10 Years In The Making: Rev3 Williamsburg Race Report

(This is literally just a copy paste from my training notes - future race reports will be a bit more interesting hopefully, maybe not... but hopefully)

Sunday June 27th 2021

Williamsburg VA

Training

Going into race, training was consistent at 10-12 hrs/week with approx. 35-40 mpw running and 70ish mpw on bike, and 2500ish ypw swimming. Started training block out with 100 mpw on bike but cut back to fit in more running which had slipped to 30-35 mpw. Eventually bumped up mid-week runs to get mileage back up and fit in 3rd bike workout/week to get back to 90-100+ mpw. Was a bit unsure about bike fitness. Just not sure about how body would respond to straining 3 hard efforts together. Was most confident in run fitness but forecast was calling for hot/humid conditions. Swim was the biggest unknown. No injuries or aches/pains. Generally feeling healthy and confident.

Pre Race

Traveled to Williamsburg day before. Had car issues so arrived later than planned. Had Chipotle for dinner and got gear ready to go back at hotel. Had two waffles with jelly before bed. Went to bed 9:30-10ish. Could not sleep at all. Was mostly awake until 2:30 with alarm set for 4. Not sure if it was nerves or unfamiliar environment (or both). Eventually got frustrated with not being able to sleep which didn't help. Woke up at 4 feeling better than expected. Had cup of coffee and two waffles with jelly. Stomach was OK/normal. Got car loaded up and went to race site at 5 (transition closed at 6:20). Had a few odd issues with bike when we got to transition. Dropped bike in parking lot of hotel and chipped base bar and may have bumped aero bars out of place. Got these adjusted and tightened. No real warm up before race. Long walk to swim start with plenty of time to get settled and relaxed.

Swim

Swim was TT start 2 at a time. 1.2 miles with 2/3 down then turn to finish. Strong current. Swam well under 1:30/100m pace. Got a bit disoriented a few times since it was first open water swim in a long time. Slowed down, got stroke back under control, and settled back in. Tried to surge a few times to pick up pace and then settle back. Overall swim was good and maybe even better than expected. Not 100% sure how to proceed since pace was so much faster than expected. Need to get a swim skin or a wet suit.

Felt sluggish. Need to do ride barefoot as getting socks on was tricky with wet feet. Overall T1 was better than T2 but probably could’ve shaved off 30sec-1min. Should probably take a swig of Gatorade Endurance here as well to start ride with some calories/electrolytes.

Bike

Started out bike at target watts - around 245. Felt really good. First 20ish miles of race were ~24 mph and felt good. Had 2 bottles of Gatorade Endurance (2 scoops/180 calories in each bottle) and 3 gels (Maurten, 300 calories total). Lost a bit of rhythm after halfway point and watts and avg speed dropped to 23.3 although it seemed like others faded as well. Dropped a full bottle around mile 35. Was able to get a bottle from aid station but it was dilute and no electrolytes. Came into T2 feeling pretty cooked and dehydrated. Approx. 200 cal/hour because of dropped bottle. Plan going in was 280/hr (45 g/hour actual - 65 g/hour plan). Position felt OK but had low back pain and some glute/hamstring discomfort. Was not HHT type pain but more of a soreness. Adjusting position on saddle helped. While watts and speed weren’t quite what I wanted it was still a B+ ride and was 8th overall coming into T2.

Felt cooked the second I got off the bike. Heat and humidity from bike set in quickly. Was a bit wobbly. Need to figure out solution to running shoes (elastic laces?). Also forgot to grab gels so had to turn back. In general not all together in execution. Had large drink of Gatorade because of lost bottle on bike. Also took in an extra gel. Lost a place or two in T2. Probably could’ve cut 1 min of T2.

Run

Started run feeling tired with heavy legs but tried to push forward. Cramped early and made decision to slow down and walk aid stations. Was able to maintain 8-8:30ish miles. Cramps went away but body never felt good. Felt like I was on E and each aid station was just enough to get to the next one. Mentally had to focus on getting from one aid station to the next. Was OK until mile 10. Really slowed down but still kept moving. Had 2 gels during run along with aid station drinks. Thought race was lost on run but everyone suffered so maintained 2nd AG and 15th overall.

Results

15th OA and 2nd AG. A good race with tough conditions. Would’ve rather had a good run but bottle loss really threw things off. Clearly under-fueled on bike. Am happy to have adjusted and keep moving forward. Bike was B+ but need to figure out why 245 didn’t happen because I could’ve gotten 4-5 min back with those extra 10 watts. Feeling grateful areas for opportunity are somewhat obvious or easy to fix.

Swim - 28:43 (goal 31-32)

T1 - 3:12

Bike - 2:24:50 (goal 2:20)

T2 - 2:24

Run - 1:49:41 (goal 1:29-1:35)

Post Race

Felt pretty nauseous for a while and was quite sore. Took a while to rehydrate. Stomach not in good shape for a few days. Took Monday off and did some yoga. Easy ride Tuesday and slow easy run Wednesday. Back to normal training Thurs/Fri. Still tired but able to get back to normal workouts.