Ironman 70.3 Weymouth - the race that did not go to plan....
3:37pm, 21st Sep 2022 | 14 Comments
Blog by TROSaracen
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I added 70.3 Weymouth to the schedule quite late, and with one specific, binary aim: to get an AG Podium and my first M-Dot trophy. I was undecided whether I’d take the 70.3 World Championship slots on offer for Lahti, Finland next August.
Build up had been pretty good after a 70.3 focussed block which began once the Outlaw recovery week was over. Pre race things really could not have gone better. I followed Gobi’s taper week, weather looked good, logistics worked out, pre race rituals all nailed. Race morning dawned and I felt sharp, excited, motivated and ready. There was a glorious sunrise, a minute’s silence for the Queen, then Thunderstruck began and we were off. This was going to be good….
Swim: 32:43, 7th AG, 220th overall
The water was absolutely beautiful – calm, clear and not like a UK sea swim at all. There was a bit of contact, more than usual but nothing too serious. I swam solidly and exited 7th in AG but a very decent c3mins off the AG leader. So we were bunched up, no uber swimmers and I was well in contact.
T1: 6:29
Good transition, I seem to have upped my game in this department in the last few races.
Bike: 4:20:39, 56th AG, c1400th overall
Start of the bike was excellent. It was cold, but I was moving well. The good news was that bike legs had shown up, I felt good, I felt smooth and I was eating my way through the field.
After 25 miles I caught a chap who I knew and who had won the AG last year. This was good, as I know he is a 3-4 minute better swimmer than me at 70.3, so chances are I’d ridden that back into him, possible more given the rolling start. I knew he’d try and hang on so I focussed on really nailing the next 2-3 miles to relive him of that idea….and then I hit something on the road. Possibly a piece of brick.
A few seconds of hoping that I’d got away with it, then the dreaded feeling of rims on the road. Both of them. This ended any hope of podium, Lahti but I got on with changing the tyres – I carry 2 tubes and 3 CO2 (3rd is spare in case of a pumping cock up). Fitted both tubes then started to pump the front up – it went up, then back down. I tried again, same thing. Now I had 2 flat tyres, and only 1 CO2 cannister. I was going nowhere until the roving mechanic came by.
I waited about 95 minutes, as the entire race flew by. I started to think there wasn’t going to be a mechanic so I’d be getting in the sweeper vehicle which signifies the very back of the race. These vehicles collect those who fail to meet cut offs or who have terminal mechanicals. Finally a mechanic stopped, and after track pumping my front tyre we knew the valve in the tube was faulty.
He provided a spare tube, we changed that and then pumped both wheels up. Meanwhile the sweeper vehicle had passed, so I now had to ride back to T2 as there was now no one to pick me up. Off I set, planning to just roll into T2 and DNF. I don’t know why, but suddenly I started racing. It was partly due to the thought of all those battling the cut offs to get that medal that I was going to turn down out of a strop because I’d lost a podium shot. I also knew that there was a good training day still to be had. Off I went, race head re-engaged.
First job was to catch and pass the sweepers, and after that I scythed through the field with almost the intensity I was racing pre the punctures. It was fun.
T2: 4:16
I’ll admit this was a bit casual, a non raced T2.
Run: 1:33:29, 1st AG, 118th best run of the day.
I was unsure how this would go. An intention to ‘race it’ is fine but these runs hurt, and they hurt for a long time and you really have to be in the mood for that. For the first mile I most definitely wasn’t there, an 8 minute mile which is definitely ‘not suffering’ pace. But I turned onto the promenade, the crowds, the music – I guess I just love Ironman racing. Race head back, pace up, suffering began.
I drilled this run. There probably was 2/3% more I could have found if I thought I was still in the shake up, and there was a lot of weaving through a thicket of runners but no denying I was working, suffering. The run went really well, I built pace and the last 3 miles were the quickest at under 7 minute miles. This was a proper great run, the fastest in my AG. Of course a 95 minute sit down in the middle of the bike would have helped but I’d still ridden 56 miles, hard, either side of that.
It was a nice way to finish and I’m certainly pleased to have salvaged a good training day and get my medal.
Overall was 6:38, but final time irrelevant.
The missed podium shot remains a bit painful – the guy I caught having stuck 3 minutes on him in the first 25 miles of the bike ended 2nd AG. I would have finished behind him on this day, and would have been close to the 1st in AG who was another 5minutes ahead. The agony of what might have been, but nothing to dwell on.
I had a fun race, I liked my form on the day and still have the 70.3 World Championship in Utah to look forward to. We go again, as always.
Build up had been pretty good after a 70.3 focussed block which began once the Outlaw recovery week was over. Pre race things really could not have gone better. I followed Gobi’s taper week, weather looked good, logistics worked out, pre race rituals all nailed. Race morning dawned and I felt sharp, excited, motivated and ready. There was a glorious sunrise, a minute’s silence for the Queen, then Thunderstruck began and we were off. This was going to be good….
Swim: 32:43, 7th AG, 220th overall
The water was absolutely beautiful – calm, clear and not like a UK sea swim at all. There was a bit of contact, more than usual but nothing too serious. I swam solidly and exited 7th in AG but a very decent c3mins off the AG leader. So we were bunched up, no uber swimmers and I was well in contact.
T1: 6:29
Good transition, I seem to have upped my game in this department in the last few races.
Bike: 4:20:39, 56th AG, c1400th overall
Start of the bike was excellent. It was cold, but I was moving well. The good news was that bike legs had shown up, I felt good, I felt smooth and I was eating my way through the field.
After 25 miles I caught a chap who I knew and who had won the AG last year. This was good, as I know he is a 3-4 minute better swimmer than me at 70.3, so chances are I’d ridden that back into him, possible more given the rolling start. I knew he’d try and hang on so I focussed on really nailing the next 2-3 miles to relive him of that idea….and then I hit something on the road. Possibly a piece of brick.
A few seconds of hoping that I’d got away with it, then the dreaded feeling of rims on the road. Both of them. This ended any hope of podium, Lahti but I got on with changing the tyres – I carry 2 tubes and 3 CO2 (3rd is spare in case of a pumping cock up). Fitted both tubes then started to pump the front up – it went up, then back down. I tried again, same thing. Now I had 2 flat tyres, and only 1 CO2 cannister. I was going nowhere until the roving mechanic came by.
I waited about 95 minutes, as the entire race flew by. I started to think there wasn’t going to be a mechanic so I’d be getting in the sweeper vehicle which signifies the very back of the race. These vehicles collect those who fail to meet cut offs or who have terminal mechanicals. Finally a mechanic stopped, and after track pumping my front tyre we knew the valve in the tube was faulty.
He provided a spare tube, we changed that and then pumped both wheels up. Meanwhile the sweeper vehicle had passed, so I now had to ride back to T2 as there was now no one to pick me up. Off I set, planning to just roll into T2 and DNF. I don’t know why, but suddenly I started racing. It was partly due to the thought of all those battling the cut offs to get that medal that I was going to turn down out of a strop because I’d lost a podium shot. I also knew that there was a good training day still to be had. Off I went, race head re-engaged.
First job was to catch and pass the sweepers, and after that I scythed through the field with almost the intensity I was racing pre the punctures. It was fun.
T2: 4:16
I’ll admit this was a bit casual, a non raced T2.
Run: 1:33:29, 1st AG, 118th best run of the day.
I was unsure how this would go. An intention to ‘race it’ is fine but these runs hurt, and they hurt for a long time and you really have to be in the mood for that. For the first mile I most definitely wasn’t there, an 8 minute mile which is definitely ‘not suffering’ pace. But I turned onto the promenade, the crowds, the music – I guess I just love Ironman racing. Race head back, pace up, suffering began.
I drilled this run. There probably was 2/3% more I could have found if I thought I was still in the shake up, and there was a lot of weaving through a thicket of runners but no denying I was working, suffering. The run went really well, I built pace and the last 3 miles were the quickest at under 7 minute miles. This was a proper great run, the fastest in my AG. Of course a 95 minute sit down in the middle of the bike would have helped but I’d still ridden 56 miles, hard, either side of that.
It was a nice way to finish and I’m certainly pleased to have salvaged a good training day and get my medal.
Overall was 6:38, but final time irrelevant.
The missed podium shot remains a bit painful – the guy I caught having stuck 3 minutes on him in the first 25 miles of the bike ended 2nd AG. I would have finished behind him on this day, and would have been close to the 1st in AG who was another 5minutes ahead. The agony of what might have been, but nothing to dwell on.
I had a fun race, I liked my form on the day and still have the 70.3 World Championship in Utah to look forward to. We go again, as always.
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