Ironman Atlantic City 70.3 Race report 2017

Let me start off by saying I had a great time at this race.  This in and off itself could be my race report.  For once, I didn't have a really horrible 70.3 race!  I have been trying to get my act together at this distance and various factors have conspired to subvert me at every turn. 5 years ago at my first 70.3 it was a combination of illness, fatigue and a 101 degree unshaded run!  Last year it was illness, a broken fork and once again insane heat!

This year I had very few expectations of crushing the course, because for most of the year I have been injured.  A nagging shoulder injury and an inability to find time for enough long runs had made me less than optimistic about crushing the race.  Despite that, I went in with some stretch goals anyway and I decided I would push myself as much as possible and try to make good decisions on the course.

But before we get to that, let me tell you about the best part of the weekend.  On Saturday before the race, there was a kids fun run.  I asked my son Tyler if he was interested in racing it.  The race was 1/2 mile long.  Run 1/4 mile out then 1/4 mile back.  I had no real idea how he would do but i thought it would be a good experience for him.  There were some bigger kids in the race so I kind of resigned myself to the fact that he probably would not win, and would finish somewhere in the middle of the pack.  It was really foggy in the morning so when the kids took off I could only see them for about the first 50 yards or so.  Off they went and I waited patiently for them to return.  The announcer started urging the kids on as they got closer to the finish line and as they started to appear I first saw this big kid, followed just behind by Tyler!  He looked gassed but he was pushing with everything he had left.  He came in second!  How cool was that!  He had earned his first Ironman medal!

Of course now the pressure was on!  Tyler was expecting me to come in second in the race too.  Sorry kid, NOT GONNA HAPPEN!  I had a good dinner Saturday night and got to sleep early (a first for me before a race).  I awoke at 4 AM, ate some of my leftover pasta from dinner, and started mentally prepping for the swim.  I have a very practiced transition routine, so by 5:30 I was all set and ready to race.  I decided to stroll around transition and give aid and comfort to anyone I could, or to just shoot the breeze, whatever seemed appropriate.  I managed to meet Shauna Gold and Crystal Pringle whose Facebook posts I follow diligently.  I marvel constantly at anyone who can get up so early on a regular basis.  I also started my nutrition plan, 30 minutes from the start I took 2 Hammer Endurolytes capsules and 2 Hammer Anti-fatigue capsules.  I also took 1 Hammer gel 15 minutes prior to getting in the water.

The Swim:

I was really anxious to get the swim over with.  Not so much because I dislike the swim, but more because I have been nursing a shoulder injury for the last month or so and I was just hoping it would hold up without causing me too much pain after I got out of the water.  I had gone to physical therapy twice the week of the race to have it worked on and also had a masseur work on it at the Ironman expo.  I doused in it Tiger Balm the night before the race and it was feeling the best it had in some time so I was cautiously optimistic.  When the swim waves started lining up I got as close to the front of my wave as I could.  I knew it could turn into a hot day, and though it was still cool and overcast, I wanted to make sure I had to endure as little heat as necessary.  As usual the first 300-400 yards it felt like my arms would explode but by the 500 yard mark I had settled in a rhythm.  Not a particularly fast rhythm, but a rhythm none-the-less.  The swim out was relatively uneventful, but after the turn to return to the start,  the current began trying to force me to the left of the buoys.  I had to switch from sighting every ten strokes to about every 5 or 6 to make sure I was still on course.  I could also feel my midsection tighten up as my I fought to keep my line straight.  I ended up swimming 2369 yards, yeah about an extra tenth of a mile.  I would like to be disappointed with my 49 minute and change swim time, but with a bum shoulder and extra yardage I can't be too hard on myself (not to mention the fact that I didn't start training for the swim until damn near August!)

T1:

As I came out of the water I saw the wetsuit strippers, I had actually never seen them before at a race! I ran right past them, not really knowing what to do.  I was somewhat surprised to see some guy plop down on the ground and two women grab his legs and begin yanking his wetsuit off!  Wow!  It looked violent!  I trotted into transition and wiggled out of my wetsuit all by myself.  T1 was fairly uneventful.  I got my bike , took 1 Hammer Perpeteum solid and got outta there.

The Bike:

My bike plan consisted of the following:  3 hour bike split (or 2:59 to make my coaching partner Lloyd Henry happy!)  1 bottle of Heed w/ 1 Endurolyte Fizz per hour on the bike.  The goal was to ride at about 75 - 80% of my FTP and keep a steady tempo the whole time.  Due to the size of the field I knew drafting might be an issue.  The referees had spoken quite seriously about it at the race briefing the day before and I made it a point to get out ahead of anyone who might start out fast then slow down just enough to make me have to push past them.  The goal speed was 18.7mph but I rolled through the first hour at 19.3 miles an hour holding steady at my 75% of FTP goal.  I was not too worried as I was feeling good but I resisted the urge to dial it up a notch.  I kept reminding myself I needed as much as I could spare in the tank for the run to follow.  The second hour was also nearly perfectly paced.  I averaged 74% of FTP and managed to push the speed up just a notch to 19.6 mph. I knew I was in a good place as my heart rate was a rock solid 143 beats per minute for almost the duration of the first 2 hours.  Around the 45 mile mark I guy I had been playing tag with for about 10 miles rode up next to me from behind and said, "What do you expect your bike split to be?", I replied somewhere between 2:55 and 3 hours.  He then gave me the nicest compliment I have ever received in a race, he said, "I have never seen anyone pace as consistently as you."  That just about made my day!  Around mile 50 I had my first bad patch of the race.  I got a strange, all I can call it is a sensation, in the areas between my thigh and my psoas muscle.  It was weird.  I reminded myself I would have rough patches but this sensation was just bizarre.  I turned the power down just a notch and started to concentrate on recovering a bit before the run.  Keeping in mind I still had to get under 3 hours, I only backed off slightly.  The final hour was ridden at 67% of my FTP and 18.4 mph, a bit slower than I hoped but I made the cut!  Bike time was 2:59:22, I nailed it!

T2 :

My bike computer fell off as I dismounted by bringing my leg over my handlebars.  I actually find this easier since my seat is so high compared to the handlebars.  No way I was not going to pick my Garmin 520 Edge with all my data!  That slowed me down a bit and coupled with the larger than I expected transition area I had a somewhat slow 3 minute transition.

The Run:

My  plan was to run 10 minute miles.  Long story short, that didn't happen.  It was not for lack of trying however.  This is where my training (or more specifically lack thereof) caught up with me. I was unable to string together enough long runs during training.   Instead, I relied on some tough race runs in their place. Suffice it to say they weren't enough.  As I was coming out of transition, a woman running behind me yelled that I had dropped my Hammer gel. I stopped to pick it up, but I failed to notice that I had also dropped the 2 other gels as well.  I was now about an hour short of my nutrition  for the race (more on that later).

My run splits started off well enough:

Mile 1 : 9:05 (a tad fast, I figured I better slow down)
Mile 2 : 9:31 (a bit better, not feeling too shabby)
Mile 3: 10:23 (ok I'm gonna try and stay at this pace)

Right after mile 3 I ate a gel, and that is when the sun finally reared its ugly head.  It had been overcast most of the day but now that I was up on the boardwalk the sun, in all of its glory, jumped out from behind the clouds.  I was determined to get to mile 6 before I needed a walk break, but the heat changed my plans rather quickly.

Mile 4: 12:46 (I was now in walk / run mode)
Mile 5 :12:41 (more walk /run)
Mile 6: 13:37 (I hit my first really bad patch here, I started to feel the pre-cursor of cramps coming on so I stopped at a water station and drank as much as I could stomach along with 2 Endurolytes.

Mile 7: 12:53 (We pass by the start/finish area and I see my wife and son, I RUN this section).
Mile 8: 13:06 (OK my wife and son can't see me, so I start walking again, of course I find out later they still could see me so, oh well...)
Mile 9: 12:31 (I gain a partner, someone who is struggling just as much as me, we walk /run in tandem pushing each other to run just a bit longer).
Mile 10: 12:04 (The push helps a bit, we gain a whole 30 seconds....)
Mile 11: 13:21 (Back to more walking than running, I guess I paid for that 30 seconds...)
Mile 12: 12:04 (I can feel the finish, a little less walking, a bit more running)
Finally!  Mile 13: 12:35 Unspectacular but a finish is a finish. Great to see my wife and son as I ran down the shoot!


Time : 6:32:00

I was shooting for somewhere in the 6:15 range but the lack of long runs sabotaged that goal.  All in all I felt it was a good effort.