4th in Age Group, PR by Over 23 Minutes: My IRONMAN 70.3 Duisburg Race Report

4th/174 AG | 17th/2016 overall | 4:06:12 | PR by 23:33

What a day. This was my 3rd triathlon, at the same race where I did my first. Last year I finished here in 4:29:45. This year I set my eyes on 4:15:00. I ended up smashing that goal with a 4:06:12, a PR of over 23 minutes.

Here is the full breakdown, leg by leg, numbers included.

Swim: 30:14 (12th fastest AG, 79th overall)

Goal was an ambitious 31:00. I came out of the water in 30:14, over a minute under target. Average pace landed around 1:36/100m across 1847m. 12th fastest swim in my AG, 79th overall.

 

 

 

T1: flying through

Faster through transition than I have ever gone. No wasted seconds, straight onto the bike.

Bike: 2:02:47 at 43.55kph (4th fastest AG, 7th fastest overall)

Target was averaging 43kph. Halfway through I was sitting at 43.6kph. Near the end it dipped to 43.2kph before the tracker settled on a final 43.55kph.

The numbers behind it:

• Average power: 263W
• Average heart rate: 158 bpm (max 170)
• Average cadence: 87rpm
• Distance: 87.9km in 2:02:47

Looking at the lap-by-lap power file, the first 5km came in at 267W/165bpm and by the final full lap I was at 241W/153bpm. A bit of natural fade over the back half, but heart rate dropped right alongside power, which tells me it was pacing and fueling settling in rather than me falling apart. 4th fastest bike split in my AG, 7th fastest overall.

T2: flying through, again

Same story as T1. In and out fast, onto the run with no time lost.

Run: 1:27:16, 4:02/km (8th fastest AG, 48th overall)

Goal pace was 4:10/km. It felt so easy early on that I settled into 4:03/km and held it until halfway. At that point my own supporters told me I was sitting 3rd and needed to push. Turned out I was actually 4th, and 3rd was fading, but I didn't know that at the time. So I accelerated to 3:57/km and held that for a few kilometers before cracking a bit in the last lap. Focused on just finishing strong from there.

• Average heart rate: 157 bpm (max 171)
• Average cadence: 89 spm

What stands out looking back at the data: heart rate actually trended down over the course of the run, from the low 160s in the first km to the mid 150s by the final kilometers, even while pace stayed largely level and even increased for a stretch. That's the kind of decoupling you want to see the opposite direction of, and it's a good sign for where the run fitness is at. 8th fastest run split in my AG, 48th overall.

Nutrition breakdown

This is the part I want to dig into a bit more, because there's a lesson in here for next time.

Pre-race: Maurten Gel 160, plus another one in T1.

Bike: Two 1L bottles of Amacx Turbo Drink, 120g of carbs per bottle, working out to roughly 120g of carbs per hour. Each bottle also had half a tablet of Precision Fuel & Hydration PH1000 dissolved in for electrolytes.

I came off the bike burping and feeling full. Given the power and heart rate data held up fine through the bike, the fueling itself wasn't a performance problem on the bike leg, but it clearly sat heavy.

Run: One Gel 160 at the 30 minute mark. After that I tried to take a second gel and just couldn't get it down.

Looking at the two together, I think the fullness carrying over from the bike is exactly why the second run gel didn't work. 120g/hour on the bike is already at the high end of what most guts can absorb, and stacking that on top of a pre-race gel likely pushed me right up against my limit before I even started running. Something to test in training before Almere-Amsterdam: whether backing off bike carbs slightly, or spacing the pre-race and T1 gels further apart, gives me a clearer stomach for the run.

Final result

4:06:12, a PR by more than 23 minutes over last year's 4:29:45. 4th in AG out of 174, 17th overall out of 2016.

Up next

Challenge Almere-Amsterdam, September 12th.

Thanks

To everyone who showed up for me. Great race to everyone else out on course as well.