Rhode Island 70.3 Race Report July 13, 2008

I signed up for this race back when they announced its inception (6 months ago) excited that they brought another 70.3 to the Northeast. No routes were announced, no logistics about the race, just a promise of an “Ironman” brand race. I decided this would be a good prep (one and only distance race) leading up to IM Wisconsin in September. About 6 weeks ago the courses were announced- a point to point race with two different transition areas, beginning at Narragansett Bay ending in Downtown Providence. As the details began to unfold and the Athlete Guide was published, I became worried about “clean” transitions and transition bags, 4:00am buses, oh my! But I embraced change. Decided it might be fun to try1011
something different! The only half irons I had done before now were Timberman and Mooseman..both great races, but was a little excited to branch out and see what else was out there.

Day before race was filled with LOTS of standing in lines, running around to transition areas, driving, sitting in traffic and witnessing a car accident (a fellow racer) it was the opposite of what a day before a race should be. It was rushed and chaotic. I don’t even think the race organizers could have predicted the two hour line for packet pickup or the hour and a half drive to T1 to drop our bikes (b/c of beach traffic) it was crazy, but again, I tried to embrace it and see it as a new opportunity. Once we got done running around (with a couple bike tire changes and a quick loosen up the legs ride) we headed back to Providence to find our hotel was literally across the street from the State House (also the finish area!) sweet! A late checkout insured us a post-race shower! We had dinner on Federal Hill with my in-laws (who thought they were coming to Providence to see a marathon!! Obviously their first triathlon experience!) then off to bed before 9pm.

Race Day started with a 3:15am wake up call, a 4am bus (another line) down to the start (where our bus’s engine began to overheat part way down there, we pulled over and the driver did a “fix” that got us there with plenty of time to spare! Phew!) We arrived at T1/start and saw Amanda’s husband right away, thankfully he had a bike pump (they would not transport them for you, so we had to find one the morning of!) but no worries, we got the tires pumped up and T1 was all set (part of the reason I wasn’t complaining too much about getting everything down there the day before) I spent 5mins with my bike before the race, tires pumped-check, bento box full- check, water bottles in place- check, brakes rubbing the tires- negative. I was all set. Grabbed wetsuit, goggles and cap and down to the beach for the start.

Swim- 34:43 (pace-1:39/100)
The beach was packed, and beautiful. You would never know it was 6am. Thousands of people crowded the beach and the national anthem filled the air, lots of excitement about the race. 6am cannon sent the pros out to start. Ugh! Running beach start, AGAIN! I hate that, but learned my lesson in Cohasset- I started up farther in the group as to avoid having to swim around slower swimmers (I’m no speedster, but I’m average I wanted to have a good swim.) Waves went off every 5mins or so, Greg was off in Wave 5 and I stuck around until Wave 7, a 6:30 cannon. Off we went W30-39 all in one pack. It was wavy, choppy, salty water…I had a hard time finding a rhythm of breathing at appropriate times to avoid a wave of water in my face! I eventually worked it out after a couple of mouthfuls of salt water. It was hard to sight at times (again b/c of the waves) but I tried to keep the swimmers around me in sight so I knew I was sortof on course! It was an out and back, once I made the turn I found a groove (a little to the right of the pack) and felt like I was swimming in my own lane. Fine by me. Got out of the water in 34:43, my best 1.2mi swim time (by over two minutes, and pace was faster than my sprint earlier this year…so maybe my positioning did help me- less weaving and dodging to do!)
T1: 3:51Pretty uneventful…had a long beach run up to transition where I took advantage of the wetsuit strippers (mostly b/c they were there and no one was using them) walked in the kiddie pools to get the sand off my feet (that’s a nice detail) and on to my bike where we had bags filled with our gear. I liked this concept. Dump the bag, put gear on and put the used gear in the bag. Loved the “clean” transition area idea! Left the wetsuit bag to be transported up to Providence


Bike 3:01:37 (pace-18.5mph)
Crossed the mat and had to run with our bikes another couple minutes to the mounting line, bummer. But mounted and was on my way. Have been having ergomo problems for a couple months now but decided to still have it on my bike to at least tell me my speed, well…I guess when I changed my back tire the day before I forgot to align my magnet…so no power, no speed, no rpms. Doh! Thankfully I had my Garmin, so I had an idea of what pace I was going. The first 15mi were VERY flat and fast (averaged 20.5mph taking it easy!) by Mile 18 we hit a couple hills and it seemed to be relentless after that, up and up and up, passing people, having them pass me back. The hills went on for about 15-20miles, but after that I could not find a groove. I was distracted and bored…wanting the bike ride to be over. My bike felt alien to me like it was someone else’s, I can’t explain it but was pretty lost the entire time (not like me at all, biking is my favorite of the three sports) so I struggled to hold a decent pace, but I was mentally gone. I passed lost of people fixing flats, and plenty of intersections that looked like vehicles had been held up for hours! One intersection there was a fire truck in the middle and a tri bike in pieces all over the ground. It was after seeing that (and I never like to see that) I just became complacent about my overall bike time. The last 5 miles or so into Providence where ghetto neighborhoods with choppy roads, lots of intersections and enough left hand turns crossing traffic to make you want to scream! I launched water bottles twice out of my rear hydration system and both times stopped my bike, set it down, ran back to get the water bottle and get going again. Did I mention this happened twice? What was I thinking? Hoped to break 3:00 on the bike, expected to be in the 2:50-2:55 range, total bike time 3:01:37 (a HIM PR of ~2min, but I had higher expectations, so I was down on my time.) Nutrition was 2 bottles of Infinit (280cals/bottle) and a package of Clif Bloks (2 every 45mins)

T2 2:34
Typical Transition, made a decision to grab my Fuel Belt and see ho I liked running a race with it (never did that before) a decision I would later regret…but other than that, things went smoothly. Saw my Inlaws and said hello took in a Chocolate Gu and headed out on the run.

Run 2:14:09 (yikes!! 10:15/mile pace)
Run started out ok, but quickly became tough….if you know Providence at all you might be aware of a “small” incline in town referred to as College Hill (takes you up to Brown University) we were presented with this hill at about Mile 1 (of a two loop course, so again later in the run also) it was here that I slowed initially and began to walk (ugh!) after cresting the hill, I saw my husband about to finish his first loop, we high-fived and I continued on my way. By Mile 3 I was beginning to have stomach issues and lots of bloating (a first for me) I stopped and actually waited in line at a porto-john thinking that might help me fell better…to no avail. Funny story, I was so bloated in my stomach that my Fuel Belt POPPED open while I was in line and I could not get it to Velcro back on (I was too fat!) UGH! How uncomfortable! The rest of the run was a mix of running, walking, drinking, dumping water over my head and hoping for the finishline. This might be my worst HIM run ever (best being 1:50+ at Mooseman last year) I was so bloated and uncomfortable that even walking sucked…anyway. Got to the finishline and felt sick for ~30mins after…eventually the bloat dissipated and I felt normal again, I will share my “finishing picture” just for you to see how uncomfortable I was (see facial expression) and how bloated I was (no I’m NOT 6mo pregnant!!) In hind sight I suspect the salt water swim negatively affected my stomach. I have never had those issues (been using the same nutrition on all my IM training rides far longer than 56mi!) and never had the “bloat” that I experienced here. It sucked. No more salt water swims for me!!


Total Time: 5:56:52
Overall- not a PR, not the time I hoped for and not the “run” I expect out of myself. I have a LOT of work to do before IM Wisconsin.