Hi -- It seems like all the Race Reports on here are by podium finishers and KQ hopefuls, but I've always found myself wishing more more info from folks like myself who are making their way through the middle of the pack. So, I'm going to go out on a limb here and share my experience at Santa Rosa 70.3 this weekend. I hope some people on here find this useful. I'm going to focus not just on my performance, but the characteristics of the race/course overall for folks considering it in the future.
Pre-Race (Day Before): The day before the race was extremely well run. The one thing I will say about the nature of the point-to-point races though, is it just feels like there is a LOT to do if you're doing it all in one day. Between driving from San Francisco, packet pick-up, race briefing, carbo loading lunch, run-bag check at T2, driving to swim-start/T1, a quick test-ride of bike and checking-in bike 45 min away at T1, doing a practice swim, checking into AirBnB.... it was a busy day. In the future, I think I will avoid point-to-point races where T1 and T2 are a 45 min drive apart. It really does introduce a lot of logistical headaches and makes the race less spectator friendly.
Pre-Race (Race Morning): Getting to the starting line was a bit more involved than I expected (compared to 70.3 Chatty where I walked from my hotel to the starting line). My wife was driving my friend and I from our AirBNB in Geyserville, a town 25-30 min away. She planned to drop us off at the start by 5:30am, but roads were already closed so we were dropped at a parking lot where we were told buses would pick us up. Bus lines were long and in total it took over 30 minutes to go 3 miles with annoying ladies behind us pitching a fit the whole time about how late they were. Next time you find yourself running late to a race, please keep your anxiety to yourself. Yelling at the driver who is stuck in traffic accomplishes nothing positive. My friend and I arrived with 5 minutes until transition "closed" so I worked quickly to do final preparations. The announcer struck a good balance of getting people out of T1 while not overly-rushing people who arrived late due to bus/traffic issues.
Swim: Lake Sonoma is a very nice swim venue. Not Alta Lake in Whistler outstanding, but certainly among my favorite triathlon swims. Water was 74 degrees and I felt perfectly comfortable in my sleeveless wetsuit. I contemplated wearing my Roka SIM shorts for fear of overheating, but I'm glad I went with the wetsuit; it provided some appreciated warmth while waiting to start in 55 degree morning air). In retrospect, I lined up too conservatively (in 33-35 minute group) so was passing people the whole swim. It was nice psychologically to be passing folks (after a recent swim start panic attach at Vineman) and allowed me to slowly built into my target 1:25 pace but it cost me some time. Swim time, 30 minutes.
T1: This is a rough T1. You exit the water and have a LONG steep hill to T1. I'll bet there is more altitude gain in T1 than the 13.1 mile run. I started at a jog and my HR spiked to 175. So I slowed down, walked with purpose up the hill to not blow a gasket but wasted 9 precious minutes in T1. I'm still trying to find the right balance between sprinting through T1 and managing HR coming out of the water.
Bike: The scenery is great and the terrain varied enough to keep the ride interesting. However, the roads are pretty horrendous, some of the worst I've ever ridden in fact. It's not so much that the road surfaces are universally bad, it's just that they shift from smooth as glass to crack/pothole covered seemingly at random with no warning. You'll be rolling along and think "Ah, a tail winds and smooth roads, let's have a drink" only to suddenly be greeted with roads so rough you're hoping you don't lose a filling. The roads demand your constant attention, which I found very mentally taxing and fatiguing on my neck/shoulders as I was never really able to relax, settle into a good rhythm and just hammer for more than 5-10 minutes. As a result of paying attention to the road rather than my power output, I didn't ride hard enough. I rode 152 average watts (164 NP) well below my power target (175-180 watts) and my power profile wasn't as smooth as I hoped (rode hills too hard and rode descents/flats too soft). I also only spent about 1/2 the ride in aero, as I just didn't feel comfortable on the extensions on some faster sections that happened to have especially rough/cracked pavement. This is unfortunate, as I lost some precious free speed. To add insult to injury, I launched one of my two BTS nutrition bottles around mile 25. Of course the launched bottle was my full bottle leaving me with an empty bottle and needing to switch to on-course nutrition which didn't sit very well. One thing I'll do in the future is alternate between BTS nutrition bottles each sip, so if I launch a bottle, I lose at most 50% of my remaining nutrition. Had I not launched on a hill, I'd also go back to pick up my bottle. The bike course was rather lonely with minimal spectators. On the bright side, there wasn't much drafting and there was virtually no car traffic. From a traffic perspective, this course felt VERY safe. In the end, I rode a 2:50 bike split vs my 2:40 target. I hope to do better at Santa Cruz in 5 weeks.
T2: Nothing too remarkable here. This was the first time I saw my wife and son for a much needed uplift after the disappointing ride. T2 is downtown and has pretty good energy.
Run: The upside to under-biking the ride was fresh legs for my run. I was a little ensure how things would go as I sprained my ankle in my last run 3 days before the race. The temperature forecast also called for a high of 92 degrees and I perform badly in heat. But thankfully the course was very well shaded and my DeSoto Skin Cooler sleeves worked great, keeping them wet in the low 35% humidity I felt pretty comfortable the whole time and avoided sunburn. Crowd support was average (no fun partying, no music, etc. along the route) but the aid stations were well organized and volunteers were great. The course was flat as a pancake. My run went pretty much exactly as planned with pretty even 7:50 pace splits throughout. I felt so fantastic until about mile 10 that I was contemplating picking up the pace for most of miles 6-9, but in retrospect I am glad I stayed patient, as staying on pace for the last 5K took pretty much everything I had left in the tank. I've been loving my Nike Vaporfly 4% shoes on shorter races earlier in the season, but they didn't feel great for the 13.1 miles. By mile 9 the balls of my feet and toes were completely numb and my Achilles was feeling very strained. But I'm not sure if this was the shoes or perhaps some modifications to my gait due to the sprained ankle. I wore thin double layered WrightSocks which prevented any chafing and I highly recommend WrightSocks for the VF4% which doesn't lock down well in the heel cup (for me at least). 1:42 run was right on target.
Overall Personal Assessment: This was my 3rd IM 70.3, and my first time really "racing" a 70.3 with a goal time (vs just trying to finish or using it as a dress rehearsal for a full IM). This shift in mindset made for a very different overall experience (not necessarily better or worse, just different). At the end of the day, I set a PR and had pretty good day despite some setbacks on the bike course, with a 5:18 finish vs 5:15 goal. With some better race execution, I'm hoping to trim this down to <5:10 at Santa Cruz in 6 weeks.
Other Notes for Athletes Considering this Race:
1) This was also my first 70.3 as a father, racing with a family in tow. From this vantage point, I think Santa Rosa fell a bit short. I only saw my wife and son 2x (at T2 and finish). It just isn't a very spectator friendly course. Looking at the day through my wife and son's eyes, it was a long day in the heat to see me only twice. In the future, especially now that I have a family and young son, I will only choose races where we have hotel accommodations walking distance from the IM Village, both for ease of logistics, and so my wife/son can easily rest in our hotel while I'm out on the course. I'd also avoid point-to-point courses. Last year, when I did Chatty 70.3, it was clear my family had a much more enjoyable spectator experience.
2) I stayed in Geyserville at the suggestion of a friend who did this race last year, and in retrospect I wish I had stayed in downtown Santa Rosa. Being able to simply take a shuttle from Santa Rosa would have been easier on everyone.
3) I did this race thinking I might want to do the Full IM Santa Rosa next year, as it would be nice to do a full IM that's driving distance from San Francisco. I think I'll pass on Santa Rosa full IM next year. Between the crap roads and point-to-point course logistical headaches, I'm going to look into some other options.
Overall, I give myself an A- for execution/performance, and I give the race itself a B.
Pre-Race (Day Before): The day before the race was extremely well run. The one thing I will say about the nature of the point-to-point races though, is it just feels like there is a LOT to do if you're doing it all in one day. Between driving from San Francisco, packet pick-up, race briefing, carbo loading lunch, run-bag check at T2, driving to swim-start/T1, a quick test-ride of bike and checking-in bike 45 min away at T1, doing a practice swim, checking into AirBnB.... it was a busy day. In the future, I think I will avoid point-to-point races where T1 and T2 are a 45 min drive apart. It really does introduce a lot of logistical headaches and makes the race less spectator friendly.
Pre-Race (Race Morning): Getting to the starting line was a bit more involved than I expected (compared to 70.3 Chatty where I walked from my hotel to the starting line). My wife was driving my friend and I from our AirBNB in Geyserville, a town 25-30 min away. She planned to drop us off at the start by 5:30am, but roads were already closed so we were dropped at a parking lot where we were told buses would pick us up. Bus lines were long and in total it took over 30 minutes to go 3 miles with annoying ladies behind us pitching a fit the whole time about how late they were. Next time you find yourself running late to a race, please keep your anxiety to yourself. Yelling at the driver who is stuck in traffic accomplishes nothing positive. My friend and I arrived with 5 minutes until transition "closed" so I worked quickly to do final preparations. The announcer struck a good balance of getting people out of T1 while not overly-rushing people who arrived late due to bus/traffic issues.
Swim: Lake Sonoma is a very nice swim venue. Not Alta Lake in Whistler outstanding, but certainly among my favorite triathlon swims. Water was 74 degrees and I felt perfectly comfortable in my sleeveless wetsuit. I contemplated wearing my Roka SIM shorts for fear of overheating, but I'm glad I went with the wetsuit; it provided some appreciated warmth while waiting to start in 55 degree morning air). In retrospect, I lined up too conservatively (in 33-35 minute group) so was passing people the whole swim. It was nice psychologically to be passing folks (after a recent swim start panic attach at Vineman) and allowed me to slowly built into my target 1:25 pace but it cost me some time. Swim time, 30 minutes.
T1: This is a rough T1. You exit the water and have a LONG steep hill to T1. I'll bet there is more altitude gain in T1 than the 13.1 mile run. I started at a jog and my HR spiked to 175. So I slowed down, walked with purpose up the hill to not blow a gasket but wasted 9 precious minutes in T1. I'm still trying to find the right balance between sprinting through T1 and managing HR coming out of the water.
Bike: The scenery is great and the terrain varied enough to keep the ride interesting. However, the roads are pretty horrendous, some of the worst I've ever ridden in fact. It's not so much that the road surfaces are universally bad, it's just that they shift from smooth as glass to crack/pothole covered seemingly at random with no warning. You'll be rolling along and think "Ah, a tail winds and smooth roads, let's have a drink" only to suddenly be greeted with roads so rough you're hoping you don't lose a filling. The roads demand your constant attention, which I found very mentally taxing and fatiguing on my neck/shoulders as I was never really able to relax, settle into a good rhythm and just hammer for more than 5-10 minutes. As a result of paying attention to the road rather than my power output, I didn't ride hard enough. I rode 152 average watts (164 NP) well below my power target (175-180 watts) and my power profile wasn't as smooth as I hoped (rode hills too hard and rode descents/flats too soft). I also only spent about 1/2 the ride in aero, as I just didn't feel comfortable on the extensions on some faster sections that happened to have especially rough/cracked pavement. This is unfortunate, as I lost some precious free speed. To add insult to injury, I launched one of my two BTS nutrition bottles around mile 25. Of course the launched bottle was my full bottle leaving me with an empty bottle and needing to switch to on-course nutrition which didn't sit very well. One thing I'll do in the future is alternate between BTS nutrition bottles each sip, so if I launch a bottle, I lose at most 50% of my remaining nutrition. Had I not launched on a hill, I'd also go back to pick up my bottle. The bike course was rather lonely with minimal spectators. On the bright side, there wasn't much drafting and there was virtually no car traffic. From a traffic perspective, this course felt VERY safe. In the end, I rode a 2:50 bike split vs my 2:40 target. I hope to do better at Santa Cruz in 5 weeks.
T2: Nothing too remarkable here. This was the first time I saw my wife and son for a much needed uplift after the disappointing ride. T2 is downtown and has pretty good energy.
Run: The upside to under-biking the ride was fresh legs for my run. I was a little ensure how things would go as I sprained my ankle in my last run 3 days before the race. The temperature forecast also called for a high of 92 degrees and I perform badly in heat. But thankfully the course was very well shaded and my DeSoto Skin Cooler sleeves worked great, keeping them wet in the low 35% humidity I felt pretty comfortable the whole time and avoided sunburn. Crowd support was average (no fun partying, no music, etc. along the route) but the aid stations were well organized and volunteers were great. The course was flat as a pancake. My run went pretty much exactly as planned with pretty even 7:50 pace splits throughout. I felt so fantastic until about mile 10 that I was contemplating picking up the pace for most of miles 6-9, but in retrospect I am glad I stayed patient, as staying on pace for the last 5K took pretty much everything I had left in the tank. I've been loving my Nike Vaporfly 4% shoes on shorter races earlier in the season, but they didn't feel great for the 13.1 miles. By mile 9 the balls of my feet and toes were completely numb and my Achilles was feeling very strained. But I'm not sure if this was the shoes or perhaps some modifications to my gait due to the sprained ankle. I wore thin double layered WrightSocks which prevented any chafing and I highly recommend WrightSocks for the VF4% which doesn't lock down well in the heel cup (for me at least). 1:42 run was right on target.
Overall Personal Assessment: This was my 3rd IM 70.3, and my first time really "racing" a 70.3 with a goal time (vs just trying to finish or using it as a dress rehearsal for a full IM). This shift in mindset made for a very different overall experience (not necessarily better or worse, just different). At the end of the day, I set a PR and had pretty good day despite some setbacks on the bike course, with a 5:18 finish vs 5:15 goal. With some better race execution, I'm hoping to trim this down to <5:10 at Santa Cruz in 6 weeks.
Other Notes for Athletes Considering this Race:
1) This was also my first 70.3 as a father, racing with a family in tow. From this vantage point, I think Santa Rosa fell a bit short. I only saw my wife and son 2x (at T2 and finish). It just isn't a very spectator friendly course. Looking at the day through my wife and son's eyes, it was a long day in the heat to see me only twice. In the future, especially now that I have a family and young son, I will only choose races where we have hotel accommodations walking distance from the IM Village, both for ease of logistics, and so my wife/son can easily rest in our hotel while I'm out on the course. I'd also avoid point-to-point courses. Last year, when I did Chatty 70.3, it was clear my family had a much more enjoyable spectator experience.
2) I stayed in Geyserville at the suggestion of a friend who did this race last year, and in retrospect I wish I had stayed in downtown Santa Rosa. Being able to simply take a shuttle from Santa Rosa would have been easier on everyone.
3) I did this race thinking I might want to do the Full IM Santa Rosa next year, as it would be nice to do a full IM that's driving distance from San Francisco. I think I'll pass on Santa Rosa full IM next year. Between the crap roads and point-to-point course logistical headaches, I'm going to look into some other options.
Overall, I give myself an A- for execution/performance, and I give the race itself a B.
Last edited by:
wintershade: Aug 1, 19 14:13