Ironman 70.3 Italy 2011 Race Report

Ironman 70.3 Italy 12^th June 2011. Race report, Martin Muldoon.

Ironman Italy is a new course so we didn’t really know what to expect from it. I like to study the details but the website was poor on the low level details that we geeks live on so I had to wait until we arrived in Pescara. The temperature was hotter than London but manageable, the water was beautiful and fairly calm day before race. We drove the bike course on the Saturday and although very scenic Italian countryside, it was seriously hilly, we knew this was a biking course and there was no conservative way to get through it fast. Bel sat in the back seat looking more and more worried as we drove hill after hill (as we all were J ), she ended up having a great race with 9^th in her AG so she needn’t have worried!

On race day the start times were very relaxed with pros setting off at midday and then waves of 250 or so setting off in 10min intervals until 12.30. I was off at 12.20 and in the largest AG, we also had some M40-44 with us for the beach start. From the start the swim was completely chaotic, I’ve been racing for a few years now and this was the most violent confusing swim I’ve ever been in.

The wind had picked up and the waves were quite big but the first 100m were still in shallow water and so it was a mix of dolphin diving, swimming and surfing (and a bit of karate)! There were people all over the place arms flying, feet in the face, I got quite a few hard knocks to the head but the worst was when the pros coming back to shore met us in the middle between the buoys (the course went parallel to the beach up and down one loop always keeping buoys on left), the pros were being pushed in by the waves and we were trying to stay out of the beach so we hit them head on. I got punched full suck on the nose by a pro in a silver hat (might have been a woman J ). I found sighting difficult and I had to tread water a few times to find the beach to check direction, the waves were significant enough that I couldn’t really see the buoys so I just followed everyone else with the same swim cap as me. After a lot of energy wastage we got back to shore and I was running through the long transition in around 32 mins which left me about 4-5mins down on the front guys.

As soon as I grabbed my bike I noticed the back wheel would not move and it was squealing as if the brakes were on. It was fine when I checked before the race but the direct sunlight seemed to expand the tyre and it was now jammed against the frame so I had to take the wheel out and reset it with a gap to the frame. This worked and stayed in place but I lost about 90seconds or so before getting out on the bike course. My T1 time of 3:17 was about 90secs slower than the leaders in my age group.

When I started out on the bike I felt good right away, Alan had me tapered in to the race a bit and the rest had me feeling very strong and ready to go. The bike started flat but in to a head wind, though very quickly we were climbing and I felt very strong passing people with ease and enjoying the buzz. There was only a few guys out there that seemed to match pace but they soon dropped off and I was hunting down the leaders as the athletes thinned out and I worked my way through the earlier waves on the hills. It was hot and although the wind was fairly strong the watts were high on the Garmin (705) and my HR seemed to be under control below 150.

I had decided to go with one bottle on the bike to save weight and hassle, this meant I needed to hit the aid stations at 30k and 60k to pick up and replace my energy drink to have 3 in total during the bike, but I rushed through the first aid station and picked up water by accident as I couldn’t hear the volunteers properly. I knew after a taste that this was trouble; it meant I had to do the next 30k with just water and at the threshold I was pushing I was not in fat burning zone! I did have one gel and an energy bean pack but 200cal would not get me far, I also topped up with a few salt stick tabs, but I did notice a slight drop off on watts as I went through the hills over the next hour or so before reaching the 60k mark. I made no mistake this time grabbing an energy drink and a gel before settling back into rhythm.

The hills got harder and I knew I’d gone off a bit fast but I guessed I was fairly safe as this was ½ distance I could hold on for the last 30k. My wheel choice of disc back and 404 front was the perfect combination as I think it was too windy for the 1080 front wheel. On one of the fast descents I overtook some guy in the middle of a corner and the back wheel left me. I just about held on to it but a passing referee on a motorbike looked at me like I was crazy, no rules broken so I got back to work.

The last 20k was tough because although it was the flattest part of the bike there was a strong and constant head wind and I was still slightly low on energy below race plan. It was a long grind on my own riding through a now very sparse field of the front end guys, I kept the head down to avoid wasting energy in to the wind and soon enough I was back in town.

I squashed the last gel down, it was horrible but I knew I needed it for the run so I just got it done. As I came in to T2 some guy 50m ahead went head over heels while getting off his bike so I was extra cautious dismounting.

I was pleasantly surprised to see how few bikes there were in T2, I knew I was up there and just needed to execute the part I was most worried about – the run! I’ve had a terrible winter again through injury and running has been the discipline that I had to avoid, but over the past month I started again and Alan has allowed me to run on a treadmill so I was keen to see if I could still produce some leg speed. I’ve had issues with calf, knee and Achilles injuries but I’ve been doing more stretching and foam roller work, always being on the edge spoils confidence and keeps you worrying.

I aimed for both HR and pace this time using a Garmin 305 (I now have a 310XT but it didn’t arrive until after the race!). I was more keen to monitor HR for the first 2 of the 4 lap run, to avoid blowing up, but I also kept a good eye on pace. I seemed to hit sub 6:20 pace without too much stress so decided it was a safe speed to stay at, my HR responded well to this sitting around 148 and only changing when I slowed down to get drinks and had to then speed up again to get back in to rhythm.  

½ way through the first lap I seen Rowan in the opposite direction and he was moving well with very good stride and posture. I have more of a running background than him but he had pretty much held me on the swim and bike, as we train together I knew this would be the case. This meant he was a good ‘carrot on a stick’ for me to push towards. I slowly closed the gap on him but this was hard work and took some focus. While doing so I passed a lot of runners and the only person who passed me was in running shorts so a relay runner, but I got him back later. I got past a few of the pro men in the run and knew then I was running well. 

As I closed on Rowan we shouted at each other and agreed starting the last lap that if we blew now it didn’t matter with 5k to go, I upped my HR to 158 and dug very deep to hit that 1:20 mark. Rowan held strong and upped his pace for a very respectable top ten AG finish and 29^thoverall, the result of some consistent and well organised training. The last lap of the run was the only part of the race where I really suffered greatly but it was a safe place to do so and I think I timed it well as looking at the results the run times were quite slow out there after a tough bike.

I had the 7^th fastest run of the day (1:20) including the pros to finish in 4:32 and a minute off winning my age group. I ended up 4^th amateur and 18^th overall including the pros, my fear of not being able to run was quashed and I got some confidence back. It’s been a tough winter of training but it seems to have been productive as this is my first ironman 70.3 podium.

I have spent a lot of time and money on kit and technique this year including bike power, I also had a Retul bike fit. All these things chip away at the time splits, but the main thing I changed was my coach. After a very big rest from Hawaii I started with Alan Couzens in December, a proper scientist at work, I have gained a lot from working with him. I hope now I can execute over full distance, time will tell. Roll on Austria!

Splits:

Swim (1.9km)	T1	Bike (90km)	T2	Run (21.1km)	Overall
31:14	3:17	2:33:20	1:54	1:20:45	4:32:45

Position:

Age Group M35-39: 2^nd

Amateur overall: 4^th

Overall inc. pros: 18^th

Full results:

http://ironman-italy.com/results-2/