Just checking to see how many out there are racing Naples. l am doing 70.3. Training has not been what it should have been through the holidays. But l will show up anyway.
Water temp l have seen is 71.
Forecast for the weekend says lows around 60 and highs around 80. Sounds great to me.
I’ll be there! My training has been nothing but run, run, and more run so the swim and bike should be good fun…
I’ll be there, doing the half
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Just curious - did anybody else clock the 70.3 bike course about 1.5 miles short?
I started my computer a bit late and I had just less than 2 miles short. So if I would of started it at the right time, it probably would have shown right around 1.5 miles short. Regardless, the bike course is wicked fast. Hopefully no one had issues with traffics and/or logistics. Those were some busy roads out there.
Yeah man, where I live I never get to ride on flat smooth roads like that so it was a ton of fun for me! And holy shit, I just realized that you’re the dude that won…nice race man! My buddy told me that someone came out of the water around :21 and I didn’t believe him until I saw the results. What’s your swimming background?
My boy Steve is wicked fast! Great race, Steve!
How was the event compared to last year? I did Napa Valley race (although the medals they gave out referred to Naples Valley) and there were some organizational issues. Have they worked out most of the kinks?
I thought the bike and run was a little short too for the 70.3. The bike turn around I think was before mile 28 and the run miles seemed to be about .2 short from what Garmin was saying.
Was there a specific reason there were lots of flats on the bike? I saw probably about a dozen people flatting on the first half of the bike.
The logistics seemed great and the busy intersections were covered great by the police and held up traffic even just for a single rider. I didn’t have any problems on the road and the volunteers for the whole race were excellent.
Thanks man! I live on the east coast of FL and we have flat roads here but not anything as smooth like Naples. I’ve been a competitive swimmer since age 5. Grew up swimming my entire life and swam in college for the University of Pittsburgh
Overall I thought the race was pretty well run. I only had one gripe and that was the missing at aid station at mile 45. I was planning to grab water there to get me into t2 but it never came.
I was fortunate enough to have two motorcycles leading me the whole on way on the bike so I never ran into issues at intersections. There were a few times (on the way back) where the cops weren’t expecting us and the flagger didn’t whistle to the cops that we were coming (I had one flagger ask me if I was in the race as I went by at 26 mph). It didn’t slow me down too much but I just had to be cognizant of how to get through the intersection safely. I was concerned for everyone else behind me that they would get through safely without the motorcycles. The cops were great though and did the best they could. I was screaming at every intersection saying thank you to all of them.
Thanks Andy!!
What are you gunning for next?
Next half is the new Miami Man at the Speedway in May; should be a fun one! What about you?
Man I didn’t even know about that race. Looks like fun. Its looking like Great Clermont tri (olympic) and then Eagleman in June. I’m shooting for a Kona or Mt Tremblant spot at Eagleman so hopefully things go well there.
Just checking to see how many out there are racing Naples. l am doing 70.3. Training has not been what it should have been through the holidays. But l will show up anyway.
Water temp l have seen is 71.
Forecast for the weekend says lows around 60 and highs around 80. Sounds great to me.
Numbers would have been higher if it wasn’t scheduled on the same weekend as the Disney half and full marathon.
this looks like a good venue and a great time of year to do a 70.3 race.
was the swim wetsuit legal? i would imagine so…can someone confirm.
Awesome; you’ve definitely got a qualifying race in you! You’re on track for a great season, Steve! We’ll have to catch up for a ride soon.
Yes it was wetsuit legal
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My Garmin said 70.54. Even though it never agreed with the mile markers on the run.
My thoughts on the race:
Great swim. Liked the spread out triangle. Not so far offshore. Lots of lifeguards out there.
Bike was great. Smooth and fast. Glad l did not ride disk as the wind picked up before l finished. Police were fantastic. Only slowed once and that was a lady that disobeyed them. She was coming from my left on one of major roads coming back in around 50 miles. Policeman was pointing at her and alerting me. Even though l could she her, l appreciated all the help. Motorists were being ugly to police. l thought police were the best on open road course l have ever done. RD had said port o let at aid stations and there was only one at 28 miles. Water station at 43 was on other side of 6 lane road. Would have liked more water, but not that bad. Coming back in on half was like a training ride. All by myself except those idiots in pace line (not racers) that had 2 flats and looked to have taken down a racer around Collier Blvd. That was rude to be on race course and hog the bike lane fixing flats and clogging up up area where traffic was bad trying to turn on Collier. They passed me 3 times.
Run was brutally hot. And l like it hot. Unfortunately l fried my legs on bike. Again, only port a let was at turnaround. But in that heat, l doubt too many people needed to use it. l sweated out everything l drank.
This was my second HITS race, l did Ocala Olympic last year. l would highly recommend this course and this series. l wish there were more down here in the south.
Very sad about the man on Sunday. l was watching and was very impressed with the number of lifeguards and their reaction. l have never seen a lifeguard on the shore directing traffic like she did. My friend was within 20 yards of him, and she was very complimentary of the response and effort to save him. l was talking to one of our head lifeguards this morning and he really liked the idea of the lifeguard on the beach with whistle directing all the others.
Race report for the half…
http://smjackson.blogspot.com/2014/01/hits-naples-half.html
I was a bit skeptical when I signed up for this race 3 months ago but I needed to prove to myself that I could race this distance. The last time I raced a 70.3 was at Eagleman in 2012 (which did not go as planned) and I’ve been itching for redemption ever since. I also wasn’t sure if 12 weeks was enough time to get in the shape I wanted to be in, especially coming off an injury. As the weeks progressed, things were looking really good. I wasn’t broken down nor had any lingering aches or pains. With 5 or so weeks until the race, we decided to go all in and see what happens on race day.
Friday came and I got in a short run in the morning around my neighborhood before packing up and heading west to Naples. Once getting into Naples, I saw Pittsburghers Chad Holderbaum (pro triathlete) and Bruce Jenkins out on their bikes riding the course. I was pretty excited to be racing Chad as I wanted to use this race as a measuring stick going forward. I got in a quick 30 minute ride on the course to make sure everything was good to go on the Trek Speed Concept (Thanks Tri Bike Run!). Mandy and I then headed to the hotel to get situated and found some excellent Italian food for dinner so I could have my usual chicken parmigiana. If you are ever in Naples, be sure to check out Sophia’s Ristorante Italiano… by far some of the best Italian food I’ve ever had.
If you ask me, these longer races really start as soon as you wake up in the morning (possibly even the day before). Proper nutrition and hydration is absolutely critical for a successful day. On race morning I ate two packets of Quaker Instant Oatmeal - Maple & Brown Sugar and a banana. I also got in a bottle of First Endurance EFS with a scoop of pre race and later had a couple sips of a FE liquid shot just before heading to the swim start. After a quick warm up in the Gulf of Mexico (that water was much colder than I expected it to be… apparently the west coast of Florida is much colder than the east coast), I was ready to go.
SWIM - 1.2 miles (23:19 *PR, 1st Overall)
It was an out of water start and everyone was inching forward trying to get to the front. The gun went off rather quickly and I got a decent jump with a few others just ahead or right next to me. I had 2 or 3 guys with me for those first 30 seconds, which gave me a glimpse of hope that I would have some people to swim with. Unfortunately that glimpse was short lived as they faded quickly. I got to the first turn buoy with a pretty sizable lead where I was met with a little bit of current coming towards me. I put my head down, kept my heart rate in check, and hit the cruise control button. Overall I had a great swim and I was feeling good heading into shore.
*BIKE - 56 miles (2:08:11 PR, 1st Overall)
I headed out on the bike and figured I would have a 2-3 minute lead. Eric warned me the day before not to over exert myself the first 30 minutes on the bike as this could kill the rest of my day. I was very cognizant of my power numbers and made sure I was getting in my nutrition. My nutrition plan included: 1 bottle with 2 scoops of EFS lemon lime and 1 scoop of pre-race (200 calories) and another bottle with 2 servings of First Endurance liquid shot kona mocha flavor mixed with water (800 calories) and take water at every aid station to wash it all down. I learned in training that I need a lot of water as I’ve often finished training rides extremely thirsty. So I forced myself to hydrate early on the bike no matter if I was thirsty or not. This played out very well as everything was going down smoothly and I never felt my energy level drop. I knew Chad would be hunting me down on the bike but I wasn’t sure where my biking was compared to his. I knew if I biked well, I could possibly ride into T2 just in front of him. The bike course wasn’t closed to traffic and we were riding on some busy roads, but I was lucky enough to have 2 motorcyclists leading me out on the roads for the entire ride. At the turn around, I grabbed a bottle of water but I wasn’t paying attention to the turn around point so I overshot the turn around and missed the timing mats for the 28 mile split (hopefully no one was too worried when that split didn’t come in for me). I took note of my computer time and started to watch for Chad going the other way. We didn’t cross paths until 3-3.5 minutes later which seemed odd (I later found out Chad went off course and added 6 minutes to the course). I put my head down for the last 28 miles and focused on my race. I was banking on an aid station at mile 45 to grab another water but it never came. This made me a bit worried but I still had my liquid shot bottle to finish off. I rode into T2 feeling great and ready to tackle the 13.1 mile run.
*RUN - 13.1 miles (1:31:37 PR, 3rd Overall)
The plan was to run around 7 minute mile pace. My legs felt great and my heart rate was in check. I glanced at my watch after a few min and it said 6:20 min/mile. Whoops!! Slow your role Steve. Nutrition wise, I carried a FE liquid shot flask (400 calories) and planned to take water and/or cola at the aid stations. My stomach was feeling relatively good (does it ever really feel great?) and I was clicking the miles off just under 7 minute mile pace. After the turn around, my pace began to slow. The legs just wouldn’t go any faster. I thought there was still a chance of Chad catching me if he was on his game. I started doing the math and figured if he was running 6-6:15 minute miles, he may get me in the last mile. I tried to keep those thoughts out of my head and kept putting one foot in front of the other. “Just get to the next aid station” I told myself. What also wasn’t helping was the fact that it was brutally hot and sunny out there for January and there wasn’t much shade on the course. The last mile finally came and I got a big burst of energy so I picked up the pace. I was pretty excited to finally see that finish line and crossed it first in just my 2nd attempt at this distance.
*OVERALL - 4:05:12 PR 1st Overall
Looking back, it would have been nice to have Chad with me on the bike or run. I really could have used the extra push on the run as I just ran comfortably not wanting to completely deplete myself. Overall, I couldn’t be happier with the result and I was really surprised with the overall time. I knew the course was fast but not THAT fast (I did have the bike and run courses a bit short according to my Garmin). It’s nothing new but running is still my achilles heel. I’m going to need to put in some run focused training in order to keep anyone from running me down. With a little more training and speed work, I think I can find 4-5 minutes on the run.
I was fortunate to have my Aunt Beatrice in town, so she came by the race to cheer me on. It was really great to share the experience with her and Mandy. Thanks again to everyone for the support, especially my sponsors: Tri Bike Run, First Endurance, and Blue Seventy.
Next up is a little rest and recovery this coming week and then its time to get back to work… stay tuned…
Great race, Steve! Great to see a fellow South Floridian tearing it up out there.
Was wondering if anyone who raced the Oly distance found the run course to be a bit short? I had no Garmin, but split a 35 min 10k which was way faster than I expected. Anyone have an accurate GPS reading?