Ironman 70.3 – DNF

Today was my Ironman 70.3 race in FL. The race I have spent the last 20 weeks preparing and training for. So, the most appropriate word I can find to describe my DNF (Did Not Finish) is devastating.

My race ended just 5 mins into the swim. Yes, you read that right. I didn’t DNF because I swam too slowly and missed the cut-off, nor did I have multiple flat tires on the bike, nor did I end up cramping on the run, nor did I get dehydrated, nor was the weather was too hot on the run. No, I DNF’ed 5 mins into the swim.

This was not my “A” race for the year. This was a practice race in preparation for my “A” race, Ironman Arizona in November. This was a race to get used to training 6 days a week, doing double workouts on many of those days. This was a race to prove to myself that I had a certain level of fitness to at least do half the distance and then I would ramp up even more towards the full Ironman. This was a race to help iron out any kinks before my “A” race.

So, while this race accomplished what I needed it to accomplish, it is still extremely disappointing. I did do training workouts 6 days a week. I did get up at 4:30am most days and did double workouts. I did ramp up my training load and handled it well. And yes, it did identify a major weakness as I iron out the kinks…..my swimming.

So, what went wrong today? The net result is that I basically panicked and could not get into a swimming rhythm. As to why I panicked, I don’t know the exact answer, but I have a few suspicions:

  • I think I may have started out too fast. While I can swim the distance with plenty of time to spare before the cutoff, I am used to swimming a constant, comfortably pace. I think with the race and then swimming with people around me and basically swimming to keep up with them, I may have gone out too fast. As a result I was out of breath, inhaling water, and swallowing water. I’m not accustomed to swimming different paces and thus I have no real feel for when I’m going to fast. This is very much like a runner going out too fast in a 5K or 10K race except that doing that on a swim has more dire consequences.
  • The water was dark and murky and so I couldn’t see anything while my face was in the water and so I think that made me “hurry up” to breathe so I could at least see to my sides. Oddly, I have no issue scuba diving in murky, low visibility water
  • I never practiced sighting and so when I tried to see in front, I ended up swallowing water
  • I did take a couple breathers while holding on to a kayak, but once I resumed swimming, I didn’t identify what was causing my issues and so I simply went back to my fast, hurried pace, inhaling and swallowing more water
  • Since I started in the last wave and with my stops, I realized I was dead last and that added to my urgency as I didn’t want to be last out the water

After doing this for 5 mins and finding that literally every breath resulted in my swallowing water, I realized that my day was done. I signaled to the volunteers and they towed me to the dock where my number was given and my timing chip removed. I collected my bike and gear, called my wife to let her know I had dropped out, texted a few people and then returned to my hotel.

I then spent the next few hours feeling sorry for myself and second guessing my trying to do triathlons, and especially a full Ironman. After all, if I can’t even do more than 5 mins of a Half-Ironman, what chance do I have in a full Ironman? I even went on the internet to lookup when the next Powerman (run-bike-run duathlon) was to see if perhaps I should stick to running and biking.

In the past, I have DNS (Did No Start) a half-marathon due to injury, but I have never had a DNF in any kind of race. I may have had slower times that I wanted, but I have always finished. This DNF is a new experience.

Luckily, a phone call with my wife helped get me out of this funk and I’m starting to analyze what went wrong and ensuring I have a strategy in place for the swim.

Prior to my race, I had visualized all the parts of the race from the swim exit onwards. I had a hydration and nutrition strategy for the bike and run. I had planned for what to do if I got a flat. I thought about how I would handle the hills. I had a strategy in place for the run and the forecasted hot weather. Basically, I had planned my race from the swim exit. I had taken for granted that I would get through the swim since I had been swimming 2000m multiple times a week for the last couple months and I was doing it in just under 50 mins…..well within the swim cut-off. I naively assumed I’ll just get in the water and do my normal 50min swim and then get on to the real meat of the race. The hard part of the race. 5-6 months ago, I had considered the swim the hard part of the race, but once I worked up to swimming 2000m consistently, it became the easy part in my mind and I just focused on the biking and running. I saw no need to try and swim faster or do swim drills.

I had taken the swim for granted and I had no plans nor any strategy for the swim other than to wear my wetsuit. I now realize that I could be in the best cycling or running shape, able to do the full distance, but it would all be for nothing if I can’t get through the swim.

Another sign that I had taken the swim for granted was that I had no nervousness before the swim and while waiting for my wave. I was calm and I had no butterflies in my stomach. I was feeling no different to how I would have felt before getting into the pool to swim 2000m

So, as I prepare for Ironman Arizona, I need to give the swim the attention it deserves. I need to prepare for it and have a strategy in place for when things start to go wrong. As a start, I plan to:

  • Look into a US Masters Swim program that swim at a pool that is only 5 mins from where I live. I had actually gotten the ball rolling on that before my race and I had arranged to observe a swim session this coming Friday and chat with the coach
  • There is a triathlon club in the DFW area that does weekly Saturday morning open water swims in a lake with a coach. They actually teach you, and you get to practice swimming with other people, turning at buoys, sighting etc. All the skills needed for a successful triathlon open-water swim. I had looked into them before and they had only recently resumed those sessions after winter, but there was only one I could have attended before my race and I figured why bother. They run these through September so I need to try and fit that into any IM training plan I follow.
  • I should have done some shorter triathlons before attempting a 70.3. That would have given me a chance to swim in a race locally and with less at stake. I found one local sprint triathlon in June and I will look for others before IM AZ to get as much practice as possible

I may have to end up swimming 3-4 days a week and adjusting workouts in order to open water swim on a Saturday and not treat the swim as just something I need to get through before I get on the bike and run.

Today’s race was devastating and I doubt it will ever fade from my memory, but in the end, I need to learn as much as possible from today’s failure so I can accomplish my main goal for 2019 which is to finish Ironman Arizona in November.

Ironman 70.3 Training – Week 19 – April 1 – April 7 2019

This was my second to last week before my race. As expected, the workload was greatly reduced. There were a couple notable highlights though.

I was in Florida for the week and our company took part in the Mercedes Benz 5K Corporate Run. I used this to replace a planned tempo run. It was also great practice for running is warmer and more humid conditions. I managed to run the first mile in 9:40 which is a new fastest mile for me. I ended up running the 5K in 32:44.

The second highlight was my bike ride on Saturday. At the start of the ride I felt great. Even though it was supposed to be a Z2 ride, I was able to comfortably generate more power and not feel as though I was working really hard. So I decided to keep that up for at least 20 mins to see if I could get a new FTP. I ended up going pretty and for 30 mins and then I backed off and did the reminder of the ride at Z2. After the ride, both Garmin and Training Peaks reports a new FTP of 187. This is up from my last FTP of 167.

I am sure I could have gone even harder for the 20 mins so my real FTP is probably higher. Perhaps I will consider doing a proper FTP test after my race.

My run on Sunday was a bit disappointing. I was expecting to feel much fresher and I also felt a bit lethargic. I have a feeling that I was paying the price for my FTP-level 30-min ride segment on Saturday.

I am not into the last week of my training. I barely have any workouts. I have to careful what I eat as I’m not burning as much calories as I would in a typical week

Ironman 70.3 Training – Week 18 – March 25 – March 31 2019

This was my last biggish week. It was the first week of the taper, but I still did 10 hours of training. This coming week is where I will notice the biggest drop down to under 7 hrs.

This week was mostly uneventful, but there were two nice running related achievements. For my BRICK workout, I had to run 2 miles and I felt really good coming off the bike and a tempo ride. I didn’t have any jelly legs and I managed to run them at an 11 min/mile pace.

For my long run, I also felt good and for that, I also ran the 9 miles at an average of 11 min/mile. I know I will not be able to replicate this pace in my actual race, but it’s good to see those running improvements.

Now that my training is in the bag so to speak, my focus has now shifted to race day. I spent the last couple days thinking and going over the logistics on race day and make various checklists of things to pack and to have in T1 and T2. It’s not finalized, but it’s getting there. I periodically remember something I need to add to my lists.

Ironman 70.3 Training – Week 17 – March 18 – March 24 2019

This was the last big training week before my race. Now it is time to taper with my race just 3 weeks ago.

The highlight of the week has got to be the 70-mile ride I did. When I saw that on he schedule, I was a bit worried. Up until then, my longest ride was 50 miles and I think that was before I actually started my Ironman 70.3 training.

For this ride, I tried using Gatorlytes which was recommended to me by my coach. I took 3 bottles of Gatorade Endurance and in two of those bottles I added a packet to each. I drank those first. When I first tasted it before heading out, it tasted really salty. During the ride, I could taste the saltiness too, but it wasn’t too bad. In the end, I think it worked great. I didn’t experience any sort of cramping or near cramping. In the past, at around 2 1/2 hrs, I would start to feel as though my quads would cramp. So I think the Gatorlytes was a success and I’ll be sure to use them on my race. I still need to try it on a run. The other recommendation from my coach was HotShot. I ordered a trial pack. They will arrive in time for me to try on my long workouts this coming weekend.

The ride itself went great. I am happy with the pace and how I felt. I covered the first 56 miles in 3:10:05. That is a time with which I would be happy if I can reproduce in the actual event.

I didn’t manage to do my long run as family events and obligations got in the way over the weekend. What I did do was try a short run on Sunday in the mid-afternoon with the sun and temperature at the highest. That was eye-opening. I was huffing and puffing as though I had just started running, my heart was racing and over the course of the short 2 miles I did, I managed to drink as much liquid as I would when I run 10 miles on a cool day. This was not a good omen as I suspect I may have to deal with similar conditions n race day.

This coming week calls for about 10 hrs of training