significance in the overall time and it is still early in the race so I think I am pretty well on track despite not going full throttle on the bike.
Before the race I had been reading about the optimal time trial pace. The general consensus centred on a negative split, i.e. to ride the last half of the course faster than the first. I still have plenty of time to increase my speed. My speed is pretty good about 5 km out of transition. I’m increasingly passing cyclists and also catch the guys who passed me at the start. Around the 20 km mark I pass a fellow Cayman triathlete Tony Watts waving my hand, he replies with encouragement ”Go Jasper”!
As I hit the fist aid station I dispense of an extra water bottle I have been carrying. The rules for the event are very clear with regard to littering and I don’t want to incur a penalty for throwing anything on the road outside the aid areas. I check my nutrition situation, I have two gels of about 100 calories each and a bottle with around 400 calories. By the 30 km mark I have probably consumed about 200 in the bottle. I decide to take a gel and make a mental note to consume the other one at the 60 km mark. I’ve taken some salt tablets with me on the bike just in case, but I don’t feel like I need them.
There is a rough patch on the road. I lose my yellow sponge plug in my aero bottle. Too bad, there is no way I am going back for it. It starts raining heavily now, but only for a couple of minutes and road doesn’t seem to be affected. I reach the second aid station feeling great. I have made sure that I wouldn’t need to take anything from the stations by carrying everything I need. Unfortunately I am caught up in the traffic of people slowing to grab nutrition and water from the station. I make a mental note to avoid similar incidents in other races. At this fairly late stage on the bike leg I have only been passed three times by athletes that I haven’t managed to catch later on. I am guessing one of them was the age grouper in 30-34 who managed to place 9th overall. Otherwise, I have consistently been overtaking others all the way. Hitting the 60 km mark according to my Garmin I consume the final gel. The gel is quickly absorbed by my body and it provides a real boost on the rolling hills.
Compared to the first part of the bike leg I have increased my speed and perceived effort now, but I am not sure I am doing the negative splits I had intended. Marius all of a sudden materialises in front of me. He has been riding fast. There is only about 5 km left of the bike course. I thought I would catch him about half way. I wave as I pass him and he acknowledges with encouraging words. Shortly after, I pass another Cayman triathlete Johan Heath. It cannot be many more minutes before we hit transition. My Garmin tells me there are only a couple of km to go. I start spinning a bit in anticipation. My Garmin now shows we have passed the 90 km mark. Is the course too long? About another km, I’m there… it’s done… over with. Now let’s see how the legs run.
Bike Time 02h24m26s
Overall 74/1995
Age Group 16/351
Race Time 03h01m55s
T2
The moment my feet hit the ground after dismounting the bike I feel something is not right. My stomach seems to seize up. I manage to run to the bike rack, dump the bike and immediately try to stretch my stomach muscles. It doesn’t seem to help, so I start changing for the run. I also spend time readjusting my Garmin for the run leg. The stomach still feels tight. I empty my blader in a bush next the bike rack hoping that might help. Still feel cramps, but there’s really not much I can do about it now, so suck it up and start running out of transition. I don’t get it. I had a fairly easy bike leg, no pain at all and I could have gone faster. I’ve run 10 km in 45 minutes in training sessions following a fairly tough 3 hour bike and felt good, and now this? Is it dehydration, the water I swallowed in the lake, a poor bike fit etc…don’t know, but I will have to work on it afterwards.
Transition time 3m16s
Race Time 03h05m11s
The Run
At the beginning of the run I am in some serious discomfort. I have to drag my legs along. I sight Johan just outside the transition area and decide then and there that I will try and keep him in my sights. The first 5 km are extremely uncomfortable. Johan is gr
adually pulling away from me, but I can still see him once in a while. After about 7 km which about the first lap of the course, my stomach cramps seem to ease. I begin the second of the three laps. Now there are more athletes pouring on to the course. With more people on the course the aid stations are becoming increasingly congested. A lot are walking or barely running. I start noticing how hot and humid it actually is. Just out of transition, there was a massive downpour of rain for about 5 minutes or so. The sun is now out and the water is evaporating. The humidity and heat is especially bad on the grass trails which comprises more than half of the course. Even though I have been training in the hot and humid climate of Cayman, these are extreme conditions. Good my race preparation was not in the Northern States or Canada.
Feeling better on the second lap I increase my pace and catch Johan with ease. I decide it is probably not a good idea to push my luck on the pace and decide to run with him side-by-side for a while. Nearing the end of the second lap I gradually pull away from Johan. Psychologically it is really tough with a third and final lap. I would have preferred two longer laps. By this stage I am tired. More than four and half hours of racing has taken its toll. So far I have managed to run through the aid 
stations pretty much every time as I know walking will kill my run splits by adding about 20 seconds to each kilometre, but at this stage I don’t really care anymore. I decide it better to ensure adequate hydration and energy for the last 7 km. The legs feel heavy and negotiating the grass trail becomes really tough. I manage to keep some sort of form together for the next 3-4 km, but my pace has dropped drastically. I am stopping at every aid station and take on board as much as I can. With only 2 km left I try to pick–up the pace. Looking at my watch I realise that I will finish close to the five hour mark. I will never forgive myself if I miss the opportunity for a sub five hour finish. The last km is a killer, but I am determined to finish within five hours. I cross the finish line boxing the air with my right arm (not caught on camera unfortunately).
Run Time 01h53m52s
Overall 327/1995
Age Group 58/351
Final Race Time 4h59m02s
Overall 171/1995
Age Group 38/351
Post-race
For a first time effort on the 70.3 distance, I am very satisfied with sub 5 hours, however, it also fair to say that 4h59m02s did not meet my time objective for the race, but on the day I gave it all I had and that was the time I was awarded. I probably lost around 10 minutes dealing with stomach cramps, and a little on the transitions. The bike leg was a moderate effort for me and I guess I could comfortably have ridden 5-10 minutes faster, but there is always the trade-off with the run. Would a faster bike pace have ruined my run even more? I don’t know. I might also have been able to swim a little faster without all the traffic. One thing is certain though, I need to improve my running. Good fitness and speed on the run is crucial for a fast finishing time. I also need to do more workouts at race intensity to figure out how I successfully manage the transition from riding to running without cramps.
No comments:
Post a Comment