Providence 70.3
Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 12:15 pm
Here are my notes from the field after the race yesterday.
The Swim
So for anyone who knows me, this is the most challenging part – both mentally and physically. This would be the furthest I’d ever swam non-stop (have done many workouts that were longer, but that included periodic breaks) so I knew I could do it but the question would be how well I could get through it. The course is pretty much an out and back in a somewhat protected area (there were some break walls about ¾ of a mile off shore). When the pros headed out at 6 AM, the water looked very calm minus some shore break. My wave started at 6:30 and while it was getting a little rougher it still was mostly calm. When we were about to make the first turn furthest from shore, it seemed that the swells really started to pick up. In fact after I made the first turn, it felt like I was running on sand – up hill – where you take one stride but then you slide back about half a stride. That part seemed to take forever, but then finally made the turn to head to shore – 900 yards to go. The first half of the way back went well, but then it felt like the currents picked up (either that or I was just dragging) and the last quarter mile was pretty long. When my hands finally hit the sand, I was happy to be out of the water. A quick jog up the beach and then to the wetsuit strippers (this was a new experience for me – definitely a plus to get this done). Total time for swim was 45:59 which figured out to a 2:25/100m pace – pretty slow…
T1 – It’s a pretty big transition area with 1500 athletes. Found my stuff, toweled off my feet, put the helmet and shoes on, packed up the wetsuit in the bag then headed for the exit. 4:46 (though it didn’t seem to take that long? I guess I was jogging/walking pretty slow.
The Bike
I was a little tired heading out but happy to have made it through the swim unscathed. I liked most of the bike course – pretty scenic. Went along the ocean and was mostly flat for the first 10 miles. Overall goal for the bike (I took this tip from Gary David) was to keep it in Zone 2 with a good cadence of 90 RPM. I think it’s probably a good approach to take. 10 miles in we started to climb. No real steep/long hills (there was one short steep one that I remember) but it was steady climbing for the next 20ish miles. According to the garmin we went from 0ft to about 600ft. A pretty good work-out I thought. The course was then rolling for a while then there was the one last steep climb then we headed down to Providence. I think that Red commented before that the roads in Providence were rough, and they clearly haven’t done much to fix them since he did the race. Roads were really rough and there were some train crossings that were pretty bad (I think about four of them). Lots of downhills heading into the city which was fun. One funny part I remember was a guy directing traffic (there were TONS of police on the roads) at this intersection in a fairly rough part of town – dressed head to toe in Purple. It was kinda funny to see. Most of the other volunteers were in Orange shirts. Minus the last two miles, I liked the bike course. It was a good challenge. It felt like we had light but steady headwinds the whole time which slowed things down a little. Bike time was 3:23:10 – 16.54 MPH average. Please try to contain your laughter now because I realize this was kinda slow. I was hoping to save some gas for the run, and it was starting to get hot…. I have some more work to do on the bike portion…
T2 – Right next to the finish. A bit easier then T1 b/c we didn’t have to pack a bag, but still took me a while to get through. 3:11.
The Run-
About 100 yards out of transition I saw DeMello, Smudger and Dave Corso. It was great to see them so I crossed over to give them some high fives on my way out. They rode with me for a little with some words of encouragement and advice (Thanks Guys!!!!) but then I think they had to ride back. Normally at the start of the run I have trouble finding my legs but it seemed like I got into a groove pretty quick. Original plan (note that I say Original – these things have a tendency to change) was to try to do a negative split. Nothing fast for the first half (like 9:00 miles) then depending on how I felt to dial it up a notch (7:30-8:00) after the turn-a-round. I knew there was a STEEP hill about a mile in so I thought the best idea would be to (*sigh*) walk that hill to try and save my legs. Most of the run course was pretty nice I thought but lots of turning and zig-zagging around with can be both a plus and a minus. Some of it was along the water, but then there was this one loop out for a mile or so that was through boarded up buildings, etc. I think I’d rather have that then a straight out and back which can get a little boring. I think I stayed on my 9:00 pace for the first 5 miles, but then everything (Feet/Hips/Butt ) started to hurt. Not cramping, but just sore and tired. It was hot and I was drinking as much as I could but I don’t think it’s possible to stay well hydrated in that heat while running. I actually had to go to the bathroom at one point which I thought was a good indicator of my hydration. The turn-a-round was a huge tease. It’s about 50 yards from the finish line, and you want nothing more than to just keep going straight, but you have to go and do it all again. Right before then I saw my wife/kids and my wife asked “Are you done?” No honey, only ½ way there. I’ll see you again in a while I hope. The second loop was nothing short of brutal. Ran to the hill again and walked up then jogged down the other side but it was getting really tough to put one leg in front of the other. Tried to keep my heart rate down but that basically meant I couldn’t even run up any incline. At that point, it was pretty much a run/walk the rest of the way. Run ½ mile, walk 100 yards, repeat. There was a fair amount of carnage on the course. I saw a guy who I think tore his Achilles, and there were several other ambulances picking people up. When I finally made the last turn up the last hill heading to the finish I was absolutely ecstatic. I couldn’t wait to finally finish. I was able to lift at least one arm across the finish line (two would have been a stretch). Run time was 2:22:26 which is a 10:52 mile average. Second loop killed me. Total finish was 6:39:32 - 840 out of 1542 and 126 out of 217 in my age group. Not quite the top 50% overall but pretty close.
Overall, I like the race and will probably do it again next year. It was one year to the day after the first Triathlon I ever did so am happy I was able to do a 70.3. The logistics were a challenge, but I don’t think it was that bad. It seems they have figured out the race pretty well and things now things move pretty smooth. Going down and spending the night on Saturday was a huge plus. Next year I think I’ll take the whole family down for the weekend. I figure I could go to the beach on Saturday with everyone, then wander over and rack my bike at some point while the kids are playing in the sand.
I need to work on my time/strategy for this distance. Truth be told, I am probably WAY low on mileage for this distance of race (insert litany of excuses here) but have trained a good amount considering I’m still pretty new to this. I think I need to do some type of organized coaching plan next year.
Congrats to Gary David for having yet another phenomenal race. Did you have to turn down more Clearwater and Kona slots Gary? Also congrats to Nate for his finish and I think there was at least one other MRCer out on the course.
The Swim
So for anyone who knows me, this is the most challenging part – both mentally and physically. This would be the furthest I’d ever swam non-stop (have done many workouts that were longer, but that included periodic breaks) so I knew I could do it but the question would be how well I could get through it. The course is pretty much an out and back in a somewhat protected area (there were some break walls about ¾ of a mile off shore). When the pros headed out at 6 AM, the water looked very calm minus some shore break. My wave started at 6:30 and while it was getting a little rougher it still was mostly calm. When we were about to make the first turn furthest from shore, it seemed that the swells really started to pick up. In fact after I made the first turn, it felt like I was running on sand – up hill – where you take one stride but then you slide back about half a stride. That part seemed to take forever, but then finally made the turn to head to shore – 900 yards to go. The first half of the way back went well, but then it felt like the currents picked up (either that or I was just dragging) and the last quarter mile was pretty long. When my hands finally hit the sand, I was happy to be out of the water. A quick jog up the beach and then to the wetsuit strippers (this was a new experience for me – definitely a plus to get this done). Total time for swim was 45:59 which figured out to a 2:25/100m pace – pretty slow…
T1 – It’s a pretty big transition area with 1500 athletes. Found my stuff, toweled off my feet, put the helmet and shoes on, packed up the wetsuit in the bag then headed for the exit. 4:46 (though it didn’t seem to take that long? I guess I was jogging/walking pretty slow.
The Bike
I was a little tired heading out but happy to have made it through the swim unscathed. I liked most of the bike course – pretty scenic. Went along the ocean and was mostly flat for the first 10 miles. Overall goal for the bike (I took this tip from Gary David) was to keep it in Zone 2 with a good cadence of 90 RPM. I think it’s probably a good approach to take. 10 miles in we started to climb. No real steep/long hills (there was one short steep one that I remember) but it was steady climbing for the next 20ish miles. According to the garmin we went from 0ft to about 600ft. A pretty good work-out I thought. The course was then rolling for a while then there was the one last steep climb then we headed down to Providence. I think that Red commented before that the roads in Providence were rough, and they clearly haven’t done much to fix them since he did the race. Roads were really rough and there were some train crossings that were pretty bad (I think about four of them). Lots of downhills heading into the city which was fun. One funny part I remember was a guy directing traffic (there were TONS of police on the roads) at this intersection in a fairly rough part of town – dressed head to toe in Purple. It was kinda funny to see. Most of the other volunteers were in Orange shirts. Minus the last two miles, I liked the bike course. It was a good challenge. It felt like we had light but steady headwinds the whole time which slowed things down a little. Bike time was 3:23:10 – 16.54 MPH average. Please try to contain your laughter now because I realize this was kinda slow. I was hoping to save some gas for the run, and it was starting to get hot…. I have some more work to do on the bike portion…
T2 – Right next to the finish. A bit easier then T1 b/c we didn’t have to pack a bag, but still took me a while to get through. 3:11.
The Run-
About 100 yards out of transition I saw DeMello, Smudger and Dave Corso. It was great to see them so I crossed over to give them some high fives on my way out. They rode with me for a little with some words of encouragement and advice (Thanks Guys!!!!) but then I think they had to ride back. Normally at the start of the run I have trouble finding my legs but it seemed like I got into a groove pretty quick. Original plan (note that I say Original – these things have a tendency to change) was to try to do a negative split. Nothing fast for the first half (like 9:00 miles) then depending on how I felt to dial it up a notch (7:30-8:00) after the turn-a-round. I knew there was a STEEP hill about a mile in so I thought the best idea would be to (*sigh*) walk that hill to try and save my legs. Most of the run course was pretty nice I thought but lots of turning and zig-zagging around with can be both a plus and a minus. Some of it was along the water, but then there was this one loop out for a mile or so that was through boarded up buildings, etc. I think I’d rather have that then a straight out and back which can get a little boring. I think I stayed on my 9:00 pace for the first 5 miles, but then everything (Feet/Hips/Butt ) started to hurt. Not cramping, but just sore and tired. It was hot and I was drinking as much as I could but I don’t think it’s possible to stay well hydrated in that heat while running. I actually had to go to the bathroom at one point which I thought was a good indicator of my hydration. The turn-a-round was a huge tease. It’s about 50 yards from the finish line, and you want nothing more than to just keep going straight, but you have to go and do it all again. Right before then I saw my wife/kids and my wife asked “Are you done?” No honey, only ½ way there. I’ll see you again in a while I hope. The second loop was nothing short of brutal. Ran to the hill again and walked up then jogged down the other side but it was getting really tough to put one leg in front of the other. Tried to keep my heart rate down but that basically meant I couldn’t even run up any incline. At that point, it was pretty much a run/walk the rest of the way. Run ½ mile, walk 100 yards, repeat. There was a fair amount of carnage on the course. I saw a guy who I think tore his Achilles, and there were several other ambulances picking people up. When I finally made the last turn up the last hill heading to the finish I was absolutely ecstatic. I couldn’t wait to finally finish. I was able to lift at least one arm across the finish line (two would have been a stretch). Run time was 2:22:26 which is a 10:52 mile average. Second loop killed me. Total finish was 6:39:32 - 840 out of 1542 and 126 out of 217 in my age group. Not quite the top 50% overall but pretty close.
Overall, I like the race and will probably do it again next year. It was one year to the day after the first Triathlon I ever did so am happy I was able to do a 70.3. The logistics were a challenge, but I don’t think it was that bad. It seems they have figured out the race pretty well and things now things move pretty smooth. Going down and spending the night on Saturday was a huge plus. Next year I think I’ll take the whole family down for the weekend. I figure I could go to the beach on Saturday with everyone, then wander over and rack my bike at some point while the kids are playing in the sand.
I need to work on my time/strategy for this distance. Truth be told, I am probably WAY low on mileage for this distance of race (insert litany of excuses here) but have trained a good amount considering I’m still pretty new to this. I think I need to do some type of organized coaching plan next year.
Congrats to Gary David for having yet another phenomenal race. Did you have to turn down more Clearwater and Kona slots Gary? Also congrats to Nate for his finish and I think there was at least one other MRCer out on the course.