Ironman New Orleans 70.3
April 17, 2011
A RACE2TRAIN RACE REPORT BY R2
The Event: Half-Iron Distance Triathlon
1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, 13.1-mile run
The Venue: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Open water swim in Lake Pontchartrain; out-and-back, flat as a pancake bike with a side spur on the way back; flat, point-to-point run through City Park with partial shade, ending in the heart of the French Quarter.
The Training: Mostly Running
Once again, most of my training over the winter has been trail running and preparation for ultra-marathons. I've added in some run interval training this year in addition to the endurance training. Again, this means I've already had a few running races this year, including the Go! St Louis half-marathon a week before IMNOLA 70.3.
With the extended winter and my utter distaste for riding in the cold (anything below 60), most of my bike time has been on the trainer. Most of that has been some pretty intense interval training. My one outdoor ride was a three-hour, zone 2-3 endurance ride the week before the race. I did squeeze in a swim to ensure I could make the distance, and have been pretty good about getting in core workouts regularly.
This added up to me expecting a passable swim, a decent bike, and a PR for my half-Ironman run.
The Race: A New Obstacle
This was the third year for this race. I won't rehash the problems from the previous years, but I will say the race directors do learn each year and tend to make things better.
They still haven't gone back to the point-to-point swim (my favorite), but this year's course was a triangle that meant swimmers would have had no problems sighting, and there would have been none of the cross-traffic problems of last year. I say "would have had," because the swim didn't happen. The race director canceled the swim after multiple capsizes of safety boats while trying to place the buoys. 20 knot (23+ MPH), onshore winds were causing havoc on the swim course. Some people grumbled about the cancellation, but if it isn't safe for the safety boats, then 2,000 swimmers shouldn't be out there either.
They returned to the original bike course, which was an improvement over last year. Most of the roads were fairly, or very smooth. A few sections had some minor expansion joints, and there were a couple of bumps that generated ejected water bottle collections. Again, the four bridges and overpasses provided the only noticeable elevation gain for the 56 miles. The winds that forced the swim cancellation were in our faces on the way out to the turnaround point. Having experienced this before, I paced myself on the way out and watched a number of less -experienced racers spend a great deal of extra effort as they rode hard to pass me in the headwind. I hit the turn-around point and flew with the wind on the way back in to transition. I picked up about 1.8 MPH on my average and passed a number of racers spent by their effort into the outbound leg - remember to adjust your race to the conditions on the course. My nutrition went very well, and, although I didn't hit a new PR, I was close enough to be satisfied with my bike split.
Transition was a little slower than I had hoped because of a line at the porta-potties. Oh, and I'm still regretting forgetting to have sunscreen to apply during transition. Make sure you don't repeat that mistake - this hobby (triathlon) is about fitness and personal accomplishment - don't destroy the largest organ in your body (your skin) by failing to protect yourself from skin cancer!
The run course is only slightly modified from last year, but those tweaks made it the best route yet. Despite the beautiful, very flat course, my run was problematic from the beginning. It started with a headache caused by mechanical issues in my neck. About the time I fixed that, my left foot started bothering me (never had that before!), then the rest of my body decided to join in on the party. Stomach cramps, tightness breathing, lower back problems, and even a shoulder that started hurting turned the day sour. I was able to fix everything except the stomach issues. Unfortunately, those are the most damaging to your nutrition strategy, therefore having the greatest effect on your performance. When you can't fuel or hydrate, your power drops rapidly. Remember - a 3% weight loss in fluids can cause a 10% drop in performance, and it gets worse from there.
The post-race facilities were the same as last year, which meant a fair amount of walking to get to everything. Morning clothes bags were a bit further, and the shuttle buses back to transition were another block away from the finish. Still, if you have the time, the riverfront park is nice, there's live music, food, and the free beer (Abita) is pretty good - if you're one of the folks who can drink after a race.
Lessons-Learned: Take the time to enjoy the city, and this is a good early-season race.
1. I may have dodged a bullet with the swim being cancelled. I would have made the distance, but my time wouldn't have been particularly good - get in the pool!
2. More endurance time on the bike would probably have yielded another PR. My leg and core strength were pretty good, but you need to have more time in the saddle.
3. I need to figure out what was causing the stomach issues on the run. If you can't fuel, you can't run for long. The other problems should have been minor.