Galveston 70.3 Race Recap
Sometimes eating first thing when waking up can feel like mission impossible, but race morning the body was fairly cooperative and I was able to consume: 1.5 muffins ~600 cal & 16oz water.
Then 15-20min. before the race, I took a Precision Hydration 30g carb gel.
I was feeling good race morning, more focused and excited than nervous. It was humid and temps were in the lower 70s. Things felt warm when having the wetsuit on over my legs, so I waited until ~3-4 min. before going into the water to get the body and sleeves up on the wetsuit. I didn’t do much of a warmup, but it didn’t seem to bother me as I got in with the 3rd group of 3 to jump off the dock and got around the people in front of me relatively quickly. Soon I got together with two others and we swam away from the bunch, leaving the washing machine effect of a crowded swim behind us. I thought we were leading, because I didn't know there were 2 guys up front ahead of us. Most of the swim I sat behind the other two athletes, the few attempts I made to take the front kept getting countered and then I would find myself sliding back into the draft zone again. So I waited until the end to make a push for a clear exit runway.
I felt good coming out of the water, not hot, not drained, perfectly ready to get on the bike and race. I wanted the swim to be faster, but I'll take a 4th fastest swim in 27 min low for now, considering my swim has just been in maintenance mode since the beginning of the year.
T1 was great! I had a bad spot for a fast transition, but I got out of my wetsuit quickly, sprayed myself off with some water, opted for no socks since I was wearing calf sleeves and I booked it through transition. This ended up giving me the fastest T1 overall!
On the bike initially, I felt like for whatever reason my legs were not going to push out power, I was giving a little effort and struggling to feel good. Things were not feeling good while pushing 240w, but once I got into the groove things became easy quickly. I passed one of the 2 guys in front of me quickly, but I never saw or caught up to my friend Sam that was out front leading the race. I was pushing 255-60w and feeling smooth by mile 4 to 5ish and like I could do it all day. So I knew the plan and stayed right on the targeted power. I was having enough speed that I was confident it would keep me in a good position. Then I knew to settle in for a waiting game to the turn around halfway mark. That’s where I would see if Clay Emge was making up any ground on me to know if I needed to pick it up, otherwise I was just going to stay steady.
At the turn around I felt I was either holding or making up a little ground to the leader with the one strong cyclist chasing me down, which I wasn't too concerned about. There was still a good enough gap between Clay and I, even though I didn’t know how far back he started, I felt ok about our positioning.
I stayed steady on nutrition, taking my 34oz bottle of 90g carb and 1500mg sodium evenly over the whole ride and I drank a 16oz downtube bottle during the ride too. I took a PH 30g crab gel at 45min in and at 1hr 30min. From the aid stations I grabbed 2 water bottles and used the first one over a few miles to cool myself with and to drink some of. Then at the second aid station I used the bottle quickly since I didn't want to carry it to transition. I grabbed a few sips, sprayed myself down good with it and then ditched it before the end of the trash zone.
Around mile 32 I tried to stay with the strong cyclist (Zev), as he came by, but it was taking 285-95w to stay with him and I felt like in that constant slight crosswind there was no help in staying behind him at the legal distance. So after about 5 min, I just let him go and returned to my power. Then a few minutes later, I felt my power slowly dropping uncontrollably down to the mid 240s. I felt like I was working harder and getting less from the body. I was glad to get back to the little technical section before transition, so that I could have a few breaks from pedaling around the turns.
During the ride my body held up pretty well. My left glute was a little tight through most of the ride, but it didn’t influence my performance until ~mile 40 when my left glute and quad started having a little pain when trying to push to bring the power back to 250-60w. For most of the ride I was having trouble with numbness in my downstairs region and down into my right big toe. This has been happening pretty frequently while biking and I’ve known about the problem for a while. Small changes to my saddle position had not resolved the issue, so I went into the race knowing it may have trouble still.
Off of the bike I took a little more time putting socks on and spraying myself with water again. When putting my left sock on, my quad cramped up very briefly. I shook it off and got onto the run and felt really good at the beginning. I was intentionally looking at my watch and trying to slow down because the pace was too fast. On the second mile I backed down the pace and was able to get things under control. I took a never second 30g carb gel at mile 1.5-2mi, but then not long after that I started feeling really bad and it wasn’t that my muscles were feeling bad or from an uncomfortableness of pushing the pace. I think my wrist based hr was right and that I was feeling terrible due to my heart rate being really high. After reflecting on that feeling post-race, I realized it had to have been from the high heart rate. I eventually slowed to a walk when feeling like I couldn't go on, and then after a few seconds I got going again. About only a half mile later I started having the lower ab cramps again similar to what I had experienced in the Clash Daytona race back in December. I was hitting water and cooling myself at aid stations. I even started taking coke and Gatorade, but nothing was helping. Once the lower ab cramps started, they would hit the left side then the right side and it would be manageable, but when both sides started cramping together, I would have to alternate walking and running.
At mile 7ish I had a mental breakdown. I walked for a good 2 min. or so, hugged Bonnie, cried a little then got going again trying to just run easy but steady.
I really hated every mile of this run after mile 4. I went to a dark place, probably the dark place that many full ironman athletes talk about going to during the marathon of their event. I contemplated never doing a 70.3 again, hiding out in a bush nearby, selling my bike, and giving up on some big goals that I have for the year because I thought there was no way I could compete. I didn't care what place I was going to finish, or what time I was going to get. I only ran as much as I could to the end, because I couldn’t wait to be done. I even let someone pass me right before the finish line, which is way out of my typical competitive nature. I actually had no idea someone was right behind me, or I might have picked it up through the finish even though I was in a terrible headspace and didn't care.
Reflecting on the race I am happy with many things: a 70.3 distance PR in 4:13, having a good swim and bike, and sticking it out through the whole race when I really wanted to quit 5000x during the run.
I think I’ve figured out some of the things contributing to the issues I keep running into, so I’ll be taking a sweat test soon and dialing in a heavier nutrition plan. Besides the nutrition issues I think my very closed off hip position on the bike has been contributing to the lower ab cramps. To fix that I’m planning to get a bike fit and hopefully a new bike before the next 70.3 race I do. I know I still have the capability to put together an awesome 70.3 race, so I’ll take the things I’ve learned, go back to work and get to the next starting line in a better position.