Chattanooga 70.3: My 3rd 1/2 Iron distance race

PREPARATION/TRAINING:  Approaching my 3rd 70.3 race, I had high hopes of certain race goals and training properly.  Other opportunities in my life (flying in airplanes for work) led me to train less than I had intended.  I'll never forget, my last bike training ride before the race was in Duesseldorf, Germany on a 3 speed bike along the Rhine River--the bike gears broke and so it became a single speed.  I rode for 2.5 hours and called it quits.

WEATHER: Chance of rain all day and it ended up raining about 30 minutes into the bike course, but it was a nice drizzle.  There were puddles from the rain on the bike course, but I've ridden the course enough that the rain did not slow me down.  The run was overcast and it was mid-70s but was a little humid, no complaints.

Most of my race gear

CLOTHING: I wore an Epix brand, 2 piece, Chattanooga Triathlon Club race kit all day.  I also wore my tifosi sunglasses all day and then my headsweat visor on the run.  For the swim, I did wear my Xterra, long sleeve wet suit.

RACE GOAL:  After my lack of training properly, my race goals shifted to having fun and finish the race strong.   My mantra was to race with a good effort for as long as you can and then I could go as slow as I wanted, I kept saying to myself "go as hard as you can, for as long as you can, and then you can go as slow as you want."

ACTUAL FINISH: 5:50:58 (PR by approximately 26 minutes)

                SWIM: 37:24
TRANSITION 1: 7:08
                  BIKE: 2:59:50
TRANSITION 2: 3:32

                   RUN: 2:03:04

Pre-race breakfast

NUTRITION: I didn't have a big nutrition plan, but followed in my Ironman nutrition that worked well--with an estimated target of 200 calories per hour.  This is what I did and it worked for me, I am not trained and didn't take advice from a professional, but I didn't get sick and finished the race.  I used a combo of cytomax and carbo pro on the bike, supplemented by honey stinger chews and I also use base salt.  Again, I sip the carbo pro mix (made a 700 calorie bottle) every 15 minutes on the bike.  During the run, I did take a gel or two that included caffeine and this is a necessity for me as I need the extra energy and focus.

Chattanooga Tri Club Friends

RACE-DAY BREAKFAST/PRE-RACE NUTRITION:  I started eating carbs more intentionally about 2 days before the race.  On race day I had two 4oz containers of unsweetened applesauce, two pieces of white break with light amount of peanut butter and a regular amount of jelly, and I had 16 oz. of cytomax electrolyte drink and a glass of water, it's possible that I had a banana, but I cannot remember.  I had a vanilla gu (with caffeine) 20 minutes before I got in the water to start the race.

PRE-RACE/RACE MORNING:  Met up with Rebecca and Kelli in transition and then met up with Sarah M. on the bus.  R & K ended up hitting the bathroom, so I went to sit in the line for the swim start with Sarah.  The swim start was rolling, first come, first serve.  I felt like I needed more time to complete the race, so went ahead in the line.  I wasn't overly nervous for this race and felt that I would enjoy the day and give it my best.

1.2 MILE SWIM (37:24) 

Time: 37:24       Pace: 1:56/100m       Age Group Rank: 53/85

Gender Rank: 390/669

Overall Rank: 1372/2181

To begin the swim at 70.3 Chattanooga we walked down the GPS dock, jumped in and swam upstream for about 400 meters (estimated).  I was very unprepared for the swim, I ended up swimming about 1 time per week prior to the race, no more than 2400 yards.  I swam closer to the shore going upstream and then cut across and swam the buoy lines the remainder of the race.  I had some issues with sighting, but no problems swimming straight.  I attempted to have a higher swim stroke going up stream and then remained steady going downstream, and the current helped some, I swam straight and had no issues with the swim, but definitely was tired towards the end and could tell I hadn't prepared properly.

56 MILE BIKE (2:59:50)

Time: 2:59:50      Pace: 18.68 mph     Age Group Rank: 45/85

Gender Rank: 312/669

Overall Rank: 1283/2181

My lap split time on my GPS was every 5 miles and so my every 5 mile pace broke down into this: 16.3, 19.1, 17.9, 17.8, 19.7, 19.5, 20.2, 20.3, 18.6, 21.5, 19.4.  I'm not a coach or professional, but my observations and thoughts include that this is fairly consistent for a course that is rolling hills.  I'm a timid biker, so I would say the initial 5 miles was leaving town, and there were a few railroad crossings and a lot of bikers so the speed was slower.  Six laps (again a lap is 5 miles) were consistently around 19-20 mph average--which I felt was consistent, seven laps were all between 15-17 minutes, with the range being 13:58 to 18:21--again, consistent without being planned that way.    I surprised myself on the bike, because I never road more than 50 miles training and I was very undertrained.  I felt like I focused on a good pedal stroke and my nutrition--with the idea that I would go as strong as I good, for as long as I could.  My heart rate was very consistent 150-156 for each 5 mile lap--with six laps being 153 or less average.    

13.1 MILE RUN (2:03:04)

Time: 2:03:04      Pace: 9:23/mile    Age Group Rank: 35/85

Gender Rank: 206/669

Overall Rank: 905/2181

During the run, I literally focused on one step at a time, with the goal to keep my feet moving at a rapid and steady pace.  I never ran more than 9 miles in preparation for this race, so I was very nervous because I knew the run was hilly.  My goal for a half marathon is always to keep it around 2 hours, and with my limited training, I was more than happy with the 2:03 race time.  I felt consistent and I felt strong at the finish, but I didn't have much more left in my gas tank--I'm slowly learning how to use all my energy during a race to maximize a strong finish and this will come over time and with more experience.

Post Race Smiles

FINAL RACE THOUGHTS

I found more focus on this race--focus for being in the moment and doing the best with where I was.  Thinking that I had 56 miles left when I started the bike, did not work--I had to think about the mile ahead of me and focus on my pedal stroke and that allowed me to have a faster race than I thought I would.  Finding a focus on the technique with the sport I was doing is how I've learned to race faster.  It's about how efficient you can be as an athlete, not trying to just be fast and beat a certain time.  I encourage others to break down your race and focus on the small things to create surprising results.  Enjoy the day, smile and be thankful that you are able to do what you do.

Go for a Run, Make Yourself Focus

DISCLAIMER: I'm not a coach or expert, I'm your average athlete candidly sharing my training experience.

Recently, I had an unofficial Personal best for my half marathon time, 1:50:25 for 13.1 miles, 8:26 average/mile.  3 years ago I ran my old record, 1:54:33, 8:47/mile pace.  I went out for a training run and managed a 4 minute personal best--that was not the goal of my day, I couldn't believe it happened.

I am training for the Dopey Challenge at Disney World (4 days of running, 5k, 10k, half marathon and full marathon) which will be in January--I am behind on my training, so in early November, I decided my training plan would be to just run as much as I could, long slow distances, long ended up being less than 10 miles, but I would run at least 5 days a week, always having one off, if not more.  No heart rate, no coach, no plan, just run.

Since I've been so distracted and unfocused, last weekend before I began my long run, I decided I really needed to have a focus for my run.  My focus would be on the first hour of running, I would think about my posture and my cadence, I wouldn't worry about my heart rate, how far, or how fast--just to keep my feet moving at a decent cadence.  If you think about moving your feet faster, and you focus on that, you can.  They say average/normal runners have a 160-170 cadence, I currently work hard to be at 170, but find it easy to now stay in the range, if I occasionally focus on this.

After running an hour with my focus, I decided to keep this focus as long as I could.  My legs felt great and my mind was focused, and in the end I was shocked by the results.

I wore my cadence sensor on my shoe today, but did not look at it once while I was running 8 miles, and my average cadence was 164.  If you take time to work on your cadence, it becomes something natural and you will in turn be able to naturally increase your speed.

I'm your average athlete--I believe you can increase your speed by taking time to focus on your cadence and how fast you move your feet and this makes it more effortless for you to run.  The next time you are on a run, just think about moving your feet faster and see what happens.  Improving your run cadence will take consistency--how do you begin?  For me, I would go for a 3-4 mile run, and spend half that time focusing on my cadence, and the other half just running.  I would suggest to take part of each run and focus on your cadence and remember, consistency matters.