Lake Stevens Ironman 70.3

So here is my race recap for the Lake Stevens Ironman 70.3 event. This event was my first triathlon beyond an Olympic length triathlon. Coming into this event I was feeling very successful in terms of my past events, finishing in the top 3 in my age group in each of my previous four triathlons this season. However, I knew that this event was a completely different animal and I did not know how my body would perform after three hours into a race. My goals for this race were quite different from these previous races. All I wanted to do was finish the race with a consistent output and to finish under six hours.
This race was extra special to me because my brothers came with me to Everett Washington to be my support team. It was fun to room with them and venture into Seattle / Bellevue / Everett over the days leading up to the event. Having their support at the event led to a lot of good times and a very relaxed feeling going into the event.
My race really starts for me the night before the event. I can have some real difficulties with sleeping before a race. However at this event I slept surprisingly well. I went through my typical gear check and fell asleep quickly. I had one of the best night sleeps that I have ever had before a race, and actually a surprisingly good night sleep considering the low quality hotel that we were sleeping in.

The race morning came and everything went very smooth. We found our parking lot, set up transition, and I had about a half hour to spare before the event. Watching the pros start is always fun and a good way to get some nerves out. Soon it was time to hit the lake. When my wave was called I was near the front and walked down the dock to jump into the lake. Jumping off the dock into the water was actually a disgusting experience. When I jumped off the dock my feet went into about six inches of mud and debris. The water was gross with basically mud all around me and no visibility. The group had to tread water for about four minutes before the race start. I positioned myself at the front of the group. When the director started the race the craziness was on.
The swim was a little hectic. I thought that due to this being a more established race that the swimmers would be able to swim more straight, but I was wrong. The swimmers were all over the place at the beginning of the swim and I hate the swimmers who go sideways in front of me. After pushing a few out of the way I continued on. This race was interesting because there was a wave before me and waves that came after me. Usually when I am in a race I tend to get into a rhythm and tend to find several other swimmers going a similar pace as myself (the faster swimmers move on and the slower swimmers fall back). In this race I kept catching swimmers from the earlier wave and kept getting passed by fast swimmers from the wave behind me. It was difficult to get into a rhythm and find a pack that I could work with. My swim time was not as fast as I had hopped (40 minutes), but I definitely conserved energy and was swimming well below my typical energy output on the swim, I believed that the few minutes I could gain on the swim were not worth the output. Coming out of the water I hit transition, found my bike and made a relaxed transition. I took my time and made sure I had all my food and gear as I went out onto the course. My typical bike transition is about 1:15 this transition was greater than 3 minutes!


Out onto the bike! As I hit the bike, I was feeling really strong. I knew I needed to be careful about my output on the early portion of the ride. My goal for the bike was to finish it under three hours (well within my ability), and I believed that if I was on a strong day I could come in as much as 15 minutes under my three hour goal. Through the first lap of the course I was really having a blast. There were many strong riders to mix it up with, and I was having a blast passing the other riders on the course. Through the first loop of the course I was well ahead of my goal pace and was on course to hit my dream 2:45 bike time. About ten miles into the second loop of the bike course I began to fade. My legs felt heavy and my stomach was upset. This course was very hilly and I was struggling with finding the power to propel myself up the hills. I was repeatedly getting passed. The last 12 miles of the bike was very difficult for me. I couldn't wait for the bike to get over so that I could stand up and try to get my stomach to calm down. The last 5 miles of the bike course I was in real pain and was probably averaging an anemic 14 mph. When I finally finished the bike course (3:08 - 8 minutes off of goal pace), I was exhausted and wondering what kind of pain was ahead of me on the run...

Heading out onto the run I had no idea what to expect of my body. I had been out on the course for four hours and I didn't know how my body was going to respond over the next two hours. I was happy that I was close to my target time and I had dreams that if I was strong on the run I could still run down my six hour goal. The first mile of the run is always difficult for me and it is a time for my body to adjust. After the first mile I started feeling better, my stomach was feeling better, and I thought that I could have a very good run.

At about five miles into the run I was feeling even stronger and was starting to increase my pace a little on the run. I had been taking a lot of time at the water stops, and I thought that I could continue to slowly increase my pace. At mile 7 I began to feel very strong and my body was responding very well as the race was advancing. About a mile later my body decided that it had enough. I was more than five hours into the race and my body was beginning to call it quits. My symptoms were: light headed, dizzy, and nauseous. At mile 9 I was starting to walk every three or four minutes, and I was concerned about falling over. I spent some extra time in aid stations and tried to get my body back under control. At about 9.5 miles a fellow runner gave me some encouragement and talked with me about Livestrong for about thirty seconds. This little conversation brought me back to consciousness and I felt a little more in control. At mile ten I thought to myself "only 5k!". The final 5k of this race is half up a hill and half down a hill. I decided that I was going to have to do some serious walking if I wanted to finish the run. I walked most of the climb and then let myself lose on the descent back to the finish. On the way in it felt good to actually be running and finally passing people again. I held a nice pace into the finish line and made a triumphant finish!

My time on the run was 2:24 and my overall time was 6 hours and 20 minutes. The results were a little behind what I had hoped, but it was a great test and a great preparation for Coeur d'Alene Ironman 2011!