#IM703IndianWellsLaQuinta #WFPBTriathlete #VeganTriathele #AnythingIsPossible #myspringenergy
TLDR: New PB! It was a fast course. Great way to finish the year.
Swim: 30:59 > 1:25/100 yards
Bike: 2:20:29 > 24 miles/hr
Run: 1:45:18 > 8:06 min/miles
Total: 4:43:18
Goals:
Have an awesome time > Check!
Finish the event > Check
New PB > Check
Qualify for IM 70.3 2020 World Championship > No check! :(
Pre-race:
The build towards this race was not ideal. I hurt my right knee mid-October wanting to do too much strength training too soon and not letting my body take on the new load. I was not able to fully recover from this injury, and still recovering now.
Swim:
It's December, I was expecting really cold water, low 50's F (10C). The water was 58+F (14.5C). My triathlete friends and I had built up to it, swimming in 50F Lake Sammamish up until the week before the race, so on race day the water felt warm'ish. We were seriously prepared. No hyperventilation , no panic, all good.
Seeded myself towards the end of the 25 minutes target time and I still passed a ton of people, to the point there was serious traffic midway, at the bow tie (shape of the swim loop) section. I should consider seeding myself further next time.
Anyway, despite the traffic at the buoys, it was a good swim with a decent 12th time in my age group.
T1:
It was pretty well organized. It was my first race I had to pick up my gear from a bag, so I learnt a couple of lessons along the way. I must have lost at least 40 seconds messing around the transition bag.
Bike:
Zoom zoom! Best bike split ever! I mean it was really flat. I felt amazing, pedals felt like air.
The portion on the race track was the best. The asphalt was soooo smooth, I could almost hear the roars of the engines in the background. Really cool :)
The only issue I had with the bike portion, are the pelotons that were forming all over the place. Despite my constant effort in keeping my distances with the rider in front of me, there was always someone coming in between us, forcing me to slow down and ultimately stay at the back of the pack.
At that point I was 5th in my age group, if only I had the running legs to stay in that spot!
T2:
Smooth transition overall and well organized.
Run:
My plan was to run between 7:30 - 7:40 min/mile. I started too fast (again!!). Slowed down on 2nd mile to target pace and felt good. Then it happened! My right knee started to hurt and I could not hold the pace. On top of that, I started to feel hot spot on both feet, darn it! I powered through, limiting the damage, and towards the end of the run I was able to pick up the pace a little to finish the run in 1h45.
Overall:
This is a race I definitely would like to do again, especially to keep the momentum of the season going a little longer.
Special thanks to my wife without whom I could not race like this. Love you!
Nutrition:
This time I tried a new nutrition strategy and went with My Spring Energy pre-race and bike ( https://myspringenergy.com/collections/products/products/long-haul), and Science in Sports (SiS) for the run. Loved the vegan real food energy packs from My Spring Energy.
