Ironman Raleigh 70.3 Race Report

Since moving south in August 2013, it has been exciting to check out new races and venues. Ironman Raleigh 70.3 was a race that looked interesting to me in its 2013 debut and I was excited to have an opportunity to race in 2014. I have not taken a good run at a 70.3 in a while considering my mishap at Musselman last year tainted the lone attempt in 2013. I was hungry for a PR and was willing to go to a dark place to find it.

I made the short drive to Raleigh Friday night after throwing a few things together and making sure my bike was ready to roll. Fortunately, a neighbor I grew up with lives in Raleigh and I was able to crash with her. She made my stay stress free and extremely convenient. Thanks Chris!

Pre-Race staple with Peluso Open Water coaches, family and friends

Saturday morning I got myself out of bed and went for a quick tune up brick. I quickly realized, in the daylight, that I was on mile 50 of the bike course and I was able to get a glimpse at Lake wheeler hill on my ride. I also went for a short jog on the road so I was comfortable with one of the more challenging sections of the course.

I grabbed my packet, visited the expo, and by that time I was hungry. Here is where we found a little gem, Big Ed's City Market...man oh man was that a good breakfast! I will be sure to return if/when I race Raleigh again.

Great southern cooking

The split transition made things a little difficult to get ready for the race but it was worth the 40 minute drive west of the city. The venue was absolutely breathtaking on Lake Jordan. We weren't able to get in and swim Saturday afternoon like I had planned but I just pushed my swim back to Sunday morning. I knew I was going to be sitting around a whole bunch waiting for my wave to start so I figured I would take care of it then.

Checking out the swim course and T2 with Danny

Race morning the alarm went off at 3:45. I was up and stuffing my face with pancakes, peanut butter, nutella, a banana, and a protein shake. I finished packing and it was time to head over to T2, set up my run stuff, and fight for a shuttle. The morning was far easier than I anticipated. I got right into T2, took a few minutes to lay my gear out, and was on a shuttle ten minutes later. I tried desperately to nap on the shuttle but it wasn't happening so I just tried to relax and work on a few breathing exercises on the way over.

Lake Jordan on race morning

Swim (0:26:00 (27 OA/2 M25-29): 

I was in wave 17 and I was expecting to have a mess of people to swim through. We started over an hour after the professional wave was let loose. I feared the day would heat up so the plan was to get off the bike as fast as possible and limit the time I was on the run course in the heat. The swim did not hold me back form that plan one bit. I saw a guy open up the swim from the siren and I latched onto his heals. I was having trouble holding his feet and I never like to crush myself in the water so I had a decision to make. We were about 300m into the swim and I took a glance behind me to see not a single purple cap in sight. I let the guy work away from me and I focused on swimming smooth and comfortable the whole way through. For the first time in a long time, I was able to breath bilaterally and it felt great. Helped me keep my rhythm and maintain a smooth stroke. I rode out the rest of the course and cruised in loosened up and ready to rock the bike.

T1 00:02:01: 

Transition was long and narrow. It probably took me about a minute to reach my GrAce once I was inside the fencing. I was all the way at the end of T1 so I was able to grab my bike and get right out. Highly preferential to running with my bike the whole way down. Turns out I paid for that later in the day but we will get there. If you have never done a split transition race, we had a swim bag where we shoved in wetsuits, goggles etc and it was transported to T2 once everybody was out on the bike course. Once we rolled out on our bikes, we were never to return

Bike 2:31:35 (34 OA/6 M25-29): 

Seeing that I don't often race 70.3 races, I didn't have a lot of good data to access to create a POA (plan of attack) for the ride. I knew I wanted to push my comfort zone on the bike and get to the run course as early in the day as possible to escape the heat. Based on my power numbers from IMMT, IMFL, Musselman and training metrics, I determined that 250 watts was a somewhat conservative goal, allowing me to run off the bike while riding a decent bike split. Regardless, I followed QT2 protocals and built my riding strategy around a variable. That variable being my power output 20 minutes into the race after allowing my HR to settle into mid/top Z3. It just so happened that this number was 249 so pretty much exactly what I expected. I rode hills and tailwinds about 10-15% higher and allowed the power to drop 10-15% on downhills and headwinds. On flats, I tried to settle into 250ish. The first 1:20 rolled by no problem and I was stoked to see a projected finish time of around 2:25.
Things got interesting in the last ten miles. Apparently there was a headwind that I didn't particularly feel at the time. Many people were complaining about it and now that I think back on it, things weren't rolling along as smooth as they should have. I knew the hills were a little more aggressive on the back portion of the course and that's all I chalked it up to. It turns out that people were reporting bike times of about 6-10 minutes slower than last year. That's all speculation so I guess I'll just have to return another year and ride faster! This was the first 70.3 ride that I was able to push the entire way. I was on the gas for the entirety of the ride and I am very pleased with my efforts. At times, like the last hour, where I was pushing 270-300 watts for extended periods of time, I began to question if I was hurting my run potential. I thought back to Florida and the hurt I put on my legs in that ride while still running well and decided to trust in my legs. Besides, I Ed Boyle has been giving me massages and making sure I am all tuned up so my legs were ready to handle some punishment. I really liked the bike course and highly suggest this race if you at all enjoy racing your bike. The swim was great and we'll talk about the run in a second but the bike course was great!

T2 00:01:24: 

This transition was a little bit difficult to navigate. There were essentially two sections set up which divided the athletes into two portions. I was in the second corral however I had to run through the first corral and navigate a strange maze along the right-hand-side in order to get into the second portion of transition. Odd, but it worked. Got down to business and spent as little time in there as necessary.

Run 1:32:25 34 (OA/6 M25-29): 

I have been running well all season so I was excited to get onto the run course and try to track a few people down that had escaped me on the bike. The course was somewhat boring with a little winding out of transition then trending uphill for the first 1/4 of the course. It was a double out and back so downhill for 3.xx miles, twist around a bit at the bottom, and repeat. The temperatures were favorable and I was not having much trouble staying cool which was my biggest concern. In fact, the first section of the course was the best running I did all day. I was effortlessly running 6:45-7:00 miles all the way up to the turn around. The goal was to continue to take it easy, run the same speed at a lower HR on the way down, then really get to work on the back half of the course. That didn't really go to plan as pounding downhill for over 3 miles really put a beating on my quads. I have been dealing with a knee injury for the past month so I'm thinking I may have been running a bit to compensate for not trusting my knee but then again it could have just been the pounding all the way down the did me in. I actually ran a touch slower on the way down but my HR played nice and I mentally prepared for the second half. I did a little winding down near transition and began the climb to the turn-around again to find that my legs were having trouble getting into a rhythm. I was dropping to mid 7:00 miles and just kept trying to chug along up the hill. It was nice to consistently pass people the whole way but it was the second loop that really started to get congested. I found myself spending way too much energy fighting for what I needed at the aid stations and asking volunteers what it was they were holding out. I know the course was busy and I seldom am unhappy with volunteers but it was very difficult to get what I needed on the run course. There were a couple aid stations where athletes were standing and blocking coke stations or sponge stations and I didn't have the time to spare to stand around and wait so I went without. With about 2.5 miles to go, my stomach felt very empty but not upset. I tried to grab a few more cups of coke, water, etc but eating was not in the cards. I carried gummies around the second loop of the course and couldn't bring myself to choke them down. Lesson? Take better care of these things on the bike because they aren't gong to happen when I'm running that hard. Perhaps even a Boost or Slim fast in transition would have helped subside my hunger.
The finishing stretch was very exciting. We turned the corner and could see the finish from about 0.3-0.4 miles away. It was easy to see the day was almost over but it was agonizing to continually push all the way home. I am very happy to have one of my best 70.3 runs to date on top of it being less than my ideal running conditions. Historically, I have only run low 1:30s in the Buffalo fall season where it is 50-60 degrees, overcast, and sprinkling a bit. Hopefully I am acclimating to this southern heat a bit, which is sure to pay dividends in Ironman Lake Placid.

Opening up the run

Overall 4:33:25 47 (OA/9 M25-29): 

I was really hoping to find a result under 4:30. Given the fact that every course is different, transition is an unknown chunk of time, and there is no telling what type of wind conditions you will encounter, sub 4:30 was somewhat of an empty goal. I was fighting for it, but 4:30 really has no significance other than being a nice, round, benchmark. The same effort on a flat course would have been a significantly faster time. I am pleased with my efforts and I would not have done anything different in retrospect. I do see places where I can improve upon my 9 minute PR and I'm sure that will happen somewhere down the road. I'd like to take another shot at a hard 70.3 bike ride again but for now I am happy recovering and starting to get rolling into my IMLP build. The next few weeks are sure to bring endless hours on the bike, trails, and the river.

Finding friends after a tough effort

I would like to thank: QT2 for creating a killer plan to get me ready. I have learned so much under your guidance and I hope to learn more in the future. X2Performance for helping me train with some killer athletes, while using a stellar product. I would not be able to throw down all day without some rocket fuel in  my system. BlueSeventy for a fantastic new Helix wetsuit. Truly a remarkable piece of equipment. Coqui Cyclery for helping overhaul GrAce and allowing her to roll smooth and fast. Chrissy Battista for putting me up for the weekend and making me feel at home. nick Battista for  Ed Boyle for keeping my mussels tuned and ready to pounce. Lori Strobl for teaching me about my body and helping to get me and my knee race ready. Kayla Mueller for being an excellent race sherpa and dealing with my pre-race nonsense like a pro. My friends and family for all the support and words of encouragement. I am out there to make you proud and I can assure you that you're in my thoughts through every race. Coach for keeping me safe on the course. The Buffalo Triathlon Club for your support and your belief in me as an athlete. You are the reason I approach my races with confidence and am able to find results.

As you can see, I would be nowhere without a phenomenal support crew. I am truly grateful that training and racing has allowed me to meet and form relationships with such a great group of people.

On an aside, I have officially completed my MMRF Fundraising goal of $5,000 for IMLP. Thank you to everybody that contributed. It was a daunting task in its early stages and I am overwhelmed by the generosity of friends, family, co-workers, acquaintances, and even strangers. I will make all of you proud on July 27th in Lake Placid, NY!