Superiorman 70.3 Race Report

Superiorman 70.3 Race Report

August 30, 2015

Give Up, 

Give Up, or 

Give It All You’ve Got!

The intent of this race was to be my “A Race” of the season. This was going to be my big show!  Going into this race, I felt like I was right where I needed to be! 70.3 PR here we come!

I have HUGE compliments to the Superiorman organizers!  This was one of the most well run events I have done.  I paid $35 more for the VIP Package last January for which I received parking passes for the race($10 value), my race numbers were mailed to me a week ahead of time, express checking at the venue, and a whole bunch of benefits I fortunately didn’t use (free bib transfer, free “no questions asked”  race deferral to 2016).

We drove to Duluth on Saturday.  Check in had to be complete by 6pm when transition closed.  I had most of my transition area set up before I left that afternoon. After we got checked into our hotel, I met up with Katie to head over to the pre race meeting.  After the meeting, I met back up with my family for dinner, then an early bed time!

 Race morning started early for me!  Just after midnight I was evacuating my supper from my system!!!  I awoke from a solid sleep and had to puke immediately!  Not what I wanted/needed on race day, especially a long race where nutrition is key!  After clearing out the system, I pounded a protein shake to try to get some liquid calories back into the body.  Back to bed I went!

I awoke just after 4am to start my day.  My normal pre-race breakfast didn’t even sound appealing, so I stuck with the liquid and had a double protein shake.  I walked from the hotel to transition…it took me less than 5 minutes! I put the final touched on my transition area (filled water bottles, etc), got body marked, and caught up with some of my triathlete friends.  At 5:45, we had to start loading the boat to head out to the swim start.

The swim start is a time trial start (in random order) every 4 seconds the next person in line jumps off the boat, gets their bearings, and starts swimming.  The first few hundred yards were a little chaotic as people tried to adjust to the water (65 degrees).  I just put my head down and swam!  The water was cold compared to most of our lakes this summer, but not bad at all!  I had started on the second level of the boat, so had quite a few people in front of me.  By the 3^rd turn, I was pretty much on my own.  Occasionally I would find a set of feet for a few minutes, then go back on my own.  Sighting was a little more difficult due to the rolls in the water.  At swim exit, there was a ramp up the breakwall.  As I looked up to see how close I was, there were hands reaching out, grabbed my hands, and pulled me to my feet and over the wall.  I had the 46^th fastest swim time of the day.  I’ll take that with some of the company that I was in!

T1 was uneventful.  I made sure to stay on the carpets as I ran into the AmsOil Arena…the waxed floor and wet feet just sounded like disaster!  As I ran out with my bike, I got trapped behind another athlete as we navigated the corners out of the arena.  (11^th fastest T1)

As I jumped onto my bike, I got a shout out from Jerry MacNeal (who even identified me as a LAMS member despite being incognito in my OutKast kit). Thanks Jerry! The first part of the bike has some very technical areas.  As I came around the backside of the arena, I hit a bump in the road & heard a loud “SNAP”.  At the next corner, my aerobottle spun sideways. At least it wasn’t a tire!  As we maneuvered around Duluth, there were plenty of ups, downs and turns.  I missed a HARD “U-Turn” onto a bike trail, so I had to stop, turn around, and try to get momentum going again going up the hill.  Once we hit the open road, I started flying!  I was trying to take in all the liquid and calories that I could fearing that my bottle may go.  Around Mile 15, I was told that there were less than 10 people ahead of me. About mile 25, my aerobottle let go.  Whatever had been holding it in place to that point gave way.  Matt Backmann caught up to me at the turn around in Two Harbors.  I caught him again a mile later when we got caught by a train! STRETCH, drink, relax, recover, make the most of it.  3 minutes later, we were back on our way!  On the way back, we had a descent head/crosswind.  After the train, I had a difficult time finding my rhythm again.  At the aid station, I decided to toss my concentrated calorie bottle and take a water bottle hand up.  Without it in the aero, I didn’t drink nearly enough water!  The last section of the course, we were joined by the shorter course athletes(still a 41.5 mile race...on the strong side of a 1/3rd IM).  As we came back into town, we hit many of the same technical turns in reverse.   By the time we hit town, I was not feeling good.

My dismount into T2 was uneventful.  Swim In and Bike In were the exact same location (as were Bike out/Run Out). When I got to my transition spot, I changed my routine.  I took in 2 GU Roctane Tabs, took a Salted Caramel GU, and drank all of the water I had in my transition spot.  After I crossed the Run Out mat, I did something I have never done in a triathlon….I found the Porta Potty!

As I started on the run, I knew I was going to be fighting a balance.  I started running to the aid station then walking 1 minute.  That lasted for the first 3 miles. I was taking in Gatorade and sipping water, then dumping water over me along with eating a Peanut Butter GU gel every 3-4 miles. My stomach was not happy!  I switched to ½ miles, then to ¼ miles.  As I passed the half way point, I was the closest that I have ever been in any triathlon to throwing in the towel.  It was now HOT, I felt horrible, it was near impossible to run.  NOPE! Not today!  There were three other athletes near me that we kept exchanging, encouraging, and pushing.  On the second loop, ice became important.  As I finally made my way to the back of the DECC, Katie Cummings was there with her finisher’s medal around her neck cheering me on.  It was great to see her push her limits and succeed & was just the push I needed.  As I rounded the corner into the finisher’s chute, I saw my family.  High fives on the way by.  Then across the finish line!  It was not the prettiest race, nor the fastest, but I finished!  Plenty of obstacles on this one along the way, but I persevered!

As published, this was my slowest 70.3 on record, if you credit the time spent waiting for the train, I was a few seconds faster than my first, a long way off from my goals of this race! No matter how you cut it, this was my most difficult battle yet!... AND I FINISHED! I will be back to fight this course another day!  Despite my battles, this was a well organized/run, fun race at an awesome venue!