IM 70.3 Staffs – Race Review

Filed in Project 2015 Blog by matt lewis on June 19, 2015 • 0 Comments

The first big day of the year has come and gone, and I couldn’t be happier with how well it all went.

My official times (along with a summary and a placing out of all male only age group athletes between 18-54 that finished)

Swim: 40:47 (2:08/100m)
The swim went as well as expected. I felt comfortable throughout, and breathing remained good. I still did a reasonable amount of breaststroke, but less than I used to. My big danger was on taking on lots of water which has happened in the past, and ruined the other disciplines. I’m not sure how I would get on swimming twice as far, but it was a confidence builder. I had an achy back from the rotation and I was starting to feel it in my shoulders, but I could definitely have carried on a lot longer at the same pace.
Men 18-54: 768/1444

Bike: 2:48:39 (32.02 km/h)
It was my first time at this distance on the new bike, and I felt good. I started to get some saddle soreness towards the end, and stretched my back out a few times from being down on aerobars for so long. The first part of the course didn’t suit me with the twisty descents and I was losing a lot of distance on people I would then overtake on straighter roads. I was also never passed on any of the climbs. I feel I rode within myself, as I wanted to make sure I could still run.
Men 18-54: 234/1444

Run: 1:43:38 (4:54/ km)
The run was the most pleasing aspect of the race for me. This was the discipline I was most concerned about. I have done a number of long runs in training, not none of them have been straight off a long bike. When I have run off the bike, it has been for 30 minutes max. It was strange setting off, as I felt I was going slow, but the Garmin was telling me I was around 4:30/ km pace which I knew was unsustainable for me on tired legs. It was hard to back off when I was also being overtaken, but as a 3 lap run, there were some elite runners on their 2nd or 3rd laps that had started in waves before me, so it was hardly surprising. The 3 lap format worked well for me and made the route pass quickly. I know I was getting more tired, as the hill halfway around the lap got steeper each time I went up it. What was most pleasing was that I was still running sub 5:00/ km pace over the last few kilometers and even picked the pace up at the end.
Men 18-54: 242/1444

Transition: 12:43
The less said the better but more in next section
Men 18-54: 962/1444

Overall 295/1444

I am thrilled to have gone under 51/2 hours. It is easy to look back and think ‘I could have gone quicker’. I don’t think that really counts when it’s just a case of not having pushed yourself to the limit. For me, this was heading into unchartered territory as my first official 70.3. As such, the goal was always to get around in a respectable time, and not blow up by pushing too hard too early. The one area that is annoying, is that without some unfortunate incidents, I could have gone under 5 hours 20mins, which would have been even more impressive. The problems were:

1) Swim
The organisation to get athletes from Shugborough to the swim venue at Chasewater was a shambles. The event was completely unprepared for the number of athletes (and spectators) that wanted to use this service, and not enough buses were available. I arrived at 5:30am at Shugborough and ended up queuing 50 mins to finally get on a bus. By the time I got to the swim venue, and found the lorry to leave my bag to get taken to the finish, my wave were in the water, and the wave after me were in the holding pen. I decided I didn’t want to waste 10 minutes and go in the next wave. I could hear the stewards talking about setting my wave off a couple of minutes late. As I started to walk into the water, the horn sounded to start the wave. I’d say it was at least a minute till I got to the start line. You can the swim entry and the yellow buoys marking the start in the picture below:

The other issue with the swim was that I had not familiarised myself with the route, and it was really hard to see the few buoys that were out on the course. I ended up off course lots of times aiming at the wrong buoy, and I definitely swam further than I should have done.

I genuinely don’t mind most of the above, as it just means I can get a faster time next event.

2) Transitions

The transitions for me were a shambles. I don’t think I was completely blameless, as they used two different racking systems at T1 and T2 and this wasn’t clear. When I got into T1, I went to get my bag which was no longer where I had hung it the day before. I had to get help from stewards to locate it which cost me plenty of time. In T2, I was just a muppet who ran past my bag and then had to go back again. Also, in T2, I decided to wait until I had got a signal on my Garmin GPS running watch before setting off. With no additional effort on my behalf, I should have gone 3-4 minutes quicker in the transitions.

3) Bike

When I first got the bike, I had a real issue drinking on it. This was because I had put two bottles behind the seat so they did not add any drag. Unfortunately, I struggled to get them out and put them back, so I bought a Profile HC Aero drinks bottle that sits between the aerobars. I used this for my last ride, and it worked really well. Unfortunately, when I set off from T1, there was a rutted old lane that led out to the main road. I was flying down here, when the drinks bottle flew off. I decided to stop, but after getting off and running back for the bottle, it turned out it was smashed and unusable. My bike computer tells me I spent 30 seconds off the bike, and then you factor in slowing down and starting up again. It also meant I struggled to take any fluids until the first feed station. I’ve ordered a replacement bottle now, and will be using the wonders of gaffer tape on the next race.

So, overall a hugely positive day. Its just the small matter of doubling the distance in the next race.

IM 70.3 Staffs – Race Review

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