I’ve always enjoyed reading race reports on here and thought I’d throw my hat in the ring. Hope you enjoy or learn something, as I always do when reading others.
About me: 28 YO, doing tri for 8 years total, (first 4 casual, last 4 performance oriented), no previous endurance sports background. This race was my third HIM (others in 2014 and 2015, both I went 5:37), most of my racing is sprint distance. I’m 5’9 and 137 ish pounds (little guy, lol!). Made efforts to take my racing to next level this year, and led off the year with 4 sprint races (2 in june, 2 in july), had fun racing faster at short distances, did pretty well (2nd, 3rd, 4th overall placings), and decided to use that fitness as a springboard into a fall HIM. Used late july and august to ramp up volume and focus my training. My goal for this race was to break 5-hour mark, which was asking a lot based on my two 5:37 HIM performances, but I thought it was possible given the speed gains I saw in my sprint races and my longer workouts throughout june/july. Also was a good round number to motivate me to break. I consider myself generally balanced in the three disciplines, perhaps running is my relative strength if I picked one, more on that later.
RACE: F.I.R.M. Man Half Iron, Narragansett RI. Ocean swim, rolling bike with about 2000’ elev gain, mostly flat run, couple gentle inclines. Small race, about 100 participants in half. also a sprint race, aquabike, relay, and open water swim options. My sister in law goes to URI grad school nearby, stayed there, about 15 mins from race site. Woke up 4:20, had PB+J, prepped my bottles, loaded car, stopped at Cumberland farms (open 24 hrs!) for a coffee, got to transition about 5:10 (race start at 7). I like having ample time to get set up in transition. Race conditions: clear, chilly low to mid 50s temps before sunrise, increasing gradually to about mid-upper 60s by race end. Winds calm at dawn, but picked up to 5-10 mph out of the north throughout the day. A gentle breeze, enough to notice but not enough to cause problems.
Swim: long walk down the beach to start. swim was arranged as out, perpendicular to shore, then back in so you basically had to walk about a mile down the beach to the start. there was some good surf, were it my first tri I would have been seriously worried, but I’ve had enough experience to not be bothered. Took a nice long pee in my wetsuit about 30 seconds before the gun, and off we went. Focused on getting past the surf, to the turn buoy, then just settling into a smooth rhythm. Tons of comb jellies in the water (they don’t sting), but you could feel them in your hands pulling thru water – anyone who’s been to a RI beach before should know what they were feeling in their hands, but a weird feeling it would be for anyone who didn’t know what they were feeling! I got through the swim smoothly and quicker than expected. I think my slightly-faster-than-expected time was from a low-ish tide which allowed some running up the beach to the timing mat…cross referenced another athlete’s strava, course didn’t appear to be short so I think I just swam well. For me. total time 29:38.
T1: my worst-case target to get thru the swim plus T1 to meet my 5-hour goal was about 36 minutes. My wife timed my swim and shouted 29-something to me as I arrived to T1 so I knew I had lots of time in hand already, and thus took my time in T1. Contrary to popular practice, I put my socks on in T1 (rolled them, was easy as pie). Caught my breath, bite of clif bar, off to bike. Time: 3:27.
Bike: my goal pace for the bike was between 20 and 21, with closer to 21 being danger of overbiking based on my training. I do not have power meter, and have had issues with wearing HRM in races so I trained to race off RPE and average speed of rolling terrain. I matched training rides to the total elevation of this course to help gauge. My biggest key to breaking 5 hours was to run well, so I was religious in my goal of not over-biking. Averaging 20.0 would give me great running legs, averaging 20.9 mph might put me in trouble later in the run based on my training. With the wind coming from the north, miles 3 thru about 20 and 35 to 40 had the tailwind. I knew the last 15 or so miles would then get the cross/head wind going back to town, so that helped me resist pounding on the pedals too hard early. Took about an hour for my legs to really feel as good as I was hoping, and overall the bike was uneventful and fun. I carried with me two bottles (one water, one with 4 scoops Infinit Jet Fuel). Infinit my only calories on the bike. Took on a water bottle handoff at aid station, so ended up drinking 2 bottles water along with the infinit on the bike. I’m new to the liquid calories this year, and im a big believer now! For those on the fence, I suggest trying it out! The course is mostly on route 1 which is basically a highway, by end of the bike there was a fair bit of traffic but it’s a big shoulder and it was ok, and trucks would help block the wind for a split second. You know how that feels. Haha. I was worried about how they would manage traffic, if anyone is considering this race in future let me know I’ll go into more detail but overall it was issue-free. Watching my average speed I was on target the whole ride and feeling good, the cross/head wind on the way back caused me to lose a few tenths on the speed but I rode within myself and knew I was ahead of schedule on my goal so there was nothing to be gained by over-exerting on the bike. Made sure to finish all my infinit and just get to T2 with no issues. Overall time: 2:45:39 (20.4 mph).
T2: had to pee sooooo bad. I’ve experimented with peeing on bike before and it didn’t go well, so I held it the last 20 or so mins of riding since there were porta johns not far away (and it was a crowded highway!). Knowing I was ahead of schedule again, took my relative time in T2, peed in porta potty, which gave me a mini-rest and I got out to the run. Time: 2:23.
Run: the run was always where my 5-hour goal would be fought for. Ive been working hard on the run and was targeting approx. a 7:05 min/mile average for the race. got off the bike feeling quite good. My one race hiccup: I had a handheld water bottle with Infinit in it for my run calories, the thing leaked and was empty by mile 1 (for the life of me cannot figure out what happened, I trained with it and never had leakage), but aid stations were plentiful, I took a gel at first aid station and sipped Gatorade at others for calories and electrolytes. First few miles went very well, cruised comfortably. Felt very satisfied that I didn’t over-bike and was letting my running carry me along well. Averaged 6:57 for first 6 to 7 miles, and at that point I felt the strength was dwindling but just ever so slightly. Average pace dropped to 7:02 by mile 10, but at that point I knew as long as I just kept moving and didn’t blow up I was likely to make my goal. Focused on just going mile by mile, counting em down and enjoying the nice RI scenery around me. I love RI. Miles 11 and 12 werent that great (8:04, 7:48), but there was also 100 yards of sand running right before the finish so I was just focused on keeping moving and getting just getting myself across the line because I knew I had my sub 5-hour performance in the bank. Made sure to sip water or Gatorade at all aid stations which were basically every mile, poured some water on my head and back to freshen up here and there. By mile 12 I was just on “don’t blow up because you got this in the bag” mode. Made it back to beach, through the sand, and across the line. Run Time: 1:32:13. Total Time: 4:53:21. Success. PR at the distance by over 40 minutes.
Takeaways: this was a breakthrough performance, just on a personal level. Shattered my PR, achieved a time I could barely dream of a couple years ago. I worked hard all winter, spring, and summer to train harder and more focused than ever, and it paid off. Cycling is by far my favorite discipline, but running is my best. I’m small, and don’t have the strength to put down big power on the bike (yet! I started doing 2x20s this year, they paid off, I’ll continue doing those), and will continue to work on cycling since it’s my low-hanging fruit in terms of where I can find time savings. Though I ran well in this race, I did fade toward the end miles and I feel that with more long runs in my training (I did one run each of 8, 9, 10, and 11 miles in my lead-up) I could knock more minutes off the run split too. Liquid nutrition rules. I had gut issues my previous two HIM races, and nothing of the sort in this race. Narragansett is a beautiful town, and this was a great, small race. it’s a budget race, don’t fool yourself (no medals unless you were podium in AG, basic post-race food, no swag besides towel and crappy shirt), but they aced the aspects they needed to (helpful staff, aid stations, traffic control). Though there’s lots of IM-brand and other 70.3s this time of year, if you’re looking for something different, want to avoid WTC, love RI, or never been there, I would not hesitate to endorse this race.
Glad to answer any questions on specifics of training if anyone is interested in specifics or is trying to accomplish a similar goal I can try and lend some insight.
Happy racing to all!
About me: 28 YO, doing tri for 8 years total, (first 4 casual, last 4 performance oriented), no previous endurance sports background. This race was my third HIM (others in 2014 and 2015, both I went 5:37), most of my racing is sprint distance. I’m 5’9 and 137 ish pounds (little guy, lol!). Made efforts to take my racing to next level this year, and led off the year with 4 sprint races (2 in june, 2 in july), had fun racing faster at short distances, did pretty well (2nd, 3rd, 4th overall placings), and decided to use that fitness as a springboard into a fall HIM. Used late july and august to ramp up volume and focus my training. My goal for this race was to break 5-hour mark, which was asking a lot based on my two 5:37 HIM performances, but I thought it was possible given the speed gains I saw in my sprint races and my longer workouts throughout june/july. Also was a good round number to motivate me to break. I consider myself generally balanced in the three disciplines, perhaps running is my relative strength if I picked one, more on that later.
RACE: F.I.R.M. Man Half Iron, Narragansett RI. Ocean swim, rolling bike with about 2000’ elev gain, mostly flat run, couple gentle inclines. Small race, about 100 participants in half. also a sprint race, aquabike, relay, and open water swim options. My sister in law goes to URI grad school nearby, stayed there, about 15 mins from race site. Woke up 4:20, had PB+J, prepped my bottles, loaded car, stopped at Cumberland farms (open 24 hrs!) for a coffee, got to transition about 5:10 (race start at 7). I like having ample time to get set up in transition. Race conditions: clear, chilly low to mid 50s temps before sunrise, increasing gradually to about mid-upper 60s by race end. Winds calm at dawn, but picked up to 5-10 mph out of the north throughout the day. A gentle breeze, enough to notice but not enough to cause problems.
Swim: long walk down the beach to start. swim was arranged as out, perpendicular to shore, then back in so you basically had to walk about a mile down the beach to the start. there was some good surf, were it my first tri I would have been seriously worried, but I’ve had enough experience to not be bothered. Took a nice long pee in my wetsuit about 30 seconds before the gun, and off we went. Focused on getting past the surf, to the turn buoy, then just settling into a smooth rhythm. Tons of comb jellies in the water (they don’t sting), but you could feel them in your hands pulling thru water – anyone who’s been to a RI beach before should know what they were feeling in their hands, but a weird feeling it would be for anyone who didn’t know what they were feeling! I got through the swim smoothly and quicker than expected. I think my slightly-faster-than-expected time was from a low-ish tide which allowed some running up the beach to the timing mat…cross referenced another athlete’s strava, course didn’t appear to be short so I think I just swam well. For me. total time 29:38.
T1: my worst-case target to get thru the swim plus T1 to meet my 5-hour goal was about 36 minutes. My wife timed my swim and shouted 29-something to me as I arrived to T1 so I knew I had lots of time in hand already, and thus took my time in T1. Contrary to popular practice, I put my socks on in T1 (rolled them, was easy as pie). Caught my breath, bite of clif bar, off to bike. Time: 3:27.
Bike: my goal pace for the bike was between 20 and 21, with closer to 21 being danger of overbiking based on my training. I do not have power meter, and have had issues with wearing HRM in races so I trained to race off RPE and average speed of rolling terrain. I matched training rides to the total elevation of this course to help gauge. My biggest key to breaking 5 hours was to run well, so I was religious in my goal of not over-biking. Averaging 20.0 would give me great running legs, averaging 20.9 mph might put me in trouble later in the run based on my training. With the wind coming from the north, miles 3 thru about 20 and 35 to 40 had the tailwind. I knew the last 15 or so miles would then get the cross/head wind going back to town, so that helped me resist pounding on the pedals too hard early. Took about an hour for my legs to really feel as good as I was hoping, and overall the bike was uneventful and fun. I carried with me two bottles (one water, one with 4 scoops Infinit Jet Fuel). Infinit my only calories on the bike. Took on a water bottle handoff at aid station, so ended up drinking 2 bottles water along with the infinit on the bike. I’m new to the liquid calories this year, and im a big believer now! For those on the fence, I suggest trying it out! The course is mostly on route 1 which is basically a highway, by end of the bike there was a fair bit of traffic but it’s a big shoulder and it was ok, and trucks would help block the wind for a split second. You know how that feels. Haha. I was worried about how they would manage traffic, if anyone is considering this race in future let me know I’ll go into more detail but overall it was issue-free. Watching my average speed I was on target the whole ride and feeling good, the cross/head wind on the way back caused me to lose a few tenths on the speed but I rode within myself and knew I was ahead of schedule on my goal so there was nothing to be gained by over-exerting on the bike. Made sure to finish all my infinit and just get to T2 with no issues. Overall time: 2:45:39 (20.4 mph).
T2: had to pee sooooo bad. I’ve experimented with peeing on bike before and it didn’t go well, so I held it the last 20 or so mins of riding since there were porta johns not far away (and it was a crowded highway!). Knowing I was ahead of schedule again, took my relative time in T2, peed in porta potty, which gave me a mini-rest and I got out to the run. Time: 2:23.
Run: the run was always where my 5-hour goal would be fought for. Ive been working hard on the run and was targeting approx. a 7:05 min/mile average for the race. got off the bike feeling quite good. My one race hiccup: I had a handheld water bottle with Infinit in it for my run calories, the thing leaked and was empty by mile 1 (for the life of me cannot figure out what happened, I trained with it and never had leakage), but aid stations were plentiful, I took a gel at first aid station and sipped Gatorade at others for calories and electrolytes. First few miles went very well, cruised comfortably. Felt very satisfied that I didn’t over-bike and was letting my running carry me along well. Averaged 6:57 for first 6 to 7 miles, and at that point I felt the strength was dwindling but just ever so slightly. Average pace dropped to 7:02 by mile 10, but at that point I knew as long as I just kept moving and didn’t blow up I was likely to make my goal. Focused on just going mile by mile, counting em down and enjoying the nice RI scenery around me. I love RI. Miles 11 and 12 werent that great (8:04, 7:48), but there was also 100 yards of sand running right before the finish so I was just focused on keeping moving and getting just getting myself across the line because I knew I had my sub 5-hour performance in the bank. Made sure to sip water or Gatorade at all aid stations which were basically every mile, poured some water on my head and back to freshen up here and there. By mile 12 I was just on “don’t blow up because you got this in the bag” mode. Made it back to beach, through the sand, and across the line. Run Time: 1:32:13. Total Time: 4:53:21. Success. PR at the distance by over 40 minutes.
Takeaways: this was a breakthrough performance, just on a personal level. Shattered my PR, achieved a time I could barely dream of a couple years ago. I worked hard all winter, spring, and summer to train harder and more focused than ever, and it paid off. Cycling is by far my favorite discipline, but running is my best. I’m small, and don’t have the strength to put down big power on the bike (yet! I started doing 2x20s this year, they paid off, I’ll continue doing those), and will continue to work on cycling since it’s my low-hanging fruit in terms of where I can find time savings. Though I ran well in this race, I did fade toward the end miles and I feel that with more long runs in my training (I did one run each of 8, 9, 10, and 11 miles in my lead-up) I could knock more minutes off the run split too. Liquid nutrition rules. I had gut issues my previous two HIM races, and nothing of the sort in this race. Narragansett is a beautiful town, and this was a great, small race. it’s a budget race, don’t fool yourself (no medals unless you were podium in AG, basic post-race food, no swag besides towel and crappy shirt), but they aced the aspects they needed to (helpful staff, aid stations, traffic control). Though there’s lots of IM-brand and other 70.3s this time of year, if you’re looking for something different, want to avoid WTC, love RI, or never been there, I would not hesitate to endorse this race.
Glad to answer any questions on specifics of training if anyone is interested in specifics or is trying to accomplish a similar goal I can try and lend some insight.
Happy racing to all!