Ironman New Orleans 70.3
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 two side spurs; flat, point-to-point run with partial shade ending in the French Quarter.
The Training: Mostly Running
I've been focusing on trail-running and an ultra-marathon during the off-season for triathlon. So this means I've already run five running races this year, including the Go! St Louis half-marathon a week before IMNOLA 70.3.
This also meant I only had a few spinning sessions before the weather started getting warm, three outside rides, and two swims before driving 10 hours to the Crescent City. I also managed to squeeze in only one core workout in the past month.
The Race: Better, and Worse
The inaugural event last year left a bad taste in the mouths of many racers as two of the three aid stations on the bike ran out of water and Gatorade before the later waves could get there. Add to that there were only nine aid stations on the run, and some of those ran out as well. You can imagine why the sell-out of last year's event didn't repeat this year.
The good news is that it looks like they've fixed both of those problems - bike aid stations were well stocked, and there were 12 fully-supplied stations on the run. They also changed the route on the run so you spend more time in the shade.
On the other hand, the wide-open point-to-point swim of last year is gone - replaced by a convoluted swim that involved 21 waves of up to about 150 athletes starting on the beach and running through 50+ yards of shallow water, then crowding together to get through two buoys near the start before making the first left-hand turn. The next buoy wasn't immediately visible after that turn, so kayakers in that area spent most of their time redirecting swimmers who were sighting off the final buoy of the course, but it was the only one they could see. The water was 73.5 degrees, and there was a fair amount of chop as the breeze blew waves toward the shore. This meant that someone like me who can only breathe on the right was as likely to get water as air each breath. At the end of the back straight, which only had two buoys over a little more than half a mile, there were two more left turns in fairly close succession. If you're keeping track, you have realized that we were then swimming toward the sunrise, and the buoys were just as sparse. I also lost a couple of minutes toward the end when someone knocked my goggles off and I had to swim to the nearest kayak to get them on again.
T1 was uneventful, although a little slow because of a nature break and applying sunscreen. The transition area was grass this year instead of a parking lot, and it was much closer to being square instead of the quarter-mile long 40-yard wide TA of last year.
The bike course was different as well. Due to some last-minute construction, they had to reroute things a bit, which added a number of 90-degree turns and much more concrete road surface with expansion joints. Even with that, close to 50 miles were smooth and there was a headwind on the way out this year. If it weren't for four bridges and overpasses, the whole ride would have been under 10 feet of climb. The conditions did lead to a nearly 2 mph negative split for me! Last year, my nutrition strategy on the bike required three aid stations with water, but only one still had any. This year I adjusted things so I only needed one water, and all three stations were fully-stocked! My nutrition was spot-on for the bike this year and I drank the last of my Infinit less than 15 minutes before I hit T2. All of that lead to a PR for the bike split.
T2 was good (nailed the dismount from the bike - no IMAZ repeats here!). I had to reapply sunscreen; otherwise I would have been under two minutes.
The run started reasonably well. One overpass accounted for 15 of the 19 feet of climb for the whole route. I had a bit of trouble finding the right stride, and it was the first time running in 80+ degree weather this year. While I never settled in at a pace as fast as I wanted, I finally got a good rhythm going. That lasted until the 10 hours in the car the day before caught up to me and my right hamstring started cramping around mile 8. It took two Accel Gels and almost 20 minutes to work through that. Things came back together about the time another racer pulled alongside me and we paced each other for the last three miles - mile 13 was my second fastest of the race.
The typical post-race facilities were provided, but the food and drop bags were much farther away than last year and were more difficult to find. Since I had to get back to St Louis to be at work Monday, I didn't stick around and caught the shuttle bus back to the TA.
Lessons-Learned: 20 hours of driving for a weekend race? Not worth it.
1. I'll try this race one more time, but only if I can drive down Friday and return Monday. Maybe the race directors will get it right the third time.
2. If it hadn't been for my slow swim, this would have been a HIM PR - two pool swims and one open water aren't enough.
3. My bike legs suffered over the winter while I focused on ultra-running - need to get in more interval work.
4. My weak core really caught up with me during the bike and hurt my lower back - would have been at least 1 mph faster if not for that.
5. I was reactive on the run and didn't fuel properly to prevent the cramp - lost too much time trying to recover.
R2