Sunday, June 16, 2013

70.3 Eagleman Race Report

This was my 6th time participating down in Cambridge, MD for the 70.3 Eagleman race. My fitness felt good coming into the race. My swim preparation was in line with 2012, but still a little behind my best fitness of 2011. I was really looking forward to seeing if my off-season bike focus would pay off on the flat roads. I knew that my run speed and form were a little behind normal, due to the bike emphasis. However, I still felt confident that my endurance was strong enough for a decent run effort. The biggest question I had coming into the race was to see if I was ready to suffer. My aerobic fitness is at the highest level it’s ever been, but I’ve been having a harder time hitting tempo efforts. Swim: 31:26 I felt very comfortable at the beginning of the swim in my Blue Seventy Helix. In fact, I was probably a little to comfortable. I started in the 2nd M40-44 swim wave. I noticed a couple of guys jump out quickly on the inside. I was positioned more in the middle of the pack. If I was swimming aggressively, I would have tried to bridge over to them immediately. This time I was just content to swim on my own and try to stay clear of the swim waves that had started earlier. I was able to stay clear of the masses. The remainder of the swim was very uneventful. I came out of the water feeling pretty good until I looked at my watch. I try to always stay calm about swim times until after the race when I can really analyze what happened. 2013QRIllicitio Bike: 2:12:03 I was pretty excited to race on my new QR Illicitio. I got up to speed quickly and focused on settling my heart rate down. The temps were much more accommodating this year, only reaching high 70s. I was rolling along pretty well until about mile 30. My main focus was staying consistent with my nutrition and salt intake. As I was riding through the marsh lands just past the half way point, I noticed that my heart rate was dropping into low zone 2. I like to race 70.3s at low zone 3, so I tried to increase my effort and stay focused. I have a tendency to flake out a bit in the middle of the bike leg. I put my head down and focused on staying as aero as I could. At about the 35 mile mark, Mike Gadzinski rolled up next to me and just about scared me right off of my bike. Mike had started five minutes behind me in the M35-39 wave. I had not been passed up until this point and I was not expecting anyone. Mike is a very good swimmer and strong cyclist. The scare turned out to be a perfect wake up call. I was able to get back into a decent groove. Mike and I went back and forth the remainder of the ride. I was happy with the effort I was able to put out for the remainder of the ride. I ended up averaging 3.8 watts/kg, which was 6 normalized watts lower than in 2012. My heart rate was 8bp lower than 2012s ride. However, some of that was due to the conditions. It was 10 degrees cooler this year and we seemed to have a tail wind during some sections of the ride. Also, I road a disc this year, which definitely helped. Run: 1:22:41 I was ready to run coming off the bike. I found my cadence and rhythm quickly. I did not want to push things to early as I had the previous year. I actually kept pulling myself back. I spent the first half of the run focusing on my form and making sure that I was not over striding. My Timex Run Trainer 2.0 showed me averaging about 6:20 pace while my heart rate was staying in zone 2. My main objective for this race was to try to secure a spot to the IM World Championship. I passed an athlete from an earlier wave at the 2 mile mark and I asked him if anyone had passed him from the 40-44 age group. He told me that no one had passed him. I wasn’t completely convinced, so I pushed on until I caught up to the next athlete. That athlete confirmed that I was the first 40-44 to pass him. At that point I just wanted to make sure I didn’t make any foolish errors. So I made sure I got fluids and calories in at every aid station. Once I hit the turnaround, I tried to increase my effort for the return trip. I was able to get my heart rate up into zone 3 and my pace quickened a bit. I ran pretty well until mile 9. Then I started to suffer a bit. So I went to the cola at the aid stations to get some simple sugars. This strategy worked well enough to get me to the finish line. This was my 32nd 70.3 race. However, as I crossed the finish line and saw my friend and former Timex teammate, Ian Ray, the first thing I said to him was “this doesn’t get any easier...” I was very happy that I did not have any issues with cramping during the entire race. I have been using a supplement from Standard Process called: Magnesium Lactate. This product has really helped me with my cramping issues as it facilitates muscle contractions. Finish: 4:08:34 12th Overall/4th Amateur/1st M40-44 My main objective, in any race that I compete in, is to race to my fitness level at that time. I felt that I gave everything I had on the day and I was fortunate enough to earn a ticket to Kona. Oh, I’m a glutton for punishment. Now I need to focus my training for 70.3 Worlds in September and Kona in October.

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