Warning: Long, rambling, emotional, and written for me. Posting here because I like reading others’ reports.
Big Kahuna 70.3 Race Report - 4:49:49
2011 was the year I decided to get serious about triathlon. I made the jump from racing a couple Olympics and sprints each year to tackle the goal of some day completing an Ironman.
At that point, I had never run a marathon (and had no interest in doing one outside an Ironman), never ridden more than 50 miles, and never swam more than a mile in open water. So I did what any typical aspiring triathlete would do and signed up for a race way beyond my ability – the Big Kahuna ½ Ironman in Santa Cruz.
The race was in September and I took my training seriously that summer – no plan, just riding a lot after work, running some trails on the weekends, and swimming at lunch when I could escape. Turns out it worked pretty well and I finished in a little over 5 hours. Not bad.
Last weekend I competed in my third consecutive Big Kahuna (Abra’s second – last year it was her first ½ IM) with my sights set on a big PR ever though this was technically a training day with Ironman Lake Tahoe coming up in less that 2 weeks.
Since that first Big Kahuna in 2011, I have ridden 50+ miles over a dozen times, swam more this year than any time since high school, and completed 2 marathons, 1 50k, and 1 50 mile trail run. Gross.
Pre-race
Because this was supposed to be a training day, I didn’t have any real taper and put in a pretty solid training week of 8 swim/bike/run sessions from Monday through Friday. My basic plan is a lot of short sessions during the week with more volume on the weekends.
We took Saturday off and moved some stuff into our newly completed kitchen, set up our new TV and speakers before heading down to packet pickup. At some point I tweaked my back and Ab developed a sore throat. Not good.
I could barely move because of my back and was basically worthless all afternoon. Ab took me to pick up my heating packs for my back to hopefully loosen things up
What went well: Training pre-race, day off Saturday
What would I change: Not being an old man so my stupid back doesn’t hurt.
Race Morning
Alarm went off at 4:45 so we could be out of the house by 5:15. That didn’t happen. My back still hurt and Abs was legit sick. She looked in her throat and saw some unnatural things. I then let the cat escape and had to chase him down the street pre-dawn. Things were not off to a great start.
We made some rice cakes with cashew butter and bananas, and hit the road. Only 25 minutes behind schedule. Then I noticed we were almost out of gas. Shit.
Made it to Transition in time to rack our bikes (quickly), grab wetsuits, and head down to the beach. My Transition area was so sad. With my shoes clipped into my bike, all I had next to it were 2 shoes, 2 socks – I wear socks for anything longer than an Olympic on the run, and my race number. Oh and a pack of gummy bears in case my back acted up and I had to walk 13.1 miles; figured they would ease the suffering.
What went well: Not much. Good pre-race meal? Success in the bathroom (take joy in life’s small victorys)
*What would I change: *Earlier alarm, better planning, not letting the stupid cat out, not getting sick/injured day before a race, etc.
Swim – 26:29
I got in to just get a feel for the water about 10 minutes before my wave went off. Didn’t get a real warm-up in, but it was good to get my face in the Pacific. I was worried about my back, but it seemed to be ok. I was really excited about the swim because conditions were ideal, I have put in way more time in the pool than ever before, and I love LOVE my Roka wetsuit.
Heading into the water with the first group of my 60-ish person wave, I targeted hanging with whatever the second group would be. I got a good draft off someone I was swimming with for a couple hundred yards and this helped me conserve energy heading to the first buoy. It seemed like my escort was heading wide, so I headed solo to the first turn.
At this point, I didn’t see anyone else from my wave in front of my when I sighted. I knew I was having a good swim, but not a first-in-my-age-group type of swim. After the second buoy, we headed back to the beach and I was with 2 others from my wave. I put in a charge to try to drop the two who were now drafting off me, but they stayed on. For the first time in my life, I was actually able to recover from my surge and cruise into the beach.
It turns out there was another group of 3 or 4 athletes who smoked us out of the water. Oh well. No swim prime for me.
*
What went well: I don’t get “the fear” anymore. Stayed totally calm. Was actually able to take advantage of a draft and make a surge. Felt like I was racing, not just cruising to T1.
What would I change: Swim faster. I don’t regret the draft on the way out off a similar speed swimmer, but I didn’t realize how much I would have left in the tank at the end. This was the first triathlon swim where I didn’t start to feel fatigued at the end.
**T1 – **Ran the 1/2 mile to Depot Park, put on my helmet and glasses, grabbed my bike and ran out with it. I keep my shoes clipped into my pedals and I forgot rubber bands to keep them upright. But I flipped them up with my toe and rode away like a boss.
Bike – 2:45 (21.1mph)
I’m really sick of getting smoked on the bike. After a great swim and solid T1, I knew there were a lot more good triathletes behind me than slow ones ahead of me. Plus all the old dudes who smash my dreams on the bike leg. Because of my back, I wasn’t sure I would be able to run, so the plan was to “crush” the bike and try to hold on during the run.
I was targeting a little over 80% of my FTP, which put me somewhere north of 175 watts. Because the weather was cool and overcast – basically rode inside a cloud for the first 40 miles – I didn’t need to drink that much. This turned out to be a good thing because trying to pull out my water bottle was killing my back (not good) and so was standing to climb the rollers along the coast.
So I just tried to stay tucked in my aero position and put out some halfway respectable power. There was a big, strong guy I came out of the water with and when he caught me about 5 miles into the ride, I decided to try to hang with him.
I put in a surge to get into position for a legal draft about 3 bike lengths back. He was much stronger than me and was hammering the hills and coasting down. This is not my approach of trying to “flatten” the course with more even power going up and down, but I figured the benefit of his draft was worth it – he was probably 6’3” and 210 lbs, so even 3 bike-lengths back I could feel the benefit.
This went on for a couple miles until I got my ass dropped on a gradual incline, so I settled back into hitting my goal of 180 watts.
After the turnaround, I was feeling great-ish until I wasn’t. Sit bones started to get sore around mile 40 with my sweet never-worn (nothing new on race day, oops) white one-piece tri suit. Oh! And I peed on the bike. It wasn’t that hard. I just found a downhill stretch, stood up and leaned left. And let it fly.
I deviated from my normal race plan of going easy for the last few miles to prep for the run, but because I wasn’t sure if I would be able to run. Charging to T2, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen next.
What went well: Hit my goal wattage of 175 W Avg power. Felt like I ate/drank enough. Only a dozen or so people passed me, instead of the usual boat load.
What would I change: Get faster on the goddamn bike! Get lower. This winter I’m going to tweak my position to something more aggressive and try to flatten my back a bit.
**T2 – **Unstrapped my feet and rode in with my feet on top of my shoes, dismounted beautifully, and ran my bike to the rack. Putting on my socks was the most painful thing I did all day because for some reason that really hurt my back. Not my fastest ever, but I am way better at transitions than swimming, biking, or running.
Run – 1:33 (7:06/mile)
I cruised out of T1 with my bib in one hand and a pack of gummy bears in the other. I figured if my run turned into a 13-mile walk I the gummy bears would make me less sad.
After taking the first ½ mile easy I decided to take a shot a glory and face my fear of blowing up. Because I forgot to charge my GPS watch, this was the first race I have done in a year and a half without knowing my pace. It turned out to be a great thing.
The run starts out along beautiful West Cliff and I had great memories of staying within a mile of Transition for my wedding last year. As happiness and contentment washed over me along with great memories and the joy of being married to the most amazing woman (also racing on Sunday), a strange voice crept into the back of my mind, “Drop the hammer”.
This is the second time this year I have had a life-changing moment during a race. The first was much less pleasant when I hit a wall from miles 18 through 30 – yes, that’s a big ass wall – of the American River 50 mile race in April and was able to push through. This was a little different.
After hurting my back Saturday, I wasn’t even sure I would be able to race. The fact that I had a great swim, solid bike, and felt amazing a mile into the run was more than I could have ever hoped for. Despite my bike focus over the last couple months along with my increased time spent in the pool, running is really my strength in triathlon.
I took off. Without my GPS watch, it’s hard to say exactly what my pace was, but on the flat portions, I would guess somewhere around 6:30/mile. Every time I though about slowing down, I listened to one of two inspirational pieces of advice. The first attributed to Steve Prefontane: “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift”. I tend to get a little emotional when I race and am even tearing up a bit now as I write this, but I am incredibly fortunate to have the health to be able to swim/bike/run, a job that lets me pay outrageous race fees and buy expensive grown-up toys like bikes, disc wheels, and fancy wetsuits. But most of all I’m incredibly blessed to not only have an amazing wife who supports this borderline obsession that is triathlon, but who has embraced it and is out there suffering just like me.
The other thing going through my head is Abra saying that if I’m going to wear this ridiculous white tri suit, I better be fast! Thanks for keeping me grounded boo.
So as I’m running, a strange thing happened. I kept passing people. But nobody passed me. My brother would have been proud, as his running philosophy is, “Pass everyone. Get passed by no one.” I ran myself from 15th ish to 8th in my age group for a 15+ minute improvement over last year and a time of 4:49:49.
Post Race
I am normally thankful to cross the finish line and be done and Sunday was no exception after pushing myself beyond my perceived limits. But I was almost sad to be letting go of that amazing feeling of just being in the moment and running faster than I thought I could.
When I saw Ab with about 3 miles to go, I smiled and said “I’m running SO fast!”. I wasn’t bragging or singing my own praises. I was just so surprised that I was still charging at mile 10 that I felt compelled to tell her.
Takeaways
I’m still slow on the bike. 21 mph is not fast enough to be competitive at a small-ish event in my age group. If I** want to qualify for the 70.3 world championships**, that time needs to come down from 2:45 to 2:30 at a minimum. Probably 2:20. My FTP is 225ish and in order to even get in line with my current swim/run fitness, that needs to be somewhere north of 275. Cycling may never be my strength, but it is really holding me back.
Early season run fitness is not wasted. I put a huge focus (for me) on running last winter and spring. Over the last couple months, I have been primarily focused on swim/bike with an effort to maintain my running form. It works. I set my 5k PR last Wednesday (18:13) and ran my 3rd best ½ marathon during this race. I plan to run a lot this winter and into the spring again, but would like to fit some more bike sessions in along the way.
Time in the pool is paying off. This has been by far the most work I have put in on the swim in my 3-ish years of being serious about triathlon. The course may have been a little short, but I need to be closer to the 26-minute swimmer than the 31-minute swimmer that showed up to Wildflower in May.
My mind is strong. Other than transitions, my mental strength is what allows me to perform beyond my training levels and physical ability. My very first racing mantra was, “Strong mind; Strong body”. Notice how strong mind is first. I need to trust that even though I may not have put in quite as much training as I wanted to, I know what the hell I’m doing and have the physical confidence that I can swim/bike/run as long as I need to and as fast as I want to.
Sometimes it is good to unplug. While my power meter on my bike helped me keep my energy output in check on the first half and reminded me to step up my game on the second half, numbers can be a limiter.
I may have had the same experience on the run if I had my GPS watch, but doubts also could have crept in that I’m not fit enough to run that fast in a ½ Ironman. Now I know that I can.
Up Next
Ironman Lake Tahoe is coming up in 8 days and I am ready for it. Could I have trained more? Of course. But I am confident that I will complete the race. My time goals have ranged from 10:59:59 to “somewhere around 12 hours” to “just finish”.
My goal for Big Kahuna shifted from breaking 5 hours to swim/bike hard and finish the run after I tweaked my back. My IMLT goal is to race hard, not sacrifice the gift, and to be mentally strong.
I am expecting to have some highs and some lows – you typically do when exercising for 4+ hours, but this is way beyond my comfort zone. This will be hard. I can do it.
Overall Race: A
I had a life-changing moment on the run and gained a ton of confidence – both physical and mental. Here were my reflections after a “failure” where I had inadequate bike fitness and melted down on the run at Wildflower 4 months ago:
I need to commit to cycling. Even if it’s 2 spin classes during the week and one longer ride on the weekend, I won’t be the triathlete I want to be unless my bike improves. Even with my “implosion” on the run, in every single triathlon I have ever done, relatively speaking the bike is my weakness. Get stronger.
I need to turn my improvements in the pool into improvements on race day. While I am happy with my swim time, I feel like I am on the cusp of going from at 31-minute swimmer to a 26-minute swimmer. I did a good job of feeling pretty fresh when I got out of the water, but I would rather go faster.
I’ll continue to focus on my running improvement while sprinkling in shorter but more intense swim and bike sessions leading to a sub-5 hour Vineman with 4:45 being my stretch goal.
28 minute swim**2:45 bike (20.3mph)1:35 run7 minutes for transitions
That would put me at 4:55. And I still have my sights set on 10:59:59 for Ironman Lake Tahoe. Time to get to work.
I did do 4:55 at Vineman and did 4:49 at Big Kahuna. I just need to show up mentally strong in Tahoe and execute.