Like so many of us, I had to be flexible this year due to changing COVID requirements and restrictions. My family and I were all booked for a two-week trip to the Canadian Rockies to reboot the rescheduled 2020 AG World Championships. However in May, we learned that COVID had other plans... again. Therefore, I decided to build for a 70.3 rather than focus on Olympic distance all year.
New Hampshire was a state that my wife and I have never visited. Racing Timberman 70.3 was an easy decision. We found a nice two-bedroom condo on Air BNB about 3 miles from the race site in Laconia, NH. The accommodations were perfect for us and was a great home base for enjoying the lakes region and an excursion to Mt. Washington. Before leaving, there were reports that tropical storm Henri would be tracking straight for the south coast of CT and straight into NH. We were optimistic that race day would not be a wash but it was looking worse by the day. We were able to get some beach time and other outdoor activities in between scattered showers for the majority of time we were there. By Saturday evening, it was looking like Henri was going to make its presence during the race and the question was how wet and windy would it get! My coach Sierra teased me and said, "If you run fast, you won't get wet!".
Race week went fairly well and as anticipated, I did not feel all that great leading up to leaving on Thursday morning. Taper always feels weird for me. We arrived in NH and drove around quite a bit before we could check in to the Air BNB. Unfortunately, I did not get any shake out run or swim in. Friday morning I woke early to ride as much of the hilly part of the bike course as I heard the road conditions were rough and I wanted to get a feel for all of that. I went long on the workout Sierra provided but I made sure to go easy on the rest of the ride and just coast down the descents. Although, it did not get passed Sierra that I did this. Later that morning, we visited a local beach and I was able to get a good open water swim in. The water felt fantastic and I was fairly sure we would not be wearing a wetsuit. Saturday morning began with a run and a swim. I swam as close to the swim course as possible to get the site lines. The water felt fantastic and I was sure the water was too warm to be wetsuit legal. My body responded well to the last two days and I felt ready to go!!
Race morning arrived and we had a nice consistent breeze before the sun was up. I attempted a new warm-up process that Sierra shared with me. Immediately after waking, I headed out for a run mixing in some strides and picking up the pace. I returned back to the condo and had my normal breakfast of my oatmeal mix recipe. The goal was to get a short ride in at transition and get in the water for some warm up swimming. Unfortunately, with the set-up of transition, the traffic, and road closures, getting my bike out of transition for a ride was not an option. Then came the drop off; parking at this race was terrible. I had to quickly set up transition and hand my bag back to my dad so he could go back and get my wife and kids. Therefore, I had no choice but to try and jog around and get my heart rate up. From there, I had to wait for my family to get back to the race site so I could hand off the last of my belongings. I had my homemade "UCAN" mix of cornstartch, whey protein, beta alanine and peanut butter powder with almond milk while I waited for them. The timing to meet them and to get into the water for some warmup was perfect. We met up, quick pictures and a kiss and I headed to the water. I entered the cattle gates to try and enter the water, however they did not let the age groupers swim. Everything was blocked off for self-seeding and the pro women's start. Oh well, next time on the warm-up protocol! I wasn't worried, I was plenty warm and jazzed ready to go!
Opechee Park is situated north of the downtown area of Laconia on Opechee Bay which is situated between Lake Winnisquam and Lake Winnipesaukee. It was well protected by trees so the lake surface was not impacted by the winds. The day before, the lake temperature was 76.3, but overnight winds and temperatures dropped the measured temperature to 75.4 for a wetsuit legal swim. I was prepared either way. We had a time trial start and I set up in the third group, 30 - 33 minutes. It took about 2 minutes to reach the starting mat and I was off. I was fortunate to work in and out of some slower swimmers early and link up on some feet that were maintaining a good pace and line. As I reached the first turn buoy, I was very settled and comfortable with my swim. At this point, I noticed quickly that the feet I was following made a wide turn and did not stay on line so I dropped off and moved into my own line along the buoys. Eventually, I found another set of feet and held tight to the buoy line. Nothing more eventful happened other than I was literally swimming under the buoys to remain as straight as possible and stay within the draft. Overall, I considered this as one of my best executed swims to date and the time did not disappoint at 30:04! I was 3rd in my AG coming out of the water!
I made my way into transition and smoothly worked my way out of my wetsuit as I ran, and I pulled my Team Stages kit up and over my shoulders! I really fell in love with the Castelli suits this year! I made my way to the mount line and out onto the bike course. The first 25 miles of this course was a dream with a predominately downhill mashers paradise! I averaged a good speed with a low perceived exertion as planned. I just stayed patient, focused on my nutrition, and remained comfortable. I had forgotten my computer bike mount at home so I was forced to do the entire ride by PE which is something I have been working on quite a bit, so this was actually a blessing! Ultimately, my watch didn't even keep a consistent connection to my power meter so I have no power data to reflect on.
The winds were steadily increasing the entire ride and a few cross wind gusts made me really happy that I decided NOT to ride a disc wheel. With the flats over, I knew the hard work was yet to come. The final 31 miles is where all the elevation gain was, with over 2,000'. Fortunately it was well protected with trees and the winds were less of a factor. I had practiced this portion of the ride earlier in the week to get a feel for the descents and the road conditions. The word was that some of the roads were pretty rough. Indeed they were and I was very happy to have some prior knowledge of what to expect. At this point, I stayed within myself on the climbs and did my best to bomb the descents. Looking back at my GPS, I reached a top speed of 48 mph! That was fun!! Staying focused on my nutrition has been a problem in the past, but with the help of an alarm every 15 minutes, I kept to the plan and felt really good throughout the ride. I enjoyed the ride and feel I executed it very well without burning too many matches. I started feeling some fatigue in the last major climb, so I dialed it back a bit and just stayed patient to the last descent into town. I finished the ride in 2:32:07 which was 5th in my AG.
As I made my way back to town and prepared for the run, I stretched a bit and made sure I was unstrapped from my shoes early. I dismounted cleanly and made my way back into transition. I must have done a decent job on my dismount because my wife's video captured my daughter saying, "man, he is fast!" I love my daughter! Again, nothing eventful happened as I rolled my socks on, slipped on my shoes, and made my way out onto the run course. I practiced pre-rolling my socks and having them in my shoes to roll back on, this worked perfectly! I did elect to carry some nutrition with me as I felt the aid stations were spread out a bit farther than I would have liked. They were not every mile but more like every 1.5 miles. I hit the first one right out of transition to get a nice start. I had a few Maurten gels on my race belt and hit them as needed.
The first half of the run was right on track. I clocked the 6.5 miles at an average pace of 7:09 minutes / mile which was right in line with my target. I did notice though that the hills were short but steeper than I anticipated and took their toll. I knew the second lap was going to be a slug fest to keep my pace up but I was determined to meet my goal of a sub 1:40 run. I stayed committed to my salt intake and grabbing plenty of nutrition on the course. I ditched my nutrition bottle as I forgot to close it after one drink and it spilled out completely. I didn't miss it though! Ultimately, I had no GI issues and no cramping. My feet however were a different story. I have yet to find the right shoes for running the half for a 70.3. The pain was starting to get in my head and slow me down. Ultimately, I just kept trying to stay positive and keep moving to reach my goal. I fought like mad to keep running up the hills no matter what pace and push as hard as I could on the downhills to make up some time. I slowed down to an 8:06 pace for the second half which cost me a few AG places. Despite that, this run was a major success compared to my previous 70.3 runs where lack of nutrition, hydration, and over biking have plagued me. I'll take the 1:38:55 run which was 11th in my AG and enough to maintain 5th in my AG overall! The exciting part is I feel I have a lot more upside potential on the run for future races!
As I made my way to the finishers chute, I saw my family cheering me on and enjoyed the run up the red carpet to the finish line! Within two minutes of finishing and hugs with my family, Henri finally arrived with his rain and wind! Coach Sierra was right! I ran fast enough to beat Henri to Laconia!
Hindsight thoughts:
1. Nutrition was a huge WIN for this one. I experimented the last few months with making my own "UCAN". It is just cornstartch, so I bought a big tub of it and make my own mixes for a fraction of the cost! On the bike, I had water in my BTA and refilled at one aid station. I had 1 Liter of SIS Beta Fuel with added sodium and caffeine. I also had a gel flask filled with UCAN Edge packets. I'll work on making my own version for future races. On the run I used a bottle with SIS Go Electrolyte mix which was concentrated in a 8 oz. bottle. I didn't use this much because I spilled it, but otherwise Gatorade endurance, Maurten gels, and Red Bull late in the run all worked well! I also used Salt Sticks chewable salt tabs. Not the best tasting but they dissolve and I don't have to worry about swallowing a capsule which is a big problem for me now. I had only one moment on the bike where I felt like my gut was not emptying so I skipped one 15 minute alarm to let it clear. I had a side stitch develop about a mile into the run but it was not very intense and subsided in a couple of miles (can't remember exactly).
2. I had high hopes for the warm-up protocol and will continue to plan and toy with this to make it fit race conditions. I improvised on race day and did not panic. I was ready and not doing it exactly had NO impact on my performance.
3. Not having my bike computer was a small inconvenience on race day and did not worry me at all. I had done a ton of training rides on similar terrain and had an accurate feeling in my mind about where my PE should be. I am a bit disappointed to not have any data to look at after the ride to see how my PE lined up with my numbers though. C'est la vi!
4. This one will be a little raw but I have to acknowledge it. Traveling and racing with family is a challenge and takes a lot of prep work and communication. There were several moments of stress leading up to race start that I did my best to not derail me. My dad knows what I need, where to be, and what to do because he goes to all of my races. He was a huge factor in helping adjust to the other factors that were not in our control. I have a lot of family coming to Lake Placid so the lessons learned from this one will help reduce the challenge, but I can guarantee it won't be a cake walk.
5. My hydration set up on the bike worked well. I had a BTA 28 oz aero bottle, a 500ml downtube aero bottle, and 500ml bottle BTS. Thinking ahead to a full distance, I can easily go with two 1-liter bottles BTS and just refill the BTA several times. The gel flask worked well for four UCAN Edge pouches. Unfortunately it did not stuff well into my rigid bento box on my top tube. I experimented with two smaller ones but the bite valves were not as good as the one I used. If I can solve the bite valve issue, then I can fit them in my back pockets of my kit. "Special Needs" is a unique situation to a full distance. I would like to avoid stopping for it if I can though. More experimentation is necessary here.
6. As mentioned in my report, my feet took a beating during this run. I don't think I did enough training runs in my racing flats. That is only part of it, I believe I need a bit of drop in my shoes. I switched to Altra's this year and have really felt good in them all season. I was a bit surprised how much my feet hurt based on my previous races with the same shoe. I already discussed this with Sierra and will be looking at Saucony and I already am trying out the Hoka Mach 4s now.
7. Another amazing result of this race was that I was barely sore the week afterwards. I had some slight soreness in my right inner quad and my feet have been tender. My calves cramped up walking from the finish line to getting food afterwards but that subsided within a few minutes. I contribute this to the nutrition plan being right, an ice bath immediately after getting back to the Air BnB, and the training load going into this race. I don't think there is a better indicator that the build up to this race was spot on!!
8. My pre-race goal was to be in the top ten of my age group. This was thinking it would be a normal IM size, which it was not. This race had under 900 total racers compared to 2,000 that some get. Therefore, I think finishing fifth was right in line with my expectations adjusting it for the actual size of the race. I overachieved on the swim, biked to my level, and ran slightly off where I would have liked to be. I am excited to hopefully continue building on the swim gains we made this year, continue my slow and steady progression on the bike, and continue to get stronger as a runner.
9. This race confirmed for me that consistent strength training is another key to success! I have been very quick to forgo the strength work in the past and I have to make it a non-negotiable. This has been my most consistent year of regularly working with the weights every week. Working with Caroline at Evo Sports has helped me remain accountable here.
10. Several weeks after the race, to my big surprise, I received a roll-down slot to Ironman 70.3 World Championships in St. George, Utah in October, 2022!! This was the first race in North America offering 2022 slots so I was convinced the top guys would definitely take the slots. I think a combination of other age group slots not being taken and maybe some luck the other guys had deferred previous slots helped me get this one. This makes 2022 a really exciting year coming up!
