Race Report Florida 70.3

After the IM Arizona debacle, I left Tempe feeling a bit deflated. I had trained very hard for that race, and, to not receive any reward for those efforts was extremely demoralising.

I needed a confidence boost and the best thing for that was to race and to race well. My original draft schedule included racing Eagleman 70.3 prior to IM Coeur d’Alene. However, after more considered analysis, I decided that Florida 70.3, even though pancake flat and not ideal for racing the Powercranks, was the better option. I had one easy week to adjust to the Boulder altitude and then three hard training weeks prior to an easier race week.

I worked very hard for the three training weeks, and got very tired towards the end of the block. Despite the unseasonably cold weather, I managed to get out into the mountains on my bike on three occasions. I think, however, the Ergo sessions staring at the power meter and running sessions along the reservoir wall into 40 knot winds were probably the sessions I derived most benefit from.

I was concerned with my breathing towards the end of the training block as it became quite laboured in my final training sessions. I think the cold, dry mountain air wasn’t helping in this regard as it probably irritated my trachea to some degree.

I flew out of Boulder bound for Orlando with some degree of trepidation, my breathing was a concern and there was that lingering feeling of self doubt after the Arizona race. I had a good attitude though and was determined to race hard from the gun no matter what the race situation.
We were very organised for the trip, even writing down directions from airport to hotel etc and everything went very smoothly in that regard.

The race itself was located at Fort Wilderness, an RV, camping and recreational facility in the Disney World complex. My first impression of Disney World and surrounds was quite negative – it had an extremely artificial feel. It was difficult to navigate the local roads as they refused to put road names on the signs and the only way we were able to find our way around was because I had my computer and had access to online maps.

The course itself turned out to be reasonable, the swim was clean (we were lucky enough not to be bitten by the alligators sighted in the water while we were swimming) and the cycle extremely well marshalled with smooth roads and a pleasing vista when out of CBD. The run was the highlight for me, three laps within the Fort Wilderness complex on a mixture of asphalt, trail and concrete path.

Race start was scheduled for 6.20am – this meant rising at 3.30am (1.30am Boulder time) taking into account that we had to park outside the Fort Wilderness grounds and then take a bus into the Fort Wilderness complex - not such an issue as we had had plenty of sleep in the previous two days.

The temperature was forecast to be in the mid to high 20’s but the humidity was the big concern – the days leading up to the race were quite uncomfortable.
I was relaxed in the last hour prior to the race which was a good sign. Swimming warm-ups were not allowed, so it was just a matter of standing on the water’s edge, swinging the arms a bit and waiting for the gun.

I didn’t take too much notice of who my fellow athletes were, but took note of Craig Alexander, Spencer Smith and one or two others. I didn’t even know that Paul Amey was on the start line and the Brazilian lad who ended up finishing second was a complete unknown to me (not that that means anything).

There was a significant wade prior to reaching the deeper water, and usually this is horrible as I end up lactating out prior to starting swimming proper. On this occasion though, it was different, I was wading with the leaders and it seemed relatively easy to stay in touch. When we started to swim I felt comfortable and was able to tag onto the tail end of the leading group without too much fuss. I did get tired towards the end of the swim and lost about 10 or 15 seconds to the group. This was more of a concentration issue than anything else but it was no less costly. It meant that I missed the leading pack at the start of the cycle and, as there was plenty of legal drafting going on (according to one prominent athlete in the group), it was always going to be difficult to catch them.

There were three out and back sections in the 90k loop that provided the opportunity to view the competition. They were all between the 20km and 60km mark of the cycle leg and each time I passed the train going the other way it seemed as if they were about the same distance in front on every occasion, approximately 2 – 3 mins.

I noticed on the last out and back that one competitor had been dropped from the group and I caught him with about 20k to ride. I was getting tired in the last 20-30km and was thinking I may have about a 4 minute deficit to the leading group when I started the run.

What I didn’t realise was that Paul Amey and the Brazilian, Santiago Ascenco, broke away in the last 30k and rode 2 mins 30secs into the pack. As a result, I started the run the best part of 6 mins behind the two leaders and about 3 mins behind the balance of the leading group.
It took until the second of two out and back sections on the run to figure this out. Initially I thought that Craig Alexander was in the lead after sighting the majority of the athletes on the first out and back, but Paul and Santiago had already passed through and were onto the next part of the course before I arrived. I got a shock on the second out and back when I saw that there were two additional athletes in front of me.

At this stage, about 3k into the run, I was lying in about 9th or 10th position and would have been happy to break into the top 8 to win some money ($500) and subsidise the cost of racing to a small degree.

I moved into what I thought was 8th or 9th at about the 5k mark of the run, and stayed in this position until about half way through the second lap when I passed Brian Rhodes. It was getting pretty confusing at this stage as there were age group competitors out on the course, and many of the competitors had their distinguishing race numbers facing to the rear, so I was never 100% sure who I was chasing and how far in front of me they were.

Craig retired at about the 17k mark of the run and I was happy to move up a place as a result. Craig had caught a virus in the lead up to the race and wasn’t his usual self. I think the two hard races he had done in the previous few weeks on top of all the travelling from Australia probably caught up with him on this occasion.

I remember passing three more competitors in the final lap of the run and thought that I was running in 5th just prior to making the surge for home. The last competitor I passed was Kevin Lisska and this was in close enough proximity to the finish for there to be some sort of battle. I was happy this scenario didn’t eventuate, but I upped the anti for the last kilometre anyway, just in case there were some surprises coming from behind.

It was pretty satisfying learning that I was actually in fourth at the finish, especially knowing (apart from the swim) that it was a true individual time trial performance. This augurs well for Ironman Coeur d’Alene in 5 weeks time.

It was comforting having Raija with me during this trip. We have been doing all our training together while here in Boulder and she was a great support in the lead up to the race and on race day itself. It makes such a difference when there is someone around to do the little things for you.

I was lucky enough to be able to trial the Never Reach drinking system on race day. Linda from Never Reach sent me a complimentary unit to use and I was extremely happy with it. It meant I could dump all of my Infinit fluid replacement drink requirements into the rear reservoir and access it via the frame routed tube without having to leave the aero position. I could blaze through all of the aid stations without the need for any extra fluid.
I’ll be honest here, it looks pretty funny, but if it makes you faster, then who cares. I will continue to use it in my future races.

Mumbles McIntyre and Sports Fever continue to be as supportive as ever, organising Brooks shoes, clothes and anything else I need from Perth.
 
I raced with the PC’s again in this race and it was definitely an improvement from my last outing in Arizona. I have been doing a lot more of the over gear work of late, the missing ingredient in the lead up to Arizona, and I saw some of the positive results on Sunday. I know there is a lot more scope for improvement and look forward to showing this in 5 weeks in Ironman Coeur d’Alene.

It is a good feeling knowing I am able to string together some consistent training and I am sure it will lead to positive race performances in the future.

The week before Ironman Coeur d’Alene I am racing Kansas 70.3.

Take care all.